WE MADE IT!

 The Group sin Skilleto.

Skilleto en la ventana.

We made it to Ecuador! Yesterday was an entire day of travel and today is our first full day in Quito. Even though there were some confusing flight changes and a near-mishap with the skytran in Miami, everyone made it safely to Quito and checked into our hotel. After a whopping 4 hours of sleep, we were up again to plan the rest of our trip. We met our in-country agent, Gary, who gave us helpful tips for the rest of the expedition. He talked about making phone calls to organizations we´re plaññing to meet later, such as Sharksky, the company in the Galapagos. Around noon, we split into three groups: one to buy food, one to buy a phone and sim card, and one to go to an internet cafe to confirm our reservations and write a blog post (this would be us).

Most of us can feel the difference in altitude already, but everyone is doing well.

-Maggie and Marielle (with Skillet watching over the shoulder... by the way, this keyboard has both an Ñ and a Ç... this is awesome.)

Quito

When we land in Ecuador, we'll be in Quito, the capital! Here's some useful information for our stay in the area.

• Elevation: 9,350 feet (highest functioning capital city!)
• Quito's closest volcano is Pichincha, looming over the western side of the city (which is also active)
• Quito has a fairly constant cool climate, with spring-like weather year-round
• Quito is divided into three areas, separated by hills:
1. Central: houses the colonial old city
2. Southern: is mainly industrial and residential, and a working-class housing area.
3. Northern: is the modern Quito, with high-rise buildings, shopping centers, the financial district, and upper-class residential areas and some working-class housing areas.
• The MetroBusQ network, locally known as "Red Integrada de Transporte Público", is the bus system running in Quito, going from south to north. It's divided into three sections- green, red, and blue

Overall, Quito is more practical than interesting, though it is incredibly beautiful for a city! Pictures have been enclosed below.

Artwork that shows the city in the mid-18th century.

Cotopaxi! (19,347 ft.)



Gold leaf interior of the Church of the Society of Jesus in the The Historic Centre of Quito.

 



Cheese Factories, Limestone Cities, Stars, Language, and Provinces

Cheese Factories, Limestone Cities, Stars, Language, and Provinces

Midway through the main trek, we are going from the town of Quilotoa to Chucchilán, where we will trek through the cloudforest. Near there is a local cheese factory, which we have the option of visiting. The cheese factories (queserías) started in Salinas, where in 1971 Italian missionary Antonio Polo thought of setting up the factories as a solution to poverty there. Later on, the cooperative opened up about 20 more factories around the area and in other provinces as well.

In 1756, a smallpox epidemic prompted the government in Quito to order all buildings in the city to be painted with white limestone, which people believed to be a disinfectant. They stayed that way until the 1980s, when the people decided to repaint the buildings. Art historians did research on the proper former colors of the city, and by now most of the city’s Old Town has been returned to its pre-epidemic palette.

other random facts:

The constellation Orion can be seen in both hemispheres. Many of the zodiac constellations are visible from the southern hemisphere. The north star cannot be seen from anywhere in the Southern Hemisphere and there is no equivalent star.

Knowing some phrases in Quicha (not just Spanish) will be helpful at the villages of our main trek. So far I have yet to find much useful information about the language besides http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kichwa_language

These are the provinces we will mainly be visiting: Quito is the capital of Pichincha. Tena and the community we are visiting, Puma Rumi, are located in Napo (Tena is the capital), and the Laguna Quilotoa is located in Cotopaxi province, the capital of which is Latacunga.

-Marielle