There is nothing I love more than traveling and eating some good food. If you are following me on Instagram you might have seen a few posts of me in Ecuador and I was living my BEST life over there. And if you’re not following me on Instagram then I’ll give you the basics of it. My account is filled with selfies of me and a lot of traveling. Most of the trips are me going to Disney, BUT we have a good time and are thriving so it’s fine. If you want to follow my username is @kamilacoellar!! Okay as I was saying, I went on a trip to Ecuador for two weeks and I am so ready to go back.
So before I get into the full details, let me give you the basics of Ecuador. If you didn’t know, Ecuador is in South America on the West Coast. It’s the tiny country right next to Peru and Colombia laying right on the Equator. I am 100% Ecuadorian and lived here for a few months when I was about 2 years old. I don’t remember anything from that time but, there are so many photos that I recognized a few things the first time I went back over 4 years ago.
We landed at Guayaquil Ecuador which is a large city in Ecuador and its about 3-4 hours from Cuenca. The day after landing in Quyaquil we were off to Cuenca where we spent most of the two weeks in. The drive to Cuenca is filled with views of Cocoa bean plantations, banana plantations, fruit markets, small towns and more. There are always street vendors there to sell you snacks and they will bring it right to your car. The best part is driving through the mountains and getting to see all the beautiful views. Cuenca is surrounded by mountains and the roads are anything but straight forward. There are sharp turns and parts where you are driving through the clouds to the point where you can’t see what is straight in front of you. In the parts of clarity, you can get glimpses of the most beautiful views.
About an hour and a half into driving through the mountains, there is this small section on the side of the road filled with fresh fruit vendors. We decided to stop by and buy a whole bunch of mini bananas for only $2.00. Since everything is so fresh all of the fruits taste so different compared to the USA.
The first night we got to Cuenca we just chilled at the house and this house was a DREAM. It was surrounded with fresh fruits, tall beautiful trees, glass ceilings and doors that open up wide to the outside with views of the mountains. It felt unreal to get to wake up and enjoy this place throughout the whole vacation.
The next morning we went out to explore the local markets. There were countless amount of vendors and different foods to buy. Think of it as a farmers market but everything is inside and everything a bit more exotic. I loved walking through the market exploring fruits that you would never find in the US and seeing little homemade treats. Everything was so bright, colorful and so lively.
Most of the days consisted of walking around and exploring Cuenca. We the center park called Parque Caldero that was surrounded by restaurants, bakeries, and shops. The building had a European / Spanish look giving me flashbacks to my visit to Paris a few years ago.
Right in the town center, we visited a shop called Angelos where they sold Cuenca’s most famous ice cream called Tutto Fredo. I was obsessed with their fruit-flavored ice cream, my favorites being Rasberry and Passion Fruit. Passion Fruit was my obsession when I was there. Every that was flavored passion fruit was killer and I couldn’t get enough. Right next to the bakery was the large cathedral called Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception or Catedral Nueva. We got to climb to the very top of the cathedral and see the view of Cuenca’s city center from above.
There were plenty of little artisanal markets selling cute little hand made things like souvenirs, jewelry and more. I loved going from store to store looking through everything and making a few purchases for myself and others. One thing I love to buy from Ecuador is jewelry. The quality of jewelry is amazing over there and I was constantly finding cute pieces of gold or silver jewelry to take home. I also found the cutest turtles made from marble that I LOVED! Since turtles are great for Feng Shui and also one of my favorite animals I decided to buy a few.
When you look into what to do in Cuenca Ecuador a popular thing is to visit the Plaza De Los Flores. This is a place where dozens of flower vendors set up stands right next to the cathedral. Such a cute place for photos and filled with hundreds of flowers.
Right next to here is an artesian plaza and with a huge Cuenca sign so on another day we stopped by to take some photos and do some more shopping
The last time I visited Ecuador I decided to do the most touristy thing available, go on a tour bus. The views are amazing and you get to see and learn a lot so I thought that it would be fun to do it again. The morning before taking the tour we decided to do some shopping and then went for a quick lunch. The whole day was perfect too, sunny and a bit cool making it not too hot to walk around. When we went to the tour bus it got a bit cloudier and within 15 minutes of the tour, it began to rain. I could not stop laughing, we were sitting on the top of the bus with no top and of course, nowhere near prepared for the rain. Luckily we were able to quickly run to the bottom of the bus before the rain got bad.
One of the stops for the tour is this place called Turi where you can see the whole city of Cuenca from super high. The thing is because of the rain it was so cloudy that you literally couldn’t see a thing so we decided that we would make a second visit on our own on a clearer day. The second time we went it was so much clearer and such a crazy cool view. You could see all of the mountains and Cuenca, it was nice to just sit there and take in the view.
Outside of Cuenca among the mountains, there is this little place called Los Dos Chorreas. It’s a place with restaurants, a hotel, and a few outdoor activities. We decided to make a quick visit here for lunch and to take a look around. The food was SO good and throughout the restaurant, you can see pretty views of the mountains and the animals outside.
With only four days left before it was time to head back home, we went off on another road trip to the coast for a quick beach getaway. We stayed at the all-inclusive hotel called El Royal De Cammeron hotel. While we were in Cuenca we would get up early and spend the whole day out so it was nice to have a completely relaxed last few days.. We spent these last few days on the beach with constant visits to get some food and drinks. What I loved about this hotel is how the beach was so private with only hotel guests. Since this wasn’t the busy season the beach was empty. Plus the food there was so good, your girl took advantage of the ability to eat and get as much as you want. It was such a great way to end the trip and be fully rested before the long trip back home.
Eventually, it was time to go home and I was not ready to leave!! The trip was amazing, filled with so much joy, good people, and amazing food. Cuenca Ecuador is a small place filled with magical experiences and I can not wait to go back hopefully very soon. I am so happy that I was able to have my sister aka one of my favorite travel buddy with me on this trip to explore this place all over again. We used to call home for a few months when we were younger and coming back was amazing. Like any other trip, always sad to leave but excited for the next trip!!
All the love,
Kamila Coellar
Kamila Coellar 