Z is for Zuleta Embroidery & Zazu Restaurant

ZULETA EMBROIDERY, perhaps the finest in Ecuador, was originally used to decorate the garments women of the northern Andean village of Zuleta, who boast a centuries-old tradition of weaving, which expanded to embroidery with the arrival of the Spanish in the mid -500s. In the 1940’s,  the original owners of Hacienda Zuleta, former Ecuadorian president […]

Y is for Yumbo People & Yanahurco Hacienda

Meet the YUMBO people, who settled on the rich volcanic mountainsides of the Pichincha volcano, are being studied at the archaeological site of La Tulipe,  occupied from around 800 AD to the Spanish conquest.  A day trip from Quito or a stop on the way to Mindo, the main, interesting and well-excavated archaeological complex includes […]

X is for Xmas Bird Count

The annual XMAS BIRD COUNT is a tradition worldwide, and on the world stage, Ecuador annually ranks among the top international contenders, with the big count totals coming from Mindo, 25 miles from Quito. The town of Mindo (in Pichincha province) has a well-organized birding community, and has long held the South American record (well […]

W is for Wanderbus and World Travel Awards

♦ WANDERBUS  offers the first and only hop-on/hop-off at any-point-along-the-way bus travel option around Ecuador: from the Andes to the Amazon to the Pacific Coast.  Wanderbusers can go all over the country, on carefully planned routings — starting or ending at Quito/Cuenca/Guayaquil/anywhere; hopping on or off for as long as you wish in Cotopaxi/Banos/Riobamba/Porto Lopez […]

V is for Vegetarian dining

When TMLA 2013 delegates cast votes for best VEGETARIAN DINING in Quito, the top-rated was El Maple in LaMariscal, attractive restaurant with a Spanish book library and art on the walls, whose menu includes veggie burgers and chorizo sausage, soy steak, potato cakes, banana splits; refreshing are the fruit smoothies and craft beers. Newish to […]

U is for UNESCO and Uvilla

♦ UNESCO, which in 1978 chose Quito to be its very first city to be declared a World Heritage Site. Why?  Just take a look at the city’s 791-acre historic center, the largest and best-preserved colonial neighborhood in Latin America.  Just consider that the Old Town is home to no less than 40 churches and chapels, […]