Day 9 Cuenca to Banos

The ride from Cuenca to Banos was one of our longest days.  It was beautiful & definitely another one of my favorites.  We traveled 403 km through small towns, cities, farmland, and high mountain ranges.  Our lowest elevation was just under 6,000 feet and we climbed well over 14,000 for a perfect view of Chimborazo…

Day 8: Vilcabamba to Cuenca

Staci and I met at 8:50 to head up to the spa for our morning massages!  The resort is beautiful & the spa had excellent ratings, but we weren’t sure what to expect for $37.  It turned out that our one hour sessions were amazing!  If I had to post a tiny complaint, it would…

Day 7: Zaruma to Vilcabamba

With only 165 easy miles to ride today, we got up & headed out for what was supposed to be the best breakfast of the trip!  Sadly, it was not the best breakfast, but it was a good experience.  We ate at La Romeria where we had amazing pizza last night.  This morning we ordered…

Day 6: Guayaquil to Zaruma

Today we traveled just about 170 miles to Zaruma. We traveled through banana groves, cacao groves, and an interesting mix of mountains and flat lands. At one point there were large shade trees that remind me of ones I have seen in photos of Africa. The tree tops had a large circumference, but they were…

Day 5: Canoa to Guayaquil

Today’s ride was great!  It was warm & once again we saw a huge variety of landscapes & people on our last day along the coast of Ecuador. Near Bahia we saw quite a few of the ceibo trees.  These look like upside down trees, with thick trunks and branches that look like roots that…

Day 4: Canoa Beach Rest Day

Today was not a ride day, we enjoyed a play day on the beach!  We woke up early & headed out as the sun was coming up.  We slept with the doors open, which was awesome except for the massive amount of mosquito bites on my face & left arm…  We had to have the…

Day 3: Same to Canoa Beach Hotel

Thankfully we didn’t have to get an early start today.  We only had 140 miles of riding ahead to make it to our beach resort!  The weather here was warm & only going to continue to heat up as we headed South down the coast towards Canoa Beach.  Because we had gotten in after dark,…

Day 2: Destination Same

Day 2 was about twice as long as it needed to be.   There was an extra loop in our GPS so we took a very scenic route!  It was a good ride day though & the weather was good so I considered those bonus miles!  We left the gorgeous Hacienda near Otovalo and headed towards…

Day 1 Departing Quito and Crossing the Equator

Every day of this trip was amazing!  *except for……  We laughed many times at that statement, it seemed like every day there was at least one thing that wasn’t ideal & sometimes it was definitely lousy, but thankfully every day was full of amazing views, good health & great weather! Our first day started out…

Arriving in Quito

Day 1 of travel went relatively well.  We had a slight delay out of KC but we easily made our connection in Atlanta.  We left KC about 1:20pm.  Our flight from Atlanta left about 6pm and landed around 11pm.  That was not the most pleasant flight.  The plane was a small 737 so it was…