Quito

We were at the airport in Lima for 7:30am to board a 10am flight to Quito, Ecuador. This is another city located at an elevation of 2800M/9200ft. Upon arrival we transferred to our hotel. We went for a quick walk around to get our bearings before attending a 6pm presentation on our trip to San Cristobal. Then out for dinner to a restaurant for some local food and a beer.

Next day, was a free day for us. After breakfast we caught a taxi and headed to a Gondola that would take us up to Mirador del Tereferico which is on a mountain overlooking the city of Quito with views of the surrounding mountains.
As per our record so far on the trip, we continued to bat a 1000 with reduced visibility. As it was still early in the day there was lots of mist and cloud at the top being at an elevation over 4100M/13500ft, therefore the views were not the greatest at this time of day.

We decided to go into the Cruz Loma Café and have a drink and a Danish to wait and see if things would clear. After our refreshments we strolled, and I do mean strolled up a trail to a higher elevation where there was a lookout over the surrounding area to take some photos.

There was even a catholic church at this elevation, located in a small dip in the landscape. We wondered how large the congregation would be up here?

After awhile the clouds started to roll back-in, the temperature was also starting to drop a couple of degrees. We called it a day and headed back down in the gondola to the warmer weather. At the bottom we caught a taxi to the old town area. The driver dropped us off near the Basilica. Were we wondered through to old part of the town taking in the sites before jumping on the Hop-On Hop-Off bus.

The Hop-On-Hop-Off bus took up to a city park called Virgen del Panecillo which has a large aluminium statue of the Virgin Mary, the city views were good from here.

From here we drove back through old town, taking note of the people in the streets. From what we were told there is quite a bit of poverty here, people set-up small stands to sell their wares, whether fresh fruit or others items, many of these were refurbished and recycled.

There was a gentleman trying to sell suckers (lollypops) to passerby’s, just trying to make a dollar.

And then there was this guy who liked the sound of his own voice.

Quito has a really modern city center like most western cities.

Next morning, it was off back to the airport to catch a flight to San Cristobal located on a Pacific island. When we arrived at San Cristobal, we boarded a bus which took us to the local port of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, where we  boarded our boat, the ‘Monserrat’ which would be our home for almost a week. The boat accommodated up to 20 people, being 2 to a cabin plus crew.

As you can see from the photo’s we’ve arrived at the Galapagos Islands.

Next: Galapagos