October | 2014 | peaks, pampas, and panniers

We’ve been in South America for only a month and we’ve already seen so many fantastic places. We constantly get recommendations from locals which would probably all be worth an additional three week holiday.

We took one advice of Daniel, a Frenchman who retired and is on a two year trip together with his wife in the Americas. (Check out their blog here.) They told us of the “Swiss Wassi” a little camping place and home of a Swiss-Peruvian couple directly over the boarder in Peru. We’ve decided to spend a couple days here in this wonderful family atmosphere with the sound of the South Pacific waves constantly present. It’s a wonderful place to reflect on the amazing month we’ve had.

Ecuador is overwhelming and I can’t imagine how this trip could have possibly be better so far. The proximity of coast, volcanoes, Andes, Amazonia together with an abundance of friendly people and many new streets tempting us to stay longer and longer. However after three weeks of incredible roads and sites, we took a look at our 1:4 000 000 map and realized this is only the first inch and we have so much ground left to cover.

Omaere, in Puyo was a highlight:

it’s pretty everywhere

another butterfly

could watch leaf cutter ants all day

so much information is hiding in these plants

everything’s bigger and prettier here.

the walking tree moves to get the light it needs to grow and survive in the dense forest

gigantic philodendron cousin of the familiar houseplants

“Number 80”

“Number 80” stretching its wings.

Shuar architecture.

Shuar is sturdy, allows shelter and provides security with a chance to peak out.

True craftsmanship of the Shuar.

Even foul leaves and fruits are fascinating here.

Blood red healing serum from a furry green leaf. Amazing Amazon.

Reduce, reuse, recycle.

Chris Canaday shows us his waterless toilet. Surprisingly not quite as gross as it sounds.

As were wonderful rides

another amazing sunset.

always possible to meet some animals on the road

what a lake! this is in Sangay National Park.

Peaks of Sangay

nice.

photographed by a nice lady standing on top of their car

breaktime

wow.

great roads and usually not too much traffic.

have to keep your eyes open for waterfalls, or you might ride right past them

beautiful

happy andy

how do they get those greenhouses to stay like that? this wasn’t even the steepest one we saw.

rainy days are also great days

patchwork hills

imagine riding around the corner and finding a canyon

mucho turismo

And getting to know about local life

Owner and friendly staff of Café Cultura in Quito

time to check the air

cat looking over his rooftop kingdom in Latacunga

sweet puppy who helped us pack in Quilatoa

St. Bernards near Cotopaxi

Hotelier and puppies near Cotopaxi

“Animal Prison” near Baños.

Forget this guy’s name

wow.

very friendly ladies at the market.

colorful yummy markets

Nice guy prepping for tha nationals at the Honda cross park near Cuenca

We had an early start, and again we had fantastic riding days on our way to Cuenca. The road crosses the Sangay NP. The scenery is fantastic, great views into the lower valleys, the vegetation still being incredibly rich. The air gets cooler and the landscape seems to change with every 15 minutes of riding. As we reached the highest point of the road the landscape reminds me a lot of Scotland, a mere 2 hour ride away from the deepest rainforest you can imagine.

Due to the cloudy sky we were not lucky enough to see the Sangay mountain itself, a 5300m glacier covered volcano which arises from the jungle.

There are very few cars and almost no trucks on the road. The riding itself is fantastic, new tarmac on perfect curves that makes every motorbiker smile. It was a nice and smooth riding today even though we hit some heavy rain as we covered the last couple of kilometers on our way to Alausi where we stayed for the night.

We kept following the Panamericana which at this stage is a very beautiful road winding through the mountains. Christy is improving a lot on her riding, and it is fantastic to see how much she is gaining confidence with all these curves and steep slopes.

We stopped at Ingapirca, the most important Inca ruins in Ecuador. The precision of how they put together the rocks to build their walls is stunning. I have heard of it before, but seeing it with our own eyes was very special and quite impressive.