On Day 18 of my trip to Ecuador, Sierra and I traveled from Puerto Baquerizo Moreno on Isla San Cristobal to Quito on the mainland.
Puerto Baquerizo Moreno
Before heading to the airport for our 11 am flight To Quito, Sierra and I enjoyed one last morning on the beautiful Galápagos Islands. We walked along the boardwalk, watched the sealions, and ate breakfast with views of the waterfront. After breakfast we picked up our bags from our hotel a walked 10 minutes to the San Cristobal airport.
Puerto Baquerizo Moreno To Quito
Our flight from San Cristobal to Quito stopped for a short layover in Guayaquil. The flight from San Cristobal to Guayaquil was about 90 minutes and from there to Quito was only 45 minutes. Some passengers deplaned in Guayaquil but those of us bound for Quito remained aboard while new passengers boarded. So, we stayed one night in Quito.
Quito
I'm not a fan of big cities but Quito looks like no other big city I've visited. It's located in the volcanic Andes mountain range. with peaks in Ecuador reaching over 20,000 feet. Quito is surrounded by tall beautiful lush mountains and spreads across deep valleys and steep cliffs. For a big city, it's amazingly beautiful.
For now, Sierra and I only had one dark night in Quito. We didn't want to waste it but we also didn't want to take any risks given what we'd heard about crime in Quito. Sierra booked a highly rated chocolate making class for that night and I booked a highly rated hotel just a block away from it.
The class took place in the instuctor's beautiful home. It started with a tour of her garden where she picked some fresh ingredients for our food preparation. We were learning to make chocolate fondue from scratch... and by "scratch" I mean from cocoa seeds. She described the history of cacao in Ecuador and explained how she purchases the cacao pods and extracts the seeds. Following her instructions, Sierra and I roasted, peeled and grinded the seeds turning them into fresh cocoa powder and, with the addition of other fresh ingredients, into chocolate fondue. While Sierra and I gorged on fondue, our host prepared and a served cocoa cocktail. We ended the evening with a cocoa hand scrub before the short walk back to our hotel.
Slideshow
Here are pictures from Day 18 of our trip to Ecuador.
Expenses
I'm doing my best to track expenses in this spreadsheet for anyone that's interested in a similar, relatively low-budget trip.
Ecuador Fun Fact
Quito, the capital city of Ecuador, is located in the foothills of the Andes mountains at an elevation of 9350 feet (2,850 m).
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