Friday, June 10, 2016

What To Do With Your Visiting Guests (Part 2 of 2)

Cotopaxi
Virgen de Quito (source:  Wikipedia)

We flew to Quito with our guests to make sure they got home safely.  And since we were in Quito, we thought why not be tourists  --  especially since we studied so much about Quito to pass our citizenship test.

We booked our three day trip with Katherine Flores from the travel agency we highly recommend -- Apullacta.  Here's their website:  http://www.apullacta.com/

We stayed at a quaint boutique hotel in Quito called Hostal de La Rabida.  I found it on Hotels.com and decided it looked nice and quiet, which it was.  I didn't want to stay at a large hotel because they can be loud and this was a holiday weekend in Ecuador, so there might be parties going on throughout the whole night.  I highly recommend our small hotel, if you want a quiet place to stay.  Here is their website:  http://www.hostalrabida.com/

Living room with welcoming fireplace


Sun room

Mike at breakfast



Beautiful restaurant

Backyard area (and they have a bunny named "Brownie")

Some rooms are upstairs (ours was a garden room)

Here's our itinerary:

Day 1 -- Quito
Day 2 -- Mindo
Day 3 -- Cotopaxi

QUITO

Highlights:

  • Pululahua Volcano
  • Equator (Mitad del Mundo)
  • City Tour (Plaza de la Independencia, Cathedral, Panecillo Hill
  • Cost of Tour:  $53 per person
On our first day, we went to see the Pululahua Volcano (very close to the equator).  Our guide told us that it's the only active volcano in Ecuador where people are actually living inside the crater!  (Well, it's really inactive but they say that it's active because of the hot springs that still boil up from it.)



Living in the crater of a volcano!

Then we went to the equator.  It's called La Mitad del Mundo (the middle of the world).  "Equator" in Spanish means "Ecuador" and that's how the country got its name.  There is an outdoor museum at the equator called "IntiƱan" where you can watch scientific experiments with regard to the differences between the northern and southern hemispheres.

We saw water flowing down a drain counter-clockwise in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern hemisphere, due to the "Coriolis Effect".  That's why hurricanes spin counter-clockwise in the northern hemisphere and typhoons spin clockwise in the southern hemisphere!

People were able to balance an egg on the head of a pin (I couldn't).

Walking on a straight line with your hands outstretched and your eyes closed was very difficult to do on the equator.

Hemispheres apart!








Next, we went into Quito which is about 20 minutes south of the equator.  We went to Panecillo Hill in Quito where the Virgen of Quito sits, keeping watch over Quito.  This sculpture was created by Berrnardo de Lagarde (a question on our citizenship test). 

Le Virgen de Quito by Bernardo de Legarde

Mindo

Highlights:

  • Chocolate farm
  • Orchid farm
  • Butterfly farm
  • Cost of Tour:  $70 per person
On our second day, we went to Mindo which is a tiny town about 75 minutes northwest of Quito.  It is set amidst some of the most beautiful and peaceful countryside in the entire country. It is a center for both nature and for adventure activities, as well as for bird watchers.





Butterflies coming out of their cocoons behind me






Toucan, having his lunch!

Cotopaxi

Highlights:

  • Hiking
  • Viewing the wildlife
  • Cost of Tour:  $70 per person 


On our third day, we went 90 minutes south from Quito to the Cotopaxi National Park.  Cotopaxi is the world’s tallest active volcano (19,347 feet), located in the middle of the “Volcano Avenue” consisting of 84 volcanoes that encircles the Pacific Ocean.

This giant, covered in ancient glaciers and illuminated by the intense Ecuadorian sun, invites us to immerse ourselves in the mythical “cordillera” of the Andes and to explore the cloud forests that hide different species of endemic flora and fauna.

Wild Horses

We hiked high above the tree line, taking our time every few steps to pause and breathe.  This was such a beautiful, quiet place.  We were on our own on this hike and took our time and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Then, we reunited with our guide and walked around a glacial lake.

 
Limpiopugo Lake, that we walked around
Pathway around the lake
Beautiful little stream
Following our guide back to the car (it was starting to rain)
We had a great time but it's always good to get back home and sleep in your own bed!