Myrna y Liz

Our friends, Myrna and Liz are in Quito for a couple of days.
They're on their way to the Galapagos Islands tomorrow, but
they had time to visit with us at dinner tonight in La Mariscal.
They're Ice friends who have tons of stories between them
about almost everything and anything. Myrna told us about
her trip to Palmer Station in Antarctica in August. Because the
Lawrence M. Gould couldn't dock at the pier, they had to shoot
rockets toward the station with lines tied to them so they could
drag an Zodiac (a small rubber boat) toward the station with
her in it. All of this in the dark and in a snowstorm! We'll
see Myrna and Liz again in Otavalo in about 10 days and then
in early June, we'll be traveling with Liz in Peru.

South American Explorers

In the past, when I heard of the words "explorers club", I
would think of stody old men, sitting around in
leather chairs, wearing smoking jackets with big animal
heads on the wall. They would be talking of exploits past,
when in reality they were in an office someplace, many
miles from the front line.
However...here in Quito...and several other cities in South
America, there is a cool looking place called the South
American Explorers Club that provides all kinds of help
and information for members (and non-members alike).
It's located in La Mariscal area of Quito and I think Lynn
and I are going to check it out sometime this week. We'll
probably leave our smoking jackets behind!

Renting a Book

Even in an interesting place like Quito, there is still a fair
amount of down time, and time to be filled. Since I was
trying to travel as light as possible, I tried to keep my book
collection on this trip to a minimum. All guidebooks and
language-related books. Even these interesting books
can become a bit tiresome to read after a while. Because
we're in a Spanish speaking nation, finding books in
English can be a bit of a task, but as in the rest of the
world, the English language is becoming more prevalent
than before. Even the large, local bookshops have small
English language sections. However, the price tag is a
bit steep for someone that just wants something to read
for a few weeks and not a book to keep forever. In
La Mariscal (Gringolandia), there are several used bookshops
that fill this niche. We went to the appropriately named,
English Bookshop, where you can buy as well as rent
books. I've never rented a book before, but in this locale,
it makes perfect sense. After scouring the store, I found
"Guns, Germs and Steel". A book I've been wanting to read
for a while about how mankind developed as it did around
the world. It cost $6 to rent with a $20 deposit, which I
will get back once I return the book. It's definitely in my
best interest to return it because I want my 20 bucks back,
but also because it weighs about 10 pounds. I have enough
in my bags without hauling this behemoth around. My
biggest struggle will be to finish it in two weeks!

Visit With Deneen

If you love Facebook or you hate Facebook, it is definitely
good for one thing: Helping you know where people are
at any given time around the world. Our friend Deneen is
backpacking through Peru and Ecuador and when she saw
that we are in Quito, she wrote us and asked if we could
get together. Coincidentally, she was staying in the Secret
Garden Hostel, where we had checked out just the day before.
It was definitely a nice visit as we hung out and talked for
hours and went to an Ecuadoran restaurant in the Mariscal.
Tomorrow, she's off to the Cloud Forest near Mindo.

Buenos Dias Quito

We arrived in Quito about 8:40 in the evening and because
the airport is right in the middle of town...literally, we flew
right through the middle of the downtown buildings. So
close that you could see into people's apartments. A bit
harrowing, but a smooth flight. When we woke up this
morning at our hostel, The Secret Garden, this was our
view from the rooftop dining area. This is the "Old Town"
and we are on the edge of it.


Quito is definitely a mismash of architectural styles, some
of which are fairly cutting edge while others can best be
described as post modern condemned. Our hostel is ok.
Just ok. Pleasant enough, but I wouldn't want to live here
for the whole three months. Very noisy and we are easily
the oldest folks here by about 20 years.


Later in the day, we visited a small coffee house in Marisccal
Sucre called the Magic Bean. Great ambiance and really
colorful. Mariscal Sucre...or Mariscal, is also called
Gringolandia since most of the tourists end up here
at one time or another. It has really good restaurants,
lots of internet cafes and shopping. We looked at an
apartment here today that was nice, but they wanted
an outlandish price for rent so we said thanks but no
thanks.


The easiest and best way to get around Quito is by taxi.
I've never seen so many taxis in one place before and
for the most part the drivers are friendly and honest.
Most of the time it only costs $2-$3 for each ride which
is cheaper than bus fare in most places. As seen in
this photo, Quito is surrounded by mountains, in a
valley of the Andes, about 9000 feet above sea level.
It will take a bit of time to get fully accustomed to the
altitude but we shouldn't have as hard a time as many
since we were at 4900 feet in Grand Junction.