After our Galapagos adventure we stay in Finca Gloria for another two days, the oil of the tsjolbak is replaced and it is thoroughly washed. Then we go into the mountains, at 700 m there is rain and fog and at 2686 m we spend the night at a gas station because the fog is getting thicker. The next morning we drive through beautiful mountain landscapes to Ingapirca, the best preserved archaeological site of Ecuador, originally built by the Canari tribe as an observatory and later taken over by the Inca for military purposes. The walls and trapezoidal gates are identical to those in Machu Picchu. Carnival festivities are being prepared everywhere, there is a parade with disguised people who constantly try to spray each other with water and foam from spray cans. Our next stop, Cuenca, is a tourist attraction, a beautiful colonial city, which we visit on one of the three carnival days that precede Ash Wednesday. The city lives at night then and many shops and restaurants are closed during the day. It is very quiet, we admire the many stylish buildings and in the late afternoon we visit the Jadoco café, which offers real Belgian beer and beer brewed in Cuenca, made according to an authentic recipe, brought by a priest from Belgium. We meet Carlos, the owner from Asse, who has been running the café here for 7 years. After two nights we leave Casa Loma and the sympathetic owner, Pablo, to drive further north through beautiful green landscape with many waterfalls. Along the way we have to make sure that the windows of the tsjolbak are closed because it is customary here to spray all passers-by on carnival days with water, and the sprayers are creative, if you drive by with open windows you are guaranteed to get a splash of water over you. The streets are full of people in wet clothes. We drive into the province of Oriente. On Ioverlander we see positive comments about Finca Mendoza, but the reality exceeds our expectations. The garden is beautiful, there is a large swimming pool and the manager, Wilson, speaks good English.
He gives us a waba, a large pod with sweet white fruits inside and a large kernel. Because we have an appointment in Puyo with Olguer, whom we met at a campsite on the coast, we can, unfortunately, only stay two days. Olguer is the manager of a hotel with a gym and we can use a hotel room for free for one night. With him we had made plans to improve the interior of our tsjolbak because he is also a good carpenter and he has lots of tools. On the way to Ibarra, where we will park our tsjolbak for six months, we stay one night at Usa Yaku camping, run by a native family. We camp on the edge of a fast-flowing river and can swim in the bend of the river, two meters deep. Tropical plant growth is once again a feast for the eyes. In the morning we enjoy a picturesque sunrise. It gives us an idea of how beautiful a trip through the Amazon would be. On Sunday 1 March we reach Finca Sommerwind in Ibarra, at the Yahuarcocha lagoon. The owner, Hans, is a German. We hear from him that we cannot legally leave our tsjolbak in Ecuador for six months, this comes as a bad surprise. We must bypass the rules in a sophisticated way and hope that we will not get caught because fines are very high. There is no alternative but to follow Hans’ advice. The final days are filled with preparations for our departure. Michel handles the rust spots on the tsjolbak, Roos does the laundry, does the shopping and makes a long list of what we should definitely take with us. On Sunday 8 March we will fly from Quito over Madrid to Brussels, where we will arrive on 9 March. When we come back we will probably not be allowed to stay in Ecuador for more than 12 days, we hope for more but the chance is small.
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