Vacation Pics-Ecuador

Just got back from my vacation, visiting family in Ecuador. Thought I would share some pictures.

The aquarium hobby down there is nothing like here. I found a store that carried tanks but the largest was only around 50-65 gallons. They were glass tanks with rounded corners and were breeder sized, around a 36" x 18" footprint for about $250. Very European looking but everything was 'JAD' brand and from China. I have not found any shops with cool fish there. They have Festae and green terrors in Ecuador and all they sell in the local shops are common little fish we all see here in the States. Then again this is probably a luxury for most, since the average Ecuadorian worker makes about $17 a day. They use US currency since their money lost value years ago.



My dentist office down there had a tank and it only had common tetras, barbs, gourami in it, looks to be a common 55 gallon built into the wall. I always get my teeth cleaned when Im down there because it is cheap. This place has all the modern stuff and its only $35 for a cleaning.



The next picture is not for the faint of heart..... This was my third trip down to Ecuador and finally my first time eating 'Cuy'. This is the beloved guinea pig being deep fried. And FYI, it does NOT taste like chicken - LOL - Taste is more like a dark meat from a Turkey, not my favorite but at least I can say I tried it.


We also went to a cool bird show at a place called 'Parque Condor'. They had lots of large predatory birds there, very cool!

Sorry, I cant get this picture to flip right. Looks fine on my computer but the conversion to put it here does not want to flip it right. The eagle is gulping down a cute little chick that was used to lure it back in.


Have tons more pictures but wont bore you guys with them!  

Deep fried Guinea pigs, Predatory birds on your arm . Interesting vacation. Looks warm there too, niiice!

Great pictures, thanks for sharing!! If that's you with the Eagle you should post that in the gallery, awesome self picture!

Just remember if you ate Bald eagle in Ecuador you cant talk about it in the US (does it taste like chicken)?

I am surprised you didnt see more interesting fish. With so many SA cichlid/fish harvested from that are youd think you could get good deals on some rare fish.

Cool pics!

Poor guinea pigs

fishNAbowl wrote:Deep fried Guinea pigs, Predatory birds on your arm . Interesting vacation. Looks warm there too, niiice!

Great pictures, thanks for sharing!! If that's you with the Eagle you should post that in the gallery, awesome self picture!

Not me with the eagle, it was the handler at the park. It was warm but not too hot, though I did get sunburned right before I came home.

I did hear that the guinea pigs taste better BBQ'd, might have to try that next time. It took me three visits to get this because previous visits had some sketchy cooking of the little critters and I did not want to get sick. One time we watched the person handling the raw meat and cooked stuff with the same tongs, so cross contamination for sure. This time we had a person prepare it for us and it was safe to eat. We take those things for granted here dont we? It is getting better every time we visit but you still have to watch out.

Chiisai wrote:Just remember if you ate Bald eagle in Ecuador you cant talk about it in the US (does it taste like chicken)?

 I am surprised you didnt see more interesting fish. With so many SA cichlid/fish harvested from that are youd think you could get good deals on some rare fish.

There are very few 'pet stores' in the areas Ive been. In the capital city of Quito I stopped in on a store at the mall and they carried rabbits and puppies and a few tropical's that we see here and that was it.

Where my family is at is mountainous, far from any tropical part of the Amazon jungle. A friend of mine there wants to take me fishing but it would be for trout..... Apparently planted there and have just thrived. Will try and do some fishing next time.

MorganEA wrote:Poor guinea pigs

I do have another pic with the little feet in the air as they were cooking.... this one seemed less gross   

Guinea pigs are friends not food

MorganEA wrote:Guinea pigs are friends not food

I know its hard to imagine eating these guys, because they are cute, but with out the fur they look like big rats.

Cool! When I saw the title. I was thinking about dustin's (from dustin fishtanks on YouTube) trip to Peru and he got fishes. Thought you brought fishes home. Lol

Awesome pics D, Cant wait to hear more about it

Oh man, how cool would it be to go on a trip like this, get on some of the local waters and at least take pics of the local fish You could even help with the bioblitz! http://www.seriouslyfish.com/can-you-help-the-freshwater-bioblitz/

MorganEA wrote:Guinea pigs are friends not food

You would be surprised the stuff ppl eat all over the world. Animals we deem as pets are delicatessen in other parts of the world.

MRTom wrote:Oh man, how cool would it be to go on a trip like this, get on some of the local waters and at least take pics of the local fish

I hate the fact we are in the mountains for this reason. I still want to get to the Amazon or Jungle area and see stuff but just extra cost that we could not afford. The other problem is all the red tape involved in trying to bring something back.

Another fun fact.... the Galapagos Islands are a part of Ecuador, I want to see these one day too but also expensive side trip.

fishNAbowl wrote:

MorganEA wrote:Guinea pigs are friends not food

You would be surprised the stuff ppl eat all over the world. Animals we deem as pets are delicatessen in other parts of the world.

Shhhh don't say that!! My parents lived in china so I know what other cultures eat   

Thank you for sharing all of this information. Learning about other countries as well as about how other countries view this hobby is really fascinating.

I too would have thought that there would be a plethora of SA cichlids/fish available for the local hobbyist. Probably comes down to what is rarer or harder to find in those areas.

I had also understood that many South American countries had reduced costs of living so the dentist charges fall in line with the things I've heard. Obviously having a hobby like keeping fish does not fall into the "reduction" category with tanks being priced at $250 plus for rather small ones at that. Yikes.

Sounds like a really good trip; a nice follow-up to swimming with the rays.   

I've been to some countries with very different types of food, but I don't think I could try guinea pig. Something about having kept one as a pet...

DMD123 wrote:Just got back from my vacation, visiting family in Ecuador. Thought I would share some pictures.

The aquarium hobby down there is nothing like here. I found a store that carried tanks but the largest was only around 50-65 gallons. They were glass tanks with rounded corners and were breeder sized, around a 36" x 18" footprint for about $250. Very European looking but everything was 'JAD' brand and from China. I have not found any shops with cool fish there. They have Festae and green terrors in Ecuador and all they sell in the local shops are common little fish we all see here in the States. Then again this is probably a luxury for most, since the average Ecuadorian worker makes about $17 a day. They use US currency since their money lost value years ago.



My dentist office down there had a tank and it only had common tetras, barbs, gourami in it, looks to be a common 55 gallon built into the wall. I always get my teeth cleaned when Im down there because it is cheap. This place has all the modern stuff and its only $35 for a cleaning.



The next picture is not for the faint of heart..... This was my third trip down to Ecuador and finally my first time eating 'Cuy'. This is the beloved guinea pig being deep fried. And FYI, it does NOT taste like chicken - LOL - Taste is more like a dark meat from a Turkey, not my favorite but at least I can say I tried it.


We also went to a cool bird show at a place called 'Parque Condor'. They had lots of large predatory birds there, very cool!

Sorry, I cant get this picture to flip right. Looks fine on my computer but the conversion to put it here does not want to flip it right. The eagle is gulping down a cute little chick that was used to lure it back in.


Have tons more pictures but wont bore you guys with them!  

Nice pics. I had CUY when I was in Ecuador. You're right, it doesnt taste like chicken. LOL. Tastes like darker turkey meat to me.