QUITO (Ecuador). A Base for Everything. 39 006 Km

Our trip to Quito really is a story of 3 trips. We first arrived here after 28hrs on a bus from Trujillo, which we had to do to to get here in time for a trip to the Galapagos. Our second time here was after the Galapagos, and finally we came back here after making a small 2 day visit to the town of Mindo. Quito really is the perfect base for doing trips like ours, plus easy access to the jungle, Cotopaxi, Quilotoa, Baños, Otovalo, and more.

Quito sits the northern part of Ecuador just 25km from the equatorial line. At 2850m above sea level, it stretches along a basin between the Andes mountains and the slopes of Volcano Guagua Pichincha, and is reported to be the second highest capital city in the world (After La Paz). Quito also appears to have 2 faces, the day and the night. During the day it is a lively city but at night time were repeatedly told not to go out on the street and only ever take taxis between places. In fact we were given instructions about which type of taxis to take. It makes you a little nervous to go out.

The city could be roughly divided in 3 sections. The old Town at it's centre, the northern more affluent areas where the fancy hotels and embassies are, and the southern more affordable areas.

The basilica overlooking Old Town is definitely hard to miss. On a slightly elevated position already, it's tall spires loom over the old town. Getting up close to it though, it is a really impressive building inside and out. For a few dollars, you can wonder through the inside before climbing the spires for a magical view over the city.

Looking back at the southern towers from the north tower

Mezzanine level of the southern end of the Basilica

On of the great things about old town happens on Sundays, when the roads a re blocked off and the bikes come out. For the best part of the day people can wander around, ride, eat, and explore the town.

We even managed to find a little chocolate shop that ran Truffle making workshops!

Quito's proudest tourist attraction is the Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the world). Given its close proximity to the capital, hundreds of people come each day to stand on the line between the 2 hemispheres and take selfies. The current monument, and supporting tourist town of shops and restaurants, is situated where the first french team demonstrated the equatorial bulge in the 1800s. Unfortunately the monument lies about 300m away from true 0-degrees but in no way is this taking away the absolute awesomeness of proving the equatorial bulge 200 odd years ago,

One of Quito's biggest surprises was Carolina park. We found it whilst stretching our legs on the first day we arrived (before heading to the Galapagos). In an attempt to build up the city and encourage community, the city built a massive park complete with skate park, massive water feature where you can hire paddle boats, tennis courts, soccer field, running track, and a botanical garden. On the weekends the park is flooded with locals getting some sun and is followed by markets and food stalls all over the park. Given it was our first day, we found it hard to believe that Quito could be dangerous at night.

For a couple of dollars, you can visit the botanical garden. It is a very well put together garden complete with Butterfly sanctuary and rare orchid greenhouse.

On our final night (of the all the trips) we had the chance to catch up with an old friend from Uni who was passing through Quito at the same time. We headed out to La Rhonda, a lane way in the old town, which is known for the previous artists and politicians who use to live there. Now it is a lively part of the old town for dinner and drinks, particularly as the sun goes down.

After dinner, we retreated to the hostel where we had been for the majority of our nights in Quito for one more drink. Given that it made home cooked meals and had an awesome view over Quito (below) it was always hard to pull ourselves away. But it was time to start heading south now as we spend a few more weeks in Ecuador before going back to Peru.