Hola Ecuador!

The journey from Auckland to Ecuador is by far the longest to date. The first leg, from Auckland to Santiago, takes almost 12 hours. We have six hours on the ground and so head to an excellent interactive museum to kill the time. Then it’s back to the airport for the nearly 6 hour flight to Quito. So well over 24 hours door to door, with a 7-hour time difference, including crossing the international date line. Ouch! It takes us all several days to recover properly.

We haven’t been able to find anywhere to stay in the old town, so stay for a couple of days in a guesthouse in an area with loads of bars, restaurants and places to stay. It’s perfectly comfortable and the staff are extremely helpful and friendly. I immediately notice that all the buildings have some form of security on walls and gates: barbed wire, glass, nails, etc. It’s what I remember from previous travels to Latin America – it’s quite a change from NZ!

Fiona was born in Quito when her father worked for the bank of London and South America. While they were there, they employed a young local girl to help with the house and to look after the children. Adela stayed with the family for 12 years, even when they moved country. Fiona has kept in touch with Adela but last saw her 20 years ago. She has a daughter, Lupe, who has a son Joshua (12), a daughter Ariana (9) and newborn twins boys, just four weeks old. We arrange to meet them in a local square for a coffee. Needless to say, it’s a very emotional meeting, with lots of hugs, kisses and tears all round. It immediately confirms what I already knew: that Adela was and still is very important lady in Fiona’s life. Please see Fiona’s blog for her personal and moving account of this reunion.

After a couple of days we move to an apartment within a hotel, just down the road, with a small kitchen diner that allows us to be a bit more self-sufficient. The hotel itself is very nice but is located on a slightly dodgy street. There’s a corner shop opposite which I am frequently popping over to for basic groceries, beer, etc. Each time I go I’m approached by the same tall, lanky and seemingly friendly guy who asks if I’d like any weed or coke. He’s not at all threatening and each time I smile back as I politely decline. There’s certainly a bit more edge to this place than anywhere we stayed in New Zealand. I like it!

We take a taxi down to the old city, which is really beautiful – steep streets lined with Spanish colonial buildings, with their white walls, faded paintwork, and old tiled roofs. The bigger streets and plazas are very grand, with churches, cathedrals and government buildings around the main square. We go in to a couple of churches that are quite extraordinary.  They don’t look much from the outside but Inside they are ornately carved and completely covered in gold leaf, from floor to ceiling. The whole place is entirely gold – I’ve never seen anything quite like it. I find it quite obscene that the Spanish created such opulence in a church when there was (and still is) clearly so much poverty right outside the door. The craftsmanship is incredible, but I can’t get this thought out of my head and I’m happy to leave.

It’s the rainy season and the weather is extremely changeable. Although we are on the equator, Quito is at 2800m altitude; when the sun is out it’s fierce but when it’s not, it’s quite chilly. It’s on one of these grey chilly days that we go to visit a museum that’s slap bang on the equator. There is an interesting exhibition of the various cultures and costumes of the indigenous populations of Ecuador, but the science museum we were looking for, with two plug holes, one on either side of the equator, one going clockwise, the other anticlockwise, is a few hundred metres away and by the time we realise and get there, it’s closed.

We go and visit a vivarium, which is great.  it’s a bit of an understatement to say that Fiona and snakes don’t really get on, so she passed on the opportunity while the children and I went in. It was really interesting, with snakes, lizards, caimans and frogs – we had the opportunity to have our photo taken with the boa constrictor around our shoulders. Gabriel loved it; Jemima was really uncomfortable with the idea but true to form, she faced her fears and went for it. Not for the first time on this trip, I was really proud of her! Millie wasn’t quite so brave and opted out but then again, she’s only four! Once again, I’d recommend reading Jemima and Gabriel’s blogs for their account of this encounter.

Jemima has been complaining of toothache for the last few days. She is actually extremely diligent when it comes to brushing her teeth but unfortunately she seems to have thin enamel and is prone to cavities.  I take her to a local dentist, with Milly and Gabriel in tow. The dentist examines her teeth and takes an X-ray; it turns out that while she does have a cavity, the pain is being caused by her big tooth pushing up from below. Two teeth are causing the problem – one is very loose and nearly ready to come out anyway; the other (a molar) is still firmly attached. The dentist recommends that both are extracted!

So after a fairly brief stay Quito, we take the bus north to Otavalo. We’ve promised ourselves then we get to Ecuador, we’ll slow down the pace and try to live somewhere rather than just travel. Now it’s upon us, we can’t wait…