We arrived in Quito at about 9:30 last night so our first day in Ecuador was a long one.  The plane ride in was nice and uneventful except for the fact that we were served a full sized meal for dinner on a 90 minute flight.  It was great, they haven’t served full meals since I was little, and it seems like these days you are lucky to get peanuts on a flight in the U.S.

Quito International Airport is a beautiful and modern airport.  When we arrived we stood in line through immigration and then made our way outside walking by customs without being asked to stop.  A man came up to me and asked if we needed a cab, I asked dad and off we went.  We had no plans for our first night in Ecuador so dad told the cab driver that we were looking for a nice reasonable hotel.  The cab driver took us to a hostel that is located in the heart of a more modern part of the city and just outside of the historic district.  It is very nice and there is a restaurant downstairs.  We arrived late enough that we woke the attendants in order to get through the gates.  The hostel is in an old Victorian style house and there are three beds in each room.  Luckily we don’t have to share the room with anyone in order to occupy the other bed and we have our own bathroom. 

Dad woke extra early and went on a long walk and a mission to see how we were going to get the bike.  Bad news, government offices are closed on both Saturday and Sunday, so we will not be able to pick up the bike until Monday.  Dad called a motorcycle friend of his, Ricardo, who lives in the area, but he was busy with a national racing rally that will begin on Sunday just outside Quito.  There is no room at his "Moto house" now because of the international racers who have come to compete.  But we are going to stay at his place Saturday night.  I think he is trying to get dad to race.  I can see the lust in dad's eyes but he says he won’t race because he didn’t bring his racing gear and doesn’t want to take anything away from my experience. 

Since we are going to be in Quito for a few days, dad arranged for us to get a city tour with the brother of the hostel owner.  Marco is an extremely nice older gentleman that loves his country and was proud to show us around and boy does he know his stuff.  When dad would tell him of our trip and our experiences he would swell up with tears in his eyes.  He thinks what we are doing is the most wonderful thing in the world.  You can easily tell that he would do anything to go with us.  He has prepared a map for dad of all the places we need to go.  Unfortunately, if we follow his route we will still be in Ecuador when it is time to fly back.

Our first stop on the city tour was a crater that is located on the Northwest side of the city.  The climate changed dramatically on the way there, from lush and wet to very dry.  On the way there we learned some interesting facts about Ecuador.  It is a little bigger than the state of Colorado but has three times the population.  The coast is a couple hours due West from the city and directly East of Quito is the rainforest.  Ecuador also has 25 different types of bananas from all shapes, sizes and colors.  You can find women selling many of these types cooked in different ways on the sides of streets.

On the way to the crater we passed the Equator.  The crater sits at the bottom of mountain peaks that stretch up to the sky over 15k feet.  It is an old crater and the hillsides are lush with growth.  The bottom of the crater is occupied by Indians and is a lush garden of numerous kinds of crops.

On the way back from the crater we stopped at the park that holds the center of the earth.  Like a small town filled with museums, restaurants, café’s, shops and even a post office there is so much to learn about the Equator.  It turns out that the huge monument that is seen in our pictures is actually off the Equator by about 100 meters.  The GPS proved this.  The employees in one of the museums said that the original inhabitants before the Inca’s actually made a small monument on the top of the mountain that is more accurate than the huge monument that the French built in the 1700’s.  The French had a large impact on the study of the Equator and the building of some monuments and buildings that are still in the area.

We left the Equator and headed south to the mountain, Cruz Lomo, which looks over Quito and the surrounding cities.  It is 4,100 meters high and we were able to take a cable car or what we call a gondola to the top.  It was freezing and well above tree line.  While we were up there we met a group of people from Washington DC.  It is amazing how many nice people you can meet at the top of a mountain.  We gave them our card and hopefully they will follow along with us for the rest of the trip.  This reminds me that when dad was getting the bike checked in at cargo the other day in Panama City he ran across a group also on motorcycles headed for Argentina.  Surprisingly they had heard of our website, but had yet to check it out.  It sounds like we are becoming quite a sight. 

At the bottom of the mountain there is an amusement park and lots of family activities.  There is also a kart track.  For those of you who do not know, my brother Jesse and I race karts in the summer.  He races on the off season in Florida, so I thought about practicing during my off season, but they were closed. 

Driving back down to the city the roads were lined with Eucalyptus trees, which reminded dad of California.   Marco informed us that the trees were imported from Australia and the pine trees were imported from Canada.  Very interesting. 

Quito is divided up into the old and the new.  It has grown together, but from certain points it is obvious where the old and the new collide.  We drove to the Panecillo Loma where a guardian angle looks over the city.  It was here that Spain claimed this land on Dec 6, 1534.  It was also here where the Ecuadorians fought Spain some three hundred years later for their independence.  While we were there workers were putting up huge metal sculptures that will be decorated with lights and then displayed for Christmas.  It was from this hill that the old and new part of the city was very apparent. 

Into old town we went bad traffic and all.  There is one huge and amazing church that sits between the old and the new.  It is built of rock and looks very old.  I asked Marco about it, but he just waived his hand and said that it was nothing, it is a new church.  I didn’t say anything, but I was thinking to myself that it didn’t look very new.  It was at about that time that he chimed in and said, “It is only 300 years old.”  Only?  It turns out that the many other churches that we drove by were about 500 years old.  The oldest church was El Beline and it is guessed to be over 500 years old.  We drove by one church that had the doors open.  You could see that everything inside was lined with gold.  It is called the La Componia and is rarely open to the public.  We were lucky enough to see in through the doors while driving by, it was amazing.  We also drove by the president’s house and the judicial buildings; there wasn’t a big difference in size between these two buildings.

The old part of town can be tied to more than 5,000 years of history.  It is hard to believe that a city so old is connected to the same continent as the U.S., often called the new world.  There was a lot of reconstruction work on the buildings in the old section.  This area has obviously been named an historical area, so the reconstruction is being taken very seriously.  The only colors that can be used to paint the buildings are blue, yellow and white, with other accent colors.  It is not the safest part of the city, but it is beautiful and I recommend it to anyone that visits Quito.

Day 2 several miles by foot and taxi                              

Today was a nice relaxing day.  We slowly got up and headed downstairs for breakfast.  We decided not to take another tour today, but instead we walked around town.  Marco was downstairs when got up and we showed him the updated pages on the website.  He loved the picture of him and me on the mountain so dad and I decided to print out an enlarged copy for him as a gift.  We walked around the streets in the area around the hostel and found a photo center.  The first problem was that the flashcard that we had didn’t fit into any of their card readers and to make it worse the camera we had with us couldn’t read the picture.  So we went back to the hotel and got our card reader and went back to the photo center and we were able to get a great picture printed out.  The lady that helped us at the photo center is in the process of taking English classes at a nearby school and she is obviously excelling because she spoke very good English.  It is funny that a lot of the locals that we come across who speak English are always very modest about it.  They can carry on a conversation in English, but they say that they do not speak it very well.  At least they can carry on a conversation, I have learned many words so far on our trip, but I am still not able to carry on a conversation in Spanish.

We found a vendor on the side of the road selling magazines, newspapers and DVD’s, so we decided to get a few, recorded of course, but still viewable.  It started raining about that time so we headed back to the room and passed some time away with a movie.  It was about noon when the movie was over so we headed for lunch and then walked around one of the large parks down the street.  They had some very interesting trees and a lot of artists had lined the sidewalks.  There were some amazing pieces of art, but we were unable to see a lot of them because the artists had covered most of them with large pieces of plastic for protection from the misting rain.  There was also a small market in the center of the park with a variety of vendors lined up side by side down the sidewalks.  We saw everything from old money, scarves, slippers, jackets and large variety of other textiles, along with wood figurines, t-shirts and a ton of jewelry.

While we were out we saw a KFC and a McDonalds, both of the buildings were two stories high and they had huge playgrounds.  We headed back for the hotel and played around on the computer for awhile before packing up and heading towards Ricardo’s Moto house.  We stopped for dinner at a nice bakery that had wonderful bread and then took a taxi to Ricardo’s where timing is everything.  He was just pulling into the driveway on his motorcycle when we pulled in behind him. 

Ricardo was a wonderful host, he lives in a very nice house and we felt much at home.  He is letting us take one of his motorcycles to the rally that he is involved in tomorrow.  We will be helping and spectating and it should be another fun-filled day.  We look forward to sharing it with everyone tomorrow night.

Day 3   250 kilometers around Quito

We woke to a beautiful, blue sky, crisp, cool air morning.  We were treated to a hardy omelet and pancake breakfast cooked and served by none other than, Ricardo himself.

We got on two GS 1150’s and headed toward the 33rd National Ecuador Rally.  I would say we rode there but it was more like low flying.  Ricardo, affectionately known as “Rocco the Lion,” is a past rally champion and appeared to have his race face on.  Our GS had two people on it but I kept the throttle pinned nearly all the time and was lucky to keep the Lion in sight.  We flew/rode along an awesome mountain road that went into and out of several canyons.  It was awesome but I learned a couple of cultural things.

Through years of training and expensive reinforcements I am off the throttle at the first sniff of a police officer.  Not the Lion.  I remember one time when I was trying to stay close and we were passing a long line of cars over solid double yellow lines with the speedometer reading over 170kph and passing some police officers on the other side of the road.  There was no time to slow down.  I told Clara we are going jail and they are going to through the keys away.  The police officers just smiled and waved.  “Holy Crap!” I thought to myself.  We crossed double yellow lines and were traveling at two to three times the speed limit and the police is not chasing us.  I didn’t know if it was because they knew the Lion, knew it was rally day or they just don’t care.  In either case, it didn’t feel right but it sure was fun.

The other thing that is still hard to get used to is the fact that two solid yellow lines here clearly mean a motorcycle passing lane.  There was heavy traffic but not in the motorcycle passing lane.  Up blind hills or blind corners it simply didn’t matter.  Keep the bike between the lines and car drivers seem to pull over on either side of the highway and provide motorcyclists room.  That would never happen in the U.S.  You try to pass a car there under these circumstances and you will likely get pushed off the road.  Again, it didn’t feel right but it sure was fun.

We arrived at one of the rally station points just minutes before the competitors started coming in.  The racer in me got excited and I ended up shooting over 300 racing photos.  The rally had cars, ATV’s and motorcycles entered.  After checking on the status of all the guys Ricardo had entered in the rally we moved on to another staging point.  We flew to that point as well until we caught some of the actual competitors.  The Lion slowed to their pace which gave Clara some time to breathe.

Before the competitors started the next prime, a timed speed test, it started to rain.  We watched the bikes, ATV’s and some cars start the mountainous test then decided to leave before it started raining hard.  Too late.  By the time we got back to the bikes it was raining cats and dogs.  At the elevation we were at it was also cold.  We stayed and watched the rest of the cars start their tests.  It was still raining hard.  We decided to head to the finish area anyway. 

Clara and I didn’t have any rain gear because it was on the KLR that was still in customs.  Before long we were both cold, wet and couldn’t see.  The Lion, however, in his Aerostitch Darren riding suit was still in race mode.  We struggled to keep him in sight.  We eventually got back to Quito.  Clara and I decided to go back to the Moto house and seek some dry and warm air while the Lion headed out to the finish of the rally.

All in all, it was another fun day.  I’m still not sure whether we watched part of the rally or actually competed in it.  Still, we saw some beautiful mountains, lakes and small towns.  We occasionally got a glimpse of one of the 20k foot peaks.  The clouds would sometimes break and we could see some of the snow up there.  It made us wonder whether we were really in Ecuador or back in Colorado.

Day 4  20 miles to the airport and back (half by taxi)

We woke to a bit of sunshine and could see the snow capped mountains out the windows of Ricardo’s home.  We wished all the competitors well as they started out on the second day of the rally.  Before long, the cold and rain returned as it has everyday we have been here. We were sad to later learn that one of the competitors from Canada had crashed hard and had some serious injuries. We wish Bob Jones a speedy and full recovery. He was here in preparation for the Paris to Dakar rally.

This day had one main mission.  Recapture our KLR.  We hoped it arrived Saturday morning as planned but had no way to ensure that until today. 

Ecuador has the most strict import laws of all South American countries.  Ricardo has helped get some legislation passed to help this but there is still room for improvement.  He highly recommended using an agent and one in particular, Bertha Ibara. 

I arrived at the airport, got out of the taxi and headed toward the customs office.  To my left I found building after building advertising custom agent services.  This makes a clear statement in and of itself.  I went to Bertha’s office and her employees immediately went to work.  They saw that I didn’t have the import way bill from Ecuador.  They took me by car to the Girag offices in a building I would have never found on my own.  I signed some papers, paid $22 and some change and left with the proper paperwork from which additional paperwork could be put together for customs.  It turns out that customs in Ecuador will not take any computer generated forms when it comes to motorcycles.  So an employee of Bertha painstaking typed up three separate types of documents for the motorcycle.  We then had to make a bunch of copies of each form, my passport, driver’s license, registration and shipping statement.

Bertha then walked me over to an office in customs where they receive documents.  Nobody was in line and clearly they weren’t working hard so Bertha insisted on waiting at the window until they completed their work.  They were not happy about this.  They slowly looked over the documents and decided they needed one more copy of a certain form.  We headed back to Bertha’s office to make another copy.  We arrived back at the customs window and there was a long line.  Bertha immediately went to the front and dropped off the copy.  They decided another copy was needed of yet a different form.  I thought to myself, this is becoming just like the bureaucratic mess we face with government administrators in our own country.  This is the largest customs office we have seen on this trip.  It had more employees, more technology, more money, etc.  And it appears that what they have become really good at is slowing everything down.  Bertha and I returned with the last of the requested copies and found they had shut the window and was closed for lunch. 

I walked next door to the airport and had lunch while I tried to kill an hour and a half.  At 1:30 we returned to the customs window and they finally accepted the paperwork.  Now we would have to wait until the general could sign them.  We went back and forth every half hour until we finally had signed papers.  We had to make a bunch more copies then we could go into the warehouses and look for the bike.  I paid Bertha $60 for her services and went with one of her employees to retrieve the bike.

I can’t say how pleased I was to see the KLR safely tucked into a dry corner.  Everything was intact.  I started remounting the mirrors and windshield while Bertha’s employee started handing out copies of papers to the half dozen or so guys who were watching everything I did.  I got the bike all ready to go but not before a gentleman with a tie showed up.  He looked at all the guys that were watching me and started adding numbers out loud.  He said I had to pay $76.  I protested inquiring why they wanted the money.  Nobody did anything but watch me.  With a little bantering I left paying $20.  As I got to the door I was greeted by another guy who owned the building that said I had to pay rent.  I protested again saying I arrived on the first day I could retrieve the bike.  He made up some formal paperwork and a receipt and said his building was not affiliated with Girag and that he needed rent for the time the bike was there over the weekend.  I was getting nowhere so I paid another $21 and some change.  Bertha’s employee gave me some extra copies she said I would need before I left the area.  I left the warehouse and saw a small road exiting the cargo area and took it.  There were cars in line on another road that I probably was supposed to go down.  There was no one to give paperwork to on the road I took so I was finally free and clear of customs.  It hit me.  I was actually on another continent with one of my own bikes and was now free to resume our adventure.  It was a great feeling.  So much so I didn’t even mind the rain on the way back to Ricardo’s.

Our stay in Quito was very nice but a little longer than either of us had expected.  Our butts are getting soft and our minds and hearts are already on the road ahead.  I don’t know where we will go tomorrow but we will be heading south toward Peru.  We both smile when we think of that.

Day 5  280 miles, Quito to Azogues

Before leaving Ricardo’s Moto Adventure house we met another rider named Chris who arrived the previous night.  He is from Canada and is returning home after eleven months traveling South America on his Honda African Twin.  He started and ended his trip in Quito.  He put 40k kilometers on his bike and has priceless memories that will shape and mold him the rest of his life.  He is sad to be ending his journey but at the same time he is also ready to go home.

We, on the other hand, are starting phase two and are looking forward to our time in South America.  So far things look good.  Prices are much more reasonable then they were in Central America.  We had one lunch and drinks for $2 each.  Gas is about $1.40 a gallon and diesel is about a buck a gallon.  Dinner tonight cost us $4 each.

Clara and I liked Quito and the surrounding areas but we were ready to see more of the country.  After sharing some more stories, saying goodbye to new friends and sharing a late breakfast, Clara and I headed out.  Ricardo showed us a way to skirt much of the heavy traffic in south Quito.  We got to ride some nice mountain roads and travel through a few small cities before getting on the Pan American Highway.  This highway, as well as other roads in Ecuador was, for the most part, in excellent condition. 

Today we rode the Andes!  We rode south through what amounted to a long, mountainous valley with huge mountains to the east and west of us.  We stayed between 8-12k feet all day.  The mountains around us stretched much higher into the sky.  The mountains here have less rock than we see in the Rocky Mountains.  They are also very rich and fertile.  Mixed in with trees are endless fields of crops.  Some of these mountains are farmed completely to the top.

The mountains between Riobamba and Cuenca are incredibly gorgeous.  They are especially steep and non uniform.  They are dominated by Indian habitants and culture.  It looks something like the terrain in Jurassic Park mixed with a lot of agriculture.  Ricardo advised us to travel this section in the morning for better views.  I would second that advice.  We traveled this area in the late afternoon and the clouds had covered some of the view.  However, it made for a great ride.  We rode into the cloud forest numerous times with the clouds so thick you couldn’t see ten feet but then we rose above the clouds and had some incredible views with the clouds wrapped in and around the mountains.  Then we dropped below the cloud layer and had exceptional views of the terrain, villages and inhabitants.  It made for a mysterious, awesome ride.

It sprinkled on us throughout the day, it was not until we were high in the mountains that it really started to rain, but it was still on and off.  Just as we were looking for a place to stay the rain really started to fall, timing is everything.  It was a cold ride, due to the altitude and the rain, but this time we were prepared and had all of our gear with us.  The electric vests worked great just like last time.

We found another hostel to stay in, but similar to the last one, it is not a typical hostel found in other countries.  This is like a regular hotel, even nicer and cleaner than most.  However, they don’t take credit cards and I was low on cash.  We were wet and ready to stop.  I was afraid we may have to go on or at least find a ATM.  I was pleasantly surprised when I asked how much a room would cost and was told it would be $18.50 for two people.  There was a restaurant on the lower level.  Once we got dried off we went downstairs and were treated to a nice chicken and rice dinner.

Day 6  285 miles, to Azogues to Macara (on the border with Peru)

We got up early and went downstairs for breakfast.  We received a huge breakfast of fruit, smoothies, eggs, grilled cheese sandwiches and steamed milk and coffee.  About the time we finished I remembered I hadn’t been to an ATM yet and had only a few dollars on me.  I was relieved when the bill came and it was only $1.50 each.

There is a lot to like about Ecuador.  The price of things is one of them.  We stopped for lunch at a very popular place.  The food and service was good.  The price was also $1.50 each.  Dinner cost us $2.65 each.  Gas has been running about $1.40 a gallon and diesel about a buck a gallon.  Tonight our hotel cost $16.  And it is a nice one.  If this trend continues we may get back on budget.  Central America proved to be much more expensive than I had planned.

The prices may be right, but it is the riding that really rocks in this country.  Today we got our fill once again of the Andes!  We started on a cloudy cool morning.  We made the short ride to Cuenca, a large city with a very modern look.  I thought of it as a small Quito but it wasn’t small.  Then we deviated off the Pan American Highway to head toward Loja.  Ricardo told us about this route but he didn’t tell me how good it was.  We immediately climbed up to around 11k feet and rode for tens and tens of miles at about that elevation as we followed a ridgeline surrounded in every direction by massive mountains.  Much of the time we had clear views in all directions. 

The road was twisty and uncrowded.  For the rest of the day we saw, on average, about one car every mile.  The temperature was cool but we had the electric vests on so we stayed toasty.  Much of the road was in great shape but there was weather damage scattered throughout.  You had to stay alert.  This was hard given the awesome scenery.  As I understand it, these are relatively new mountains.  That explains the steepness.  Given the steepness and the affects of Mother Nature, parts of the mountains continue to come down.  Large rocks fall onto the road and cause damage.  People here just seem to live with that. 

As we rode the ridgeline we saw the Andes stretch out in every direction.  There were fewer people, fewer cities and towns, and millions of acres that appeared totally untouched.  We continued for quite a while until we came to a huge canyon.  I don’t know how long this canyon is but the width and depth are of Grand Canyon proportions.  We dropped a little over 4k feet to the river before we started to climb again.  At the bottom we were still at 6300 feet.  Before long we were back over 10k feet. 

The little KLR had to work hard today.  Given the elevations we were at, the steepness of the grades and the load on the bike, she was doing overtime.  However, she never missed a beat or complained.  My biggest concern is that I am going through brake pads pretty quickly.  I should have brought more extra sets than the one I started with.  Perhaps I can find some in Lima when I change the tires.  If not, I'm sure I can have some made. Mechanics can do anything down here. One rider told us he wore out a sprocket and tried to find one. There weren't any for his bike so the mechanic simply made one. Another rider said he broke a brake line and a mechanic made him a new one on the spot. It made me think of the brakes lines I ordered two months before I left and never received. Perhaps I will have a mechanic make me some steel braided brake lines.

As we continued south we entered and exited canyon after canyon once again seeing more towns and farming on the fertile ground.  We came to a few small towns where the road just split into multiple roads with no signs.  In one town we stopped some policia to ask for directions.  They insisted upon escorting us through town and onto the correct road.  In another town we tried to make our way through but kept running out of street so we asked a kid next to a motorcycle for directions.  His face lit up.  He jumped on his motorcycle with his girl friend and told us to follow him.  You could see him riding through town so happy to be leading these gringos on the big green motorcycle.  We made well over a dozen turns but before long we were on the correct road.  Finally on the last town before Macara we stopped as we faced three roads going in different directions.  Before going on I asked some elderly gentlemen the direction to Macara and they pointed back behind us.  I didn’t even see that road as it pointed back about 170 degrees from the road we came in on.  If you don’t mind asking friendly Ecuadorians for directions, then you don’t need detailed maps and signs.

There are two roads to Macara.  We took a rarely traveled road that follows close to the border for several miles.  We were stopped by a military patrol along this route.  They were very friendly and just wanted to make sure all our documents were in order.  We started to talk and before long the entire squad of guys was around us checking out the bike and listening to our stories.  One guy very much wanted us to know that one of his family members was proudly serving in Iraq.  We took a couple photos and continued on toward Macara.  The last hour we continued to drop in elevation until we were about 2k feet.  The terrain became more arid and desert.  We saw lots of mesquite and at times I thought we were in Arizona.

We arrived at the border town of Macara.  It is a very nice little town with a traditional town square and even an airport.  We arrived early enough to pick out a good hotel, take a shower, walk the town, stop in at the Internet Café and have dinner at a restaurant.  It was a very pleasant way to end our last evening in Ecuador.  Tomorrow we cross the border and ride into the northern mountains of Peru.

Looking back, I have to say I really like Ecuador.  It is a place to which I want to return.  I would like to come back for a month or more and explore many of the places we heard about but didn’t have time to visit.  I, especially, would like to ride a dirt bike in these mountains with my new friend, Ricardo.

Click here to read about our experiences in Peru