As reported in the international press, a state of emergency has been declared in Ecuador. The borders were closed.
There were exceptions for tourists at the airports. For overland travelers, like us, a police clearance certificate, originating in the home country and provided with an apostille, was required. Great, and how is a weary traveler to organize that from Colombia?
A simple glance at the map shows that one can leave Colombia (where we were located) only for Ecuador or Venezuela. Had this problem not been resolved, our trip would have ended in Columbia.
After hard work and persistence after having arrived at the border with Ecuador, we managed to get a transit visa for ten days. It took us two attempts, but we did it.
Only ten days for Ecuador meant that we had to shorten our program significantly.
The circumnavigation of the Chimborazo volcano was omitted, as was the visit to the coast at Manta.
We decided to do the best with what we had:
A visit to Finca Sommerwind was a must, not least because it had the best beer garden in Ecuador as well as the latest information on the travelling status of the Panamericana in Ecuador and Peru.
From there we went to the Cotopaxi National Park, which led to our first overnight stay at over 3700 meters. Before we set off for another must-see, namely Cuenca, we made a short detour on the Ruta de Cataratas to see the Paillon del Diablo.
Finally, in Cuenca, we had two genuine Cuenca Panama hats made to measure from blanks for Frank and his colleague, travelling companion, navigator and spouse Andrea.
Despite the brevity of our stay, Ecuador was a wonderful experience, as you can easily see from the pictures.
We’ll keep the INSIDER updated.
FRANK KLAUS
Adresse :
Hugenottenallee 171 aNeu-Isenburg,
63263 Hessen
Germany