We really have loved Colombia. The cities have had a very modernised, more developed feel than much of South America, for me one of the few downsides was the fact that on the northern coast a hot water tap is seen as unnecessary. Now I accept that the temperature is 35 degrees pretty much every day, but stepping into a freezing shower, although refreshing, isn't something I want to be forced into. It is not as if a big black tank on the roof (let alone a couple of simple solar panels) would not be hot in seconds.
This one pretty minor gripe aside the northern coast has a great outdoorsy feel, as I said in a previous blog lots of the squares and streets fill up at night with people eating and drinking, most restaurants also have outdoor seating areas which get pretty crowded at night.
Friday, 29 March 2013
Monday, 25 March 2013
Playa Blanca and the meaning of everything
Cartagena is one of the few places in South America I think I could probably spend a year or two living in. The city has a nice friendly vibe despite the fact it is a bit touristy. In the evenings several of the squares fill up with people drinking store bought beers and vendors selling all sorts of food (everything from kebabs and burrito wraps to sweet coconut cake dessert) and drinks to save you walking back to the beer shops.
There are also a number of guys in the streets who have cousins or an uncle in the Uk, Australia, America or wherever you are from, who will get you "everything" you could want. This ranges from helping you organise trips, finding restaurants, arranging massages, selling you drugs and organising a prostitute (I only know this because one guy felt the need to explain what "everything" was despite me telling him I understood what he was implying). Obviously you will pay a heavy premium for such services which we found out when our friend Mike used one of these guys book his trip to Playa Blanca beach he paid 10000 pesos more than we did for the same trip!
Playa Blanca is on one of the Rosario islands and the boat out there should be 30000, with an extra 12000 pesos required or entry to the national park. You can also pay another 10000 to have lunch included although this is not strictly necessary as everywhere there offers you lunch for that price once you arrive (it is not a reservation required kinda place)
There are also a number of guys in the streets who have cousins or an uncle in the Uk, Australia, America or wherever you are from, who will get you "everything" you could want. This ranges from helping you organise trips, finding restaurants, arranging massages, selling you drugs and organising a prostitute (I only know this because one guy felt the need to explain what "everything" was despite me telling him I understood what he was implying). Obviously you will pay a heavy premium for such services which we found out when our friend Mike used one of these guys book his trip to Playa Blanca beach he paid 10000 pesos more than we did for the same trip!
Playa Blanca is on one of the Rosario islands and the boat out there should be 30000, with an extra 12000 pesos required or entry to the national park. You can also pay another 10000 to have lunch included although this is not strictly necessary as everywhere there offers you lunch for that price once you arrive (it is not a reservation required kinda place)
Sunday, 24 March 2013
The beautiful Cartagena
The first thing you notice about Cartagena is the beautiful streets, everywhere you turn in the old town could be a postcard. We really enjoyed walking round every street soaking in the atmosphere.
If, like us, you have been somewhere even slightly off the beaten track (like Taganga) the second thing you'll notice is the price. Everything is pretty much twice the price here (1.5 times the price in Bogota). This is because tourism has hit the area. Toronto is only a 5 hour flight away and America is even closer so several hotels in the upmarket beachfront Bocagrande area cater for the week long, all inclusive, crowd. We, on the other hand, were staying in the more wallet friendly backpacker district around Media Luna street (which is also the red light district!)
So this isn't the most unspoilt part of Colombia in tourism terms, but this has some advantages. The tourist cash means that most of the colonial architecture is well maintained in the old city and there is a good selection of museums (although some of these are mainly in Spanish).
If, like us, you have been somewhere even slightly off the beaten track (like Taganga) the second thing you'll notice is the price. Everything is pretty much twice the price here (1.5 times the price in Bogota). This is because tourism has hit the area. Toronto is only a 5 hour flight away and America is even closer so several hotels in the upmarket beachfront Bocagrande area cater for the week long, all inclusive, crowd. We, on the other hand, were staying in the more wallet friendly backpacker district around Media Luna street (which is also the red light district!)
So this isn't the most unspoilt part of Colombia in tourism terms, but this has some advantages. The tourist cash means that most of the colonial architecture is well maintained in the old city and there is a good selection of museums (although some of these are mainly in Spanish).
Sunday, 17 March 2013
Taganga - the advantage of getting to know somewhere
After the amazing Galapagos snorkelling experience that we both thoroughly enjoyed we thought that, with our impending move to Australia, learning to scuba dive would be something we'd both like to do. With this in mind one of the cheapest places in the world to get an open water qualification is Taganga, near Santa Marta on the Caribbean coast.
We booked in and then read in the Lonely Planet that the food here was not great, this was a slight disappointment but there were plenty of other attractions in the area to keep us occupied, including the beautiful Tayrona national park which you can walk in (camping overnight if you want), as well as diving in the sea on its coast line. We spent a great day in Tayrona, walking in the jungle and on the beaches, the scenery is very dramatic and impressive, however when we were there it was a touch over cast and a bit cold to swim on the great beaches (be careful some of the beaches have strong currents and are not suitable for swimming, these are clearly marked!)
We booked in and then read in the Lonely Planet that the food here was not great, this was a slight disappointment but there were plenty of other attractions in the area to keep us occupied, including the beautiful Tayrona national park which you can walk in (camping overnight if you want), as well as diving in the sea on its coast line. We spent a great day in Tayrona, walking in the jungle and on the beaches, the scenery is very dramatic and impressive, however when we were there it was a touch over cast and a bit cold to swim on the great beaches (be careful some of the beaches have strong currents and are not suitable for swimming, these are clearly marked!)
Bogota cuisine, meat and juice
As I mentioned already in my blog I really like the feel of Bogota. The people there seem friendly and the culture, sights, food and drink we found there were great.
One thing that really stood out was the meat. Many of the restaurants had grills which were inverted conical shaped bars coming to a point above a real fire with different levels for cooking things and keeping them warm. We also had a couple of really good lunches which were basically comprised of lots of meat. The first was from a grill restaurant on Jiminez called "la gran parillia de santa fe" where we started with tuna on top of guacamole (more or less). This tasted great and is really simple to make yourself on the road (I made it from scratch a couple of nights later with mashing up avocado, Tomato, red onion and some oil and serving with tinned tuna steak on top, definitely a good way to save cash). This was followed by something recommend by the waiter which was beef in a local sauce. The starter and main was more than enough lunch for both of us!
We also found that some restaurants have hot lunch plate specials which feature a combination of meats and sausage, another restaurant on Jiminez (whose name escapes me, which is my fault for waiting too long to write this up) served this for around 15-20 thousand pesos (around 7-8 pounds) and one of these lunches is more than enough for 2 people.
The final grill we went to was on Carrera 7, we only stopped because the guy was handing out free meat samples as we walked past (it certainly worked on me, after trying it I was in like a shot). We shared 1 between 2 of us and it was more than enough again. This was around the intersection with 17 Calle on the corner an all of the meat there was tender and excellently cooked.
The other thing we had loads of while walking around Bogota was fruit juice. Near our hostel were 2 smoothie/cocktail bars Yumi Yumi and Mora Mora. The cocktails in the former were great and there was a really friendly atmosphere for drinking in the evening, the smoothies in the latter we pretty awesome, and they had the option to add booze if you were in the mood (although we declined this) both also offered food (although cheap it was not brilliant).
So in summary Bogota lunches are usually big enough for 2, eating them alone would definitely be bad for you. To stay healthy there are some great juice bars (as long as you steer clear of the less healthy but very tasty cocktail option). I should also mention that Colombia has a pretty handy selection of local beers, club Colombia is a very tasty cerveza available as a blond and a red beer, both of which I would highly recommend.
Pictured below are the 7 pound hot plate dinner, a mixed grill and the guard and gates at the presidential residence
One thing that really stood out was the meat. Many of the restaurants had grills which were inverted conical shaped bars coming to a point above a real fire with different levels for cooking things and keeping them warm. We also had a couple of really good lunches which were basically comprised of lots of meat. The first was from a grill restaurant on Jiminez called "la gran parillia de santa fe" where we started with tuna on top of guacamole (more or less). This tasted great and is really simple to make yourself on the road (I made it from scratch a couple of nights later with mashing up avocado, Tomato, red onion and some oil and serving with tinned tuna steak on top, definitely a good way to save cash). This was followed by something recommend by the waiter which was beef in a local sauce. The starter and main was more than enough lunch for both of us!
We also found that some restaurants have hot lunch plate specials which feature a combination of meats and sausage, another restaurant on Jiminez (whose name escapes me, which is my fault for waiting too long to write this up) served this for around 15-20 thousand pesos (around 7-8 pounds) and one of these lunches is more than enough for 2 people.
The final grill we went to was on Carrera 7, we only stopped because the guy was handing out free meat samples as we walked past (it certainly worked on me, after trying it I was in like a shot). We shared 1 between 2 of us and it was more than enough again. This was around the intersection with 17 Calle on the corner an all of the meat there was tender and excellently cooked.
The other thing we had loads of while walking around Bogota was fruit juice. Near our hostel were 2 smoothie/cocktail bars Yumi Yumi and Mora Mora. The cocktails in the former were great and there was a really friendly atmosphere for drinking in the evening, the smoothies in the latter we pretty awesome, and they had the option to add booze if you were in the mood (although we declined this) both also offered food (although cheap it was not brilliant).
So in summary Bogota lunches are usually big enough for 2, eating them alone would definitely be bad for you. To stay healthy there are some great juice bars (as long as you steer clear of the less healthy but very tasty cocktail option). I should also mention that Colombia has a pretty handy selection of local beers, club Colombia is a very tasty cerveza available as a blond and a red beer, both of which I would highly recommend.
Pictured below are the 7 pound hot plate dinner, a mixed grill and the guard and gates at the presidential residence
Friday, 15 March 2013
Taganga, Colombia. Cooking on the road.
I have to admit to being a bit lazy so far on this trip, we've eaten out a lot during our time on the road either due to lack of a kitchen or abundance of good, cheap places to eat.
Now we have arrived in Taganga neither if these things is true. There are not really any great places to get food here and we have a small kitchen in our room, well a gas ring, fridge and a sink, but you get the idea.
To be honest I fancied the challenge of sorting out a meal in this environment, there is no hot water, the cold water from the tap is not drinkable. There is no sharp knife, only a small frying pan and a larger lidded saucepan, a 4 litre measuring jug, no bowls (but we do have a large cup) and a chopping board that is so old and stained it would give my mother nightmares for months. Oh and there is only a single ring gas stove to cook on.
In the back of my mind i thought that a risotto may be the answer so I headed to the supermarket to see what I could find there. This was an interesting experience as the supermarket is not self service here, it is more like the old village shop where you tell someone what you want and they run off and get it for you. This is ok if your Spanish is acceptable, however for me it degenerated into a lot of "umms" and hand gestures to get what I wanted.
The haul I ended up with was...
2 chicken stock cubes
1/4 of a chicken (leg, bit of thigh, lot of rib)
1 bottle of butter flavoured cooking oil?!?!
2 Spanish onions
2 green peppers
4 plum tomatoes
Garlic
Parmesan
Rice (they only had one type, definitely not risotto)
5.5 litres of drinking water in a bag!
Planning when you only have one gas ring is pretty important, I needed it for hot water for washing up, for making the chicken stock, to help peel the tomatoes and of course for cooking the risotto itself.
First I put some water on the boil to make the chicken stock, while this was heating up I washed all the veges in tap water to get the worst of the dirt off before rinsing in drinking water. I then scored the tomatoes with a cross at the top and bottom and dropped them into the now boiling water for a minute or two. These were the removed and left to cool, when they were subsequently peeled. I then disolved the stock cubes in the water.
The biggest problem with the kitchen was actually the lack of any kind of sharp knife. Luckily I have my pen knife but the blade is at best 1 and a half inches long. I used this to chop the garlic, onion, pepper and tomatoes while the stock was boiling.
I used the jug to hold the rice while I rinsed it (we have no sieve so I poured the water off the rice using my fingers to stop the rice escaping) before putting the drained rice in the frying pan. I then put around 300ml of the stock in the frying pan with the rice (this pan is not on the heat) and put the rest of the stock in the jug.
Finally I prepared the chicken this was fun using only a penknife basically separating the thigh and leg by cutting most of the meat around the joint then pulling, i skinned these and left the meat on the bone, I then cut all the remaining meat of the carcass.
I heated some butter oil in the pan and added the onion and garlic, after the onion had softened I added the pepper and chicken and waited until the chicken had started to brown before adding the rice and half of the stock (something like half a litre) and the tomatoes. I then stirred this all in and put a lid on the pan and brought this to the boil before simmering for 2 hours while occasionally stirring and adding more stock.
Once finished it tasted pretty great, especially accompanied by a Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon from concha y torro!
The total cost was around 20,000 Colombian pesos, or 8 quid but when you consider a steak and chips in a restaurant is only between 18 and 22 thousand I suspect I won't be going to the effort again in Colombia!
Pictured are the pan, the water bag, the finished risotto and the gas ring and preparation area.
Now we have arrived in Taganga neither if these things is true. There are not really any great places to get food here and we have a small kitchen in our room, well a gas ring, fridge and a sink, but you get the idea.
To be honest I fancied the challenge of sorting out a meal in this environment, there is no hot water, the cold water from the tap is not drinkable. There is no sharp knife, only a small frying pan and a larger lidded saucepan, a 4 litre measuring jug, no bowls (but we do have a large cup) and a chopping board that is so old and stained it would give my mother nightmares for months. Oh and there is only a single ring gas stove to cook on.
In the back of my mind i thought that a risotto may be the answer so I headed to the supermarket to see what I could find there. This was an interesting experience as the supermarket is not self service here, it is more like the old village shop where you tell someone what you want and they run off and get it for you. This is ok if your Spanish is acceptable, however for me it degenerated into a lot of "umms" and hand gestures to get what I wanted.
The haul I ended up with was...
2 chicken stock cubes
1/4 of a chicken (leg, bit of thigh, lot of rib)
1 bottle of butter flavoured cooking oil?!?!
2 Spanish onions
2 green peppers
4 plum tomatoes
Garlic
Parmesan
Rice (they only had one type, definitely not risotto)
5.5 litres of drinking water in a bag!
Planning when you only have one gas ring is pretty important, I needed it for hot water for washing up, for making the chicken stock, to help peel the tomatoes and of course for cooking the risotto itself.
First I put some water on the boil to make the chicken stock, while this was heating up I washed all the veges in tap water to get the worst of the dirt off before rinsing in drinking water. I then scored the tomatoes with a cross at the top and bottom and dropped them into the now boiling water for a minute or two. These were the removed and left to cool, when they were subsequently peeled. I then disolved the stock cubes in the water.
The biggest problem with the kitchen was actually the lack of any kind of sharp knife. Luckily I have my pen knife but the blade is at best 1 and a half inches long. I used this to chop the garlic, onion, pepper and tomatoes while the stock was boiling.
I used the jug to hold the rice while I rinsed it (we have no sieve so I poured the water off the rice using my fingers to stop the rice escaping) before putting the drained rice in the frying pan. I then put around 300ml of the stock in the frying pan with the rice (this pan is not on the heat) and put the rest of the stock in the jug.
Finally I prepared the chicken this was fun using only a penknife basically separating the thigh and leg by cutting most of the meat around the joint then pulling, i skinned these and left the meat on the bone, I then cut all the remaining meat of the carcass.
I heated some butter oil in the pan and added the onion and garlic, after the onion had softened I added the pepper and chicken and waited until the chicken had started to brown before adding the rice and half of the stock (something like half a litre) and the tomatoes. I then stirred this all in and put a lid on the pan and brought this to the boil before simmering for 2 hours while occasionally stirring and adding more stock.
Once finished it tasted pretty great, especially accompanied by a Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon from concha y torro!
The total cost was around 20,000 Colombian pesos, or 8 quid but when you consider a steak and chips in a restaurant is only between 18 and 22 thousand I suspect I won't be going to the effort again in Colombia!
Pictured are the pan, the water bag, the finished risotto and the gas ring and preparation area.
Saturday, 9 March 2013
Bogota, city of surprises
From Quito the plan had been to get busses through Colombia, this would have taken a couple of days and allowed us to see Ottavalo, where there is an apparently great market, Pasto and Popayan. Sadly the coffee pickers in the south of Colombia had other ideas and decided to go on strike blockading the two main northbound roads. So we once again decided to fly (so much for our good intentions of taking buses and saving money.)
We booked a hostel in La Candelaria area of Bogota, which is the main historic old town where most of the tourists go, as well as having a large student population. It is also blessed with an abundance of restaurants, juice/cocktail bars (depending on if it is day or night) and eating options to go with a pretty impressive nightlife scene.
The first thing we noticed when arriving was it was cold, well, cool. I had expected it to be sticky and tropical but because Bogota sits at around 2600m above sea level it has an average temperature of 14 Celsius.
The second thing that became apparent is that tourists appeared to be giving Bogota a miss and instead heading straight to Medellin or Cartagena and the rest of the Caribbean coast in the North. I think this is a shame because Bogota has a great vibe as a city and there is plenty to do with around 50 museums, including the excellent Museo de oro (museum of gold), as well as having a 2 hour free walking tour (in English) run by the central tourist information and gives information on a bit of South American and Colombian history while introducing you the main historical buildings.
There is also a hill (Cerro de Monserrate) in the city (near La Candeleria) which has a church (sanctuario de monserrate) on it and once you have taken the cable car or walked up you are treated to spectacular views over the whole of Bogota.
Food wise making a decision on where to eat was difficult with many nice looking places offering a variety of food.
There were a few things in Bogota I really wanted to eat. The first is a chicken soup called ajiaco which, like much of South America has its origins with the South American tribes (not the incas in Colombia, they did not get that far north) and the Spanish conquistadors who conquered them. The basis of the soup is a corn and vegetable broth (traditional indigenous Indian staples) with chicken added and served with pots of cream, avacado and capers (all Spanish additions) which you can add into your soup in quantities you want.
I had the one pictured at the bottom of the blog at a restaurant called Sanalejio on Jiminez ( the Main Street running down the side of la Candeleria) which was filling, tasty but not exactly haut cuisine. The idea of eating avocado floating in soup was interesting and not unpleasant.
The embrace and extend attitude of the conquistadors can be seen all over South America, with many of the churches are built on inka (or other indigenous) sites of worship. The church also incorporated a lot of traditional aspects into its art in South American churches with the sun and moon featuring strongly as they were also worshipped as part of the earlier religions here.
Anyway, I digress, I have to say that my first impressions of Bogota were very favourable (and not just because the cool temperature and inclement weather reminded me of Britain). In my next blog I'll go into the other food we had here and maybe a bit more about the city. Pictured below are the ajiaco and accompaniment, the church in bolivar square and 2 views of the city from the cerro de Monserrate.
We booked a hostel in La Candelaria area of Bogota, which is the main historic old town where most of the tourists go, as well as having a large student population. It is also blessed with an abundance of restaurants, juice/cocktail bars (depending on if it is day or night) and eating options to go with a pretty impressive nightlife scene.
The first thing we noticed when arriving was it was cold, well, cool. I had expected it to be sticky and tropical but because Bogota sits at around 2600m above sea level it has an average temperature of 14 Celsius.
The second thing that became apparent is that tourists appeared to be giving Bogota a miss and instead heading straight to Medellin or Cartagena and the rest of the Caribbean coast in the North. I think this is a shame because Bogota has a great vibe as a city and there is plenty to do with around 50 museums, including the excellent Museo de oro (museum of gold), as well as having a 2 hour free walking tour (in English) run by the central tourist information and gives information on a bit of South American and Colombian history while introducing you the main historical buildings.
There is also a hill (Cerro de Monserrate) in the city (near La Candeleria) which has a church (sanctuario de monserrate) on it and once you have taken the cable car or walked up you are treated to spectacular views over the whole of Bogota.
Food wise making a decision on where to eat was difficult with many nice looking places offering a variety of food.
There were a few things in Bogota I really wanted to eat. The first is a chicken soup called ajiaco which, like much of South America has its origins with the South American tribes (not the incas in Colombia, they did not get that far north) and the Spanish conquistadors who conquered them. The basis of the soup is a corn and vegetable broth (traditional indigenous Indian staples) with chicken added and served with pots of cream, avacado and capers (all Spanish additions) which you can add into your soup in quantities you want.
I had the one pictured at the bottom of the blog at a restaurant called Sanalejio on Jiminez ( the Main Street running down the side of la Candeleria) which was filling, tasty but not exactly haut cuisine. The idea of eating avocado floating in soup was interesting and not unpleasant.
The embrace and extend attitude of the conquistadors can be seen all over South America, with many of the churches are built on inka (or other indigenous) sites of worship. The church also incorporated a lot of traditional aspects into its art in South American churches with the sun and moon featuring strongly as they were also worshipped as part of the earlier religions here.
Anyway, I digress, I have to say that my first impressions of Bogota were very favourable (and not just because the cool temperature and inclement weather reminded me of Britain). In my next blog I'll go into the other food we had here and maybe a bit more about the city. Pictured below are the ajiaco and accompaniment, the church in bolivar square and 2 views of the city from the cerro de Monserrate.
Wednesday, 6 March 2013
Quito, journey to the middle of the world
Either side of our Galapagos trip we stayed in Quito, Equador. I think it is safe to say that it would be no-one's first choice holiday destination were it not for the regular flights to the Galapagos.
This is probably slightly unfair as the city does have several beautiful squares and a rather strange boast, in its northern suburbs it has "el mittad del Mundo" or "the middle of the world!"
The general ambiance of the historic centre with its grand buildings and squares is pretty relaxed although you'd be forgiven for thinking that every other person is a policeman of some kind, this includes the staff in the tourist information office!
Budget wise had been struggling to stay within our limits so we were glad to discover Almuerzos, this is a set lunch menu offered by most restaurants. The meal starts with soup, has a main course of fish (or meat, you do occasionally get a choice) with rice, usually a lentil or tomato sauce and some avacado slices on the side, it is served with a fruit drink of some description and sometimes even comes with a dessert. The whole thing usually costs less that 2 dollars per person and if you pick somewhere with plenty of locals inside it is usually pretty tasty.
In the evening we had several nights to explore the restaurants. We were given dire warnings about stepping out of the tourist zone, so we felt hemmed in to the historical centre where the restaurants are much of a muchness and a main costs between 7-14 dollars. Food is very much meat, some potato and veges an a slice or two of avocado.
There are two main groups of these restaurants, one on the main square in and near the archbishops palace commercial centre and the other is on the restored tourist street called La Ronda. The portions are usually massive in these places so if you have a small appetite skipping a starter would be a plan.
The pick of the restaurants were probably cafe Grand Plaza where I had a very good goat curry and "hasta la vuelta, senior" which had some good steaks and a decent seafood pasta but really we didn't have a terrible or brilliant meal while we were eating in the tourists areas.
Food wise the best find may have been the San Augustin heladoria which has loads of different sorbet flavours made from local fruits (such as cactus and passion fruit) and is definitely a great place to stop on a hot afternoon.
While we were in Quito our luck also ran out on the stomach front, so we only really did one excursion which was to the middle of the earth. We chose the cheap way to get there, which was 2 dollars each in bus fare, rather than the secondary option which was a 45 dollar taxi tour. The buses were very similar to catching the northern line in a morning but other than that got us there OK.
The middle of the earth itself is not really very impressive, it was designated by a group of Frenchmen who wanted a good triangulation point on the equator. They have built a whacking great stone building and marked the equator and a kind of theme park has grown up around it with shops and restaurants.
There are a couple of issues, 1) it is not technically on the equator and 2) the shops etc. don't really have much interesting stuff.
However five hundred metres down the road is the inti-ñan solar museum. This is actually on the equator and for 4 dollars a guide will take you through some equadorian history and show you a load of cool experiments you can do on the equator, such as draining water in the northern and Southern Hemisphere then on the equator, walking down the equator with your eyes closed (fiendishly tricky) and balancing an egg on a nail (surprisingly easy). I think had we paid the 45 bucks for a cab we'd have felt robbed but as it was only 4 dollars and 3 hours of our lives spent on buses it was probably worth while.
Next stop is Bogota, Columbia, which we are flying to despite the cost, mainly because the UK and Australian governments both have do not travel warnings for the border crossing in the south which we had planned to take a bus through.
This is probably slightly unfair as the city does have several beautiful squares and a rather strange boast, in its northern suburbs it has "el mittad del Mundo" or "the middle of the world!"
The general ambiance of the historic centre with its grand buildings and squares is pretty relaxed although you'd be forgiven for thinking that every other person is a policeman of some kind, this includes the staff in the tourist information office!
In the evening we had several nights to explore the restaurants. We were given dire warnings about stepping out of the tourist zone, so we felt hemmed in to the historical centre where the restaurants are much of a muchness and a main costs between 7-14 dollars. Food is very much meat, some potato and veges an a slice or two of avocado.There are two main groups of these restaurants, one on the main square in and near the archbishops palace commercial centre and the other is on the restored tourist street called La Ronda. The portions are usually massive in these places so if you have a small appetite skipping a starter would be a plan.
The pick of the restaurants were probably cafe Grand Plaza where I had a very good goat curry and "hasta la vuelta, senior" which had some good steaks and a decent seafood pasta but really we didn't have a terrible or brilliant meal while we were eating in the tourists areas.Food wise the best find may have been the San Augustin heladoria which has loads of different sorbet flavours made from local fruits (such as cactus and passion fruit) and is definitely a great place to stop on a hot afternoon.
While we were in Quito our luck also ran out on the stomach front, so we only really did one excursion which was to the middle of the earth. We chose the cheap way to get there, which was 2 dollars each in bus fare, rather than the secondary option which was a 45 dollar taxi tour. The buses were very similar to catching the northern line in a morning but other than that got us there OK.
The middle of the earth itself is not really very impressive, it was designated by a group of Frenchmen who wanted a good triangulation point on the equator. They have built a whacking great stone building and marked the equator and a kind of theme park has grown up around it with shops and restaurants. There are a couple of issues, 1) it is not technically on the equator and 2) the shops etc. don't really have much interesting stuff.
However five hundred metres down the road is the inti-ñan solar museum. This is actually on the equator and for 4 dollars a guide will take you through some equadorian history and show you a load of cool experiments you can do on the equator, such as draining water in the northern and Southern Hemisphere then on the equator, walking down the equator with your eyes closed (fiendishly tricky) and balancing an egg on a nail (surprisingly easy). I think had we paid the 45 bucks for a cab we'd have felt robbed but as it was only 4 dollars and 3 hours of our lives spent on buses it was probably worth while.
Next stop is Bogota, Columbia, which we are flying to despite the cost, mainly because the UK and Australian governments both have do not travel warnings for the border crossing in the south which we had planned to take a bus through.
The Galapagos, amazing things people used to (and in some cases still do) eat
We are pretty much half way through our trip here in South America. Leaving Lima and Peru behind we flew TAME (which is an achievement as getting tickets outside of their native Equador is a mission) to Quito in preparation for the main part of our trip, the Galapagos islands.
Rather than busking it and trying to get a late deal or DIY a trip when we were here this was the only tour we have booked in advance. We did this to make sure we got a spot and to guarantee an English speaking tour. We got our trip through Geckos because they had a 2 for 1 deal a while back (just when we were booking, which was lucky) but several other English speaking companies operate boats and tour services(intrepid and g adventures to name but two). You do have to do some kind of licensed tour as the national park in Equador is pretty strictly regulated and all boats have a set itinerary for the week.
Our tour was 6 days on the boat sailing around these amazing volcanic islands, with different walking and snorkelling activities each day. I should probably mention the food on board, which was predominately fish and tasted excellent was all caught locally (there are designated area for long line fishing, regulated by the national park). To be honest though this was very much secondary to the island themselves.
From the first landing it was easy to see why people flock to these islands, hundreds of animals with very few predators sit on the side of all of the paths. The first place we landed was surrounded by hundreds of red crabs. Rather than scuttle off these simply sat and watched as we walked past. I asked our guide if they were tasty, which he assured me they were but 10 years ago catching them and eating them was banned as they were on the brink of dying out. This ban appears to have worked wonders as we saw hundreds of them over the next week.
The islands and their animals have had a quite chequered history, after being discovered by Darwin lots of people used the islands for all sorts of sailing activities, pirates used it as a base, whalers used it as a safe harbour and people came to look at the wildlife.
Sadly the pirates and sailors dumped several different species for food (goats and pigs) on several of the islands which competed for the same food as the tortoises and iguanas and almost led to them dying out. The original visitors also took tortoises and turtles with them to eat on their long journey home.
In the last 30 years or so conservation has really taken off in the islands. The goats have been eradicated as have the pigs, although black rats (an accidental addition) still remain on the bigger islands. Tortoises and turtles have grown in number partially as part of a captive breeding program but also on their own, on a couple of the islands they are everywhere, in the roads, on the paths and in the bushes and like all the animals on the islands they weren't afraid of humans at all.
Snorkelling around the islands was also amazing, there are many different types of sea life to see, during my time there I swam with Sea lions, turtles, manta and sting rays, reef sharks, a hammer head shark and tropical fish too numerous to mention.
It was a great few days although on our tour it was a bit of a shame that no-one on our boat was particularly up for staying up after 8pm despite a well stocked bar, although it probably saved us some money and meant that we didn't put on even more weight (walks in the Galapagos are around 96% standing round taking photos and 4% actually walking). Definitely glad we guaranteed this trip early and built our itinerary around it, will definitely be something I remember for a long time.
Pictures below are some of my favourite animals, the red crabs, tortoises, marine iguanas, sea-lion and feedig time at the tortoises captive breeding program at the Darwin centre
Rather than busking it and trying to get a late deal or DIY a trip when we were here this was the only tour we have booked in advance. We did this to make sure we got a spot and to guarantee an English speaking tour. We got our trip through Geckos because they had a 2 for 1 deal a while back (just when we were booking, which was lucky) but several other English speaking companies operate boats and tour services(intrepid and g adventures to name but two). You do have to do some kind of licensed tour as the national park in Equador is pretty strictly regulated and all boats have a set itinerary for the week.
Our tour was 6 days on the boat sailing around these amazing volcanic islands, with different walking and snorkelling activities each day. I should probably mention the food on board, which was predominately fish and tasted excellent was all caught locally (there are designated area for long line fishing, regulated by the national park). To be honest though this was very much secondary to the island themselves.
From the first landing it was easy to see why people flock to these islands, hundreds of animals with very few predators sit on the side of all of the paths. The first place we landed was surrounded by hundreds of red crabs. Rather than scuttle off these simply sat and watched as we walked past. I asked our guide if they were tasty, which he assured me they were but 10 years ago catching them and eating them was banned as they were on the brink of dying out. This ban appears to have worked wonders as we saw hundreds of them over the next week.
The islands and their animals have had a quite chequered history, after being discovered by Darwin lots of people used the islands for all sorts of sailing activities, pirates used it as a base, whalers used it as a safe harbour and people came to look at the wildlife.
Sadly the pirates and sailors dumped several different species for food (goats and pigs) on several of the islands which competed for the same food as the tortoises and iguanas and almost led to them dying out. The original visitors also took tortoises and turtles with them to eat on their long journey home.
In the last 30 years or so conservation has really taken off in the islands. The goats have been eradicated as have the pigs, although black rats (an accidental addition) still remain on the bigger islands. Tortoises and turtles have grown in number partially as part of a captive breeding program but also on their own, on a couple of the islands they are everywhere, in the roads, on the paths and in the bushes and like all the animals on the islands they weren't afraid of humans at all.
Snorkelling around the islands was also amazing, there are many different types of sea life to see, during my time there I swam with Sea lions, turtles, manta and sting rays, reef sharks, a hammer head shark and tropical fish too numerous to mention.
It was a great few days although on our tour it was a bit of a shame that no-one on our boat was particularly up for staying up after 8pm despite a well stocked bar, although it probably saved us some money and meant that we didn't put on even more weight (walks in the Galapagos are around 96% standing round taking photos and 4% actually walking). Definitely glad we guaranteed this trip early and built our itinerary around it, will definitely be something I remember for a long time.
Pictures below are some of my favourite animals, the red crabs, tortoises, marine iguanas, sea-lion and feedig time at the tortoises captive breeding program at the Darwin centre
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