
The Forest That Blooms Brilliantly for Just a Few Days a Year - prismatic
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/guayacan-forest-ecuador
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RickJWag
Amazing, and interesting. I like HN for the programming news, but articles
like this are frosting on the cake.

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Larrikin
Reminds me a little of hanami season in Japan. The trees bloom a little
longer, but it's amazing nonetheless. It's just particularly sad when it rains
during the bloom and the season is cut short after the rain has pounded all
the delicate petals down.

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diego_moita
Guayacan (Tabebuia) is a family of trees very common all over South America.
In Brazil it is called Ipê Amarelo and is the national flower of the country.

In Brazil, there is also another variety in purple, called Ipê Roxo, just as
striking.

The flowering of the Ipês/Guayacanes is one of those things that mesmerize
foreigners but Latin Americans are too used to it to pay attention.

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bikamonki
AMA about Ecuador if you ever plan to come visit ;)

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samschooler
What do you think are some things tourists and backpackers miss about Ecuador
when they visit (whether it be tips, misconceptions, or spots to visit)?

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bikamonki
We do not tip. By law, a 10% is added to hotel and retaurant bills, which is
then split among all employees. However, tips from tourists are common so go
ahead and do it if the service was worth it.

Backpackers will miss cheap food and rooms found while touring our neighbours.
A booming decade has increased purchasing power for most ecuadoreans,
naturally, that's made everything more expensive to buy, in particular
restaurants and hotels. For instance, I just booked Airbnb in Prague for less
of what I paid (per nite) for a room in Puerto López (awesome beach town)
during our past holiday. A couple of weeks ago on a road trip to Riobamba I
paid $10 for a fritada (a local dish made of fried pork and sides) and a glass
of fruit juice. I still remember paying $3-$4 for the same meal not many years
ago!

Tickets for local flights are super expensive. Booking a flight from the
capital Quito to any other city will cost from $150 to $300 round trip. On the
bright side, we have good roads and plenty of bus routes.

As far as places to visit, thing to do, let me put it this way: the place is
so diverse and so small, that on a week-long trip you can do a lot of stuff
except snow skiing.

