Manta, Ecuador
Friday, March 4
Today, we said good-bye to the small beach town of Ayampe. Before we left, we had breakfast once more at La Escuila del Cafe. The two ladies who run this cafe in town are so sweet and their food is delicious. They weren’t open yet this morning, but Andi messaged them on WhatsApp and they agreed to make us boloñes, scrambled eggs and sausage links to-go. All that food for $6! It’s easier and less expensive to eat there than it is to buy groceries and cook for ourselves.
Andi scheduled he and I massages this morning at Mauli Spa in Ayampe. The spa is located right across the street from our airbnb so it was super convenient. The massages were excellent and ended with a soak in the Jacuzzi tub which was very nice.
The only thing left to do now was pack up our bags and tidy up a bit before heading off to Manta, Ecuador. The owner of our airbnb arrived just as we were leaving and brought us a small thank you gift for staying at her place— a hummingbird carved from a local nut by an artisan in the area. How thoughtful is that? I think it’ll make the perfect Christmas tree ornament to remember our time in Ecuador.
Yoder, our driver, arrived at 1:00pm to take us from Ayampe to Manta. Along the way, we asked him to stop at Las Frailes Beach in Machalilla National Park. We’d wanted to visit there yesterday but ran out of time & since the beach was on the way to Manta today, we decided to stop and see it.
Las Frailes Beach is a beautiful white sand beach on the coast. It was pretty windy when we visited, so it didn’t look all that enjoyable to the people who were lounging in the sun — most of their umbrellas were folding over in the wind! Andi and I opted not to swim at the beach and instead hike to the mirador overlook at the end of the beach. Tory was no happy about our idea to hike to an overlook in the heat of the day. She was near tears on the 15-minute walk up to the viewpoint claiming it was the hottest she’d ever been in her whole life.
The hike to the mirador was worth the effort. The views were beautiful and there was a nice breeze at the top perched high above the water.
We walked down the hillside and back to Yoder’s taxi waiting in the Las Frailes Beach parking area. From there, we continued on two hours north to Manta. It was a pretty drive along the coastline the whole way there. We said good-bye to our driver, Yoder, and thanked him for his time. We’ve had such amazing drivers in Ecuador who’ve gone above and beyond to make sure we have a wonderful experience in their country. Couldn’t be more appreciative of their hospitality.
Manta is Ecuador’s 4th largest city. We aren't planning to do much sightseeing — just staying one night before our early flight to Quito tomorrow morning. Andi booked us a room at Hotel Vistalmar which was a small boutique hotel with ocean views. Our apartment-style suite had two bedrooms with a joint bathroom. There was also a pool which Tory and Aden were most excited about.
By the time we arrived in Manta, it was close to 6:00pm and we were all starving. We attempted to order dinner from the hotel bar, but they were practically out of everything on their menu except for the fish. Plus, there was some sort of photo shoot happening by the pool and judging by the amount of chaos happening around there, it seemed like service was going to be slow anyway.
Andi and I decided we should walk to find dinner elsewhere. A few blocks from our hotel, we stumbled upon the Mall del Pacifico. I hated the idea of eating in the mall food court, but at least it would be fast. None of us were in the mood to keep searching for someplace else.
Andi picked a fast food restaurant called La Tablet del Tartaro that offered grilled proteins with a variety of sides. We each ordered the grilled chicken platter, Tory ordered a hamburger (of course) and Aden got barbecue chicken wings. The food came out fast & it was actually delicious. Grilled meat + rice, side salad and juice. Perfect! Why doesn’t the USA offer fast food as healthy as this?
Since we were at the mall, we decided to wander around for a bit. We didn’t buy anything an ice cream treat at Baskin Robbins.
Around 7:00pm, we walked a couple blocks back to our hotel. Tory and Aden swam in the pool while Andi and I sat in the restaurant area nearby to watch over them. It started to rain around 8:00pm, so we took that as a sign that it was time for bed. We had an early flight to Quito tomorrow morning.
Saturday, March 5
The four of us woke up at 6:00am this morning to have a quick breakfast at the hotel before departing to the airport. Hotel Vistalmar kindly offered to serve us breakfast since it was included in our room rate but we were leaving before the restaurant opened for the day. We had coffee, juice, fruit, eggs and boloñes. None of us were really that hungry so early in the morning, but better to eat something before a travel day.
It was a 15-minute cab ride from our hotel to the Manta airport. Everyone said we only needed to get to the airport an hour before domestic flight in Ecuador, but twice now we’ve encountered long, slow lines upon arrival. I’m not sure if airport travel is always slow in Ecuador, or if it’s the local airline we’re flying (Avianca) that always seems to have long lines.
We made it onto our flight in time which, I suppose, is all that matters. It was a short 30-minute flight from Manta to Quito. Andi splurged a whole $8 more per ticket to upgrade us to Comfort Class and Tory and Aden were wow’d by the huge seats with TVs that folded out of them. It was completely useless since our flight was short and there wasn’t anything playing on them, but wow’d they were nonetheless.
We landed in Quito at 9:00am, grabbed our baggage, and hopped into a Uber to go to our new airbnb. This week, we’ll see what it’s like to live in a high-rise condo in a big city. We’ve rented a two-bedroom apartment on the 11th floor of a condo building with a gym, pool, and a sauna that we can utilize in the building. There’s also a cafe on the main level and a hair salon/spa on the 2nd floor. I can’t imagine what it would be like to live in a place which such conveniences!
Quito is the capital of Ecuador with about 3 million people living here. The city is a mix of old and new, originally built by the Spanish on Incan ruins in 1534. Quito is known as one of the best preserved historic centers in South America and declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Yet, newer parts of the city are filled with trendy restaurants, parks and shopping. Andi booked us an airbnb in a neighborhood called La Carolina in the northern part of the city.
Even though it was only 10:00am, we were all feeling tired and unmotivated. Traveling seems to take it out of you no matter how long the day is! We lounged around our comfortable, new airbnb while Andi placed a grocery order on UberEats. It’s so strange being in a big city where literally anything can be delivered to your door in a matter of minutes.
Andi and I felt terrible for the UberEats driver who showed up an hour later with our grocery order. The man was on a motorcycle (the way many of the food delivery drivers in Quito get around) and had a full backpack cooler, plus two jugs of drinking water sitting between his legs & strapped to his neck. We could have walked to a grocery store to get our own food & water for the week, but this sure was easier. Andi tipped the delivery man $10 for his trouble which is basically like tipping $50 in Ecuador because everything is so cheap.
Around lunchtime, the four of us decided we’d better get motivated and explore the city. We walked to walk to a nearby park called La Carolina. This big park right in the middle of the city is reminiscent of New York’s Central Park — it went on for miles. We walked by a huge skatepark that was full of people, young and old, on boards and in-line skates. There were food vendors selling salchipapas, platters of meat, rice and plantains, sno-cones, ice cream, and more. We also saw people floating around on paddle-boats in a small river, and a huge running track and outdoor workout area full of people exercising outdoors on a Saturday afternoon.
We stumbled upon the Quito Botanical Garden and decided to check it out. It was a really nice afternoon to be outside — partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the mid-60’s. Inside the botanical gardens, Andi went to use the restroom while Tory, Aden and I stood around the entrance to the gardens. Later, Aden said that he told us he was going to start walking on the path, but none of us heard him. When Andi returned a few minutes later he said, “Did we lose Aden?” I didn’t even consider that we had because I wasn’t sure why he would have left where we were standing.
Sure enough, Aden was nowhere to be found. Andi and I split up and started searching the maze of gardens for him. About 10 minutes later, Andi found him way over on the other side of the enclosure. Neither Andi or I were pleased, and scolded Aden for wandering off. I’m not sure why he thought that was an acceptable thing to do, especially in a big city.
Together, the four of us walked around the botanical gardens admiring all the plants of Ecuador. Quito is known as the “orchid capital of the world” since it is home to more than 450 different species of orchids. We saw plenty of them on display in the gardens.
It started to rain, so we ducked into a pie shop called Lucia’s somewhere between Carolina Parque and our Airbnb. A whole restaurant devoted to pie — yum! Tory wanted apple pie with vanilla ice cream, so she and Aden split a piece of that while Andi and I split a piece of passion fruit pie. Passion fruit is a very common flavor choice in Ecuador, and we really enjoy it.
It was pouring by the time we finished our treats, so we hopped in an Uber which took us back to our airbnb. For the rest of the evening, we hung out in our cozy apartment overlooking the city. I love the big windows and our 11th floor view of Pichincha volcano and the cityscape below.
We made Tory and Aden spaghetti noodles and jell-o for dinner & Andi ordered food from UberEats — a bowl of ramen and a chicken quinoa power bowl that we split. Gotta take advantage of the diverse food options we have in a big city because we definitely can’t find food like this at home in rural Wisconsin.
Tomorrow, we’re planning to explore Quito’s “Old Town.”
