ECUADOR - LOVE LIFE

This will be  my 9th visit to this wonderful little country in South America.  I have written about it before, but every time I come back I am re-inspired to say more about the best kept secret south of our border.

Chili Dog enjoying Mashpi

Their new promotional campaign  ECUADOR-LOVE LIFE, aims to change all of that.  Peru, where I lived for many years, put itself on the map with a major advertising campaign; and now Ecuador wants to do the same thing.  There are so many new hotels, new tourism venues, so much to see that the tourism promotional dollars (yes the country uses the good ole greenback for its currency) are flowing. Thus the new campaign.  

Well I am here to love life and to see the new hotels and visit again the Cloud Forest in a national reserve called Mashpi.

The first night, I spent in the wonderful new Gangotena  in the historic city center.  This hotel, created from the shell of a historic home once owned by one of Quito's historic aristocratic families, is now a world class, 5 star deluxe property with all the bells and whistles of what you might find in Paris, London or New York.  Complete with butlers and 24 hour service, this is a wonderful spot to start any trip to Ecuador.

From there I head northwest to the Cloud Forest.  Making stops along the way, I have made a new friend, Ivan, the Food and Beverage Director of the Mashpi Lodge.  What could be better than a two hour ride discussing the amazing food opportunities in this wonderful little country.  Not only do you have the fruits and vegetables of the Andes (Chirimoyas, pears, apples and all kinds of herbs) but 3 hours to the west is the lowland area of the Pacific which produce wonderful watermelons, papayas, mangos, oranges, and all kinds of citrus.  Best of all, wines from Chile and Argentina are shipped almost duty free to this country so along with a wonderful selection of wines, you also have great local beer.

We stop in Tulipe to see the ancient site of the Yumbo people.  We are an hour and 1/2 from Quito, and shortly thereafter we plunge into the dense jungle where the leaves of plants and trees are so big the locals use them for umbrellas.   We are in the Cloud Forest!

Here the clouds come and go, but we arrive at the most amazing glass and wood structure in the middle of no-where Ecuador in time for lunch. My new friend, Ivan jumps out of the van to go and make sure that his people in the kitchen at Masphi are preparing the local delicacies for the few guests that can stay at the eco resort.  Only 20 room, three of which are suites.....and lucky me...I get one of them.



Ivan

Tonight Ivan has inited us to a chocolate tasting (I asked for a wine tasting but he is more proud of the local product of the Cacao Tree.  So....only liking the very dense 70 to 80% pure organic type....we will see what he has to show me.  He says dinner tonight will be special and we might even see two local Ocelots that come to visit.

More on both these subject tomorrow after I plunge into the cloud forest to see exotic birds, butterflies and other species found here.  Ecuador - Love Life - Definately!