Congratulations to Luciano Stabel, winner of our Flickr Cover Photo Contest for Chile! His beautiful photo of Puerto Varas will appear on our premier guidebook to Chile, due out later this year!

Want your photo to appear on the cover of our upcoming guidebooks?

VIVA Travel Guides is happy to announce FOUR upcoming Flickr Cover Photo Contests!! Whether you’re a professional photojournalist, amateur photographer or simply a wanderlusting backpacker with a good eye (and camera), we invite all travelers to submit their photos. Entering is free, and you can submit as many photos as you want!

Winner gets $100 and the coveted cover of the upcoming guidebook!

If your photos doesn’t win, don’t fret: Runners up get their name and photo inside the guidebook itself.

You already show off your amazing travel photos to your friends and family — why not gain a little exposure and help travel guide readers see the beauty of this world? Visit our Flickr Contest Pages below to read contest guidelines.

Ready, Set, Snap!

Upcoming Contests

• Cusco and Machu Picchu (Deadline: December 1, 2009)
• Ecuador (Deadline: January 1, 2010)
• Quito (Deadline: January 1, 2010)
• Galapagos Islands (Deadline: January 1, 2010)

Ecuador, currently suffering from a severe power shortage, has instituted rolling blackouts around the country to save energy. Every day, different sectors of Quito and rural areas will have their power cut for from three to six hours. The local paper, El Comercio, has the schedule online (http://ww1.elcomercio.com/default.asp) or in their printed edition. Hotels and most restaurants and nightlife are making the most of it, staying open and providing service (most stoves and ovens use gas and are unaffected, although refrigeration might be a concern). Ecuadorians are aware of the problem and will usually know when their sector is due for an outage. Important services such as hospitals have generators, but in many areas traffic lights may be out. The power shortage is due to low rainfall in the south where Ecuador’s lone electric plant operated off a dam: some estimate that the crisis may last months.

By Nick Rosen

Visitors, take note: a fun night out in Quito does not have to end with your head stuck out a taxi window, singing “I Know You Want Me” at full volume while the stranger you’ve been canoodling with tries to pull you back inside the cab. Oh, it certainly could– and visiting one of V!VA’s Top Ten Places to Get Inebriated at the Equator is a good way to kick off just such an evening– but there are plenty of alternatives. In fact, V!VA’s hometown has a number of nocturnal attractions to keep the teetotalers among us entertained.

Peculiar Películas

Ocho y Medio is located in Quito’s La Floresta neighborhood, but it wouldn’t feel too out of place in the trendier parts of Brooklyn. The theater uses its four little screens to show Ecuadorian movies, the latest indie hits, and strangely wonderful German art house films from the 1970s. Though the movies are subtitled in Spanish, sometimes the theater shows English-language films. Grab the opportunity to slip on your skinny black jeans and come hang out at this hipster haven.

More conventional multiplex theaters can be found at shopping centers throughout the Quito area. The most convenient option in southern Quito is the Multicines branch at the El Recreo shopping mall. The nicest theater in Quito’s north is the CineMark located at the Plaza de las Americas mall.

Live from Quito, it’s Saturday Night

Quito is also the best place in Ecuador to catch a live music, theater or dance performance. One place to make note of is the Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana, a large complex across from Parque El Ejido. The cultural center puts on plays, concerts, film screenings and art exhibitions.

In the Centro Histórico, El Teatro Nacional Sucre hosts opera, ballet, theater and dance in a beautifully restored colonial building on the Plaza del Teatro. While the Centro has a checkered nighttime reputation, it is easy enough to get a taxi to take you directly to the theater; you should not be scared off from dressing up and enjoying this unique venue.

Quito’s Café Culture

Just because you aren’t drinking alcohol doesn’t mean you’re fasting, does it? By all means, warm up at Café Mosaico with a hot chocolate. Enjoy the ambience, the food, the view and maybe even your company. The hillside neighborhood of Guápulo is also chock-a-block full of atmospheric little cafés. Take your pick of Café Guápulo, Café ChiQuito or Mirador de Guápulo.

Be a Mall Rat

Alright, you probably haven’t spent your nights out goofing around at the mall since high school, but Quicentro, the city’s swankiest shopping center, is a popular hangout for the locals. Long after most streets in town are deserted, you will find Quiteños strolling and checking out the shops at the mall, which stays open until 8 or 9. If you want to stay even later, the attached bowling alley, which claims to be the most technologically-advanced one in the whole country, remains open until midnight.

Go see a movie, take in the ballet, bowl a few frames. Abstaining from drinking is not abstaining from a good time in Quito.

This past weekend the Galapagos luxury yacht Cormorant II (formerly Journey II) sank off the coast of Isabela Island late at night. Fortunately, a park service patrol was nearby and all passengers and crew were saved. According to early reports, the Cormorant II lost power somehow in rough waters. The crew was able to call for help. The ship was heavily damaged in the rough waters and rocks and it is not yet know if some or all of it can be salvaged. If you have booked a cruise on the Cormorant II, please contact your tour agent.

By Paula Newton

1. The access to mountains, coast and jungle

One of the best parts of all about living in Quito is the access that you have to other diverse parts of the country. Quito is a fairly small city, so it’s also easy to get out quickly and reach them. Within just a few hours, you can be climbing snow-capped peaks in the Andes, spotting hummingbirds in the cloudforest, drifing through the jungle on a canoe, or kicking back in a hammock on the Pacific beaches. How many cities in the world can boast that claim?

2. The weather

Quito has a “spring-like” climate year-round. That means that it is warm and sunny every day, but not too hot due to the altitude. Well, at least it is sunny in the mornings anyway—at some times of the year it rains heavily in the afternoons. That’s easy to live with when you know it will be bright and sunny once again come morning. And that any day is good for an ice cream.

3. The surrounding mountains

There’s something magical about waking up in the morning, looking out of the window and glimpsing the giant mountains and volcanoes that surround Quito. Out and about in Quito on a clear morning (and most mornings are clear), the views are spectacular on the walk to work.

4. The South American Explorers Club

The South American Explorers Club is a great way to meet like-minded individuals. While being a resource for travelers, they also have a ton of information for expats about all of the practical stuff that you need to know, as well as lists of schools that have teaching work. The club arranges weekend trips, social events, information evenings and more. They also often have ads about places to rent. This has to be one of your first stops in town, for traveler or expat alike.

5. Salsa

The V!VA girls love to dance. Or, to try anyway. V!VA’s favorite salsa spot is trendy salsateca, Seseribo, found just outside of the popular Mariscal district. Even if you can’t dance, it’s worth stepping inside to enjoy the vibe and watch how the locals twirl.

6. The cost of living in Ecuador

Ecuador is pretty cheap compared to back home, and the currency is the US dollar, so it’s easy to understand the costs. Renting a room in a shared apartment in the the center of town costs anywhere from $100 to $220. A banana costs $0.05. A set lunch menu is $2.50. You can get a large beer for $0.80 from the store. Sweet!

7. The Street Food

From salchipapas (sausage and chips) to cevichochos (bean ceviche) to taco stands and more, Quito knows how to do fast food on the cheap. V!VA staff favorite is the Rey de Hotdogs (King of Hotdogs) stall at the end of the road, where you can get hotdog with all kinds of toppings, for $1. Good for a cheap lunch, or for solid stomach lining before a night out on the town. Que rico!

8. The easy-to-understand quiteño accent

Quito’s a great place to pick up Spanish quickly. Quiteños speak Spanish fairly slowly and usually very clearly, so their accent is pretty easy to understand. In addition, there are more than forty Spanish schools in Quito where it is possible to get cheap classes, either one-to-one, or in small groups.

9. The Soccer

Ecuadorians love their soccer. If you’re in Quito for any length of time, you won’t be able to miss the city gearing up for a LIGA (local team) or national game. For national games, the city turns yellow with everyone from tiny babies to old men wearing the national team shirt, bought outside the stadium or elsewhere in the street for just a few dollars. Duck into a bar, grab a Pilsener (the local beer) and watch the game. GOOOOOOOOOAL.

10. Last, but not least, the Pub Quizzes

Quito has a lively expat community with a few bars and pubs that run pub quizzes. At last count, there were at least three pub quizzes a week. This gives the V!VA staff three chances to feel like they’re smarter than all the other expats/backpackers, though on a rare occasion, they’re not. The V!VA favorite is the South American Explorers Pub Quiz held on the first and third Wednesday of every month in the Reina Victoria pub. Come and pit your wits against the V!VA staff if you’re ever in town.

Every tourist passing through Ecuador knows the name Otavalo. We all hear about the beautiful textiles, the carved tagua knick knacks and the hard-nosed bargaining of the natives, and we are all practically pushed into a Saturday trip to the huge artisan market a couple hours north of Quito. As my friends and I were being guided in planning our trip to Otavalo, I heard just vague mentions of an animal market that occured slightly earlier in the morning. Luckily, my desire to see the true Otavaleño culture, mixed with my photojournalist instincts, led me to ask a few more questions and do a bit more research. So while everyone else we knew was getting on a bus from Quito Saturday morning with the sole objective of obtaining the cheapest souvenirs possible, my adventurous amigas and I spent the night in Otavalo on Friday, and hopped in a taxi headed toward the outskirts of town at 8:30 Saturday morning.

Stepping out of the taxi and walking across the street to the clearing where the animal market is held, my eyes didn’t know where to look. To my right, an enormous black pig was tied to a post and lying on the ground, its chest heaving with the effort of breathing. To my left, a man was trying valiantly to direct his sheep through the crowd. Directly in front of me, there was simply a wall of people.  Winding my way through the crowd, I finally found a bit of empty space where I could stop and take in all that was happening around me. People and animals were everywhere. Vendors stood under umbrellas behind baskets or crates where they displayed their livestock. I could see chickens, roosters, ducks, sheep, cows, pigs and dogs.

Here we had found the real Otavalo. Yes, there were a few women hounding the gringas to buy their scarves or jewelry, and

a few boys tried to convince us we needed their ice cream. But for the most part, the locals ignored us. This market was not about catering to tourists. The vendors patiently tolerated our gawking at their animals, but they were selling to their neighbors. Unless we wanted to buy their sheep, they didn’t care about us.

Having the chance to wander freely around the market, watching the true spirit of the Otavaleño trade industry, was an intense cultural experience. I watched in half horror, half fascination as a man tossed a half dozen or so baby chicks into a paper sack (one very similar to what I used to carry my school lunches), rolled up the top and handed it to a tiny, wrinkled old woman in exchange for a handful of coins. Women and men carefully inspected sheep, cows and pigs before making their purchases. Dust flew everywhere, and a cacophony of animal sounds assaulted our ears. I stepped out of the way as a woman trudged by with a pile of brooms strapped to her back. On the small ridge overlooking the market, tents were set up to offer freshly cooked meals and a bit of shade to those who needed a respite from the haggling frenzy.

Too many visitors think Otavalo is only a large souvenir shop for foreigners. And yes, if you want to purchase cheap souvenirs or hear English spoken every ten feet, head to the plaza in town.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s tons of fun and you’ll find great stuff. But if you want to witness the real world of the Otavaleños, head to the edge of town early on a Saturday, and experience true culture shock.

By Mark Samcoe, V!VA Travel Guides

Heed the teachings of The Wolf, and you too can summit one of the world’s highest active volcanoes.

Cotopaxi (altitude 5,897 m, 19,350 ft), often described as “a near-perfect cone,” rising up out of the vast, flat Parque Nacional Cotopaxi south of Quito, is a popular non-technical hike for visitors to Ecuador.

Our guide, Efrain, nicknamed El Lobo (The Wolf), was a former elementary school teacher from Ambato who had climbed Cotopaxi over 500 times in his 15+ years of guiding. We began our trek around midday, hiking from the volcano’s parking area (4,200 m / 13,779 ft) up to the refuge (4,500 m / 14,764 ft). After an hour of lugging my refrigerator-sized backpack,  sinking into the scree slope, and gasping for air, I reached the two-story stone building, completely exhausted.

Instead of practicing wearing crampons or making short climbs to acclimatize, El Lobo told us to rest. In the crowded refuge dining area we sipped tea, ate bread and cheese, and popcorn with fried garlic. We spent the afternoon messing up the table with crumbs, instant hot chocolate and powdered milk.

At dusk, Lobo served us soup and fried fish with rice. While we ate he showed us how to breathe and walk: breathe in deeply through your nose; step with the right foot; plant your ice axe; and breathe out through your mouth, loud enough to hear it.

We bundled into our sleeping bags to rest up for the ascent. The sound of boots clomping on the wood floor, a couple in another bunk whispering and giggling, and people tossing and turning in the lower bunks kept me awake for hours. Eventually I fell asleep, and awoke at midnight, along with the other hikers, all preparing to tackle the summit.

Dressed in layers, we geared up after breakfast; the three of us were the last group to leave the refuge. Above us, the slope was spotted with headlamps moving imperceptibly. I carried water and snacks in a tiny day pack that Lobo joking referred to as a child’s book bag.

We trudged up to the glacier in 45 minutes. I walked, head down, following footsteps, concentrating on breathing and stepping. At the snow line, my boots grew fangs as Lobo strapped on our crampons and roped us in with a bright green cord. Up we marched (the wind gusting and blowing snow), side- stepping and switch-backing, occasionally through knee-high snow. We took short breaks when Lobo said we could. When he asked us how we were doing, we said, “good,” as though it were our mantra.

Surprisingly, my leg muscles didn’t burn from the steep climbing, and I didn’t get light-headed from the altitude. The most trying part of the hike was when I would plant my ice axe in the snow and it would sink deep. It was like leaning on a banister while climbing a steep staircase and having someone yank it out from under you.

The near-vertical ice wall was the biggest challenge. We were told it is 30 meters, but it looked more like 15. Last up, I climbed by slamming my axe into the wall, then kicking my left foot into the ice, followed by my right. I often only got the toe crampons of one boot stuck in, making it a slightly fear-stricken scramble to the top, where I dramatically collapsed once clear.

As we ascended the final stretch, my lungs gurgled each time I took heavy breaths. Sunlight began to peer around the side of the glacier, and we suddenly smelled sulfur. After four and a half hours we reached the summit at sunrise. We felt as though we were on top of the world (or of Ecuador, at least). Smoke billowed from Cotopaxi’s active crater and, below us, low-lying clouds buffeted the peaks of Chimborazo and Corazon.

We spent a few minutes on the summit taking photos and reveling in our accomplishment. The descent took an hour and a half and was more of a struggle than the ascent. Fatigued, squinting to follow the trail lost in cloud cover, we looped down to the refuge. This time, we led and Lobo followed.

El Lobo is a guide with VIVA-reccommended Gulliver Travel.

After nearly a century of life, Lonesome George, the last Galápagos Giant Tortoise of his species, may soon become a daddy.

Last Saturday guards found a friendly surprise upon opening the nest in George’s corral: five laid eggs, in perfect condition. The eggs were immediately measured, weighed, then carefully transferred to the Giant Tortoise Center for Reproduction and Captive Breeding. Now researchers must play nature’s waiting game, as it will take 120 days (November) to find out if the incubated eggs are fertile.

For years scientists have been struggling to get Lonesome George to procreate, after scientists discovered the near-extinction of his species on the Pinta island of the Galapagos islands and brought him into captivity at the Charles Darwin research station in 1972. However, the endangered reptile’s low libido has severely complicated the survival of his species. In efforts to resurrect the Pinta island tortoise, researchers spiced up the solitary George’s living arrangements by giving him new roommates: two female tortoises (given the mundane monikers No. 107 and No. 106).

Although researchers hoped the ménage à tortoise would be a success, the fickle and disinterested George never budged until 2008, when after 36 years of captivity he finally mated with both females; unfortunately, the eggs turned out to be infertile. The newly laid eggs by Female No. 107 have reignited hope in scientists, and although there are no certainties, they are trying to remain optimistic.

Even if the eggs end up infertile, George has mated twice in two years - quite the fertile feat for the old giant. May the reptile revolution persist!

To learn more about the Lonesome George and the plight of his species, visit the Galapagos Conservatory.

By Joanne Sykes, V!VA Travel Guides

Despite enough mosquito bites to keep me scratching until well into 2010, I have returned happy and in one piece from my trip to El Oriente last week. The first leg of the journey was definitely not the highlight: eight hours on an overnight bus with a broken seat, a very loud movie blaring right above my head, and a road that was alternate strips of rumble, sand and tarmac. But we woke up in Lago Agrio, where we would start our tour, fairly fresh and eager to see some real Amazonian jungle.

Lago Agrio was originally called Nueva Loja, after the residents of Loja in the south of Ecuador moved here and set up the town looking for a new life. It was later renamed after Sour Lake, Texas, the home of Texaco’s headquarters. Indeed, a road to the town, clearly not finished yet, was only built when a route was needed to transport oil out of the region. It is obvious that the place exists for this one reason, besides being the pick-up and drop-off points for excursions to the Cuyabeno National Reserve. It is also reported to be quite dangerous, being so close to the Colombian border. Our bus was stopped twice on the return journey for inspection, the passengers being made to alight and show their identification documents.

We had a coffee and waited at the shabby chic Hotel D’Mario. There we picked up our mini-bus and drove two hours to the meeting bridge and jumped on a motorized canoe three hours down the Cuyabeno River and into the heart of the reserve. There began four days of relaxed jungle adventuring. We walked through dense wet vegetation, our guide showing us how to wash clothes with leaves from the ’soapy vine’, find and eat beetle lavae (the main course) and lemon tree ants (dessert). And after eating such unusual fare we did not keep the piranha we caught on our fishing trip.

We usually ate breakfast leisurely at 8am, then later devoured a three-course lunch, always followed by a siesta and dinner was by candlelight (no electricity). Being the rainforest it did rain, but rubber boots and ponchos were provided (see the V!VA packing list for suggestions on what to take).

After learning how to make yuca bread with a family from the Siona indigenous community, and losing 4-3 in a futbol match against the rest of the village, we went out caiman and river dolphin spotting and swam in a beautiful lagoon as the sun set over our jungle jaunt.

One thing that made our tour truly memorable was our guide Diego, who was so much more than a guide. His infectious laughter — even when just at his own jokes — as well as his evening entertainment of “Deigo Copperfield” magic tricks, kept everyone in good spirits . His knowledge of the jungle was impressive and clearly not taken from a book. If Diego had a Facebook page I have no doubt he would have thousands of fans! Credit should also go to the staff of Samona Lodge and the agency through which we booked our journey to Ecuador’s Orient, Carpedm Adventures. Anyone visiting Ecuador should definitely not miss out on such a wonderful experience.

By Joanne Sykes, V!VA Travel Guides

Taking an online quiz to find out which religion you practice might not seem like the best path to spiritual refinement, but finding out that I am firstly a secular humanist and secondly a neo-pagan led me to a truly enlightening experience.

Every solstice, between June 20 and 24, the sacred Inca sun festival of Inti Raymi springs forth across the Andean valleys of Ecuador, Bolivia and Peru, in honor of the sun god Inti. In 1572, an edict by Spanish Viceroy Toledo, banned the celebrations for being pagan and contrary to the Catholic faith. This served only to force the ceremonies underground and today it is the second biggest festival in South America. Although festivals are scattered through the continent, Cusco boasts the largest crowd, where thousands upon thousands pour into Sacsayhuaman, the ruin site set atop the city.

Inti Raymi comes from Quechua meaning “resurrection of the sun”, thus marking the beginning of a new year. The Inca emperor, Sapa Inca, was worshiped as a direct descendant of the sun god, Apu Inti, the son of Vira Cocha, creator of civilization. The Emperor would offer Aqha - chicha (an alcoholic drink of fermented corn) to the sun and the high priests would offer llamas as a sacrifice in thanks for an abundant crop and to ask for successful crop next year. Some friends and I went along to a ceremony near Ibarra in the Northern Andes of Ecuador and witnessed a festival as alive today as it ever was.

We ’supported’ the celebrations from a stone viewing house on the edge of a ceremonial circle marked out by colored flags: red in the east denoting the rising of the sun; black in the west, where the sun sets and the moon rises; white in the north, for temperance; and yellow in the south for warmth and life. On the opposite side of the circle were the chorus and a very large drum, on which beat incessantly the hands of many men. The dances, through which Inti is honored, were highly ritualized, with each participant knowing their function and all dressed in swathes of red, gold and white. We had turned out in our best makeshift sun-worshiping apparel and were glad we had made that last-minute effort. We were definitely lacking feathers, as the chiefs wore as elaborate headdresses of feathers. Both men and women wore skirts to symbolizing their inner circle and so as to not break the connection with Pachamama, or Mother Earth.

Despite the first starting around 7.30am, the sun was already beating down on the dancers, who, in-keeping with the tradition, had not eaten or drunk anything for four days. At the end of the first dance we were invited to join in by receiving the sacred chanupas, or pipes of the dancers. The pipes, representing a connection to the sacred tree and to mother earth, ‘contain’ the soul of the dancers and by taking the pipes we carried their life in our hands. As the dancers rested, our role was to smoke, ‘in good conscience and with a clean heart’, all the tobacco, thus proving our reverence for the natural world. Out of respect for the dancers, we had not drunk anything while watching the ceremony, and smoking a whole bowl with a dry mouth under the blaring sun was not an easy task, made even more difficult by the worried thoughts in my mind of what would happen to the soul of the dancer if I couldn’t finish it!

Because it is believed that taking photos can ’steal’ a person’s spirit, we respected this and, to be honest, who needs camera film when the very vivid memories of this once in a life time experience are permanently etched on all our minds? This was most definitely a neo-pagan solstice celebration not to be missed.