We arrived in Ecuador beginning of April and went straight to Ibarra. The city is close to the Colombian border and situated in the Andean highlands, the so-called Sierra, close to the two volcanoes Imbabura (4630m) and Cotocachi (4944m). The whole Sierra consists of two mountain ranges including more than 20 volcanoes (out of a total of 55 in Ecuador) with the highest, the Chimborazo, peaking at 6268m.

We chose Ibarra as a well-known paragliding spot in the North of the country. When searching for accommodation, we found a German campground close to the Laguna Yahuarcocha. We got curious about the offered tiny houses and decided to stay there for eight nights. We enjoyed having our own space for a change, and the quiet and green surroundings with the view of two volcanos. We quickly developed a daily routine of relaxing, cooking, and flying, whenever the weather allowed. The only annoyance was the mosquitos in the evening.

One day we went for a hike. Because of my ankles and Simon’s hip issues (both still bothering us occasionally) we wanted to hike up to the ridge and take a bus down to not overdo it. But when reaching the top we took a wrong turn. We realized the mistake 10 to 15 minutes later but were too lazy to go back and hoped we could return to the street where buses pass by. Ultimately, we did the full 4 to 5-hour hike. When we reached back, we could both barely walk. We served ourselves a cold German Radler and proper sourdough bread with butter at Hans restaurant (the German campground owner). The German treats were a welcome change but it somehow felt a bit wrong to us staying in this German exclave in Ecuador.

At some point, we learned that the name of the Laguna Yahuarcoche (Yawarkucha) means “blood lake” and carries quite some history. The area was under conquest by the Inka empire (between the late 15th and early 16th) and after they scored a major victory, the male population got beheaded in retribution for its resistance and thrown into the lake. Maybe that’s why we haven’t seen anyone taking a swim 😉

Flying in Ibarra was one of the highlights for us so far, mainly because of the spectacular panorama. The blue laguna below, the city of Ibarra situated on a plateau behind it, the canyon in between that opens up to an even deeper valley below, the mountainscape and volcanoes, and maybe most unique, the many small patches of farmland that transform the mountains into a natural mosaic.

When we arrived we contacted a local pilot named George (pronounced Joche) and he told us all we needed to know. He also connected us with Pebe who offers rides up to the takeoff with his 4×4 car. On the second flying day, we were joined by three local pilots. They had their first beer already on the way up at 10am which set the tone for the day. After the flight, we all landed close to Hans’s Biergarten and went for a drink together. They were quite amazed about our paragliding skills because Simon and I flew the longest. Apparently, most visiting pilots go for multiple and much shorter flights. And the flying conditions weren’t always particularly easy either. The thermals were quite cyclic (on and off) and on two days strong wind was causing big rotors over the lake. That’s the explanation George gave us for the turbulence and changing wind directions we experienced.

But back to our drinking round with the group of local pilots. We had a lot of fun together! All of them were speaking English more or less fluently (mostly picked up in university). So by mixing English and Spanish, we were able to chat quite freely. After the stock of local beer (Pilsen) was exhausted we picked some German ones for them to try (Hofbräu and Flens). In the afternoon, after a few hours with them, we went back to our tiny house tipsy, hungry, and in need of a nap (I now understand why day drinking is a thing :D).

Being in this state of mind, Simon, unfortunately, spilled water onto our MacBook. We immediately saw it entering the display causing weird colors. We were quite worried, so the next day Simon went all the way to the capital Quito and brought it to a certified repair shop (an 8h roundtrip). A few days later we received the message about the needed repairs (exchanging the display and cleaning some internal components) and went to the shop again to pay the 800€ they’d asked for. A lot of hassle and a steep price for a tiny moment of carelessness but still way less than what we would have paid in Europe for repairing this basically brand-new laptop.

After everything was finally settled with the laptop, we could continue onwards from Quito to enter the next chapter of our trip in the Cuyabeno reserve located in the Amazon rainforest.

One story we still want to share, though, is something that George shared with us over another round of beers. From his perspective, and the two comrades sitting with us very much agreed, Ecuador is now worse than Colombia during Escobar’s times in regard to crime, murder, corruption, and the power exercised by the Mafia. Ecuador was always in a bit of a tough spot being located between the drug-producing (mainly cocaine) countries of Colombia and Peru and along the drug trade routes to North America. After a bit of research, we saw that media reports support their perspective and we already knew that there are nightly curfews and tightened police controls in a few regions, namely Esmeralda and Guyanquil. We spared these regions and never felt unsafe during our stay in Ecuador but it is sad to hear that the situation is deteriorating. And a picture starts to emerge with what Adam has told us about Colombia…

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