Into Ecuador

I´m very pleased to say that my first land border crossing went flawlessly. Yesterday morning I peeled myself away from the hammocks and sandy beaches of Máncora onto a combi headed for Tumbes, the last major town in Peru before the border. Tumbes, with its incessant heat and mosquitos isn´t the sort of place to hang around in, so I jumped on a bus straight through to Machala, Ecuador. The immigration offices for both countries aren´t at the border itself, but several kilometres behind the border in both cases. I was cleared out of Peru (and successfully avoided a local man who wanted to charge me for filling in my Ecuadorian immigration form), and got back on the bus. The border itself was simply a bridge over a dried canal in the middle of a town. There was no security at the bridge and the local Peruvians and Ecuadorians seemed to have an agreement whereby they could just walk between the countries without a care in the world.

A few kilometres into Ecuador, on the far side of the town, was the Ecuadorian immigration office. I had taken my buff (funky coloured hat thing) off especially, in an effort to look more respectable. Officially, Ecuador requires that you have in your possession a ticket out of the country, and $20 per day in funds, but they virtually never ask for this unless you turn up looking particularly stoned or bedraggled. I had no problems, and the chap even gave me 90 days which I was very pleased about (the guidebook mentions most people only get 30).

I arrived in Cuenca, Ecuador´s third largest city and base for the southern highlands, yesterday evening. Myself and a couple of Canadians found a hotel and somewhere to eat; I have just found a far nicer hotel for 50 cents less, which I will promptly move in to. Ecuador is completely dollarized which makes things easier in some sense, but I´ve become so used to the Peruvian sol that I keep on converting back to soles in my head to determine whether things are good value or not. They plumped for the dollar in 2000 or so, after their currency had devalued to just a third of what it was in only a year.

I am in Cuenca because it´s a good base for a trek I want to do in Parque Nacional Cajas, which looks to me uncannily like the Scottish highlands. Mike and Rachael from Máncora may join me for this trek in a few days, having elected to soak up some more sun in Peru before dashing to Ecuador. For the next couple of days, however, I plan to stay here and acclimatize whilst exploring the beautiful colonial centre of Cuenca.

I don´t have a very structured Ecuador plan, only that I would like to do this trek, and I would like to see Quito (the capital) which sits about 20km south of the equator. I just can´t justify (let alone afford) the $900+ that a Galápagos trip would set me back, and besides I don´t have much time. How long I stay in Ecuador all depends on whether I find volunteering in Quito...I should think any length of time between two weeks and two months for the whole country is appropriate. Afterwards, I plan to spend some more time in Peru (to see Machu Picchu and other parts), before heading down to Bolivia and then Chile. My only time constraint in this continent is my flight out in three months time, and I am finding that there is more and more to do in Latin America. I promise more photos next post.