More thoughts on Ecuador - Climate and Food

Beach sunshades in Canoa on Carnival weekend

CLIMATE 
We found the climate in Ecuador to be excellent. Not too hot on the coast and trips inland could provide cool escapes to interesting cities and ecological areas. At its hottest, Ecuador was still pleasant in the towns we visited. In the coastal cities people told us that February and March were the hottest months. While we were there, we would turn on the air conditioner in the evenings to keep our hotel room comfortable, but it was nowhere near as hot as we have found La Cruz/Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to be in May (not to mention June, July, August, September, October, and November). The temperatures in Ecuador's coastal towns were warm enough to swim in the ocean, but not so hot we had to hide inside during the daytime. 

Ecuadorianos enjoying the beach in Canoa

FOOD 
We wrote in an earlier post about comida tipico - fried fish, beef, or chicken with rice and menestra (or beans) or a small salad. Menestra is lentil stew. It is the typical Ecuadoran lunch. Encebollado is a soup, usually with a chunk of chicken in it. This is also popular. We had these lunches many times. The comida tipico was inexpensive, ranging in price from $4 each on the beach to $3.50 total for the three of us in the market in Cuenca. Bottles of beer were usually about $1.50.

We grew tired of comida tipico and found that it was mostly what is available. There were only a few places where we found anything else to eat. When we did find something else the price would typically be close to US prices. Our best meal was at the Puerto Amistad restaurant in Bahia de Caraquez. The dinner we had at Puerto Amistad was reasonably priced with entrees for less than $10. A burger was $5.  

Puerto Amistad's mooring balls and the new bridge in Bahia de Caraquez

Simply for a change, we ate at Pizza Hut in Guayaquil on our last night in Ecuador. It wasn’t that good and was US prices- maybe higher. The place was packed. I guess Ecuadorianos get tired of comida tipico too. 

In all the beach communities there are about 20 beach side restaurants and several others off the beach selling comida tipico. They all seem to sell the same thing at the same price. We wondered how they could all make a living.