There are few countries that pack a punch the way Ecuador does. Locals often brag that you can have breakfast in the Amazon, lunch in the Andes mountains and dinner on the Pacific coast. Roughly the size of Oregon it’s eastern border is the steamy Amazon jungle and from there to its Pacific coastline and beyond to the Galapagos Islands there is diversity that could keep travelers busy for months.
This is a fact I knew well as during my 6 month South America trip I spent almost 3 months in Ecuador, in coastal Canoa and volunteering in the Galapagos.
This meant however that I had left much of the interior unexplored. The rest of the country, including the splendid capitol Quito, had mainly been places I’d transited through, spending a night or two before moving on.
This trip would be different. In the fall, Emily and I found very affordable flights to Colombia and Ecuador and decided on Ecuador (using Chase points too!). After reviewing plenty of options we decided on splitting our time between Quito and Banos.
We arrived to Quito’s sparkling new airport shortly before midnight and hopped into our pre-arranged shuttle which zoomed us off to The Secret Garden Hostel. This place is a Quito institution and a place I stayed at many times in 2009. It was like seeing an old friend again. The location is perfect, a short distance to the well-preserved, colonial Old Town and in the shadow of Itchimbia Park.
We spent the first day wandering around without sufficient sunscreen and then zoomed up to Mitad del Mundo or the middle of the world, the equatorial line where the country gets its name. The monument feels like a Disney world exhibit but it was still nice to spend a few moments there. The real highlight was the Intinan Museum located on the real equator, which also doubles as a tribute to the indigenous populations of Ecuador.
While here we conducted a few experiments, demonstrating the differences in balancing eggs directly on the equator verses off of it. We were both able to balance the egg, giving us a certificate as Egg Masters. *Updates Resume*
One of the true highlights of Quito was climbing the steps of the Basillica del Voto. The groundbreaking of this church was in 1892 but it wasn’t consecrated until 1988. Pope John Paul II blessed the church in 1985 and so maybe that helped speed up construction. We shared a video on our YouTube channel here.
Climbing the neo-gothic structure gave us an incredible view of the city and for much of our time at the top we had it to ourselves. It was here that we truly grasped the size of Quito, a city of 4 million. We had spent time in the Old Town but up here you could see the sprawl that we could only guess at during our drive from the airport.
Our last full day in Quito started with us treating ourselves to a meal at Zfood, a pricey seafood restaurant. Emily (regrettably) got guinea pig tacos as an appetizer and we each got a different type of ceviche. I can’t say that it valle la pena or was worth the cost but we did say on our reservation that it was our honeymoon which earned us glasses of champagne and dessert. Moral of the Story: Never stop honeymooning.
Our last day in Quito we joined an excellent walking tour of the Old Town, led by Beto of Community Adventures Ecuador. Our tour started at their offices and crossed the street to the Central Market of Quito where we sampled incredibly fresh juice. We moved onto Plaza Grande and heard the tragic history of the plaza, where protests were launched and lives were lost. After this weighty history we turned to what else, chocolate.
Our tour officially ended in the La Ronda neighborhood but we ended up going to a local brewery with Beto, our guide and Li another member of the tour group.
After covering much of the city, we hopped on a bus to the lush lands of Banos, which we will share about in Part Two of this South American adventure.
Stay tuned… 😉