Ecuador Family Trip – Andes – Quito

In 2020, I planned to visit Ecuador and combine climbing with a family trek. But COVID happened, and the plans were cancelled. Last year, in December, we finally made a trip to Ecuador. I didn’t do any climbing, but we explored the Andes, Amazon and Galapagos over four weeks. This is the first post in the series, and I share our experience exploring Quito.

On Dec 3, we took a late-night WestJet flight from Vancouver to Edmonton and another from Edmonton to Atlanta. Originally, we were supposed to have a direct flight from Vancouver to Atlanta, but the flight was cancelled. After a long layover, we took a LATAM flight to Quito.

I had not paid for the bags when we booked our flights as I was unsure how many checked bags we would have. WestJet check-in baggage fees were reasonable, but due to a system issue, we paid no fees for two of our checked bags. We had to collect these bags in Atlanta and then drop them off at the LATAM counter.

LATAM charged us USD 345 for two checked bags on our return flight. I tried to reason with the LATAM staff at Quito airport and explain to them how their online system to pre-pay for baggage (half the cost) was not working. But I had no luck. When flying LATAM, pay for baggage when you book the flights.

Santiago Garzon

Based on TripAdvisor recommendations, we booked Santiago Garzon for all our commutes between cities and pick-ups/drop-offs at the airport. Santiago is a tour guide and has a large van, so his charges are higher than those of a local taxi driver. However, he is bilingual, has a well-maintained spacious vehicle, and is very professional.  He was always there on time, and was our go to person for any questions/concerns we had about our trip.

Santiago is also a mountain biker and he would have his bike in the van, when he would drop us off or pick us up from locations with mountain biking trails. For e.g. after he dropped us off in Isinlivi, I think he spent half a day going up and down the mountains in the area. I thought it was pretty cool.

I highly recommend Santiago – whether you are looking for a guide in the Andes or want a reliable taxi service. You can contact Santiago at ecuadorguides@gmail.com.

We arrived in Quito on Dec 4 evening, and Santiago picked us up from the airport. We were hungry, so we took a slight detour and bought some food before heading to our hotel in Centro Historico (the Historic Center of Quito) – a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Centro Historico

We stayed in Quito for two days before driving down to Isinlivi and then back for a rest day. We also had rest days before and after our trips to the Amazon and Galapagos. In total, I think we stayed in Quito for six nights—four of them in Centro Historico, one in Guapulo, and one night near the airport.

Plaza de la Independencia (Independence Square) also known as Plaza Grande was within walking distance from all our hotels in Centro Historico. It is a beautiful plaza with a beautiful monument in the centre and many historical buildings around it.

One of the streets near the plaza is Calle Garcia Moreno, also known as the Street of the Seven Crosses / Seven Churches. We visited a few of these churches over multiple days.

Catedral Metropolitana de Quito

(The Metropolitan Cathedral)

This is a 16th-century church on the southwest side of the plaza. From the plaza, I had seen people climb up the stairs to the top of the domes and was curious. So we purchased tickets to visit the domes and were accompanied by a guide. Given our limited Spanish vocabulary, Google Translate was our main mode of interaction with this guide.

After walking up some narrow passages, we were on the terrace and we climbed up a few steps on the dome. We had a great view of the plaza and the city.

Iglesia Católica El Sagrario

(Church of the Tabernacle)

This is the only church I went to twice, once alone and then again with Kasturi and Kavya. There was no entrance fee, and it was peaceful to sit in the church.

Iglesia de la Compañía de Jesús

(Church of the Society of Jesus)

There is a $5 fee to visit this beautiful baroque church, and you also get a tour guide. This time, our guide was bilingual and gave us a good tour of the church.

Of all the churches we visited in Quito, this church had the most impressive interior.

Iglesia Católica San Francisco

(San Francisco Catholic Church)

Just a block from the Church of the Society of Jesus is the Plaza De San Francisco and Iglesia Católica San Francisco. The plaza adds to the grandeur of the San Francisco Catholic Church, the oldest in the historic centre.

It has a museum and a beautiful courtyard and provides access to the bell tower.

Basilica del Voto Nacional

(The Basilica of the National Vow)

This church is about 10-minute walk from the Plaza Grande and is one of the top sites to visit in Quito. It is the largest neo-Gothic basilica in the Americas.

There are two entrance fees – one for the church and another for the towers. We first went to the church and then explored the towers. The size of this church is impressive and reminded me of the Hogwarts from Harry Potter.

Later, we took the elevator to visit the towers. First, we climbed up the spiral staircase to the top of one of the towers. It was a clear day and we had some of the best views of the city.

After a short break, we walked over the bridge and climbed the steep stairs to another tower. From here, we had a great view of the twin-towers—probably the most popular image of this church.

If we had time to visit one church in Quito, I think it would be this one.

Yumbos Chocolate Factory Tour in Quito

We had heard great things about the Yumbos Chocolate Factory in Mindo, but unfortunately, we didn’t have time to visit Mindo. Luckily, Yumbos was now offering a factory tour right in the historical centre, at their facility in front of San Francisco Catholica Church.

The first time we visited Yumbos, it was late in the afternoon, and we had just gotten back from the Amazon. Soon after we started the tour, Kavya had a headache and felt dizzy. I’m not sure if it was the altitude (2850 m), travel fatigue (she had been up since 4 a.m.), or a combination of both.

Yumbo staff was very understanding and allowed us to continue the tour the next day. I am glad we came back. Nikole was our guide and you can see her passion for chocolate in her work. First, she walked us through the different steps involved in harvesting cocoa fruit and turning it into cocoa nibs.

Then, she explained the conching process and how time-consuming the process can be when you don’t use a lot of additives and keep it simple with chocolate and sugar. As per Nicole, anything less than 60% cocoa is candy and not chocolate. The average cocoa content in North American chocolate, sorry candy, is 10-12%.

After a quick demo from the chocolatier, we were ready to make our own chocolate bar. We also added a combination of spice, fruit and salt to make our unique chocolate flavour and packaged them.

We also had a chocolate tasting, where Nicole would quiz us on the flavours we were tasting. Kasturi would guess most of the flavours, while I simply made a thinking face and enjoyed the chocolate.

The total tour was over one and a half hours and worth it. The hands-on experience and a passionate guide in Nicole made this a fun tour.

Ciudad Mitad del Mundo

(Middle of the World City)

The only site we went to that was not in Centro Historico was Ciudad Mitad del Mundo – Middle of the World City, which has a monument to the Equator. We took a taxi, and it almost took us an hour to get to this place due to traffic.

It was late in the afternoon and we had just an hour before it closed. The Middle of the World City has several exhibits including a planetarium. We hiked directly to the monument to the Equator.

The monument’s size is impressive, as one can go inside and walk through its different levels to the top of the monument. Each level has a small exhibit highlighting unique regions and cultures in Ecuador.

Prior to visiting this place, I had read that the actual Equator is about 240 m North of the marked line. So, we didn’t really visit the actual Equator. We spent more time commuting back and forth to this place than actually exploring it. Even though the monument to the Equator was good, I don’t know if visiting this place was worth the effort.

Accommodation and Food

We stayed at Hotel Huasi Continental and Hotel San Francisco de Quito in Centro Historico. The main reason was for easy access to all the main attractions and we didn’t spend much time at the hotel. There is a range of options and these hotels were probably middle of the pack.

Although Hotel San Francisco de Quito has a courtyard and a bit more history to it.

We spent one day in Guapulo between our trips to the Quilotoa Loop and the Amazon. We stayed at Hotel Stubel Suites and Cafe and had a good view from the living room. We also had a washer/dryer in our room, which helped us have some fresh clothes for the Amazon trip.

Food options in Centro Historico were a bit limited for vegetarians. Breakfast was typically continental and for lunch/dinner we usually had pasta or pizza. The best food we had was at Frida Tacos in Guapulo. Great tacos, vegetarian options and flan.

Another chocolate shop, we stopped by was Republica del Cacao (Republic of Cocoa) close to the Plaza Independencia in Centro Historico. They have lots of pastries, coffee and ice cream options. The small exhibit attached to the cafe is pretty good and does a good job of explaining the history of chocolate and Ecuador’s role in supplying some of the premium chocolate in the world. They also have a small factory in the back and you can actually watch the process from the exhibit.

If I have to summarize our Quito visit it would be – Churches and Chocolate. You won’t be disappointed.

I had originally intended to do just one post on Andes covering Quito, Quilotoa Lake and Banos. But after 1500 words just on Quito, I decided to split the posts. Next is Quilotoa Lake and the villages surrounding this unique lake.

Resources:

Ecuador Travel Guide: Happy Gringo | UNESCO – City of Quito

Chocolate: Yumbos | Republica del Cacao

Taxi/Tour Guide: Santiago Garzon (ecuadorguides@gmail.com)

Disclosure: The links I have shared in the post and under the Resources section are not Affiliate Links.

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