OLA is back In Quito full time … after many months exploring Ecuador´s amazing untouched coast we have returned to the capital to look at new opportunities. The time spent at the coast was amazing and has given us a real insight to hidden delights that are completely off the beaten path. If you would like to see the coast through the eyes of a local then start arranging an adventure today …

So what is life like in Quito, you may ask? For me being an outdoor person it has its draw backs but at the end of the day you get out what you put in! So here at OLA we have been making the most of our time here and pushing the city limits! Firstly, we start our day with a morning visit to the climbing wall where we keep fit for our adventures in the high Andes and practice our climbing skills. In the last year the climbing wall has gone from strength to strength, and soon they are opening a new boulder section that will allow beginners better access. If you ever fancy a climb, (whatever your ability) then contact us here at OLA.

Along the same active theme we headed up the Teliferico last weekend. For those not in the ¨know¨ , the Teliferico is a cable car that takes people up to the huge 4800m Rucu Pichincha volcano that looms over Quito. For sightseers and trekkers alike this is a great way to get high in the Andes and gain some amazing views of Quito, and can be completed in a day. The top station is at 4100m thus meaning to reach the summit you still have to climb 700m. This may sound easy, but remember there is far less oxygen at this altitude …

Finally on Sunday we got on our bikes and headed into central Quito. Normally this would be an extreme sport, as with most Latin American cities the traffic is unpredictable and dangerous! However, this Sunday (and every other Sunday) the roads are closed to traffic and thousands of people hit the road and cycle the 30km route. For me the best part is through Quito´s historical center, its such a great way to see the city. If you ever want to join us for a ride then contact us.

Check out our photo album of our Active Quito

Ola-Adventures has new boards for its students! Last week I headed down to Manta the big town south of Canoa, the small beach town I am living in. The reason for this latest adventure was to buy 2 new fun boards so OLA can run its surf school and continue teaching and having fun in the surf. Well as with everything in Ecuador it turned into a saga, but a fun one.

I was given rather rough directions by Franz the owner of the famous Coco Loco hostel in Canoa. These instructions where at best a little rough being a hand drawn map with many question marks, but I had a name to ask for - Rene.
Manta is a fairly big town with the biggest fishing fleet in Ecuador, its a working port town with a controversial US air-base and of course Rene, if you can find him! There is not much for the tourist to do or see but it is surrounded by many amazingly beautiful beaches, and in the right season has some of the best surf spots along the coast, not to mention the whale watching.

I had already ordered the boards from my visit a week previous. The boards were being made of balsa wood rather the customary foam, this makes them a little heavier but ultimately makes for a beautiful looking and strong board, not to mention the positives for he environment by using bio-degradable and renewable source.

I turned up to find the boards being still being finished, as with everything here in Latin America its always a last minute thing. The boards were amazing, like peaces of art work, the balsa wood looked was just great, and with the extra strength should last forever.

By the time I the boards were done it was a little late to be heading the few hundred kms back to Canoa so I decided to spend the night in Manta. Being we had a few hrs of light left Rene and the surf guys said we should go off on a little surf mission. This ended up with 8 young guys me and all the boards in or on the Land Cruiser.
The coast line south of Manta has an amazing amount of surf breaks, most of these are hidden gems along hard to find dirt roads but once there you have the waves to your self (apart from the huge hump back whales just of shore). We surfed until the light held with some nice 2-3 foot waves rolling through. I have been told in the right months that it can get big and perfect along here - OLA we be back from some surf session. I have to say a big thanks to Rene for sharing his secret spots with me and I will make sure that these spots remain secrete!

My night in Manta was rather un-eventful that is apart from my hotel. It was one of those places were you are not sure if it is a brothel or not? On one hand you had families with small children running around on the other you have condoms along with tooth brushes and shampoo on the list of ´extras´. I don´t think I will ever know what it really was (i don´t think i wnat to!) It did for the night and I found a place around the corner for a few dollars more that came with a swimming pool that did not have slightest brothel feel to it, next time I will know where to stay!

Im back in Canoa now and enjoying a 2hr session a day on the new OLA boards. If you fancy learning to surf contact us, or even better join us for a surf safari.

Check out todays surf report in Canoa by clicking here

I seem to always start off by saying sorry for it being such along time since my last Blog - well this time is no different. Sorry!

Life has been busy lately not leaving much time for blogging. OLA- Adventures has been spending lots of time at the beach, soon we will have lots of new routes and itineraries taking in some of the least touched areas of Ecuador. Of course there will be a few places that you might recognize from the guide books but we still want to offer our clients life beyond the guide books as Ecuador has so much to see and do.
So you may ask what is beach life like in Ecuador? Laid back in a word. I have been living in Canoa which is in the Manabi province, this area is one of Ecuador poorest provinces with most people making a living, just about, from farming. Being only 70-km south of the Equator and only a few hundred meters above sea level its a hot and humid all year round. This is a place where mangos grow wild and banana plantations cover huge areas, all very tropical.

Then there is the mighty Pacific ocean, an ocean that is teaming with life, from sharks to little hermit crabs it has it all. If you are a sea food lover then you are in the right place, its cheap, fresh and plentiful. If you ever get the chance to join us for an adventure down there you will not be disappointed; you can learn to surf in the morning, eat fresh fish-lobster lunch, explore tropical fruit plantains in the afternoon and then take a sun set Paraglide in the evening. What more can you ask for?

I will try my best to keep this more up date, but hey when life is this busy and fun every minute is important.

Below is what I wrote on a travel blog to someone who needed help with their visa here in Ecuador. Having gone through this myself, I thought it might be worth putting it up here incase we get more questions about visas in Ecuador.

You can get extensions on a 90 day tourist VISA if you go to an immigration office, of which there are a few in Quito and other major cities in Ecuador. You will however need to pay a $200 fine if you stay over 180 days, from that point in time you only have 24 hours to get out of the country. However, I strongly recommend you find a lawyer before paying this fine and leaving the country, as to get back into Ecuador you need a lot of different documents & papers. An indication of what you might need is on the link below. Preferably get a lawyer who specialises in immigration. If you just need to get back in to Ecuador again & you have over stayed 180 days, the best VISA to go for is 12-IX (tourist visa). This visa can be issued at the border in Ipiales, Colombia, however, it must first be passed in the cancilleria in Quito.

www.embassyecuadoraustralia.org.au/consular12I_eng.html

So make sure all your documentation and paper work is in order before you cross the border. Ipiales, colombia being the closest to Quito. Here is a web page that shows you everything you need however, we got asked for additional things, so make sure you check with a lawyer. The main document that is not shown is an economic guarantee, this has to be written by a Lawyer. They may also want a police record both from Ecuador & your country of origin. This can take time to get, the forms for the UK can be downloaded from here. UK
So leave for the border with all the papers in order then you might get back in on this VISA 12-IX. Need more help email? Me @

But this is important, wherever you are from (US, UK etc.) you need a VISA to stay legally in Ecuador. After your 90 days are up the fine can be as much as $2000 if you don’t get legal.

I hope that this is of use to a few people.

All the best,

Jon

One thing about Ipiales is that it is not cheap, quite safe due to all the army based there and nothing to do apart from walk around. But to end this on an up note their is the most amazing church that I have seen. Worth a look especially if you are religious!

Its been a long time since I got around to writing a blog, sorry. Lately I have been on quiet a few tours leaving me little time for blogging.
So where I have I been you may ask? First off was our Laguna Quilotoa trip in the mighty Unimog; the trip was a great success with everyone enjoying the amazing landscape, scenery and people of this fabulous high Andean area. We had 12 people on this trip with everyone getting to do and see what they wanted, as like always I tried to keep a lot flexibility allowing all of the OLA Adventures to get the most out of there high Andean experience.

One part of the trip we all could have done without was the crazy traffic back to Quito. Easter weekend in Latin America is always very busy but returning to Quito on Sunday night was maybe not the greatest idea, as it seemed everyone had the same plan. The roads were so full we had to fight for every inch of tarmac, fortunately we where in the Unimog and most people came to their senses and gave us a little extra room! Finally at 10pm we rolled into Quito tired but happy to have got there safe and sound. I have to say a big thanks to all the adventures that made my weekend fun and enjoyable.

After the Laguna Quilotoa trip I jumped in the Toyota Land Cruiser and headed off on a 7 day Ecuadorian Adventure with Leah and Amanda, we seemed to cover a lot of Ecuador in those 7 days. From the high Andes right down to the tropical beach for a spot of surfing, take a look at the photos …

This brings me up to my last trip, my family trip. I had been in email contact with Meighan over the past month or so. We had been slowly working out an itinerary that would not leave Frances (3yrs) spending too much time in the car as any more than 3hrs might induce an amazing amount of screaming, crying and “are we nearly there yet”!
Meighan was happy that we could remain flexible and move when they needed to but also stop along away to explore the real Ecuador rather than being on a strict fixed itinerary.

We arranged to meet at the South American Explorers club immediately upon meeting them I new this going to be a fun trip. After an hour of chatting we had a rough itinerary set and headed off towards the Avenue of Volcanoes.
The next 9 days turned out to be one of my best trips, little Frances was a real explorer wanting to do and see everything she could while on this vacation of a lifetime, it was really and refreshing to be seeing Ecuador through the eyes of a 3yr old. She seemed to see things very differently from us adults and she showed me a thing or two about this amazing country.
For me my favorite part of the trip was down in the jungle at the little hidden town of Misahaulli. It seemed the tropical heat and laid back lifestyle of this almost forgotten town had gone to Frances head and we renamed her “tropo girl”
Check out the photos as they tell the story better then I ever could.

This brings me up to date. I am sitting here in Mindo a sub tropical little town set in the lush green humid cloud forest about 100km North West of Quito. As I finish this blog I am sipping good coffee and watching humming birds wiz past me. This afternoon my peace and quiet will be shattered as I am heading back to Quito getting ready for my next clients and another Ecuadorian Adventure, hopefully, tropical beach here I come …

Until next time.

It seems Monday mornings are the same everywhere in the world. I have a list as long as my arm that I would like to achieve today but I do not seem to be moving forward. Oh well, at least the coffee in Ecuador is amazing…

Our weekend adventure to Otavalo was really successful. We went around and checked out loads of interesting hostels and haciendas that we can include in our next adventures; from the 5 star Hacienda Cusin to the more relaxed La Luna backpackers.

The countryside around Otavalo is the highlight of this area for me. There are so many options, routes, and peaks for high Andean trekking and climbing. It is almost too hard to decide where to start. Unfortunately, this time we did not have the time to don the walking boots and pack the rope, but next time I will be able to revisit some of the routes and mountain peaks I climbed a few years ago.

Otavalo is world famous for its Andean artisan market, and Saturday is the day for those of you who like to hunt for a bargain. The weavings and handicrafts are top notch and get exported all over the world. An early morning stroll through this market really gives you a sense of being high in the Andes amongst these colorful indigenous people. The area of Otavalo is well known in Ecuador for having a very powerful and well organized indigenous movement — this is quite unusual in Latin America. Being well organized has helped them take back control of there own affairs rather than being treated like second class citizens — which so sadly seems the norm throughout Latin America.

This week at Ola Adventures, we have many plans for the web site from uploading some sample itineraries to playing with 3D Google maps. We are also trying to find a new place to base ourselves from — so, if you know of any nice apartments for rent in La Floresta, Quito, let us know!

Wish us luck…

Lots of new features added to the web site today. The subscribe links down the right allow you to keep up to date on OLA news. We also added the “Share and Enjoy” social bookmarking badges at the bottom of each post to help with the site promotion. Please click on the badges and submit OLA articles to link sites as much as possible. It’s a big help to us!

Comments are now officially turned on. Although, it may take a day or two for us to approve your comments before they show up on the site. To curb SPAM, we’re moderating each comment for now.

If you scroll to the bottom of the page, you can book a hostel stay for just about anywhere in Ecuador. The selection is quite large, but there are many great places not available for booking online. Feel free to contact us if you want suggestions on where to stay.

Lots of good things happening behind the scenes. We’re working on our booking and affiliate engines so clients can sign up for adventures on the site. We’re hoping to have basic booking available in a week or two. I’ll keep you posted!

Well its Friday night in Quito and I am still working … the fun of owning your own company! It’s not all so bad as we have come a long way with the web site this week (please leave comments) and I am slowly uploading lots of my photos on to the flickr.com photo site.

It has been a long week to get this far. Joe J. and I have decided that a weekend away to Otavalo is needed, lots of fresh air, some exercise and time to check out a few new routes as we like to keep our adventures fresh. Let’s just hope that the rain holds off a little as its been a fairly wet the last few days.

It’s nice to take time off now as I have quite a few adventures booked up for April (Banos, Laguna Quilotoa, Canoa to name a few). I have to say I am really looking forward to the trips as I love to be out and about — it’s much more the real me rather than being stuck in the office.

Thats all for now, enjoy your weekend wherever you are.

Tonight, Joe and I worked on the sample itineraries and promotional fliers for OLA before heading out to grab a schwarma at this fantastic little hamburger stand in La Floresta. We’ve been feeling a bit burned out in Quito lately — mostly because of all the little delays and annoyances of trying to start up a business in a place where the work ethic and infrastructure are worlds apart from home. All the little things like printing business cards, uploading pictures to the web site, and getting an alarm installed on the car take 10 times longer down here.

After our quick dinner, we drove around La Floresta looking for apartments to rent. I can’t begin to tell you how great it will be to have a proper place to chill out at night after spending all day fighting finicky computers and Quitenian traffic. La Floresta, an upper middle class oasis, sits just to the east of La Mariscal (or Gringolandia — ground zero for tour companies by day and drunken debauchery with an international flavor by night). La Floresta even has an independent cinema! Holy cow, Batman!

We parked the car just half a block down the street from the cinema. We were both so happy to get away from computers and out of La Mariscal for a bit that we didn’t give a second thought to the security of the area. After all, there was a guard booth half a block from the car in either direction. This was the nice area of town packed with upscale restaurants and fresh fruit markets that made you blissfully forget about the concrete fortifications topped with shards of glass surrounding each house.

We were only in the cinema lounge for 10 minutes, sipping beer, reading film magazines, and talking to the British School staff who were putting on a production of Romeo and Juliet in one of the theaters. The place felt like home. It was the first time that I really connected with Quito as a city. And then it happened. Like all Latin American cities, the gap between the haves and the have nots is staggering, and with such discrepancies in class comes crime.

The thieves did such a great job of cutting out the back quarter light window that we didn’t even notice we had been robbed until we got back to the South American Explorers Club, parked the car, and went around making sure all the doors were locked. All it takes is that one moment of carelessness and a bit of bad luck for you to become the statistic. Joe F. just installed the alarm two days before but we had left it off because the alarm systems in Ecuador erupt in foul noise at the most inappropriate times and then are almost impossible to deactivate.

Unfortunately, they stole all of our climbing gear from the back of the car. Through the tinted windows, there was no way to know about the treasure which leads us to believe they were trying to steal the car. Fortunately, Joe F. had also upgraded the steering lock when he installed the alarm. The glass is still half full, but the really annoying part is that when we then went to test the alarm system for future use, it shorted out the turn signals. So now, Joe F. has to spend all day tomorrow getting not only the window fixed but the alarm system and turn signal repaired. Ah, Quito.

If I have to turn this into a fable, then the moral of the story is the reality of life in a big city with the majority of the population living in poverty. Crime happens just like any other metropolitan area but spotlit and amplified on relatively tiny pockets of wealth. There are many positive aspects of Quito from the beautiful architecture of Old Town to the stunning views of The Valley from Guapulo, but the no doubt the primary reasons for visiting Ecuador lie outside of Quito where it’s almost unheard of for someone to break into your car and steal your climbing gear.

Information about our newest guide, Pablo, coming soon…..

Well at last I have put pen to paper…(well fingers to a key board)

Over the past few weeks loads has happened here at OLA Adventures and I am not even sure where to start…? Things have become really busy with us buying our pre-loved Toyota Land Cruiser and slowly getting it up to a UK standard rather that the rather scary Ecuadorian ‘no brakes’ standard. I am really happy with it, its got seat belts all round, a new alarm (that makes some crazy sounds!) and today is being fitted with a nice set of OLA Adventures stickers. As from tomorrow it will also be GPS equipped so we will be able to have data on all of our expeditions. Now all we need to do is take it off on some more adventures….Come and join us.

Speaking of adventures we had a great trip last Sunday to Mindo, the weather tried to do its worst by dropping as much rain on us as possible but for us adventurers it just added to the atmosphere. One of the high lights for me was our cable car trip across this huge revine, it looked like something straight at of King Kong…. I will be back for another trip on that. Mindo is such a great place for adventures and just as good for some hard earned relaxing.

Today has been a day of computers and web pages at Jon’s house (we have just had an amazing storm). Every day I learn something new about web pages and computers from Joe J our new OLA member, not sure how much more my poor old brain can take….I need to get back out and start adventuring.

See you soon….

Joe F