Day Tour of Quito
Good thing Quito is only 2 hours ahead of Fairplay, we didn’t loose too much sleep last night. Started of with a nice breakfast of fried eggs, toast, juice and coffee. All, except the juice, was provided by our host. What a nice touch!
Temperature today will reach 70-75F, with a slight chance of a rain shower or two this afternoon. One fun fact about Quito. Since it is located almost directly on the Equator (get it, Ecuador), the sun comes up at 6am and sets at 6pm every day of the year. They only have 2 seasons, rainy and dry, no winter, spring, summer and fall. There have been very rare occurrences of snow in Quito, but not that our guide can remember.
Old Town
The City – home to over 7 million people
Our street
Surrounding the city is a series of volcanoes, some dormant, some not, approximately 17 volcanoes are in this area. There are roughly 84 volcanoes in Ecuador making it one mountainous country. The last volcanic eruption took place from August 2015 to January 2016. The most active of these volcanoes is one known as, “Cotopaxi” with over 87 eruptions since 1534. One of the major tours in this area is to hike up part of the way to the top of Cotopaxi to check out the steam vents and to say you did it. We elected not to do this and instead tackle the activities at the Middle of the World.
Before we get to the Equator, had to check out a dormant volcano and valley. Is there really such a thing as a dormant volcano? Aren’t they all connected at some point to the super hot stuff under the Earth’s mantle? Anyway, first stop on our tour is the geo-botanical reserve named ‘Pululahua’. The name means, ‘great big mountain that sometimes shakes the valley but doesn’t mean any harm, sorry’. I think.
Our guide, Kathy
Volcano and valley
A few pics of this beautiful valley and off to the Mitad del Mundo – Intinan Museum, Middle of the World – Trail which leads to the Sun Museum. This museum is more than a line designating the exact center of the world. It is a large diorama display of the history and culture of Ecuador beginning with their ancient beliefs and lifestyle, and how they lived with the environment of the Amazonas. Very interesting explanations and descriptions of how they lived in harmony with their surroundings until the Spanish conquistadors arrived and changed all that. Bringing not only religion and slavery, but disease, corruption, theft and genocide to the indigenous people of Ecuador. All for the greater good of helping these pagan peoples find God while lining their pockets with as much gold as they could carry.
Indigenous home.The lady in the picture lived to be 110!
Real shrunken head – a practice no longer in use
So, once we understood the past, we could move on to the real miracle of this place, the exact center of the world, the Equator. Now, you would think that the center of the world wouldn’t be that special, but it is. There are things you can do here, that you cannot do anywhere else on the Earth. Things like have a sundial that is vertical, not horizontal, because of the positioning of the sun directly overhead. Or draining / flushing water down a drain with no swirl at all. It just goes straight down. Or try to walk a straight line (on the Equator) while closing your eyes and holding your arms out for balance, you might get 2-3 steps before fall left or right! But the real show was when our guide balanced an egg on the head of a nail, twice! Unfortunately, neither me nor the Misses could do it!
Balancing an egg on the head of a nail
Half in Southern hemisphere, Half in Northern hemisphere
Middle of the World
Cool as all that is, it was time for lunch and were we in for a treat. Collette and I decided on a traditional Ecuadorian lunch, potatoes, yucca, plantains, and … Guinea Pig! Yep, those cute little pets that you buy for the kids are a special lunch item here in Ecuador. There’s certainly no shortage of restaurants serving these little critters. Seems to be one every ½ mile with someone standing in the street with a flag and a menu waving the passing cars in for a bite. Just had to try it.
BBQ
Guinea pig seller
First they took us over to a cage with 10-15 pigs enjoying bits of grass. Kinda like the lobster tank at Pappadeaux’s. Scout out a nice fat one for an entrée, or one of the little ones if you just want an appetizer. Hard to choose, they all look so cute. How about the brown and white fuzzy one that squeaks a bit while eating.
Before
OK, now that you’re thoroughly sickened, that’s not how it’s done. The cage is just for show but I’m sure at some point, those guys are on the menu, but not today. Our roasted pig comes from the BBQ outside and looks more like a rabbit on the spit rather than those little furry guys. About as long as a rabbit, but a bit thinner, with head and feet still attached.
We elected to try a half rather than whole pig for our first time just in case we didn’t like it. Good thing, I was not a big fan of Guinea Pig, too greasy, not much meat, and the taste was really gamey. The Misses, on the other hand, ate it up! She thought this little piggy was pretty good. Probably not something she will ask for at Safeway but this wasn’t her worst meal.
After
Lunch
After eating more potatoes than anyone else at the table, time for us to walk off the load with a tour of some of Quito’s Old Town sites. A quick bit of history: the indigenous peoples of Ecuador were the Guayas, Canari, Cara and Quitu. These peoples were conquered by the Incas during the late 15th century (but not without fierce fighting).
While the fighting continued between the Incas and the tribes, along came the Spanish. The conquistadors joined in the fight and successfully managed to defeat the Incas with help from the local tribes, and their superior weapons and tactics. The conquistadors took the Inca leader Atahualpa hostage and demanded a ransom be paid for his freedom. The Inca people complied with loads of silver and gold but Atahualpa was never to be released, at least, not alive. He was killed by the Spanish who decided this would be a perfect time to push forward and conquer all of Ecuador. In 1534, it all came to an end with the Spanish from Peru joining the Spanish in Ecuador to overwhelm the Incas.
Why all this Spanish stuff? Because the sites we see today in Old Town are the remains of what the Spanish conquerors built, starting with a central square, ironically named, ‘Plaza de la Independencia’.
At one end of the Plaza de la Independencia stands the Palacio de Carondelet, or Carondelet Palace – the Palace of the President, dating back to around 1570. The other end has the Palacio Arzobispal, once the seat of the archbishop (now it’s a food court). Both excellent representations of neoclassical architecture.
Archbishop Palace
Presidential Palace
That about wraps up the first day’s touring in Quito. Little rain starting so time to call it a day and return to the apartment for cocktail hour. Tomorrow we’ll visit Banos and the most popular waterfall in Ecuador, the Devil’s Cauldron. Hasta la vista, baby!
Bustin’ a move in the park (while holding the speaker!)