Quito: The first 3 days

I must admit that this blog can't possibly be complete by the time my trip is over so I´ve skipped a few destinations to talk about Quito. But I will get back to the Argentina adventures later....

The journey to Ecuador began with a shocker in the form of miscommunication. The check-in girl asked me if I had a visa to travel to Ecuador from Argentina. I said no. Then she asked me if I had an ownward ticket and I said no, just the itinerary or e-ticket. So she said, well I cant get to Ecuador without a visa. It was barely 6am and I really woke up to attention! In that split second (split minute more like) I was contemplating a costly further stay in Argentina and rescheduling flights until we went through the requirements again. She had misunderstood the term "itinerary" and confirmed that proof of an ownward flight is enough.

At the "Mitad del Mundo" - The Middle of the World, at the equator, north of Quito

The service of Taca Airlines was not bad. I was automatically on a window seat with the best legroom ever. The Buenos Aires to Lima leg was awesome. We flew over the Andes and I got to see the Chilean side with volcanoes, the Atacama Desert (the worlds driest) and then my first view of the Pacific. The stopover in Lima was pretty funky. Literally. There was an awful stench emenating from a dumpsite near the airport. The smogy air made it a little unconfortable but this was just a stopover. Not a very good first impression of a country I wont visit for a while but otherwise I hear great things about Peru (apart from rampant corruption and the fact that they took 40% of Ecuadorian land back in 1995...oh, never mind!).

There are 2 locations that claim the Latitude 0' 0'' 0'''.......the traditional one...

I have to say that I have been pretty impressed with Ecuador. It has a very rich history for a relatively small place and the capital city, Quito has the most beautiful natural backdrop i've ever seen. As a matter of fact Im yet to see the city in its full glory as it was mainly cloudy, chilly and rainy (beleive it or not!) and the weather improved recently. The landing in Quito was kind of hair raising. Though the pilot was gentle with us, the gap between the hills and the flight path was narrow...I could read of the street signs (no im joking!). Basicall, Quito is built in a high valley in the Andes overlooked by many hills and a dormant volcano, Pichincha.

Pichincha last erupted in 1999. Most of the dust and ash below northwards towards Colombia (to the delight of Quiteños of course!) but Quito was black with soot and people stayed indoors for days....

I forgot to mention that I came to Ecuador to do a super intensive course and check out the country. I arranged to stay with a host family and I seem to have a gotten one of the best picks of the draw. I am staying in La Floresta, a residental area not far from the city centre. It is on top of a hill so from my room I get great views of the surrounding hills and suburbs. The familys house in 80 years old so all the floorboards creak and you need strong arms to turn the locks (I kid u not!).

....and the other claim to fame.....the GPS accurate Latitude 0' 0'' 0''' at the Solar Museum

I wasn't feeling too good either. Can you imagine experiencing 42 degrees in Buenos Aires and one day later arriving in a Quito of 16 degrees? It was a shocker for the body and I woke up with my joints aching. A combo of high altitude (2800m), low temperature and maybe different food (no more big steaks!!). Plus I got disoriented finding my school on the first day at the school, which is located in the busy streets of "new" Quito, the commercial part with lots of high rise buildings. My first weekend here was pretty lax compared to the action packed subsequent ones!

Chief Njuguna showing how to hunt game....

I managed to leave the house on Saturday morning to check out Old Quito (which by the way is the worlds first UNESCO heritage site). It has an impressive concentration of historical sites including the presidential palace, artesan shops, churches, restaurants and museums. One can lose oneself wondering around the many squares and checking out church after church. I caught a glimpse of a street satirist making fun of politicians in the Plaza Grande. Not only were there pinup caricatures of politicians heads on animal torsos, he had an arsenal of masks and wooden horses. Even if you dont understand Spanish, satire is sometimes irrespective of your language. I had a hot chocolate and empanadas (meat pies) with complementary corn at a chilled out cafe on one of the oldest roads in Quito, La Ronda (pic). All maize and corn originated from South America and you can imagine the immense variety here. You can even get red maize.

I ensured that the guide at the Solar Museum pointed out that Kenya is also in the middle of the world (and while we are at it, teach the American tourists basic Geography)

On Sunday I took a 45 minutes bus ride to the "Mitad del Mundo", literally the middle of the world! It is the site (roughly) of the equator. There are 2 main sites of attraction, a theme park with exhibitions and museums on the expeditions over 200 years ago to measure the angle of the meridian, the ethnography of Ecuador and some other Disneylandy stuff. Actually the ethnography museum is fun with a guide, you learn a lot of cool stuff about the diversity of the country. The highlight is the "Museo Inti Nan", the Solar Museum. You get to learn more about the pre-Columbian culture and then do some freaky experiments like balancing an egg on a nail (it should do so easily on the equator), try and walk in one line (its hard!), among others. The best, and the most indicative experiment, is observing the switch-over of the correolis effect. South of the equator water empties in a sink anti-clockwise and North of the equator it is vice-versa. On the equator it tends to cancel out, with the vortex not spinning at all! The theme park has an equator line marking but it is just indicative of the site of the first investigations. Better GPS technology measurement show that the Solar Museum is nearer to the zero-zero-zero latitude, but just as the Earth is not perfectly round, one cant be exactly on the Equator as the actual line is thicker and more uneven than the yellow markings on the ground. So I wasnt too sure about the accuracy some of those experiments!

K.