Hi, welcome to our podcast when Next Travel with Kristen and Carol. I am Kristen and I am Carol, and we're two long-term friends with a passion for travel and adventure. Each episode, we interview people around the globe to help us decide where to go next. In today's episode, we are meeting with Ruben Born in Ecuador and now living in California. Ruben shares the variety of natural beauty of his homeland, from the Galapagos Islands to the 19,000 foot mountain ranges of the Andes to the pink dolphins. Enjoy Welcome, ruben. We really appreciate you talking about Ecuador today with us.
Speaker 2:Thank you.
Speaker 1:So you live here in the Bay Area in the US, but you're from Ecuador.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I used to live in Marin County and it's interesting that I grew up in Quito. So I grew up in a big city and surrounded by buildings, and once we moved to San Rafael, I went all over Marin and I ended up in Mill Valley and that's where I actually got to meet a lot of people that were into like surfing, biking and, of course, hiking, and that's where I learned to love nature more than ever and, and you know, literally like people go to the store instead of driving, they will walk, and so I started doing that and that's where I think I got this uh call to, you know, explore more nature, and there's different regions people are drawn to, I will say so. So I was going to go to this uh little surf town called ayampe and that place it's very popular with foreigners that go there and there's people that spend maybe like one or two months there surfing and it's very enjoyable. I ended up going to another place. In my case, I went to a very small fishing town, and that is because, for me, I wanted to just have quiet and peace, and even my sister she lives who lives in Quito, which is again a big city she was surprised and enjoyed.
Speaker 2:Of course the weather's nicer. They are very tropical, very humid. It's right in the equator. So expect that also to be like Miami, but a little bit even warmer than Miami. So just to give you an idea. But in any case. So she was very surprised that. You know, people will say good morning, good night on the streets and that's what I enjoyed. So there's little fishing towns like that where you don't know, nothing really happens. But if you want something more developed and into surfing, there's those type of places too by the coast. And then finally, of course, by the coast, it's the Galapagos, which everybody knows and you know it's very developed and you know Galapagos, the Galapagos Islands.
Speaker 1:Oh, the Galapagos Islands, okay, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, on that will be that I was lucky enough to go with a small group of 12 people in this small boat that was being run by this local guy who was born in the Galapagos, and for me that was more enjoyable. Again, it's because I was able to interact closely with different people, and a couple of them they were musicians. So from one island to another it will be like maybe six hours, seven hours sometimes, so during that time they will play music, will have fun. And why I'm bringing that up is versus like going in a cruise ship where you want to have like big buffets. It depends on whatever people like. So you have those two options. Yeah, most of you want to have like big buffets. It depends whatever people like, so you have.
Speaker 1:Most of our crowd isn't doing the buffets and the other thing. They're just going there to live and like really experience and that kind of thing. And I was curious, okay, so galapagos islands right, I, I know that term, I wasn't. I didn't know it was in ecuador and I'm looking at the map right now and I see off the shore there's like a whole bunch of little islands up there. It's a Seymour, isla, isabela, are you talking? About those.
Speaker 2:Yeah, those are the Galapagos Islands, so Isabela is the main island. That's where the airport is. Actually, my friend, they are doing also, like in Panama, this jaguar conservation project. It's called Caminando, with a K. He did like his phd there for two years. There's a lot of research, which is good. You know. A lot of biologists go there to do their research and it's also very developed and it's, you know, very expensive, from what I hear also to go there, panama, did you say yeah, my friend's project is in Panama and they are studying, they're trying to gather data about jaguars.
Speaker 2:Nobody has ever done that. So I think for about three years they have been doing that and I've gone with them to the Mamoni Valley, the rainforest there, so they set up cameras. We go, retrieve the SIM cards to gather the data and see what areas of the jungle in Panama you know it's their territory they have tried to come up with the headcount of how many jaguars live there, how many are just passing through, and the impact, of course, of course, of cattle, people that are raising cattle there, so stuff like that. So he did the research then there, for example, in the Galapagos Islands, for two years. And it's because it's a protected area.
Speaker 2:It is also very, very, very beautiful because you are able to see all kinds of birds. You know sea lions and very, you know, within reach. Of course. You know they. You are advised not to get too close because you know it will affect their health. You know they are, you know they are get, they get anxious. But yes, people are amazed and you know, of course I was like very, very amazed also how, how accessible that is. And that brings me to the previous area, like, if you wanted to like see like very, very beautiful beaches there, there's one called Turtle.
Speaker 1:And so now is Galapagos.
Speaker 2:Galapagos, galapagos.
Speaker 1:Is that part of Ecuador?
Speaker 2:Yes, it is.
Speaker 1:Oh, I didn't know that the beach was called Turtle Beach, you said.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's very beautiful. If you look it up right now, you will see yes, it's very white, it's very, very yeah.
Speaker 1:And it's in Isabela now you will see.
Speaker 2:Yes, it's very white, it's very, very, yeah, and it's in the center. Isabella is the main island, where everything is like hotels, that's where the cruise ships are, so it's very developed. So that's where you will land and then from there you will take a boat, like we did, and then go to like these different islands that have different types of iguanas, and then from one island you go to another one. Again, it's like five, six hours trip.
Speaker 1:The Tortuga Beach picture looks amazing.
Speaker 2:It's similar to Hawaii, I believe in, like the volcanic scenery. Yeah, that Tortuga Beach, it was not in the main island, so the one I'm referring is there is tortuga bay, yeah, and that's the. That's very, very beautiful too.
Speaker 1:So is that the same as turtle beach?
Speaker 2:in ecuador we call it tortuga bay.
Speaker 1:Yeah okay, oh my gosh. And which island was that on? You said santa cruz, uh, yeah.
Speaker 2:Santa Cruz yeah.
Speaker 1:Okay, the island is the Bella. It looks like the housing is not that expensive.
Speaker 2:I see some hotels under a hundred dollars a night, yeah, I have the year.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you, you will expect maybe to be more, but yeah, I don't know. I think most people again this. When I went there, it was a long, long time ago, everything was included, but we slept in the boat, because literally we'll go from one island to another. One will sleep in the boat. Then what it was like really great for me also was like, you know, under the boat it was like all glass so you can see, actually, you know the fish and literally like they will be fishing, like for our lunch and then and there's like sharks, we went snorkeling and so it's very, very, very, very beautiful. And in our case, you know, we just slept in the boat.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, Wow, Very neat, and the islands look so close together. So Galapagos got it. Looks like it has six, seven.
Speaker 2:There's like little islands and then there's and so that's why I was telling you earlier, for example I don't remember the name of the island that my friend was doing his research. For example, he was studying these marine turtles. So for two years he was telling me they will come and drop off food for him, but only he, I believe, was living in this island. I don't know. Well, he was doing the research. So some of these islands do allow tourists to come and visit. Some of them they don't. They are part of the research that I was mentioning before, in some cases at least.
Speaker 1:Ruben, did you fly in and then take the boat around, or do you take the boat?
Speaker 2:Yeah, okay, yeah. So the way that it works is you will buy a package, you go to a travel agency, or you can even do it from here, and then, if you like me I I was in Quito I had to fly to Guayaquil, which is the main port there in Ecuador, and so from there, if I'm not mistaken, it's like one hour and 30 minutes, or one hour and 40 minutes.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I see it on the map.
Speaker 1:It's not too far. Yes, Kind of a little farther, like San Francisco to San Diego.
Speaker 2:Exactly.
Speaker 1:And then did you fly to Isla Isabella.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the main island, isabella Island, yes, Got it, Okay.
Speaker 1:Wow, so you have just total tropics there. The picture that I saw of you was how high were you? It had to have been over 14,000 feet.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I've gone to a couple of them. The one that I went this January is called Cayambe. The elevation in here I'm looking at it is close to 19,000 feet. Oh my goodness, what what's it called Cayambe, starts with a what how? Do you?
Speaker 1:spell it.
Speaker 2:C-A-Y-A-M-B-E.
Speaker 1:C-A-Y-A-M-B-E. C-a-y-a-m-b-e. I think. I saw people have oxygen masks or oxygen with them.
Speaker 2:No, they were probably just Korean. Yeah, it's interesting because I also have gone to Mount Whitney here, and then some people that are interested on going to South America sometimes they start asking questions about acclimatization and things like that. So some of them they recommend, you know, like bringing medicine or oxygen in Ecuador. I will say that the key is to acclimatize to get there to Quito. So Quito is very high up still, and then from there there's a lot of beautiful mountains just nearby, like the one that I told you. Actually, that's like maybe two hours away. Then there's Cotopaxi that's the other one that I was going to tell you that I really, really, really liked a lot and I went there. So, cayambe, I went actually I remember it's 24th of 2022. And then I went to the Cotopaxi. That one's very famous. How do you spell?
Speaker 1:that.
Speaker 2:Cotopaxi is C-O-T-O-P-A-X-I, like I was going to spend like maybe five or six days acclimatizing. Maybe that's not enough, but you know you can start going to a smaller peaks. Then from there, what? Usually you start progressing until you are able to go to like kotopaxi, kayambe, after you know, and usually there's what is also uh good and I should point out uh versus here. For example, in the us, when I go to mount whit, I just go with people. That included myself, and that's why I'm taking rock climbing classes now, that we don't really know all the ins and outs about the terrain, the condition of the snow, things like that.
Speaker 2:And what is different is, in Ecuador, the only way that you can go to like certain mountains, like Cotopaxi and Cayambe, it's with a certified guide. When I went to Cayambe in December, for example, there were two German citizens with an international guide. Actually this guy was from Ecuador but he was a guide in south america, certified for south america and europe. Then my guy was like uh, certified for ecuador, and then there was a spaniard gentleman with another ecuadorian certified guide, but we all had our own guides and that's also, I think, is a good thing for people that want to do this, that you know you're going to be in good hands. Basically, and also what is very important is that it's very affordable, like literally like for $40, you can't, and when I tell these to people and it's incredible really, I mean for me it's like super inexpensive.
Speaker 2:For example, you can go to one of those mountains where you go and prepare to reach these higher mountains. One of them is called Ilinisa, which is right across from Cotopaxi. Anyways, you pay $40. And what they do is they pick you up in downtown Quito, they give you lunch, they bring you transportation and a certified guide For Cotopaxi. It's more expensive, though I paid, I think, for that one. Like you can pay $300 to $400. You are assured that you're going to be taken care of. These people that are really serious about going to Mount Everest, the Himalayas, I should say. What they do is they come to Ecuador, they train there and then they go to the Himalayas and do their thing.
Speaker 1:I'm looking at the weather. They go to the Himalayas and do their thing and I'm looking at the weather. So, since it's so near the equator but it's up high, it looks like the high in Fahrenheit 60 in the 60s, all year round.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 2:That's pretty cool, yeah, and so, yeah, you're right. So a lot of people, when I tell them I'm from Ecuador, they said, oh yeah, it must be hard. And then when I tell them, no, I'm from the Andes, which is like I explained to them, you know, that's just like very high up, it's like almost, I mean 9,000 feet. I explained to them that what's different with Ecuador also, we don't have like different seasons, we only have like a rainy season, which is happening right now. Quito is set up in that mountain, which is called pichincha, but basically it's a volcano, and that's where, for example, if you were to go to any other mountain, your guide will tell you you need to go, not train, uh, run. It's called pichincho, which is the mountain where Quito sits. It's not active, but that's a volcano. That's where Quito is sitting, right next to a volcano.
Speaker 1:It looks like there's several volcanoes.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's what I was going to tell you. Right now, if you look on the news, it might come up. If you look for Cotopaxi, in my case, I was lucky to go there because right now it's active and so they are already having drills in case it erupts and hopefully it will not erupt, but it's active right now. So for that reason, of course, people are not allowed to climb. I think it started, if I'm not mistaken, early November of last year. You never know when they're going to become active. So the Cayambe is a volcano really. So Cotopaxi is a volcano, the volcano where Quito sits. You know Quito, for example.
Speaker 2:Quito is very developed. You can go to a cafe. You will feel like you are here, in certain areas, of course. So within Quito, there's the north part, which is very developed, and then what they call the center of the city, which means really like the colonial part. That's where you will see a lot of architecture that dates back like the colonial part. That's where you'll see like a lot of like architecture that dates back to the colonial time. And then another city that people are drawn to because of that, because of that colonial architecture, is called Cuenca. That's where a lot of foreigners go. They're actually in and it's very, very.
Speaker 2:And how do?
Speaker 1:you spell that one.
Speaker 2:Cuenca is C. C-u-e-n-c-a yeah yeah, and also because of the weather. You know like it's very, very, very good climate around there, so yeah, oh, there it's in the southern part.
Speaker 1:It looks like.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and then the last part which I have also I've had, you know, enjoyed very much, my visits are the rainforest, which is the last section, I will say, of ecuador. So the places, yeah, the places that a lot of people go and, to be honest, I haven't is, it's called yasuni national park. So it's y y a s u n?
Speaker 2:I that's the rainforest, is there, you're saying yeah, so if you look at pictures there that I mean, you will see like it's very, very green and and it's supposed to be one of the most. See like it's very, very green and and it's supposed to be one of the most biodiverse places in the world, because I don't know, I've I've read, I think it's like a square meter, you will.
Speaker 1:You'll find these different types of animals, insects, whatever place, beautiful yeah, you will find like oh my goodness, wow so rain so high mountains, rock climbing, rainforest, natural reserves in the galapagos, and then, of course, beach and surfing, right, wow yeah a lot to offer yes definitely. Do you have to drive to that national park, or is there any trains that go out that way?
Speaker 2:you know that there's two ways, so I was to tell you that I haven't been to the Yasuni. I've been to Napo area, which is the province, and then, specifically where I went, it's called Cuyabeno. That's very beautiful too. How do?
Speaker 1:you spell that, it's not let's see C-U-Y-A-S-O-N-E, y-a-b-e-n-o.
Speaker 2:You can look at the images in Google and you will get an idea of like eco-resorts they have.
Speaker 1:There's an interesting dolphin.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they have pink dolphins there.
Speaker 1:Pink yes, Pink dolphins.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so like, for example, I don't remember, I think it's called just Cuyabeno Eco Lodge, where we went with my ex-girlfriend and then we stayed there. The way that you get there is you have two options you can fly, or you can take the bus, or, of course, if you have your own car, fly or you can take the bus, or, of course, if you have your own car, but to get to these places that are very secluded, the way that it works is then we went to to the, to the main city in in uh, it's called napo in the province anyways. So you go to the riverbank, from the riverbank you get picked up by the ecologists in a canoe with a motor. Then let's say, they load up, you know maybe six clients, and then again it's like a good five, sometimes six hours into the jungle and that's like really, really beautiful for me too, because, like you know, like you are really out there.
Speaker 2:So, and then our experience was well, at least I will tell you my ex-girlfriend she's from here, so she of course compromised because she said you know, I don't like bugs, and you know, and I told her that you know it's going to be like an ecolog, and said you know I don't like bugs and you know, and I told her that you know it's going to be like an ecologic and you know it's, it's, it's beautiful.
Speaker 2:I mean, it's not like we're going camping, so but there's no windows. And and then, since she was afraid of insects, uh, you know, I didn't realize, like in the my feet I felt something, but it was like, yeah, you know I didn't realize, like in my feet I felt something, but it was like, yeah, you know these insects and things like that, but again, like the food is very good and what I really liked was that, and for me it was mind blowing kind of when, in the mornings, instead of you know hearing, you know the, the roosters wake us up, you will see, you will hear the howler howling monkeys. You know the, the roosters wake us up. You will see, you will hear the howler howling monkeys, you know?
Speaker 1:Oh, I know those.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So for me it was like yeah, for me it was the first time, like you know, when I woke up, like then, then it was beautiful to see them.
Speaker 1:So they sound like T-Rex to me Cause I was in Costa Rica. It was as the sun was writing and there was a howler monkey right next to my hut in the jungle. I was in the Osa Peninsula and I literally jumped out of bed because it sounded like a T-Rex. It's this little monkey.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, yeah, I went to Tikal in Guatemala too, and when I was just going to check in they were so loud. Honestly, I was so scared, yeah. And then one time I went on my own because I thought, like you know, it's so beautiful, I want to go on my own. And then literally the same thing I got scared because I knew they were following me. So I got scared and I just ran away.
Speaker 1:Once you know what it is. But, luminosa, I got to where I was going and I was going to go hiking, and I was actually the only person there and I heard it and I turned back around and went back. Like I'm going to find out what that is.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, in my case, you know, I thought I don't, I'm not going to show fear, but he was like literally like shaking the leaves on top of me. So then I thought, okay, just in case I'm going to just keep going faster. So then I thought, okay, just in case I'm going to just keep going faster. But yeah, another one that I want to mention to you, because this one is like very beautiful and it's one day I might venture to go, because I know it's a little bit expensive but it looks beautiful. It's called Napa Wildlife Wildlife Center Ecolodge. So if you look on Google and see the pictures.
Speaker 1:How do you spell?
Speaker 2:NAPO. Napo is N-A-P-O.
Speaker 1:Perfect Ecolodge. There we are. Yeah, these are amazing. I know where I want to go now.
Speaker 2:I know Kristen is all over this, the issues with deep nature, and then in the coast, you can go to these surf towns, or you can go to these very quiet fishing towns, the Galapagos Islands there's no choice. It's full of people where you are allowed to go. And then finally, in the mountains, it's the same thing, you can go to very, and then finally in the mountains, it's the same thing. You you can go to, like you know, very developed areas, or you can go and that's why I think I liked also going rock climbing, because we will go literally to these very rural areas. So that's for me, like one of the best things is that you know, like you still are able to and again within one hour, being in these very rural areas and you know, enjoy a lot of outdoors activities and if you don't feel like staying there, you can just hit, get back to the big city in Quito and just stay in your hotel or whatever.
Speaker 1:So so yeah, well, I forgot to also ask which we do food, what type? What are the traditional foods that folks eat over there?
Speaker 2:So I would say, of course it varies again within the different regions. Because of its proximity by the coast, they eat a lot of seafood.
Speaker 1:What's the typical, like tropical fruits and other things, breads that they typically make and other things, breads that they typically make.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, so my favorite fruit, which in Europe I found, but not here. I think they call it lulu, we call it naranjilla and it grows, I believe, only, if I'm correct, I know, in Ecuador and in Colombia, but if you look, I think it's lulo fruit, lulo, sorry, l-u-l-o.
Speaker 1:Okay, so it's a combination of kiwi, citrus and pineapple.
Speaker 2:No, but honestly, that's my favorite fruit and my family know about that, because it's very hard to come by, but it's very, very delicious. So that will be my favorite juice and you know it's very inexpensive because it's so accessible. When traveling, you know, take advantage to buy fresh fruit on the market and eat, and that's the food in the coast. It's very similar, I will say, to some degree to Peruvian food, to give you an idea, like the seafood aspect of it. And then in the mountain range, in the Andes, of course, because what is more accessible to us and I include myself because I grew up there, what is more accessible to us and I include myself because I grew up there you have corn potatoes, different types of flour. So, like my mom, she cooks a lot of like great soups with different types of flour.
Speaker 2:You know we eat guinea pigs and for me at some point I was thinking, like you know, I don't like it anymore. But then my niece she's a doctor in Ecuador and she sent me an article explaining how much you know vitamins and different type of things you get out of the guinea pig. That is actually very healthy to eat, you know. So then I thought, okay, I didn't eat it this time, but maybe next time I will eat it. We eat a lot of rice too, actually Corn rice, potatoes and different kinds of like goat beef meat basically.
Speaker 1:So yeah, Wow, who knew guinea pigs were eaten?
Speaker 2:Never would have thought of that, that's definitely different yeah, so if you, if you wanna, if you wanna, look at kui, that's what we call it, c-u-y does it taste like normal pigs?
Speaker 1:does it taste like pork?
Speaker 2:so I've used to work in a french restaurant so I've eaten venison and that's what it reminds me a little bit, like it's between duck, I will say the description is duck and venison, so it's very, very rich. So on the rainforest, since they have rivers and wild animals, basically they just eat fish from the river and whatever they they catch and I'm assuming there's beautiful beaches on the coast that are have amazing beach towns as well.
Speaker 2:So yeah, yeah, um, some of them, the ones that I mentioned here, but you know there's other ones that are more developed, like one of them is called montañita, but that's literally like a party time okay, all right, so there's a little something for everyone, okay, oh? Yeah, yeah, because I remember when I went there they had like music until two, three, four am that sounds so funny, carol, I don't know if you have a few rapid fire.
Speaker 1:so when you're there, what do you have for breakfast? Do you have these low fruit or is there like? Is there like a you know think of I don't know empanadas or something? I don't really know the type of food down there.
Speaker 2:So we have what they call here tamales, right. So the Mexican have the tamales. So we have something very similar, but it's sweet, it's called humitas. We call it humitas, but it's basically the same. Something very similar, but it's sweet, it's called umitas. We call it umitas, but it's basically the same, very similar. I like to eat that too. Like in the morning you, I eat one of those with coffee and cheese is there stuff?
Speaker 1:what's it stuffed with?
Speaker 2:it's just corn. But the difference for me, which I like, there's with sugar or without sugar, sugar like the one with sugar. By the coast we have different types of bananas. So on the coast for breakfast they eat green plantains. They are mashed, they are filled with cheese inside, so in the mornings people eat that like green plantains fried with cheese. And then you have coffee.
Speaker 1:So okay, you guys win the best breakfast. Everywhere else we've interviewed, it's always been yogurt, granola, oatmeal. I swear, across the board. I've never heard this before. Sounds very unique. And then I was gonna go to what is money? What's? Which is named after one of the revolutionaries that freed us from the Spaniards.
Speaker 2:Anyways, but because of the devaluation of the Sucre, eventually we became dollarized and to this day we use the dollar to bring economic stability.
Speaker 1:Yes, and how does the American dollar strength like we get a lot for money as an American going down there. Is it like going to Mexico or Belize or something?
Speaker 2:Yes, still in Quito you can get lunch for $2.50, which my friend was telling me like maybe in Mexico maybe you get a little bit. You know more, I don't know, but for me at least you know, I think two dollars fifty for for lunch it's, it's not bad and then good and no.
Speaker 1:No, that's for sure, right? Oh my goodness, yeah, yeah no, or like.
Speaker 2:I totally like so and I keep telling people that I know, since I do mountaineering, I tell them think about it. When are you going to get like for $40, they drive you, give you lunch, a certified guide and bring you to a mountain for $40. It's like the price of a pizza, almost. You know what I mean yeah, oh, yeah. So yeah, so over here you will not even cover for the gas.
Speaker 1:so yeah, well, and I was curious what would you say? Where is the best surf in ecuador?
Speaker 2:ayampe, actually that's, that's where, that's where oh, that's right.
Speaker 1:You said that in the beginning. How do you spell that?
Speaker 2:sure a y a m p e.
Speaker 1:I'll have to check that one out too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's more peaceful. So another place also is Montañita, the one that I told you, but that's like party town like, literally like and I don't know, since I don't surf, I don't know if like about the surfing, if they're surfing in the stair bed or whatever, but yeah, what was the second place called? Montañita. It's like mountain in Spanish, but little mountain, Montañita.
Speaker 1:Okay, this has been incredible and I think you just completely opened our eyes to Ecuador. It's nothing we would, you know, didn't think it wasn't on the radar until you and I started talking a while back and I thought, oh my gosh, I would love for you to share and yeah, and that that's a good point, because for me I feel like kind of like where I live.
Speaker 2:I live I live in Richmond Heights, which is basically right next to El Cerrito Hills, but right here to my left I can see the cows, the hills, and it's so beautiful. So it's kind of like a little secret. It's good that not too many people know, and that's how I feel about Ecuador.
Speaker 1:What's the language that's spoken?
Speaker 2:English, but there's people speak Quechua, it's the Inca language, some outskirts, and then I forgot also, you reminded me there's another big town. It's big for textiles. It's called Otavalo. So they have a big market Over there. They speak Quechua. It's one of the biggest cities, very developed, and what is really nice is that these people, they still maintain their indigenous customs, they still dress using their original clothing. And what is really good is that they also the men. They let their hair grow long and that's their custom. So when you go there, for example, they let the hair grow long and that's their custom. So when you go there, for example, you see these men still wearing their long hairs, and what is really interesting is they talk in this other language.
Speaker 1:How do you spell the town that you mentioned?
Speaker 2:Otavalo, so it's O-T-A-V-A-L-O.
Speaker 1:Okay, exactly Like I did it. Okay, just making sure All the words are very phonetically spelled. It's very nice yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah exactly.
Speaker 1:You can find it easy, which is which is good. Love it. Thank you so much. This was incredible and what an experience. I'm looking it up on the map. I'd like to see where where it is in relation to where we're at. Okay, so it's above Quito, which is kind of towards the, the rainforest, the Napo Wildlife Center, off to the sides. You can do a lot there and you can go to the mountains and you can go and sit in the Galapagos Islands and just to confirm that I heard this right, pink dolphins.
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah, I saw the picture. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:They look almost like they're albino.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so when I went to Cuyabeno, for example, we did see a couple of them because we went to this lagoon there.
Speaker 1:So they Fresh water, or is it seawater?
Speaker 2:No, it's fresh water, so that's why it's also different. And yeah, and it's not only in Ecuador, but in the Amazon. That's where they live, so yeah.
Speaker 1:Oh, okay, thank you so much. This was so fun. I really appreciate all your time. We could have spent another hour, but I think we got a lot in there, so I think people will really enjoy a trip.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, yes, yes. That was the idea that I find it very, very relaxing and different to go to the very secluded rural areas that are not yet discovered, and so, since there's still a lot of areas like that, you know, I want to be able to for people to enjoy that. You know that aspect of Ecuador, so yeah, Wonderful, Fantastic Well have a wonderful weekend, and I'll be reaching out to you soon, for sure. All right, yeah, no problem, nice weekend.
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