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24 October to 7 November 2003
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Arrived by air in Quito and travelled across town by taxi, on roads busy with traffic and driving of the usual Latin standard; passing through the modern city with buildings of varying standards between first class and gerry built, to arrive at our lodgings for the next two weeks.
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We had a simply furnished room and bathroom to ourselves, and meals with the family in their dinning room. As we found when we attended the evening meal, there were five of us lodging with the family. Beside us, there was Sharon from Australia and Julio and Franchesca from Italy. Our hosts were Marta and Vincente plus two daughters. Over the next two weeks our fellow guests would change. Tim came for a night, as did Annette. Bastion from Germany, who was going on to do forestry research, came a few days after us and left with us. Anna arrived after a week, having travelled up with the group we were travelling back with to Santiago and so was able to tell us what to expect; she also left the same day as us to travel on to Argentina.
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We spent the early evening resting and making ourselves at home then after a late meal it was time to try and catch up on our sleep. Our room was just across the way from a sports stadium where a volley ball tournament was taking place, there was also a main road near by so it was one of the noisier rooms we have occupied.
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Managed to sleep until just after 5am but then gave up.
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After breakfast we took a walk into the city; first to find out where the language school was and how long it would take us to walk, and then to send some emails. Spent some time exploring the modern city area and walking in the Parque El Ejido, with a craft market in the middle. Completed the morning by walking out to the old city, crowded with visitors, few of whom appeared to be foreigners. And up to the top of Panecillo Hill standing 180m above the city at 3000m. The summit was crowned with a large statue of the Madonna, with wings, built in 1975.
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From a distance, the hill that hosts a huge statue of the winged virgin does indeed look like a panecillo (small bread roll). Since it's directly south of the city, this hill was an ideal spot to construct the 148-foot (45m) high La Virgen de Quito. The panecillo stands at about 9,840 feet (3,000m), so you can also see the sculpture from the centre of Quito. The significance of the panecillo hill dates back to Inca times, when it was known as Shungoloma ("hill of the heart"). Before the Spanish arrived, the local people used this hill as a place to worship the sun. Afterwards, the Spanish used this site to construct a fortress between 1812 and 1815 and to control what was going on down below. These days, most people come up here for the 3600 views of Quito
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Made our way back at a strolling pace, stopping in a delicatessen in the Plaza Grande, for a drink and a roll, before returning to our room just in time to beat a thunderstorm.
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The day before, from the top of Panecillo, we had spotted a large wooded hill to the north, which from our map we concluded was the Parque Metropolitano; we decided that we would walk out and explore it.
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Located in the north of Quito, and surrounded by the streets of Guanguiltagua, Arroyo Delgado and Analuisa. With an area of 557 hectares, it is the lungs of the city. The park is located to 2890 meters above sea level and registers an average temperature of 11: C. Surrounded by trees and gigantic works of art, visitors can enjoy natural pure air to few meters of the city. Tourism: In the Ashintaco area, located in the northeastern sector of the park, more than ten species of colibrmes and seventy species of nesting birds can be observed, some of which are in danger of extinction The park offers a firm track for mountain biking enthusiasts. Between 20 and 30 thousand people flock each weekend to the park,
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Our route took us through the La Paz area, with large up-market apartment blocks each with a security guard on the entrance. The map didn't indicate where the entrance to the park was and so we headed in the general direction until we found a way in. As we were to discover, we were at the quieter end of the park, on the other side there was access for cars, and many families had driven in to enjoy the area.
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The park, which was about 4km long and 1km wide, was a mix of eucalyptus trees, rough open grass land, play and picnic areas, large works of art, and view points over the lower ground to the east.
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We spent about 2 hours wandering around its length and breadth before returning to our lodgings using a slightly different route, again just beating the rain.
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Our first morning at the language school; discovered that Martha was also the director of the school. Because there were no other students booked in instead of being in a small class we ended up each having individual tuition. In four hours we covered a lot of ground at a blistering pace and then spent the afternoon drawing it all together.
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A week completed at the language school. We now know more than when we started but not enough to speak with any confidence, even on topics that we have practised on. The first three days we spent almost totally on Spanish, with classes in the morning and revision and learning vocabulary in the afternoon and evening. However, by Thursday afternoon we eased off a bit and accompanied by Madelaina, one of the lecturers, we were given a conducted tour of the Old Town, in Spanish of course. Friday was even more relaxed, with a trip to Metid del Mundo to visit the equator, 25km to the north of Quito. Visited a cultural museum and stood on the equator to have our photo taken.
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We were also shown an experiment with water flowing straight down the plughole when a sink stood over the equator. When the sink was moved a couple of metes into the southern hemisphere the water flowed clockwise and when moved to the northern hemisphere anticlockwise. Although in theory I know this should be the case, I've always felt that such things as the drain design has far more influence and I wasn't convinced that the movement of a couple of metres would make the difference, and that some trick was involved.
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Also called in at the equator monument, now found by GPS to be about 200m out.
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An eventful return to Quito; half way back the bus broke down so we had to get another one which on entering Quito was diverted due to a student protest. We ended up walking the final 2km back to the school.
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An excursion to Cotopaxi; an early start with a 6.15 breakfast then out to the school to pick up the bus. Bastion, two other students and a friend of theirs, Lusmila, one of the lecturers, the bus driver and two of his young sons, accompanied us.
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Left Quito heading south on a road around a deep canyon that divides Quito from the lower ground to the east, then down the main E35 road, duelled and well constructed in most places.
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A thin haze hung in the air as we drove down. To our right were mountains with rounded bases capped by rugged peaks, and in the distance to our left was Cotopaxi, its snow covered peak standing out against the blue sky. Occasionally we would spot steam rising from a volcanic vent on the hillside. In fields, on the lower slopes, cows grazed on lush green grass.
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As we drew closer the fresh snow of Cotopaxi shone brilliantly in the sun. From the main road a rough unsealed track, through felled forest, took us up to the park entrance. As tourists we were charged $10 each, locals got in for $2, children half price.Continued on, fording a river where the bridge had been washed away by rain and climbed up onto a wide expanse of reasonably level ground at 3850m, with a small lake down one end and a back drop of high mountains. Without a sign saying 'No camping' we're sure it would have been a popular spot for overnight stops.
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Climbed again, the vegetation turning to shrub, with some in flower, but from the bus window we weren't able to get a good look and by the time we reached our destination at 4500m we were above the vegetation. Up the slope, 300m above us, stood a refugio, our final destination. And above that the cornice capped peak of Cotopaxi at 5897m, which was not far below that of Kilimanjaro and at a similar latitude. But here the snow line was at 4800m whereas on Kilimanjaro it was hardly there at all, with its glacier receding.
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Started to make our climb up to the refugio, taking it slowly in the thin air. We had not really acclimatised having come up from 3000m in a bus in 3 hours. But slowly, 20-30m at a time we ascended the scoria slope. Lusmila struggled with her pack so we gave her a hand. After an hour we were at the refugio sitting out on the patio enjoying the sun and the opportunity to regain our breath. We also found out why Lusmila had been struggling, she had 2 large watermelons in her backpack!
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Joining us on the patio, and also helping us to eat the melons, was a party of local teenagers; one carried a guitar. They sang some popular songs, which we joined in where we could.
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We also took the opportunity to look inside the refugio, the most luxurious we have seen with a bar and refreshments for sale. There was electricity, running water and flush toilets. It wasn't even necessary to carry out the rubbish.
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While I stayed behind with the driver's two sons (the driver had stayed with his bus) the others continued up a little further before we all descended much more quickly than we went up.
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The views from the refugio and also from the bus, both in the park and during the drive up rate in our top ten.
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All Souls Day, an important festival on which families gather in cemeteries with a picnic to share with their ancestors; most local shops were closed for the day.
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We spent the day quietly lazing in the park and in the evening called on George, our Australian friend, who had just completed the same trip that we were going on, but in the opposite direction.
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Wednesday 5 November 2003
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For the afternoon we took a visit to the Banco Central del Ecuador museum where for $1.50 each we received a 2 1/2 hour tour of the exhibits with an English speaking guide.
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The main part of the exhibits was the pottery from over 20 distinct cultures that had lived in parts of Ecuador up until the Conquistadors. Some of the works were crude but others were exquisite and some of the imaginary animals bore remarkable similarities to the Chinese dragon.
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In a separate part of the exhibition we also saw the work of the later cultures in gold, silver, platinum and copper.
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In an up stairs exhibition were religious paintings and sculptures from the Spanish period, dark and gloomy at the start but brightening and becoming more natural as time passed.
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For the evening we were taken to the old town to see the churches lit up in subtle pastel shades. It was well done giving the area a far better appearance than in the day, when it was full of people and the underlying dilapidation could be seen.
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The last day of Spanish lessons; the week had not been so demanding nor had it been as relevant as the first week. Much time was spent on irregular verbs, many of which we were unlikely to need - aposter - to bet. If we were going on for another two weeks then it would probably have provided a foundation for future work, but for us, wanting pidgin Spanish, it seemed a waste of time.
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