Let's do Ecuador!

Mr Farkle · Feb 14, 2012

I’m married with kids and am not in a position to take an extended sabbatical without losing my job. As much as I’ve tried, I simply cannot get away to ride to Tierra del Fuego or Panama. Sound familiar?

So how can I get a REAL motorcycle adventure without losing half my PTO getting to the destination? Fortunately, about a decade ago, I discovered the awesomeness of the fly-n-ride getaway. Costa Rica in 2001 was pretty exotic (to me). It then became easy and now that I’ve been there four times, the novelty has now worn off. (Though I’d heartily recommend it to someone who hasn’t done it). Panama and a stint in the Darien jungle was pretty cool too. And I really enjoyed the Wild West feel of Guatemala.

For 2012, I wanted something very different. It was time to go to a place with very few Americans, practically no tourists, no McDonalds, no traffic lights, and off the freakin' grid. Give me llamas, herds of vicuna, face-to-face contact with real Incans, and the Andes!

Joining me this year were good friends, Dave and Michael. We just recently returned from eight days on the ground and I’ll share my feedback. If you’re interested and have the financial means, it really is an easy, awesome adventure.

One of the biggest challenges with these motorcycle adventures is finding a place that rents good equipment. It's always a gamble but, so far, I’ve never been left stranded or had a bad experience. In this case, I stumbled across Freedom Bike Rental in the back of a magazine, sent a few emails, and pulled the trigger. Unlike most trips, we relied on Freedom to manage our lodging reservations and trip routing. We did this because I could not make the time to prepare as I typically do.

Friday, Jan 20: Chicago - Panama City - Quito

Connection flights in February can be iffy. In 2010, we literally had to run from one terminal to another in Charlotte to catch our flight to Costa Rica. This year we had the luxury of a six hour layover in Panama City on the earlier of two flights that had us beating a snow storm by about an hour.

Almost everything went without a hitch except that I had a terrible stomach ache by mid-day and we hadn't even arrived in Ecuador's capital city of Quito (Pop: 2.2 million, Elevation: 9200 feet.) I worried through the evening about altitude sickness but, by morning, everything was great. We spent the night in a nice hostel (Hostal El Arupo) that was only five blocks from the rental place

Mr Farkle · Feb 14, 2012

Saturday: Quito to Mindo

I'd forgotten to setup a meet-up time with Court and Sylvain, the proprietors of Freedom, but managed to reach them via Skype and someone's non-secure WiFi connection. (Thank you, trusting person!)

Freedom was off to a great start. They were well organized, the bikes were spotless, they provided tools, spare parts, and waterproof(ish) bags. Once we signed away our bank accounts, they handed us two GPSs and we were on our way.

Now, for those uninitiated to traffic outside of our nanny-state, it can be a little intimidating at first. Particularly if you're lost, can't read Spanish, and it's a busy day, in a huge city. Signs and lights, especially for motorcycles, are merely suggestive and are about as effective as our federal government. I quite literally had a homeless woman yell at me for sitting at a red light only three blocks from our point of departure. But as Darwin noted, you adapt or you die. And adapt we did. Reading Spanish road signs became irrelevant and we quickly got into the rhythm of the traffic dance and, before long, we were heading up and out of Quito.

We stopped at the equator for a photo op then stumbled across a very nice (white tablecloth, black tie waiters) place for lunch. From our seats, we looked out one window down a cliff and watched clouds form and fly by. Outside another window, a young boy played with the family llama. (See picture above)

The ride to Mindo was on very nice, paved roads that wound through the cloud forest exposing us to beautiful vistas around nearly every corner. The riding conditions were excellent with only a brief spell of rain. Arriving at our hostel (Hostel Caskafessu), we quickly settled in to our rooms and chatted with the owners; husband and wife, ex-pat Americans.

We arrived early enough that we were able to walk to a nearby cacao farm for a tour of their operations. We learned about how the beans are grown by many families, purchased and dried and ultimately made into cocoa and chocolate. Our host, Jose, was a native Ecuadoran that spend many years living in Ann Arbor before returning home. It was his love of brownies that served as his impetus for growing cacao.

That evening we walked around the small town taking in our exposure to the locals enjoying their Saturday night.

Mr Farkle · Feb 14, 2012

Sunday morning in Mindo - After a nice morning stroll we stopped by a Paneria (bakery) for some pastries. (Food and lodging in Ecuador are very inexpensive. Cheap enough that we had our own rooms most nights. My morning snack was $0.15 and it was not uncommon to spend $2-3 for a hearty meal. Fuel ran about $2/gallon for premium.)

Heading out of Mindo, we continued to climb for awhile crossing over roaring rivers, winding our way through the tropical forest as we headed westward, and downward, toward the coastal city of Pedernales. It was amazing to see the "junglesque" foliage growing along the road. On multiple occasions, I thought to myself how, with little attention, the area would quickly disappear like Machu Picchu.

We continued our descent from around 9000 feet to sea level passing through several palm groves before arriving in the coastal town of Pedernales. Pedernales is a reasonably large city that is known to be Ecuador's shrimp capital. But we were on a mission and forged ahead, riding south along the ocean atop a newly constructed, and occasionally under construction, road. At one point we had to take a detour down a muddy road that led to a river. So that traffic could pass, large pipes had been dropped into the raging river then covered with soil. Well, it was probably soil before the recent rainy season began and, on this day, it was deeply rutted with one-at-a-time traffic. We made it across without events and proceeded on our merry way.

A different bridge crossing
<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/35977658?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" webkitallowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen="" width="400" frameborder="0" height="300"></iframe>Crossing a bridge in Ecuador from on Vimeo.

Arriving in the rain at the little fishing/surfer-dude village of Canoa, the first impressions were not good. It had been raining for several days, it was still the weekend and the place was packed with Ecuadorian guests. The normally dirt roads were massive pits of mud. Fortunately, Hotel Bambu was on the end of the strip where it was relatively quiet. We quickly changed into our street clothes and met in the outdoor lounge for a cerveza and some food. We hung out there until dinner time and had outstanding fresh camarones (shrimp) at the hotel's restaurant.

The next morning (Monday), the town had cleared out, it was only raining lightly, and Mike and I decided to go do some riding. Dave stayed behind to relax. About two minutes out of town, the rains stopped, the skies cleared, and I'm pretty sure I heard angels singing. Our mission for the day was to head back north to get some pictures of us on the equator (having twice already missed the opportunity).

When we got back to the makeshift bridge, we could not cross because a truck was firmly stuck in the muck. After watching a bulldozer work to free it, we decided to take a detour down a wonderfully gnarly dirt/mud road. It wound along the river and up and down some great hills often challenging us with technical obstacles and a few road construction machines clearing recent landslides. (Landslides became a very common challenge throughout the week). We finally hit conditions that would not allow us to continue if we had any hopes of finding the equator. Turning around, we rode back to the river crossing and were able to proceed north to Pedernales where we stopped at a little cafe and each had a large bowl of shrimp ceviche while sitting at a little plastic table and watching the locals go about their business. (We garnered some attention as well in our heavy riding gear, shaved heads, and my blue eyes). The cost for this delicious meal including a Coke and bottled water totaled $6 (for both). It was awesome.

The ride back to Canoa was uneventful and we met up with Dave and spent the next several hours just sitting at a beach table enjoying ice cold cervezas, and taking notes about various movies to add to my NetFlix list. That is...

whatsgnu · Feb 14, 2012

I'm subscribed !!

Mr Farkle · Feb 14, 2012

Argh!!
...until one time I went to make a note and my phone was gone! What the? How in the..? We haven't even left the table! Aaaahhhhh! It must've slipped out of my pocket and been picked up by a passerby. Tragic. No iPhone music, Spanish lessons, email, Skype for the rest of the trip (except when Dave and Mike graciously shared their phones). Worst of all... all my photos from the first three days were gone!

Canoa from my window. Two days after the rains had gone.

Since I have no pictures, you'll have to imagine seeing Mike and me standing on the giant red stripe circling the globe (ie. the equator), the mud bridge, our giant bowls of shrimp, ..., etc., and my temporarily sad face.

GB · Feb 15, 2012

Thanks for taking us along

Throttlemeister · Feb 15, 2012

Mr Farkle said: ↑

For 2012, I wanted something very different. It was time to go to a place with very few Americans, practically no tourists, no McDonalds, no traffic lights, and off the freakin' grid.
Click to expand...

Hate to spoil it but they got McDonalds here

Just kidding it is a wonderful place to ride, I've been here a few days already myself and getting ready to cover some of the same places you did after I get that BigMac and some more crack cocaine aka french fries before heading out to Mindo and then later onto the Pacifico leaving in a few more hours. Will be enjoying the report

Also don't forget Colombia for a next fly and ride, they got lots less rules to follow up there and way less tourists

John in Quito for the momment.

Mr Farkle · Feb 15, 2012

Throttlemeister said: ↑

Hate to spoil it but they got McDonalds here

Just kidding it is a wonderful place to ride, I've been here a few days already myself and getting ready to cover some of the same places you did after I get that BigMac and some more crack cocaine aka french fries before heading out to Mindo and then later onto the Pacifico leaving in a few more hours. Will be enjoying the report

Also don't forget Colombia for a next fly and ride, they got lots less rules to follow up there and way less tourists

John in Quito for the momment.
Click to expand...

Colombia is on my short list. The reports I've read are incredible.
Outside of Quito, I didn't see any McD's. Even in the largeish city of Quevedo.
Have a great trip!

More updates to come.

Mr Farkle · Feb 15, 2012

Me gusteria tres agua pura por fovor. (Mike hydrates)

 Despite raining periodically, today's ride was very pleasant, leading us through a largely agricultural area of rice and cacao plantations and cattle ranches. The highlight for me was when I missed a turn and we landed in a fairly large city and decided to stop at a corner Tienda (store) for snacks and drinks. Our big (by Ecuadorian standards) bore 650cc bikes always drew a crowd and folks gathered around asking about them and our trip. Mike, having mastered Spanish including all known dialects from his iPhone app, served as our linguist/translator, entertained everyone, and often communicated on Dave's and my behalf.

As I was preparing to gear up, a group of about ten teens and a younger boy crossed the street and struck up a conversation with me. And, I must say, I did pretty good. The young boy, in particular spoke slowly enough that I could understand and even ask him some basic questions. I felt so proud.
Thank goodness he was speaking in English...

Quevedo served as a stopping point and not much else. We stayed at a nice hotel that existed in the middle of not much else. The one memorable feature of the Hotel Olimpico[FONT=&quot] was that it had an Olympic-sized pool. Quevedo was settled by the Chinese in the 1920s and we had been prepared for a great meal at the highly recommended Jade restaurant but ended up at a different, reasonable, but unspectacular, Chinese spot. C'est la vie/Asi es la vida/[/FONT][FONT=&quot]生活就是這樣[/FONT][FONT=&quot]/Such is life.

Mike stopped by some bamboo growing alongside the road

[/FONT]

Mr Farkle · Feb 15, 2012

Today was challenge.
It rained most of the day.
The altitude was high - up to 14,000 feet.
It was cold.
The narrow roads were unpaved, muddy, and resulted in three get-offs and led to several close encounters with big vehicles.
We had no idea when it would end. By the time we stopped, we were all exhausted and nearing hypothermia.
I live for days like this.

About 10 minutes outside of Quevedo, we hit the dirt that would challenge us for the next eight hours. Mile after mile we rode through groves of palm trees, cacao and banana plantations, all while increasing our altitude high into the Andes mountains. In this part of Ecuador, farming is still done without modern machinery and we saw plenty of oxen, horses, and donkeys. The indigenous inhabitants wear traditional dress and were often very surprised to see us foreigners come through their villages and front lawns.

Around lunch time, we came into the small, remote town of El Corazon and upon seeing the street vendors cooking, pulled over for a lunch break. We were immediately swamped by curious locals. They were fascinated by our bikes and gear, particularly my GPS. We strolled over to two women that were cooking up something interesting and they reached out to us with delicious samples. We shared a small plastic table with a young boy and enjoyed our unidentifiable meat, some weird white acorn-sized veggies, and tomatoes. The food was good but I most enjoyed the social interactions and the town. We had some concerns about fuel and a local offered to take us to their gas station. After following him, we stopped at a house and he yelled to a woman to come out and she brought a plastic Pepsi bottle of fuel. It wasn't the proper grade so we reluctantly had to refuse and, most likely, hurt the man's pride.

This is why you should late apex the left-handers (Sorry about the bad shot)

Now the fun was about to really start. Immediately leaving the town, the road turned into a very muddy two-track, that was cut into the mountains and provided amazing views and technical challenges for the next four hours. Initially, it was pretty dry, tame, and gorgeous. Apart from the tight switchbacks, this particular section was not very challenging.
<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/35978459?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" webkitallowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen="" width="600" frameborder="0" height="337"></iframe>
Dave's Get Off #2.

Stopping for some pictures.

Another...

EvilClown · Feb 15, 2012

Nice intro! Know the feeling all too well.

We haven't even left for Costa Rica yet and whizzerwheel's already got us going to Ecuador next trip.

Will be following along.

May try and pick your brain as well, Throttlemeister, if you don't mind.

Mr Farkle · Feb 15, 2012

This was AWESOME fun!

<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/36478285?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" webkitallowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="337" width="600"></iframe>
Mike following Roger high in the Andes.

This video goes for about 7 minutes.Once we stopped, we waited for about 15 minutes but Dave didn't show. We turned around to see if something was wrong. We went all the way back to where the video started, and found Dave's bike on it's side, totally stuck in the mud. He had been there about a half hour. Sorry about that, Dave!

Mr Farkle · Feb 16, 2012

Salinas is a very interesting little town. At our hotel, El Refugio, we met a mother, Mary from Madison, and daughter Arden, who is traveling with her husband for seven months. They told us about the town and we spent most of the evening sharing travel stories with each other. As they explained it, not long ago Salinas was terribly impoverished and kids and adults were malnourished and often did not get timely medical attention. Then, someone came through the town, and stayed to help them build a cooperative around chocolates and cheese. The hotel where we stayed is part of the cooperative. (Reminds me of Salinas in Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath)

We went for a walk into town to find chocolate and ran into this nina and nino. The little girl stole my heart with her smile and she allowed me to take her picture. We found the tiny little market and asked the woman for chocolat caliente (hot chocolate). She also made us some queso y jamon tortas (ham and cheese sammiches) that really hit the spot. As luck would have it, she turned out to be the little girl's mother and we enjoyed her (the child's) company while she watched a French horror movie.

We had a nice, relaxing evening sitting around a fire place in the hotel lobby. The hotel was not heated and at 11,000 feet, it was quite cold. After some of the guests had retired for the evening, we brought out our motorcycle gear and tried to dry it off for the next day's ride. It mostly just made them smell bad.

Mr Farkle · Feb 19, 2012

We had been told to prepare for extreme temperature changes today, ( Colder!?! ). And, while it was cold, at least it was not initially raining. On a clear day, we read that we could see the top of the Chimborazo Volcano which soars to a peak of 20,702' and is the highest mountain in the Americas but due to the shroud of relatively low clouds, we would have to settle on immediate views. But we were not disappointed. At one point, a herd of several vicuna, bounded across the road in front of us.

Did I mention that it was cold?

My heavy gloves were still soaking wet from the past several days so I was left with only light weight gloves. I suffer from Raynaud's and to keep from becoming miserable I had to alternate holding each hand on the engine block. This worked very well but was not super safe when using my left hand to to manage the throttle and steer.

Heading across the high-altitude plains

At one point, our route led us up a fun and challenging "road" but after several miles, we had to turn around because it disappeared into a land slide. The alternate route to the touristy town of Banos got us there early in the afternoon and we were able to have our laundry done by the hotel (finally warm and dry) and walk around for a few hours. Based on recommendations from our friends from the prior night, dinner was an easy choice for Dave and Michael: French food. Mike spent three minutes watching a Marcel Marceau video and mastered the language yet again to speak fluent French to the owner of Cafe Mariane. This was my first experience at a French restaurant and I was very impressed.

Here are a few shots from Banos. Touristy, yes, but very nice with lots of outdoor activities available.

No Banos to be found! (I'll bet that joke never gets old...)

The Toad · Feb 19, 2012

Did 9 days in Costa Rica on a fly-n-ride couple years back... been looking for another destination.... This looks quite promising

~~~ IN ~~~~

-Brian

miguelitro · Feb 19, 2012

awesome!
Mike

Mr Farkle · Feb 20, 2012

miguelitro said: ↑

awesome!
Mike
Click to expand...

Wow! A fellow ADVrider from Canoa.
I look forward to returning when it's a little less rainy. We didn't get much of a chance to explore your town. When is the best time of year to be there?

WTF-OVER · Feb 20, 2012

my riding buddies and i are going to ride with Court and Freedom Bike Rentals in April.
its gonna be a blast!

miguelitro · Feb 20, 2012

Mr Farkle said: ↑

Wow! A fellow ADVrider from Canoa.
I look forward to returning when it's a little less rainy. We didn't get much of a chance to explore your town. When is the best time of year to be there?
Click to expand...

any time but right now!!! rain should stop around may but maybe june I remember seeing you guys ride out of town and knew i had missed the chance to say hola. Funny you then posted up on ADV!
I'm pretty new to canoa and ecuador and am still bikeless! Can't wiat to get a bike and see more of the country!
Mike

Comrade Arturo · Feb 20, 2012

Nice trip! Did you guys do the 'cloudorest coast and craters tour'? Keep posting

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