Visiting developing countries

Among our travels, we have been fortunate to visit two developing countries:  Zambia & Ecuador.   While these two countries are quite different, they share similarities:  poverty, inequality, and disparity.

Zambia, which is in the southern part of Africa, is a really poor country, but one of the observations that I made about businesses is that they seemed to be owned by whites, while the blacks are the employees.  For instance, the lodge where we stayed was owned and operated by whites from South Africa.  Ecuador is similar to Zambia in terms of those with resources and those without.  The indigenous Andeans are similar to the blacks in that they seem to be the most disadvantaged.

But not all developing countries are the same.  Ecuador’s infrastructure, at least Quito and Galapagos, seem much further advanced than Livingstone, Zambia.  Quito is a large sprawling city of between 3-4 million people and from a distance the city is colorful and attractive … until you are actually in the city.  Livingstone is much smaller and more or less lacks a transportation infrastructure.

The big factor to consider when visiting a developing country is that services and infrastructure are weaker than what we developed country dwellers are used too.  Hygiene is another concern.  My travel physician advised me to avoid eating fresh fruit and vegetables that could not be peeled.  Oftentimes, developing countries use waste as fertilizer.  What may not bother natives may make us deadly sick.  So, I am a more cautious about what I eat and where and I always carry an ample supply of anti-diarrhea, antacids, ibuprofen, aspirins, motion sickness medicine, and the like.  Ecuador was different and perhaps more developed, although I was never able to find eye contact solution.  What about service … western-style service will cost you.  But even here, there are some things that are just unavailable.

The one stable across developed and developing countries is people.  There are decent people across the board and there are haves and have nots, except in developing countries the magnitude seems to be exaggerated.

As an aside, one of my irritations is when people refer to Africa as if it were a homogeneous country instead of the large diverse continent that it is.

Doomed to success? Visiting the Galapagos …

When is a good thing too good?  Each year the Galapagos Islands seem to get more and more popular.  At one time, there were only 60,000 visitors to the islands, but it has grown by tens of thousands.  Recently, a five star hotel opened, appropriately $400 - 500 per night the last time I checked, which is about the cost of the Explorer II.  This is just one example of how the islands may be doomed to their success.  A five star hotel takes a lot of construction and creates more traffic and pollution … you can only be so eco-friendly.  This cannot help but change the islands.

One thing that I learned on my trip was the islands were not always protected.  In fact, they have a storied past.  After Darwin’s  discovery, there were several attempt to colonize and exploit the islands.  Mainland animals like horses and goats were imported and competed with native animals.  You would not believe how the islands got rid of the goats … they herded them and shot them!  What about taking them back to the mainland?

This time, instead of trying to colonize the islands, are we going to tour it to death?  Not to sound like a hypocrite because I have already been to the island, but I was glad to hear that Ecuador was going to reduce the number of visitors to the island.  My compliments to Ecuador.

By the way, despite earlier attempts to colonize, I was glad to see that islands appeared pristine … mostly.  There were no toilets, waste bins, or anything human that stayed on the island … other than footprints.

What if the US owned the Galapagos?

I’ve been back a couple of months from my visit to the Galapagos Islands and I kept thinking, what if the United States owned the Islands?  At one point, the Islands belonged to no one and Ecuador claimed them, but what if the United States had foreseen their worth and said we want the islands.

Well, here are my predictions:

• There would be many more visitors to the Islands … more American visitors.
• There would be more than the one 5-star available.
• One would be able to put tissue paper in the toilet.
• Security would be tighter … no more casual taking of volcanic rock.
• Each island would have a gift shop that visitors would have to pass in order to leave.
• The fee to enter the park would be more than the current $100.
• Inside the gift shops, you would have an opportunity to adopt a specie.
• The paths would be paved so that there would be no injuries.  No need to get the lawyers involved.
• There would be many more excursions, including night visits for the adventurous types.
• The islands would also have mini-restaurants where one could order blue-footed boobies burgers, sea lion salads, and iguana soup.  (Popular food items would be named after animals … we would not actually eat them.)
• You would not have to go all the way to the Galapagos to see their animals, you would just have to visit your local zoo.
• And finally, Disney would be the official tour operator with fun rides and all.

My compliments to Grayline tours

One of the hardest decisions to make when traveling is what to do when you get there.  Do you explore on your own or use a tour company?  Well, it depends.  On our trip to Ecuador where language was an issue, we decided to use a tour company, but which one?  I’ve used Grayline for several other tours and learned that they have a presence in Ecuador, so I went with them.  The tours were wonderful.

Our first tour was a City and Equatorial Tour.  Here, we toured by bus and foot the wonderful cathedrals and churches of the city, including there Notre Dame and the famous San Francisco.  Several, we were able enter and marvel at the architecture and ornateness which belie the wealth of the country.  Throughout the tour, we are getting a history lesson.  We conclude the city part of the trip with a spactaculous view looking down on the old city.  While not part of the equator trip itself, our guide took us to the actual location of the equator in addition to the equator monument.  At the actual location is a small museum (and fee) where there are experiments and archaeological digs.

We also used Grayline to visit the Indian market Otavalo.  We took a private tour, because group tours are only offered certain day.  Along the way to Otavalo, we made several stop at local markets and scenic outlook.  While the day that we visited the market was not busy, it seemed not to deter the vendor.  This is a must visit place in my opinion, even if you don’t like to shop.  After Otavalo, we visited a small town known for its leather goods.  Advice … take a lot of money, while the products are not expensive by United States standard, you really get caught up in the bargaining.

The last tour was  to Cotopaxi and an hacienda.  While we had no intentions of climbing the volcano, the natural beauty of the area is incredible.  We were lucky in that we got to see the snowy tops of the volcano.  Because the day was somewhat clear, we drove to the base parking lot for climbers.  This was not part of the tour.  You better be adventurous and trusting.  A good part of the drive is quite foggy and the rode is curvy and not paved and there are no guard rails!  A word of caution for those who suffer altitude sickness … I thought that my head was going to explode.  The choice of hacienda was excellent.  Too bad it was raining.

Last word, while we could have explored these places on our own, there were lots of places on each tour where we stopped that we would not have known to do.  Also, we learned a lot about the history and culture of the places we visited.  Our guides made the experience personal and enjoyable.  All were professional and seemed to like their jobs.

Clubbing sea lions to death

Yesterday, the Associated Press reported that 53 sea lions in the Galapagos Islands had been clubbed to death.  The deaths were reported as having to have been caused by humans.  Having recently visited the Islands, I can certainly attest that these animals are not afraid of the world’s most dangerous predator and were easy targets, but why and who?  The Ecuadorians are investigating the killings; however, I am not optimistic that we will learn who committed the crimes, unless someone reports that they know who killed these sea lions.  The islands are open and accessible by boat with some islands inhabited by people. 

Why such a senseless and cruel act?  Was this an insane effort to hurt the tourism business which is criticized for changing the ecology of the area?  Just some random lunatic?  How do you protect the Islands without changing them?

Truly a horrible story.

A couple of Quito surprises

During my visit to Quito and the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, I learned several things, despite the research that I did prior to making the trip.

Quito is a large sprawling city of about 3 million people and from a distance the city looks wonderfully bright and colorful, but upon closer inspection …  At more than 3 million, Quito sometimes seems to be about to burst.  Once in the city, you see how stressed Quito’s developing infrastructure is.  For example, trash collection seems to be a problem, the roads need repair, and there is immense poverty, particularly among indigenous people like the Andeans.  Despite the poverty and disrepair of many buildings, I was amazed at how beautiful and ornate the churches and cathedrals are.

If you are traveling from a pedestrian friendly country like Canada or a continent like Europe, please be careful and forget that your drivers take great precaution not to kill you.  Bad taxi driving seem universal, but not only do taxi driver not respect the right of pedestrians, no one does.

My biggest surprise was that roses [the flowers] are a major export for the country.  The United States and Europe are major importers.  As we were riding around the country, our tour guides kept pointing out greenhouses.  Roses are incredible inexpensive in Quito … about 25 for US $1.

I was also surprised at how nascent tourism seemed to be.  A true measure of the strength of tourism for me is how many souvenir shops there are … there are few in Quito.  There are a lot of trinket and gift shops in Quito, but nothing tacky that we Americans would buy.

Perhaps, the greatest surprise of all was how much the dollar buys.

Lodging in Quito, a tale of two hotels

During our recent visit to Ecuador to visit the Galapagos Islands, we got a chance to spend several days in Quito before our cruise and a couple of days in Quito after the cruise.  We decided to stay at two different hotels in different parts of the city … we were expanding our experience of Quito, a large sprawling city.  There’s the new city where you will find the business and tourists districts and then there is the old colonial city that shows the Spanish influence.  My other reason for staying in two different hotels is that sometimes you may make a bad choice and end up with a terrible hotel; I like to minimize my risk of doing this.

At the start of our trip we stayed in the business district at the Dann Carlton Hotel.  The hotel is nice, the staff understands service, most of the staff members speak very good English … my Spanish is nascent and one directional that is I can say things in Spanish, but my understanding is terrible.  A little more about the hotel … The room was clean and spacious.  The buffet breakfast, which was included in the rate, was excellent.  Grayline Tours also picks up from this hotel which is very convenient.

There were a couple of problems … the water pressure in the sink was low, but the shower was great.  There was one thing that the staff did that made us a little crazy … each day they would open the windows, leaving the room quite cold.  My other complaint probably is about timing.  Two of the nights we were at the hotel, there was a party in the ballroom one floor below.  The music was very loud, very bad, and very late.  Needless to say, we got two terrible nights sleep.  I eventually asked to be moved to another room, which the hotel accommodated.  I would stay at this hotel again … with the caveat that there is no party or convention.

Now, when we returned to Quito from the Galapagos, we stayed in the old colonial city at the Hotel Patio Andaluz.  I can use one word to describe this hotel … wonderful.  The hotel is a few blocks from the Presidential square, one of the main squares of the city.  The staff understands the concept of service.  When we arrived at the hotel, we asked the receptionist about tours, which she helped to arrange for us.  Our room was very spacious and nicely decorated.  The bathroom was incredible.  The accommodations were absolutely luxurious and included a reading room where coffee and tea were available all day.  This hotel is a bonus for eco-types, because they promote conservation … the toilet, recycled paper, a cloth laundry bag instead of plastic, low wattage light bulbs.

Because I am a contrarian, there were a couple of things I did not like [I am really just being picky]:  the water pressure in the shower was low; the buffet breakfast, which was not included in the room rate, was not stellar.  We also did not have windows to look outside, we did have a nice window looking over the courtyard.

Not only would I stay at the Hotel Patio Andaluz again, I want to stay here again.

One thing that both hotels had in common was the lack of climate control … no heat or air conditioning control.  My final word on both hotels is that either would be good choices; Hotel Patio Andaluz is definitely superior … and more expensive.