Exploring Ecuador

LUXURY ESCAPES

Exploring

ECUADOR

From mystical cloud forests to the magical Galapagos Islands, Courtney Maggs-Jones discovers a country that’s small but perfectly formed

LUXURY ESCAPES

E

cuador may not be at the top of your travel wish list, but there’s no reason for it not to be. It’s a fascinating and often breathtaking country with an abundance of culture, scenery and luxury that’s guaranteed to meet the highest expectations. Given its diversity, Ecuador is much smaller than you might imagine; around the same size as Britain, and split into four distinct regions. The Tropics to the west hug the Pacific up to Colombia; volcanoes and mountains make up the Andean highlands in the centre from the north to the south; to the east is the Amazonian basin; and, finally, there are the Galapagos Islands, 1,000km west in the Pacific.

Spectacular Quito

At 2,800m in the northern Andes, Quito is the world’s second highest capital. Pack a sweater, because it gets chilly and you’ll want to wander the cobbled streets of the pretty Old Town with its grand buildings, museums and stunning cathedrals. La Ronda has recently been refurbished to give a taste of the colourful wooden panels and brickwork, and it’s here you get amazing views of the winged Virgin of Quito statue towering above the city on En Panecillo (Little Bread Loaf ) mountain.

Quito has a wide variety of restaurants both traditional and gastronomic, including Urko (urko.rest), a contemporary cocina which uses ingredients from farming communities across Ecuador. It’s during a meal here that you start to unravel the country’s sophisticated, complex palate – a 13-course tasting menu takes you on a journey of intense flavours and delivers some thoroughly surprising ingredient combinations.

At Hotel Plaza Grande (plazagrandequito. com), an historic, grand hotel refurbished by Swissotel, lunch often turns into an impromptu cookery class – typically ceviche – where you work alongside the staff, enjoying the fruits of your labour. With a trip incorporating November’s Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), we also learn to make traditional colada morada (a spiced berry drink), served with guaguas de pan - small decorated brioches in the shape of a baby.

For a great base in Quito, the boutique Hotel Marquiz (hotelmarquiz.com.ec) is delightful and offers a warm welcome - it’s clean, modern, and perfectly located for sightseeing.

All aboard the Tren Crucero

Planes, trains and automobiles are all options to help you enjoy what Ecuador has to offer, but we leave Quito on a Train of Wonders cruise.

Travelling in panoramic carriages, it’s a privilege to sit back and marvel at the beauty and diversity of the countryside as it unfolds in front of you.

Day one: we head north of the Equator, glimpsing snow-capped volcanoes punctuating

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the horizon. Lunch is served at a traditional 150-year-old, immaculately preserved familyowned Hacienda. A hearty soup is followed by a ceviche starter, then a main course of meat, corn, plantain and rice – all in enormous portions.

Given this country’s rich sugar and chocolate heritage, you’ll find juices with every meal, as well as encountering the most incredible desserts.

Day two: Today’s travel reveals the Avenue of Volcanoes. If you’re lucky with the weather, you can spot all 20 volcanoes from the train.

We eventually arrive in Urbina, 3,600m above sea level, at the foot of Mount Chimborazo – the farthest point from the centre of the Earth due to our planet bulging out at the Equator. It’s here that we met Balthazar, the last remaining ice-merchant who follows his ancestral trade in mining ice and selling it at the market.

Day three: A steam locomotive cuts through colourful purple, yellow and red quinoa fields. We continue south towards the mythical Devil’s Nose pass, a vertiginous descent of 450m zig-zagging down to the Chanchán river gorge, crossing an impressive cloud forest towards Bucay. It’s here you move from the Andes to the Tropics, with the country literally changing before your eyes.

Day four: Leaving the forest, we head through the open plains. Rice, sugar cane, pineapple and banana plantations pass by until we stop for lunch on the tracks outside Hacienda La Danesa, an exclusive resort with luxury lodging and fine dining at its core. Lunch is amazing, and a fitting final meal on this once-in-a-lifetime journey. On the final leg of the trip to Guayaquil, cocktails in hand, we are baffled as to why more people don’t explore this beautiful country.

Train of Wonders - Quito to Guayaquil, 4 days4 nights, US $1,650pp, trenecuador.com

The buzz of Guayaquil

The port city of Guayaquil is bustling and humid – there’s a casual energy and the taxi drivers are loco. Hotel Del Parque (hoteldelparquehistorico. com) was originally downtown, but physically lifted and moved to the Parque Histórico where the hotel – and the separate restaurant of Casa Julián – now stand. 44 rooms sprawl across two floors, surrounding relaxing, open air courtyards filled with tranquil plants and fountains.

Juan Carlos Ordóñez, the hotel and restaurant’s executive chef, is only 32, but it’s this energetic visionary who dreamt up Hotel Del Parque.

His vision was to build a world-leading hotel and restaurant - and have Latin America’s 50 Best finally take notice of what Ecuador has to offer. He takes us on a tour around the markets and restaurants of the city to sample stunning flavours from streetfood eateries - like the amazing gust conchas black clams at Mercado De Sauces 9, the tasty cazuela from El Pez Volador, and the breakfast dishes at Café Chonero.

Quito: Where to eat For incredible gastronomic tasting menus, make a visit to Urko or Zazu ● For

jaw-dropping views, it’s Mosaico in the city or El Crater near the Pululahua viewpoint ● For

fine dining - Swissotel’s Hotel Plaza Grande ●

What to see & do

Witness the trickery of the Equator’s swirling waters at the Equator Museum ● Go

on a beer tasting at Cerveceria Quiteno ● Cleanse

your soul with some of the ancestral medicines you’ll find at San Francisco Market ● Marvel at the gold in ‘La Compania’ Church ● Learn to cook at Hotel Plaza Grande La Ronda ●

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Chocolate dreams - how to make ‘black gold’ cacao plantation tours demonstrate how chocolate is made – and it’s fascinating. The Arriba Nacional cacao variety farmed and harvested here grows only in Ecuador; regarded as some of the finest money can buy. Freshly-harvested cacao pods are chopped open, displaying the many lychee-like fruits that each conceal (and protect) a single cacao bean - around 40 per pod. After fermentation and sun-drying, the beans are readied for shipment. A chocolate-maker roasts them, cracks them into nibs, grinds them and conches them into chocolate along with varying amounts of cacao butter and sugar. A final tempering gives the chocolate the clean snap and glossy shine we know and love. haciendaladanesa.com AT HACIENDA LA DANESA IN GUAYAQUIL,

‘By the final leg of the trip, we’re struggling to understand why more people don’t explore this beautiful country’

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We will be hosting a series of supper clubs in 2018 to enable you to experience the highlights of Ecuador’s cuisine.

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When evening comes, we dine in style, enjoying the tasting menu at Casa Julián where every detail is a delight. Highlights include shrimp and clam ceviche, a traditional metal lunchbox filled with llapingachos potato patties and black cheese-filled breads with honey and salsa, and sea bass cooked in a banana leaf, served topped with a stunning reduction. One of the night’s most memorable desserts is made entirely of plantain, whilst another lets us sample our first goats’ cheese ice-cream – which is weirdly delicious.

The culture of Cuenca

Whilst Quito is the capital of Ecuador, Cuenca is its cultural home and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Between Guayaquil and Cuenca is an incredibly scenic drive up to the national park of The Cajas, some 4,200m above sea level.

Cuenca’s historic centre boasts colourful, immaculately-preserved colonial Spanish buildings, cobbled streets, and beautiful public spaces - including its main square. The city is safe to walk around and easy to navigate, and there’s lots to do including a beautiful flower market.

We dine at Dos Sucres, owned by celebrated young chef Daniel Contreras and his family. The focusz is on sustainable local produce grown by agricultural partners. The approach inspires us to visit an organic farm close to the city, where the farmer still uses traditional Incan ploughing methods and acscribes to centuries-old beliefs.

We are staying at Hotel Mansión Alcázar (mansionalcazar.com), a protected building which has been converted to a stunning luxury hotel.

Everything has been preserved in time, with every detail untouched, save for the odd bit of modern refinement and technology.

From the hotel, head east to soak up the Parque Etnobotánico Pumapungo and its Incan ruins, as well as some of the extraordinary shrunken heads from traditional tribes. Or head west of the city to visit one of the hot springs naturally forged into the hills. Spa Piedra de Agua is delightful, with spacious outdoor facilities and wonderful underground spas carved out of the stone. Here, hot and cold mud, natural spring pools and steam hot boxes work their magic on our travelweary limbs. Our lunch stop is at the highly recommended Rosée, a brasserie whose menu features delicate soups, ceviches, empanadas and chicken - each dish wonderfully in line with the wave of gastronomy newly spanning the country.

The early evening return drive through The Cajas takes us past wild alpacas, llamas and vicuñas – like sheep on the Brecon Beacons – and the stunning sunset over the blanket of clouds literally takes my breath away.

For the love of food

There’s something special going on with Ecuador’s food scene. From the tasting menu at Urko in Quito, to Dos Sucres and Rosée in Cuenca, to the Huecas, the country is making new statements with its cuisine. Testament to the trend are Casa Julián and Guayaquil’s La Pizarra – championing all that’s edible about Ecuador. Young chefs like Juan José Morán, Howard Kujan, Daniel Maldonado, Daniel Contreras, Juan Carlos Ordóñez and Santiago Granda are driving the movement and recently launched ISAC (Instituto Superior De Arte Culinario Guayaquil) to highlight their craft.

TRAVEL TO GUAYAQUIL with AirEuropa, which offers four weekly flights departing from London Gatwick. Business Class has just 24 seats, and further perks include Mediterranean menus and premium drinks with extensive entertainment, Sky priority check-in counters and priority fast track security access, extra luggage allowance and priority baggage unloading.

Return flights start from £1754.30pp.

For more details, see the website aireuropa.com For general information about where and when to visit, see ecuadortravel.com/tourism

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Cruises of varying lengths on the Tip Top II catamaran are available from $2,883pp, rwittmer.com

mages: iStock

Make it real...

The Galapagos

You can take an internal flight from Quito or Guayaquil to Baltra in this amazing archipelago.

A short coach ride from the airport takes you to the port where most of the resorts are, but also, most importantly, the boats waiting to take you to the islands. On Santa Cruz, The Darwin Centre is a must-see, where some of the island’s giant turtles are protected as part of a breeding programme. The town has a real Pacific/Hawaiian surf vibe, and fishermen work in the port whilst pelicans and sea lions squabble for scraps – with us standing right in the mix.

Many people opt to stay on Santa Cruz island, taking day trips to the different islands, returning at night to a hotel. Whilst some of the hotels are delightful, we’d strongly recommend taking an organised boat tour to best experience the Galapagos. Our cruise, Tip Top II, is aboard a wellequipped catamaran holding 16 guests. Cabins are simple yet spacious, and the living quarters allow for fun dinner parties as well as sunbathing.

We’re travelling in style, but most importantly, we travel at night, arriving at a new island each day, ready to explore.

Natural wonders

The magic of The Galapagos is never ending. Each island offers a completely different geological spectacle; from the white sand on Chinese Hat to the scorched red earth of Rabida - which is home to hundreds of female sealions and their pups as well as the odd irate bull covering his territory.

It’s also where curious juvenile Galapagos hawks swoop in for close inspection.

Wander trails to find lava lizards and iguanas, as well as a number of different Darwin finches.

Flamingos, frigatebirds, mocking birds and Galapagos doves all form part of the incredibly diverse tapestry. Diving is possible, but with limited availability - although snorkelling with an experienced guide is still very special. Look out for sealions, sharks, rays, penguins, marine iguanas and turtles, not to mention the amazing coral and tropical fish. There’s so much of the unspoiled to discover; so much flora and fauna above and below the water.

We cross paths with other tours, and some of the guides seem disinterested and more concerned with timekeeping than enjoying the experience. But we are lucky. Our guide Etienne is charming and truly cares about this stunning place and its conservation, and is mindful of our enjoyment and ensuring our experience isn’t hindered by rushing. Typically, visitors to the Islands stay for 8-15 days, and there’s plenty to see during that time. From start to finish, the whole experience is nothing short of magical.

Ecuador is a dark horse - one we truly fell in love with. We arrived in this unique country not really knowing what to expect during the journey, and we left with a deep-seated belief that it’s an amazing, beautiful and diverse place that deserves to be explored and explored.

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