Mate in Ecuador

Mate in Ecuador was actually a lot easier to find than we imagined. We were excited to find it fairly quickly in a random big supermarket in Cuenca. It was Taragui, which always seems to be the easiest brand to find.

We figured that we might not find it again for quite a while – especially as we were going to the Galapagos – so we bought two packets. Imagine our surprise when we found small packets of mate for sale in Puerto Ayora in the Galapagos! I can only imagine that it’s there for any Argentinian or Uruguayan tourists who forgot their supply, or didn’t bring enough…

Back on the mainland we discovered that mate was also easily available in Quito. In fact, there was even a choice of brands!? Yes….’amanda’ mate was also available – we hadn’t really seen this brand since Patagonia, where it was advertised on billboards all over the place. So of course we bought a packet of that as well – enough to hopefully tide us through to a place in Colombia where mate was available… so for now, the mate supply was still constant! 🙂