Colombia

Coffee candies and coconut and sugar cane sweets.

Wonderful biscuits.

 

Ecuador - ten quick facts from active volcanoes to eating guinea pigs

Map from Wikivoyage.

As you see it has borders with Colombia to the North and Peru to the South.

Problem
The colourful flag of Ecuador.

A friend of mine writes that's she is hiking in Ecuador. I know nothing about Ecuador. Maybe before I meet up with her for lunch later this year, I should learn something about it. What do I know?

Answer
1 The name Ecuador means Equator. In the capital, Quito, is this monument.

Photo by Author Hennelore Hopfe. Picture of the monument of the middle of the world on the equatorial line. Notice the big letter N, north, and S, south.

2 I know Ecuador has volcanoes because my friend is climbing volcanoes.

Active volcano Tungurahua above the town of Baños de Agua Santa, meaning baths of holy water. Photo by Author Hjvannes.




What is there to drink? Sugar cane juice. (Jugo de Caña - juice of cane), in Baños. User J Miers. Jtesla16 at wts wikivoyage.

Cable car, Manto del novia waterfall. (Manto means mantle) Author J Miers User. WT shared. Jtesla16 at wts wikivoyage.

The swing in Case del Arbol, Baños, Ecuador. From Wikivoyage, user Laurianv.

two hours to:
3 The capital is called Quito.
4 The language is Spanish.
5 The religion is probably Catholic, because of the Spanish language and names such as Santo Domingo.
6 The people eat sardines because they have a bay of sardines.
7 Two jobs in the present or past will be fishermen and priests.
8 The country has a coast on the Pacific Ocean.

Cuenca see the new cathedral with cupolas. Photo by Alex Proimos.














Also see Puyo to the east, for waterfall.

A few words of Spanish from the map of the country:

Spanish- English
viejo - old
rio - river
nueva  - new
de - of / from
sardinas - sardines
puerto - port
santo - holy
domingo - Sunday
cuenca - basin

English - Spanish
old - viejo
River - rio
new - nueva
from / of - de
sardines - sardinas
port - puerto
holy - santo
Sunday - domingo
basin - cuenca

The third largest city is Riobabmba, beside Chimborazo,

My friend writes:

We have finished two warm-up peaks now, climbing 3 volcanos and, yes, Chimborazo is one of them. 

Today heading to Cotopaxi. Good luck with the weather! 

Cayambe was bad - we had to turn back. However, hopefully we'll have time to head back again! 

Food includes skewered guinea pig.

Photo J. Miers - User: (WT-shared) Jtesla16 at wts wikivoyage. Guinea pig or Cuy. From a restaurant called Fogon de los Abuelos (stove of the grandparents) in Matus, Ecuador.

If that doesn't appeal, how about potatoes, avocado and cheese, a soup called Locro de Papa


User: (WT-shared) Jtesla16 at wts wikivoyage

Language and Etiquette
Wikipedia explains:

The common greetings are "buenos días", "buenas tardes" or "buenas noches", (Good morning, Good afternoon, and Good evening). It is usually complemented by a handshake, between men, and by a kiss on the cheek between women or between a man and a woman. "Hola" is the most common greeting between friends and acquaintances. As in most Latin American countries, it's considered normal and polite to stand quite close to the other person while talking.

If you speak Spanish with Ecuadorians, note the difference between the two forms for the pronoun "you": the informal "tú" and the formal "usted".  Address older people and people with whom you're not familiar with "usted". Ecuadorans are generally forgiving of non-native speakers, but use "usted" when in doubt. 

Among many other cultural idiosyncrasies, in the Sierra regions it is considered impolite to use a downward-facing palm as a reference for the height of a person. Instead, the hand is held on its side, and the measurement taken from the lower edge to the floor. Gesturing with the palm down is appropriate for animals only.

Just like Singapore:

When motioning for someone to "come here", it is impolite to motion your hand with the palm facing up. Instead, use a downward swipe of the hand with the palm facing down. 

Useful Websites

ecuador.com official website

https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Ecuador

Wikivoyage has warnings about dangers. Also see your government advice.

Ecuador and Galapagos islands simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecuador
Good pictures of Ecuador churches and the Galapagos tortoise, Galapos Penguin and Darwin's Arch.

Author

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Top Ten Typical Madeira Sites: Madeira wine, food, and thatched houses

Thatched triangular house at Santana mountainside village in Madeira. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Problem
What to do in Madeira? Having been there recently, I shall make notes immediately on getting home as a reminder of what to see next time.

Answers
I assume you are staying in the capital, Funchal. A motorway takes you to hotels in Funchal, the capital, where about half the population lives. Book a car from the airport or online. Booking though hotel reception could be mush higher price.
See or eat in the restaurant of one of the top three hotels:

1 HOTELS with views
Reid Hotel - traditional and historic.
Winston Churchill stayed here. So did Roger Moore.
Pestana Casino Park - modern. Dining room with panoramic sea view.
Savoy - biggest hotel in Madeira; signs say it will open spring 2019.
(Budget altenative - many budget hotels and restaurants with sea views or panormaic views over the valleys.
Hotel with news:
CR7. Named after football hero Cristiano Ronaldo.

2 SWIM
in the outdoor seawater pools, at Porto Moniz, north west of the island.
Alternatively, staying at Pestana Casino Park hotel, try the Jacuzzi and the jets in the indoor swimming pool. You can sit in jets, lie in jets, stand in jets.

3 BUS TOUR - Funicular - Botanical Gardens
Take the red or yellow open top tour bus. Take the red bus to visit Monte, the funicular, and the wicker basket descent.
Budget alternative. Be photographed in the wicker toboggan on the top floor of La Vie shopping mall, a few steps away from the seafront.

4 GLASS BALCONY VIEW
Take the yellow bus tour (or drive or take a public bus) to the lookout point with the glass floor.

5 LEVADA WALK
Do a levada walk. Easy walk on a level - Ribero Frio.
Budget - take a public bus to Ribeiro Frio (meaning cold river). Take the walk above the road to the lookout balcony with birds.

6 LEVADA WALK DOWN TO WATERFALL Walk on the levada walk downhill to see the waterfall. Catch the bus back uphill. (It's an eight seater minibus like a big jeep, about three dollars.)
This killed my calf muscles. Leave it to the last day.

7 MADEIRA WINE
Try some Madeira wine, a fortified wine, and learn about it.
Visit in Funchal:
a) D'Olivera  Madeira Wines - sit at barrell tables and try the drinks. We had a pre-arranged group talk for about 15 people. We had a talk from Luís D'Olivera, a quietly spoken dear little man, sad about the death of his older brother, whose picture you can see at the entrance - such a shame - a lovely man, elegant, refined. I wish I had had the chance to meet him.
www.doliveiras.pt
b) Blandy's Madeira Wine Company  - around the corner from D'Olivera. These are the two big ones. Blandy's is bigger.

8 MADEIRA RUM IN SPECTACULAR SETTING BY CLIFFS
c) Drive to Porto da Cruz, to see the Distillery producing rum from sugar cane. Big old distillery. Just walk in and read the captions and leaflet.
Next door is the shop which has open bottles for free tastings but if we had not read the leaflet we'd never have known.

Toilets by the seafront restaurant, with views from tables on one side, but when we were there everybody sat the other side. Toilets with graffiti. Another visitor exclaimed in horror. (However, to me a toilet cubicle and water to wash hands was a luxury after visiting the peninsular walk at Ponta (viewpoint) São Lourenço - magnificent sea views but no toilets and no bushes either, toilet paper scattered along the verge by the parked cars.)
Porta Da Cruz has a tiny stony black vaolcanic ashe beach under a massive cliff with crashing waves and - impressive.
www.engenhosdonorte.com
Read up in The Wines of Madeira by Trevor Elliott.

9 SKEWERS OF MEAT OR FISH
Try local food, such as tender moist fish or tender meat on skewers. I recommend two very different places:
1 Cosy rooftop terrace down a side street, no view. Coffee, Madeira wines, or a full meal with the meat on skewers.
Casal da Penha terrace bar
tel:291 227 674
2 Beer House, on a pier with a view over the boats and sea.  They make their own beer in a small distllery you can see. Toilets downstairs.
www.beerhouse.pt

10 SEE TRIANGULAR THATCHED HOUSES. (See my previous post.)
They are in Santana, a village named after the chapel for Saint Anna. Yes, you can visit them, photograph the outside and go inside. They are used as shops to display local crafts. I went into the flower shop.

Finally, shopping.
You can buy cork bags and hats, embroidery with the thatched houses,
 Madeira wine, honey rum, and bottled cocktails.

Useful Travel Information
Hotels
https://www.pestana.com/en/hotel/pestana-casino-park
https://www.pestanacr7.com/en/hotel/pestana-cr7-funchal (Named for Madeira's Critiano Ronaldo and his football tem number 7, next to the museum dedicated to him and football.)
www.pestana.com
https://www.belmond.com/hotels/europe/portugal/madeira/belmond-reids-palace/

Restaurants
www.casaldapenha.com

Wine tasting
www.doliveiras.pt

Sightseeing
Red bus
www.citysightseeing.pt

Travel Tips
Fly by (alphabetically)
Azores Airlines (A Portuguese airline)
https://www.azoresairlines.pt/en 

British Airways
britishairways.com

EasyJet
easyjet.com

TAP Portuguese airlines
flytap.com

Flight Comparison
expedia
expedia.com

tripadvisor
tripadvisor.com

Official website
http://www.visitmadeira.pt/en-gb/homepage

Angela Lansbury
Travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. I have other posts on Madeira and footballer Ronaldo and his museum