12. February 2018

Ecuador: Papallacta

The perfect ending to our trip There is only one thing to say about Papallacta: It was the perfect ending to a perfect stay in Ecuador. We rented a room at the Hosteria Pampalacta. Compared to the price level in the country, the hotel is with about 80 USD per night quite expensive, but worth every penny. In particular, the 800 inhabitants village offers a rare feature: hot volcanic springs. The landscape The outdoor area of ​​the hotel, that lays in a height of approx 3600 meters, offers three pools filled with the hot volcanic water. In the first few seconds in the water, the heat literally burns your skin, but once […]
12. February 2018

Ecuador: Tena – Amazon

Tena – the gate to the Amazon The observation tower in Tena Tena is a city with 20,000 inhabitants and located on the border to the Amazon. Most tourists come to the area to participate in guided expeditions to the rain forest. They offer tours between one and fourteen days and can also adjust to your individual needs. Otherwise, the most popular tourist activity is kayaking and you can see a lot of cars driving through the streets, packed with canoes. A snapshot of the city, on the right the island with the park The sights Unfortunately, there are not a lot of sights in the city. Mainly the “La Isla […]
11. February 2018

Ecuador: Otavalo

Coca-tea for altitude sickness Otavallo is located at an altitude of 2532 meters above sea level and has 40,000 inhabitants. Tourists visiting the city are generally advised to drink one coca tea a day. The coca plant, otherwise known as the raw ingredient for the production of cocaine, shows a far weaker effect as the chemical drug and supports the body in adapting to the thin ambient air. We only tried the coca-tea later in Papallacta (3600 m) – it helps and no, it does not have an intoxicating effect. You can buy the drink in almost every shop or from running traders who only make their money selling tea. But, […]
11. February 2018

Ecuador: Mompiche

Why to Mompiche? Travel educates and broadens the mind, they say. In Mompiche, I learned a lot, especially about handling resources. But let’s start at the beginning: To hibernate outside of Germany, we searched for a house-sitting opportunity in a tropical country. The concept is, that a private person leaves his home to a sitter while traveling. In return for free accommodation, the sitter takes care of the plants and animals or whatever else is needed. To us, this was a nice experiment and it worked out perfectly. After applying to people around the world,  we decided to visit Ecuador and sit three cats for a Tasmanian author. She designed and […]