www.theblisspages.com - travel: Ecuador
www.theblisspages.com - travel: EcuadorQuito is one of the few cities I've been to where you can join the mile-high club without leaving the ground, as it's the world's highest capital city.
On my first trip to Quito, I went out for a meal with a load of TEFL teachers. It was most enjoyable, and I got on particularly well with one of the teachers who had recently arrived in the country. We were flirting all through the meal, and on the walk back to the hotel, somehow got involved in a passionate clinch - just as all the others drove past. We were inseparable for my whole visit.
We spent several happy afternoons shopping and wandering into various coffee-houses, and I still have some large balsa-wood parrots and other souvenirs of the trip. Unfortunately, by the time I returned to Ecuador a few months later, she'd been snapped up, as it were, but we remained friends.
There was a great Swiss restaurant in Quito, called, I think, Chalet Suisse, which served fondues and Swiss white wine. See Swiss wine for more information about the wines.
See Tropix for some great photos of Quito and Ecuador explorer for more information about Ecuador.
I regret not getting to the Galapagos Islands, but on one visit to Ecuador, I didn't have the money, and on the others I didn't have the time. I would still love to get there sometime, and see the unique wildlife, including the giant tortoises.
Cotopaxi is the highest active volcano in the world, and Ecuador also has the largest number of active volcanoes. With volcanism comes earthquakes, and there was a large crack in the office wall from a tremor shortly before my arrival. I had a closer brush with an earthquake in Turkey .
Some of my colleagues were going on a driving holiday for a week and very kindly invited me along.
I can't remember our exact route, but we started by going north to the village of Otavalo. We wandered around the market and I bought a poncho, and a woollen wall-hanging - now unfortunately eaten by moths. I resisted buying a llama - they're so difficult to pack.
We also visited the city of Ibarrra, driving along cobblestoned streets looking at white-washed colonial buildings with red tile roofs.
I took a walk on Cotopaxi at over 15,000 feet before returning gratefully to the car, really feeling the altitude. The air was incredibly clear.
You will not be surprised that a country called Ecuador straddles the equator, and I snapped a picture just before I stood in both hemispheres. On ships, they have special ceremonies for 'crossing the line'.
As we traversed the countryside, the scenery was stunning and we frequently got out of the car and walked along stony paths past giant cactuses and exotic plants, some of which flower only once before dying - but what a flower. Twenty or more feet high, they were truly impressive.
We also passed some coffee fields - at least, I think that's what they were growing.
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: © Mike Bliss 2008