Scenery From The Sierra Of Ecuador

living.boondockingmexico@yahoo.com

I didn't take the Canon with me on this work trip.  Too cumbersome for all the things I had to carry with me on the plane without having to check bags.  I like to travel light and who would know based on my wardrobe.  If it doesn't fit in one carry on it's not going.   My Samsung cellphone has sung its last ring tones.  The protective lens cover on the camera eye has become clouded and it is on the inside and could probably be replaced but I need something newer and about the same pocket size.

On this trip we traveled the interior of Ecuador.  

As I have said many times, the Ecuadorian infrastructure is one of the best I have seen in all of the Americas including Canada and the United States.   They updated all of their interstate highway systems eight years ago and it shows. 

Along the routes through the "sierra" there are numerous volcanos and we reached heights on the road up to 3600 meters although the volcano tips reach up to 20,000 feet or more, Chimborazo and Cotopaxi. 

Apart from grain production cattle and dairy products are high on the lists.  You see many areas where cows have adapted to the steep hillsides, having two shorter legs on one side than the other.  Just checking to see if you're reading or just looking at the pictures.

National parks and camping areas abound in the mountains and I feel comfortable to say that boondocking just about anywhere is not only safe but trouble free.  When we think about harassment in boondocking we think about police and transito.  People travel freely in Ecuador, there is no concern about "hey, look out, there's a transito", or that you may have foreign plates.   

I've mentioned before that we would love to rv here.   I find that the issue of security is pretty much like anywhere else although crime is very low in Ecuador.  I know that a foreigner recently was robbed of all of her personal belongings but that could happen anywhere.  Human beings have a tendency to be bad people always wanting what everyone else has.

The only issue in rving in Ecuador is the following.  Even though fuel is extremely inexpensive, diesel $1.05 a gallon and regular gasoline $1.85 a gallon, the cost of a vehicle is exorbitant.  A good used van sells for $15, 000 U.S.  A new Chevrolet SUV is $107,000 U.S.  So buying a used van to outfit it for camping would be risky in the resell and you would want to stay for a very extended period.

I haven't checked yet, but a container to the most northern port of the Esmeraldas would require booking a ship that goes through the Panama Canal.  I'm still not sure I would want to travel through Colombia and Peru only for the simple fact that Ecuador is so user-friendly and would make travel through the country and on to Chile to the tip of South America very easy.

So many good things coming up.  This weekend I will post about Cuenca, Ecuador's version of San Miguel de Allende.