The highlands of Ecuator.

Again the forecast called for rain, again we had a beautiful day!  That was particularly nice, because we took a trip north, through the highlands of the Andes and it would have been a shame to miss the scenery.  The city of Quito is long and narrow, because it sits along a high valley (the highlands) in the Andes.  So we first drove about 20 miles through the typical poor neighborhoods that surround a lot of cities in South America.  However, unlike a lot of other cities, while these areas are indeed rundown, they do not feel sad or depressed. 

One example is that - again like a lot of poorer cities- there are a lot of dogs around.  But they all look well fed, are usually with someone and are very friendly.  And the streets are mostly very clean and the people smiling and friendly.  In other words- its a nice place, even when straying from the touristy neighborhoods.

 That becomes even truer when you get to the country.  Fist, it is very pretty.  The high valleys are surrounded by volcanoes - some high enough to be covered with snow (The snow line is at 16,000 feet.  we saw one that peaks at over 18,000 but were not able to capture it in a picture because the clouds closed in).

In the valleys, and along the slopes, many fruits and vegetables are being grown:  Since there are no seasons in Ecuador, altitude serves the role of season and climate:  for cold weather crops (apples, carrots, etc..), the fields are higher, while warm weather crops are grown at lower altitudes.  That way, almost any crop know to man can be grown in Ecuador.

  It is for instance the largest producer of bananas (not in the highlands obviously), and of roses - the green houses, which were all along the road grow most of the roses you buy in NY, Paris, or Moscow!

  That makes the entire countryside, a mix of mountains, volcanoes, fields and lakes very pretty to look at.

Along the way, we stopped at the actual equator line:  Joe is standing on the northern hemisphere while I am in the southern one. A little bit of history:  Ecuador got its name not because it sits on the equator - although, obviously it does, but so do many other countries that are not named after it - but because, after Bolivar failed at unifying Venezuela, Panama, Columbia and Ecuador into  one large country called "Grand Columbia", and Ecuador split off, it needed to pick a new name.  At the same time, King Louis the 15th of France had sent an geological expedition to South America, with the goal of measuring the circumference of the Earth at the Equator.  I have no idea how they did that but....  they needed a place very near the equator, mountains as reference points, a clear view of the sky and- this is an important point- being a French expedition a place that had "women and wine".  At the time, the only city on the equator was Quito - so to Quito they went.  And they kept referring to it by the name of their project:  Equator.  Long story short - the name stuck.

 After crossing the equator, we went on to the town of Otavalo, a mostly indigenous town famous for its craft market.  Our guide advised us to negotiate the prices (which I did a bit, but I'm very bad at that) and that nothing they sell is Alpaca, even though they all say it it.

Still they had pretty stuff - I think I look very authentic in my poncho and Panama hat!

Near the same town, we also stopped a a small workshop making much higher end woven stuff- I had to buy a sweater made from baby Alpaca wool, because it's the right thing to do to support the local economy (that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!).

We then went on to a water fall, where the locals celebrate the equinox by bathing in it.  Near it is an entire town renowned for its Shamans  .....(the department of health actually certifies Shamans here!).

 We had a quick stop to see a local musician who demonstrated all kinds of local instruments,

  and finally stopped for lunch at an old Hacienda - dating from the mid 1700's, and still owned by the same family.  It has been turned into a lovely hotel and restaurant.  It is famous for being the place where the treaty splitting Grand Columbia (see above) was signed.

One last dinner with our amazing and colorful host Pascal, and his lovely partner Deborah (their life stories should be written in a book)!  Between the 2 two them they have 5 citizenships,  have lived in Panama, Ecuador, Toronto, France, Honduras, have traveled through Morocco, China, walked 10,000km through north America - I could go on an on.  Bottom line, they run the nicest bed and breakfast and, if you ask nicely, will cook you an wonderful dinner for a very reasonable price.  what a fabulous find!

Just one day to see Quito....

We only have one day in Quito, so we had to see it all in a day!
Our guide, Esteban, warned us yesterday that the weather forecast is mostly meaningless and that, during the rainy season, it will always predict rain, but that does not mean that it will be raining, only that it might....  He was right:  We had absolutely beautiful and warm weather all day, in spite of a forecast that called for rain and a high of 63.

We started our day with a decadent breakfast prepared by our host Pascal (this place is really a gem!),

  and then went on to one of the city's many markets, which host the expected exotic fruit and vegetable stands ( did you know that there are over 500 types of potatoes in Ecuador?)

 and snout to tail meats (they eat a lot of pork here).
The market also included many herb and natural healing vendors.

Here, this very nice and friendly local woman is relieving stress by rubbing stinging nettles on my arm.  It is supposed to be a full body treatment, this was just a small demo.....  Do you know why they are called "stinging" nettles?  BECAUSE THEY STING!  So I guess it does work on the stress thing because you are too busy dealing with all the uncomfortable bumps all over to think about whatever is stressing you?  Anyway, she then rubbed healing herbs on it and it was a fun experience - plus I volunteered for it, so I should not complain...  also, the woman was truly lovely.

 We then walked around the old town,

 along the many cobblestone streets,

 admiring little things,

 including these romantic little balconies.

 Along the way, we stopped at little stores that keep making traditional wares, such as this store that fixes baby Jesus's (Because EVERY house has a baby Jesus, and sometime they break, so they need to be fixed).  There are also stores that sell very lovely dresses for all the baby Jesus's

 Then we went to a store where they make hats- in particular Panama hats, which the locals will tell you -DO NOT COME FROM PANAMA!!!!  they are in fact quite upset about the name, because THE ONLY PLACE where they are made is Ecuador, and not Panama - But Teddy Roosevelt wore one for the opening of the Panama canal - and boom!  It became the Panama hat!  and the people here are NOT happy about it!  No Siree!!!! not at all!  Anyway, I bought one because they are cool, and it was very sunny.

 The store also makes mask for New Years Eve celebrations.

 Then we went to see 2 magnificent churches:  Turns out that having access to a lot of gold and a lot of cheap local labor does wonders when building elaborate structures.  Anyway, they were truly breathtaking - the pictures are from the less magnificent one (because it was forbidden to take pictures in the bigger one).  The altars have significantly different decorations that usual Catholic churches.  In particular, there are no crucifixes anywhere, and

often, the symbol of the sun is included in the elaborate designs:  This was to appeal to the natives people who did not think that the image of Christ on a cross was God like.  So instead, they represented him either as working, or as a child.  And the sun is one of the most important local symbols  (good early marketing!)

 Walking through the street and around the churches, we saw many pretty courtyards, and ran into a random parade...  have no idea what this was about.....probably Carnival since it is almost Ash Wednesday.

Then on to the main plaza, and it's obligatory obelisk celebrating liberation from Spain.

 We then went to a lovely pre-Columbian art museum celebrating the the 3 levels of life - the underworld, the human, and the realm of the Gods.

 The Gods apparently had a lot of explicit sex.  Here is just one picture.....  you figure it out.....

As we know, I like to take pictures of funny or odd signs - this one was at the museum:  No Jump?  Why not?  do people jump a lot and it's distracting?  obviously, that made me feel like jumping....  but I was good and did not......

 We stopped by a little chocolate manufacturing boutique, where we got a demo, and an interesting lecture about what it takes to make chocolate.  Also a discussion about why the Swiss (for instance) are famous for chocolate, while Ecuador - which grows the best chocolate beans- is not.  The answer is obviously that all the beans were exported.  They are now trying to change that, but only 1% of Ecuador's beans are used to make chocolate in Ecuador today-  that number is on the increase though.

 I bought some chocolate.......

We finished our visit at the top of the city, at the "winged Mary" statue- again, an unsual Catholic symbol- which overlooks the city.

Tomorrow, we are off to Otavalo.
Have no idea where it is or what we'll see....  but that's part of the fun.   :-)

One for the bucket list.

I did not blog all of last year, because we did not go on a « big » trip.  Which in my mind meant that, instead of going to airports, dealing with security, luggage check, etc..., we packed our car (and on one occasion) our dog, and traveled through New England and then Quebec.  I don’t know why at the time I did not think of these as blog-worthy....  I now regret it, because, although we now have lots of wonderful pictures of these trips, we do not have the « story behind the pictures » that a blog provides.
So - This trip will definitely get blogged about!  For one thing, it does involve airports (where, it goes without saying, we arrived over 2 hours early), security, etc...  But, and much more importantly, it involves blue footed boobies - and also penguins!  (Have I mentioned I love penguins??).
We are off to the Galapagos, which has been on the top of the bucket list for a while now.  Flying to Quito via Miami.  We will first spend 2 days visiting Quito (because it would just be wrong not to), and then 7 days at sea, on a much smaller boat that our last trip (to Alaska)-  only 45 passengers.  I am trying to think about marine iguanas, tortoises and boobies, and not about getting sea sick.....
For now, I’m looking at planes parked at gates, coming and going...  I would post a picture, but can't figure out how to do that from the iPad into Blogger (????????). I guess I’ll use Joe’s laptop when there are interesting pictures to post......  Should be able to post something from Quito this evening or tomorrow!
It is now Wednesday the 7th, but updating this, since it is still about the travel to Quito.
We spent a long time at LGA, looking at this:

Because Elon Musk was launching a Tesla into orbit, which was blocking airspace around Cape Canaveral.  Since we had a tight connection in Miami, this was a stressful way to start the trip, but we made it!  (required a sprint through the airport, but since that's the only exercise we got all day, that's fine)


Our trip began at last!

We saw nothing of Quito upon arrival (other than it's airport which, what a surprise, is MUCH nicer than LGA), because it was night and foggy.  But we arrived at our gorgeous bed and breakfast - a restored mansion in the old part of town- and met our colorful hosts, Pascal and Deborah  (more about them later).

 Even with the fog (it is rainy season), the view from the terrace is lovely.
Also - it's delightfully warm - which is lovely in February......).