Vegan Souvenirs

Bolivia

Bolivia is best know for its woolen handcraft. Therefore it seems difficult to find souvenirs that fit the vegan lifestyle. And it’s true there are a lot of handmade sweaters, scarfs, caps, gloves, bags, backpacks, purses, dolls, lamas, … But it is definitely possible. What about a little salt figure? What about a wooden bowl? What about a Wiphala (this colorful flag)? What about a silver ring or neckless or ear rings? What about a bag of quinoa? There is definitely enough and this list will enlarge, as my travel goes on.

Wiphala, market bag and salt from Uyuni.

Isn’t it refreshing to not have a cliché souvenir from Bolivia?

Some cheap “Whoolen” pullovers are made of cotton. By the way you can find all along the Andes exactly the same pullovers, so no need to hurry.

Ecuador

It’s hard to find vegan souvenirs in South America, because they are all out of either wool, leather or other parts of animals. But not so in Ecuador, as THE souvenir of Ecuador is the famous Panama hat. These traditional handmade hats of Ecuador (not Panama) are produced in Montecristi. A small village close to the port town of Manta is famous for these hats. They have different quality grades in finesse (the more fine the more expensive) and therefore there are hats for every budget. The hats of Montecristi start at 30$ and range up to 800$. In the colonial town of Cuenca hats can also be bought, but according to the hat makers of Montecristi their quality is much poorer. I saw two of them a Cuenca and a Montecristi model next to each other and even though my eyes are not professional, I saw a clear difference.

For good quality hats I recommend Toquifina (9 de Julio, opposite of the church) or José Chávez Franco (Rocafuerte 386). There’s a lot of shops in the 9 de Julio selling hats, but some have really poor quality.

There are almost no Hotels, nor restaurants (in general) in Montecristi, that’s why I recommend to do a daytrip from Manta or stop by when traveling through the region.

If you need a place to sleep, there is either the Montecristi real (9 de Julio), the Hostal Anita (on the highway) or the Hotel Montesito (Bolivar, north of the highway). On the highway there is a tia supermarket where one can find things to survive. The veggies and fruits are not nice at all, but there are lots of street vendors.

To get to Puerto Lopez directly you need to take either Manglaralto or Turismo Manta at the main street, where the bus stop is.

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