Ecuador 2005-Quito, Otavalo, Amazon RainForest (food)

We were only in Ecuador for 9 days so only saw a very small part of the country. The food we tried in Quito and surrounding areas, as well as the Amazon (off the Rio Napo) was full of carbs and super filling!   Below is a sampling . . . and yes, many of the plates do look very similar!

Quito

We saw this in the old town  section and had just eaten breakfast so didn't try anything here unfortunately.

Alumerzo Del Dia

These were our main meals of the day.  Look at the pictures and you can see why!  You usually get a refreshment (sometimes freshly squeezed juice), sometimes a soup, and than a heaping platter of FILLINGNESS! 

Plaintains, fries, beans, rice, a hunk of meat, avocado and some salad.  And if you were lucky, you get a fried egg on top.  And for about $2!

 

  

We decided to have a more fancy meal in Quito and went to La Choza.  We picked it because we wanted more "comida tipica" but wanted to try the more upmarket version.  It was great . . . but also eerily familiar.

Starters: We got cerviche, local corn, and fried corn kernels.

I got a fish dish and Kai got meat . . . look! There are the rice and potatoes. :) 

Now it's snack time.   The stand had some great fried plantains that tasted at least a bit healthier than Lays!

Some more almerzo del dia . . .this was where the guide brought us after visiting Cotopaxi. 

The Amazon! And Yachana Lodge 

Here is a variety of foods we had.  A yummy salsa concoction was great!  And those animals below? Those are guinea pigs (big ones!) that are being raised by the locals as a sustainable source of meat.  They produce rapidly and don't require the cutting down of huge swathes of rainforest!