Ecuador - Quito

It was exciting to enter Ecuador, finally a new country to experience. The border crossing was slow but organised and it took a couple of hours to complete all the formalities. We now have a similar process everywhere: people move past quickly and then there is the car to deal with.

We had read about the road to Quito, but we couldn't have imagined the sights we would see. It was a very varied landscape, with beautiful green and undulating slopes where paddocks were divided using trees, cities and villages (the same typical mess as everywhere humans go) and majestic mountain ranges that made us speechless. It was awe inspiring.

Quito is a different capital city compared to the others we have seen so far on the trip. The city is very close to point zero, as in right on the equator, and is on 2,850m above sea level. The air is thin, and at this altitude the climate is pretty steady throughout the year. It is pleasant, but the sun is strong. The city is sprawling with a distinct north and south, pretty much divided by the Centro Historico. This historic center is very nice, full of important buildings and used as a cultural center. It is a pleasant place to visit, and the government house is there along with several churches and museums. We spent an afternoon there as part of our city tour, and it was very relaxed and entertaining. Our hotel is in the north, where we are close to a large park with two big shopping malls near by. This city is very livable. And the food is different to what we have had before, for example we have a machine that presses fresh orange juice for breakfast!