February 6, 7, 8

February 6:

A long trip to get to Quito, but we're here without incident so all is well.  We left Calgary at 7 PM last night, then to Seattle.  Then an overnight flight to Miami and - finally - on to Quito.  All the flights were a tiny bit delayed, but we had built in lots of transfer time.  

We got to our hotel in Quito about 4 PM.  The G Adventures driver was at the airport to meet us and delivered us to our door.  Easy peasy.  We had some time (and energy) to do a quick walk through the park across the street (Parque El Ejido) and then look for a place for dinner.  We had a hard time finding something open so returned to the hotel for a lovely soup and salad.  I'm barely keeping my eyes open, so time to hit the hay.  

A picture from our hotel room and one of the hotel.

And a few pictures from the park.  Huge trees, and palm trees!

That's it........  lights out for this girl....................

February 7:

I had a solid 11 hours of sleep last night, so am feeling pretty much human again today.  Quito is at an elevation of 2800m.  Thankfully I didn't feel any adverse effects.  We had a leisurely breakfast between about 9 and 10.  And what a lovely buffet breakfast it was!  Then we were off to the Museo Nacional del Ecuador, just down the street.  But first - this is what greeted us as we stepped out of our hotel.  The building that the tank is actually situated beside is the State Attorney General's office building.  

Yikes!  Also lots of police in the area.  There is a general election scheduled for this Sunday, so I'm sure there is some relationship.  Actually - when I read now about the political climate in the country I'm not sure I would have booked a vacation here.  Oh well - I'm sure everything will be fine.  All the people we have met so far have been really lovely.  

Anyway - off to the museum.  Free entry and a very nice museum.  Lots of artifacts from pre-colonial times, through colonialism, and independence.  Quite a bit of art representing more modern times as well as a the second floor dedicated to the art of Estuardo Maldonado.  

Here is a sampling of what we saw......

This painting of Quito is from the late 19th century.  The population is now about 1.4 million, with the larger metropolitan area about 4.7 million.  The city stretches for 78 km through the valley that it sits in.  

After a couple of hours there, we made our way over to the Old Centre of Quito.  At the hotel we were cautioned about staying out of the park today so we made our way over (about a 30 minute walk) on some smaller streets towards La Basilica del Voto Nacional where we were to meet our guide for a walking tour at 1:30.  We had plenty of time to go inside the beautiful basilica and take a good look around.  Over 80% of the Ecuadorian population is Roman Catholic.  On the way there we walked through a small flower market; beautiful flowers!  Apparently Ecuador is well known for its flower production and exports, especially roses.

At 1:30 we met our most excellent tour guide Johann.  He is originally from Venezuela but has been a tour guide in Ecuador for seven years.  He pointed out that the gargoyles on the basilica are actually animals native to Ecuador.

We started the tour by going up the tower (elevator + stairs) of the basilica where we got a great view over the centre of the city and onto the surrounding hills. 

We stopped in a small shop with some traditional crafts and information.

Stopped by an indoor courtyard for some (liquor-filled) candy tasting.

Then on to Independence Square and Plaza Grande.  

Another church; maybe Iglesia de El Sagrario.

Followed by the Iglesia de la Compania de Jesus.

And then to St. Francis Square and Iglesia San Francisco.

Our final stop was at a chocolate shop.  Apparently Ecuador is really starting to work on being known for its high quality production of chocolate.  Who knew chocolate tasting was a thing?  We spent about a half hour sampling many, many tidbits, and topped it all off with a delicious brownie.  

Although I haven't checked this out........... what could be better than a chocolate-tasting bicycle tour??

Got a bit of street food on the way back to the hotel ($1.50 for a chicken & veggie skewer) and then to the hotel for dinner again.  Not a late night for us once again.

February 8:

There are no planned activities, so check into the hotel and enjoy the city.  A G Adventures representative will greet you at the hotel and brief the group on the various aspects of the tour.

Except that we did plan something......  Since we arrived a few days early, we signed up (through G) for a full day tour to the Otavalo Market.  

This full-day excursion is the perfect way to experience the charm of Ecuador's Otavalo Market and surrounding areas.  Explore Otavalo, a vibrant city surrounded by picturesque mountains, to wander the market and admire all of its beautiful handicrafts.  Continue to the nearby town of Cotacachi to browse the leather shops before a visit to Peguche Waterfall or Cuicocha Lake on the way back to Quito.

We had made prior arrangements with G to take a tour to Otavalo and surrounding areas today.  We were expecting a big bus tour, or at least a van of some type, but we had a private tour with Diego in his SUV.  Quito is a huge city and is built on some challenging terrain so it took us a while to get out of town.  We were soon on the Pan American highway.  My goodness what a challenging ride that would be on a bike!  And being a Saturday there were lots of cyclists out testing their mettle.  Diego told us that an Ecuadorian won the Tour de France last year, and the sport continues to gain in popularity. 

Our first stop was at the equator.  Here I theoretically have a foot in each hemisphere.

I say "theoretically" because I heard later that the actual equator is a few hundred metres from here.

We also went into a shop to sample Ecuadorian biscotti, known as bizcochos.  

They were wonderful!  Much softer and tastier than the Italian version.  They were made on-site and served with a carmel sauce and cheese.  We also had a little lesson about the agave plant and its traditional uses. 

Inside were some displays of some artwork using agave thorns.  The first picture, called the Ecuadorian Mona Lisa, is made of 3,000 thorns and the second piece of art is made of 11,000 thorns.  Other pieces of art are made from the fibre, charcoal, and syrup of the agave plant. 

Next stop was just a quick viewpoint over a lake and volcano, as well as a stop at a shop for potential shopping.   We took a quick look, but were wanting to do any shopping at the Otavalo market. 

So far we have been very fortunate with the weather.  Rain was in the forecast every day so far, but so far we’ve dodged it.  We did have a few sprinkles on the way home today, but got the market and other sightseeing in without dodging raindrops.

We spent a few hours strolling around the Otavalo market, the largest such market in South America.  Lots of lovely wool sweaters and ponchos, as well as artwork, jewellry, grains, foods, and many other handicrafts.  There was some really lovely stuff but “no lo necessito”.  I’m glad we went……….

Then off to another town know for its leatherworks.  We had a really nice lunch there and cruised the leather shops for about half an hour.  Joan came home with a lovely pair of shoes and I almost bought a purse, but alas I came back pretty much empty-handed.  Oh – but – as we were leaving the market Joan spied some t-shirts with a bicycle underlined with a smile that she thought we both needed.    

Next up was a quick visit to national park – Catachi Cayapas National Park.  We walked up to a viewpoint over the lake and past some historical sites where ancient rituals were held.  The lake itself is in a caldera, and since the lake formed many eons ago several new cones have emerged in the middle of the lake.  There is a path around the entire caldera that would have been interesting to take but it would have been an all-day adventure. 

And that was pretty much the end of our tour.  A few things we learned during the day……  Ecuador has 84 volcanoes, 27 of them considered still active.  Ecuador is also a pretty active seismic zone, with the most recent earthquake near Quito being in 2014.  Tomorrow is election day.  There are 14 candidates for president, all representing a different party.  If no one wins a clear majority then there is a run-off election in April.  All Ecuadorian citizens are required to vote.  Without certification that they have voted, they cannot do things like obtain or renew a driver’s license.  If they do not vote then they have to pay a fine in order to restore all of their privileges. 

All in all a very good day.  We were back to the hotel just before 6; just in time to meet with our G Galapagos group.  Then to bed in order to meet a 4:30 am departure time in the morning.