Travels off the beaten path

Ecuador-Quito (cont’d) Part 2-Meeting my new family.

Ecuador-Quito (cont’d) Part 2-Meeting my new family.

 Arturo from the Academia de Espanol, drove us through Quito, Ecuador, towards what would be my new home for a week.  Jim had been in Quito for 10 days and was already settled in with a family of his own.  He wanted to meet my family and compare the two homes. 

We drove up a pretty steep street near the University of Central Ecuador.  I had used Google Earth before leaving the states so I could see where my house would be in relationship to the school.  It was about a 20 block walk. 

We arrived at a modest home in a nice neighborhood with a security gate. I felt good about where I would be living.  Arturo introduced me to the husband and wife, Manalo and Zaida.  Both were  very nice people and lived in a beautifully furnished home.  Manalo was a retired accountant, but his passion was painting and what an accomplished artist he was!! They showed Jim and I around and told me their house was my house.  I had a small room off to the side with a private entrance and private bath.  Very convenient.

 I put up my stuff and then Jim took me to meet his family.  It was about 2 miles away, so we took a bus (25 cents).  The official currency in Ecuador is the U.S. dollar.  Jim had a very nice family and they welcomed me as if they had known me forever.  All of the host families in the various countries I have studied in are very experienced in making students feel welcome.

 Jim rode back to my house with me on the bus.  It was raining hard and I was pretty soaked.  It was cold and I was worried that I had brought the right clothes.  My house was at the top of a very steep street about 10 blocks long on a 45 degree walk from the bottom.  Manalo had made me promise not to walk up the hill for a couple of days until I got used to the altitude.  No argument from me.  A taxi charges $1 to go up the hill.  Well worth the price when you are wet, cold, and already feeling the altitude. 

I ate dinner with the family at 7:30.  The first night, they made me drink herbal tea, which they said would help me get used the altitude.  Dinner consisted of a meat dish, rice, soup, salad, and croissants.  Their 39 year old daughter, Coya, and 15 year old grandson, Aaron, would eat every meal with us.  Sometimes other members of the family that lived elsewhere in Quito would join us.  A very friendly group. 

The house was a little cold at the altitude, but they piled plenty of blankets on my bed to make sure I would stay warm. 

Next-some more pics of my new family

To read about some of my other travels click here

Steve Barrymore ssb11@prodigy.net

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A week in Quito, Ecuador-Part 1, The arrival

After spending a quick 3 days in Panama City, Panama, I flew south on Copa Airlines to Quito, Ecuador; while my daughter, Stephanie, flew home to Oklahoma City.

I had been in Quito once before about 3 years ago while studying Spanish in a jungle immersion program near Tena, Ecuador on the Napo River.

 My plan was to spend one week in Quito, studying Spanish at the Academia de Espanol, while living with a local family to whom the school would assign me.  I generally use langlink.com to arrange my schools.  They always do a great job for me.

In addition to Spanish school, I would travel to as much of the surrounding area as possible.  For example, I always wanted to visit the market in Otavalo, as well as the museum of the equator outside of Quito.  This would be my chance. 

          Quito

A friend of mine from Oklahoma City, Jim Couch, already happened to be studying for two weeks at the same school in Quito.  Some of our days would overlap.  By the time I arrived, Jim would already know the city and would have a couple of days to help me get quickly acclimated to the area, public transportation, etc., before he returned  home.

When I arrived on Saturday afternoon flight from Panama, Jim was at the airport, as well as Arturo, the representative from the school, Academia de Espanol. Arturo would take me to meet the family with whom I would be living. 

Quito sits at 9,200 feet and was cool and rainy on arrival day.  A far cry from the climate of Panama. 

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Next-Meeting my new family in Quito

To read about my other travels click here

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Panama (cont’d)-Part 13, Food photos of Panama City, Panama

Usually when I travel, most of the questions are about the type of food I eat, and is the water safe to drink?

So, in order to  satisfy the curiousity of my friends, I always try to take photos of the food.  A picture is worth a thousand words when it comes to food. 

Other than eating breakfast in the Panama City, Panama, Marriott Hotel, we ate the rest of our meals out ,which only consisted of 3 meals.  One of the lunches was in local pizza joint across the street from the hotel.  I don’t remember the name of it, but it was very good.  We had a huge pizza, salads, cokes and mineral water.  With tip it was about $24 USD.  A little pricey.    

Our two dinners out were both eaten in local restaurants that I had read about on Trip Advisor.  They were within walking distance of the hotel.  Many of the restaurants in the area were open air or at least had an open air part to them.  If you wanted the air conditioning, you could sit inside. 

The first dinner out was at the Costa Azul , just a block or so from the hotel.  It had good reviews.  Stephanie had steak and fries, and I had the Corvina fish in a Creole sauce.  She had a Balboa beer and I had ice tea that was heavily laced with lemon.  We ordered tap water.  The place looked clean so we figured the water was fine.   We also ate a big order of Calamari plus a couple of salads.  Total tab was around $25-a good value.    We ate outside under an awning.  It was an interesting place.  There were a lot of locals, 3-4 Americans,  and a mix of other foreigners.  I got the impression it was a hangout for ex-pats. 

Here are some of the pictures from the dinner at the Costa Azul restaurant. 

If you wonder where this whole  fish came from, it was actually another customer’s meal.  He saw me snapping photos and wanted me to take a picture of his fish……whatever!

We ate our other dinner at a restaurant named The Terrace.  I don’t have any pics of the food because it was so dark in the restaurant that we had to use the lights from our cell phones to read the menu.  We split a hamburger and some chicken fingers.  I didn’t figure you needed any photos of either of those.  It was more of a bar than a restaurant.

Next-Leaving Panama and headed south to Ecuador

Steve Barrymore

ssb11@prodigy.net

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Panama City-Part 12-The Gamboa aerial tram, etc

Panama City, Panama-part 12-The Gamboa aerial tram. 

The bus drove us a few hundred meters from the Gamboa Rain Forest Lodge to the base of the aerial tram.  There, in groups of two, we climbed into a wire cage for the ride up to the observation tower.

 

On the top of the observation, were incredible, stunning views of the Chagres River and the Panama Canal. 

Even though our guide was responsible for a group of 8 people on this part of the tour, he stayed closer to us.  I think maybe he liked Stephanie. 

I asked the guide a lot of questions.  He told me later how much he appreciated tourists that showed real interest in the area.  He said, “sometimes, people just shrug off the beautiful views and the flora and fauna”, so when tourists like Stephanie and I drill him with questions, it is his oppportunity to show off his beautiful country.  A good lesson here. 

We stayed up on the tower for about 30 minutes just taking in the views and shooting photographs. 

Soon, we headed back down, where we toured a butterfly exhibit with live butterflies, then a little orchid exhibit.

 

Later, we toured  the snake exhibit which was a little freaky.

Stephanie didn’t want to see the snakes, but I told her it was a once in a lifetime opportunity–I didn’t want her to go home and think, “darn, I wish I would have gone into that snake exhibit in Panama”.  She did it.

Our guide told us he had a pet boa that he lived with and it sometimes sleeps in his bed (how do you spell C-R-A-Z-Y?).  The guy was enamored with snakes, but told me he was increasingly afraid the boa was going to eat his pet chihuahua.  I remembered thinking, “that chihuahua would be the least of my worries if that snake was sleeping in my bed”–which it wouldn’t be!

The entire tour lasted from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m.  It was very hot up in the Gamboa Forest.  We were glad when it ended.  We had a pleasant drive back to Panama City.  Franklin stopped several times and waited for us to take photos.  The entire tour, including the van  for the 2 of us to go up  to the Gamboa from the city, plus the tours of the forest was $170.  I gave him an extra $10 as a tip.  Later, I sent his boss an e-mail  telling him what a good job I thought Franklin did.

It was a great way to spend a day with my daughter.  Very educational.  Stephanie had a t-shirt on that day that says it all:

Next-Food photos of Panama City, Panama

Steve Barrymore

ssb11@prodigy.net

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Panama -(Cont’d) Part 11-Gamboa Rain Forest Lodge

Panama-Part 11-Gamboa Rain Forest (Cont’d)

After about an hour druve from Panama City, we arrived at the Gamboa Rain Forest Lodge.  Whoa!!!  This place was really nice.  An incredible view of the Chagres river and the surrounding forest as seen through the floor to ceiling windows in the main lobby. 

The Lodge is a central point for people to stay who are taking many of the area side trips.  Have to admit, it is a very nice place to relax.  Stephanie was whining about why we had to stay in a big, hot, city like Panama City when this place existed.  If we had more time, the lodge would certainly be a good place to stay for a couple of days. 

 We looked around for the property for 30 minutes or so  until the shuttle came to take us to the aerial tram that was part of our tour package.

Next-part 12-more of the Gamboa

Steve Barrymore

ssb11@prodigy.net

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Panama City, Panama-Part 10-The drive to the Gamboa

(Cont’d)

The drive to Gamboa

Now remember, we arrived in Panama City, Panama on Wed. night about 8 p.m.—so by now we have done all those things that I have posted in my earlier blogs, and it still only Friday morning (Just for reference, I need you to stay with me on the time ).  Yes, we have been on a fast track.

I scheduled a trip for us to visit the Gamboa Rain Forest on Friday morning. The Gamboa is only about 1 hour from Panama City.  The tour company I used was:

At 9:15 a.m. our tour driver, Franklin, arrived.  He spoke no English, so again a great opportunity to practice Spanish.  It was a good thing we had toured the day before with Alberto, because Franklin spoke that real flast, blurry, coastal Spanish, and I was already somewhat used to it.  He was a tough number to understand, but a good guy.  We were the only two people in the van. 

On the way out of the city we drove through some of the same neighborhoods that we had been in the day before.  One in particular was El Chorillo, and Franklin told us it was a very bad area and we should never go there.  He made sure our doors were locked.  He seemed nervous. 

Outside the city we drove along the Canal for most of the way up to the rain forest.  A lot of big container ships and tankers were transiting this particular a.m.  Very interesting.  We stopped to take a few photos where there was some work being done on the Canal.  Below, Stephanie pokes her camera through a security fence to take a photo of some construction activity on the Canal. 

One of the bridges we had to cross just before arriving in the rain forest was a one way bridge.  They have some kind of automatic system that alternately stops traffic, so only traffic from one direction can cross.  Then they change the direction of the traffic flow.  Interesting.  Here is a photo of it.

Next-The arrival at the Gamboa

Steve Barrymore

ssb11@prodigy.net

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Panama City, Panama-part 9 Casco Viejo(more Photos)

Part 9-Casco Viejo (cont’d)  More photos

We continued to stroll through Casco Viejo for a couple of hours. Here are some more photos of the area.   

If you are going to go to Panama City, you really should visit Casco Viejo.  It is a nice change from the modern part of Panama City.  It is a pleasant place to stroll, take photos, stop for lunch or drinks and feel like you are really a long way from home. 

We would have liked to have spent more time in Casco Viejo, but the heat really start to get to us,.  Since we were on such a tight time schedule , we decided to head back to the area around our hotel, get something to eat, and rest up for our trip the folowing morning to the Gamboa Rain Forest

Next-The drive to the Gamboa Rain Forest

Steve Barrymore

ssb11@prodigy.net

or you can post your comments.

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Panama City, Panama-Part 8, Casco Viejo

Panama City, Panama-Part 8 -Casco Viejo

Casco Viejo is a very old, but yet interesting part of Panama City.  According to the Lonely Planet guidebook : ” in 1904, when  construction began on the Panama Canal, all of Panama City existed where Casco Viejo stands today”.  The area is very historic and houses some  nice restaurants.  It was definately someplace we felt we should see while in Panama City, Panama. 

 Once we arrived, a street policeman befriended us and served as an unpaid tour guide for about 10 minutes.

As we walked through the streets I kept  thinking  “hmmm….this area seems familiar.  Seems like I have been here before”.  Then it dawned on me….with  the old buildings and narrow streets, it reminded me of Cartagena, Colombia. 

We spent some time taking photos in Casco Viejo.  Here they are:

 It was very hot in Casco Viejo, so we stopped inside an ice cream store and while sitting there I noticed a street vendor outside, so I shot this photo(below) through the door from where we were stitting:

I have a few more photos of Casco Viejo.  I will post them on the next blog (Part 9)

Next-More photos of Casco Viejo, Panama

Steve Barrymore

ssb11@prodigy.net

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Panama City, Panama-Part 7-The Causeway and Las Isletas

Part 7-Las Isletas

Stretching out into the ocean from Panama City, Panama, there is a causeway that many people stroll, bike, drive, or whatever, just to get away from the hustle-bustle of the city. 

We wanted  to check it out and Alberto was more than happy to take us.  I think by this time, Alberto was beginning to see $ signs for the tour.  He was doing a great job and we were enjoying it. 

On the causeway, there are lots of open air restaurants, bars, and souvenir places to spend your money. It’s also a place for the yachties to hang out and enjoy the different restaurants and bars.   If you go to Panama City, you should at least drive out the causeway.  You get a great view back at the skyline of the city.  Shown here is an example of the view:

Here is how the yachties keep out the riff-raff :

Below is an example of one of the many restaurants to keep the tourists occupied–and spending!!

Afterwards, we were ready to go back to the city and relax.  On the way back, we got caught in some of the worst traffic I had ever seen.  After 6 hours of rapid-fire Spanish from Alberto combined with the hectic traffic we were glad to get back to the Marriott.  Alberto had exhausted us. 

How much did we pay Alberto?  $75 including tip for 6 hours total.  At the end of the day, he asked me how much I thought it was worth and I told him $75.  He said he thought that was fair.  We got to see everything we wanted that day, so we thought it was well worth it. 

Once back inside the hotel, they served us some iced coconut coffee in the little bistro in the lobby.  Delicious stuff!  The coffee had espresso in it, so after a few minutes rest we were wired and decided to head to Casco Viejo next.  Stay tuned–

Steve Barrymore

ssb11@prodigy.net

Next-Casco Viejo

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Panama city, Panama-Part 6-More photos of the Canal

Panama city, Panama-Part 6-More photos of the Panama Canal 

 After a couple of hours at the Panama Canal, we jumped into Alberto’s taxi to go back to the Marriott hotel in Panama City.  Alberto, being the businessman he was,  said he wanted to personally show us other parts of the Canal and the city.  We thought “what the heck?  Let’s let this guy be our guide for as long as possible”. 

There are two well known bridges across the Panama Canal:  The Bridge of the Americas and the new Centenario bridge.  The Centenario is quite an architectural masterpiece and after first seeing a photo of it a couple of years ago, it had always been my dream to cross it.  Alberto must have read my mind because that was the first place he took us.  Here is a photo of Centenario from the locks of the Canal and then a photo of it close up. 

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