Episode 3: Exploring Quito and the Equator

Today we’ll be talking about our recent trip to Quito, Ecuador as part of our journey to the Galápagos Islands. We'll journey back in time to the 16th century and Colonial Quito during the Spanish Colonization period. There we'll see the Gilded Churches, and then make our way to the center of the earth as we visit a museum on Andean culture located on the Equator. Pack your bag and joins us as we share the sites, tastes and fun facts that we learned along the way.

In this episode we share why we went to Quito, Ecuador in the first place, why we used a travel agency in Ecuador to help us book this trip, and the tour options that were available to us in Quito and why we chose the one we did. We also walk you through what our day in Quito was like, why we loved having a tour guide here, and of course, what you need to pack for a day in this colonial city.

So if you are headed to Ecuador or to South America, would like to, or just want to know more about this amazing city, Tune in NOW!

Links we talk about in this Episode:

Our travel agent was Diana Endara at Galapagos Travel Center

Intinan Museum and the Ecuador www.facebook.com/mueseointinan

History of Quito: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_evolution_of_colonial_Quito

Our hotel: Swissotel Quito - Luxury Hotel In Quito - Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts

Our Tour Guide:

Giovanny Viansaca Phone : (338) 979398449 Email: [email protected]

Kiva.org Want an easy way to do some real good in the world? Join me on Kiva to make small loans to support local Ecuadorians.

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Quito Packing List:

Sturdy walking shoes (like many older and colonial cities, the streets are stone and tile and you need to be able walk safely on uneven surfaces)
Anytime you are visiting churches I would recommend pants or skirt and to wear or bring something to cover your shoulders so I had a light jacket which is good if a building is cold too
Phones and cameras for pictures and A small bag or backpack
A hat and sunscreen and sunglasses (you are near the equator) on sunny days
Rain jacket or umbrella if it is rainy season
Our guide also said that it could be sunny in the morning and then rain showers in the afternoon so it’s a good idea to carry along a backpack and have both.
Credit card and then Cash for tips and souvenirs
The Ecuador museum also had a stamp you could stamp in your passport so you can bring that along if you wanted to and keep it safely tucked away in your bag

Music Credit

Music by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/oystudio-24430395/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=music&utm_content=128250">OYStudio</a> from <a href="https://pixabay.com//?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=music&utm_content=128250">Pixabay</a>

Episode Transcript (continued on episode webpage):

I’m Scott and I’m Melissa and we are the Sunshine Travelers. Our passion is travel and sharing our experiences with those who enjoy it as much as we do, or want to learn more about travel, and even those that just want to live vicariously through our travel stories. No matter where you fall along that journey, get ready to hear about our first hand experiences as we visit some of the most amazing places on earth.

Scott: Ecuador is a country of 18 million people located on the Western Coast of South America. It is bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. Ecuador also includes the Galápagos Islands. Ecuador is made up of many indigenous groups of people that were gradually incorporated into the Inca Empire by the 15th century. The territory was colonized by Spain during the 16th century and finally emerged as its own sovereign state in 1830. For more on the history of Ecuador we'll put a few links in the show notes that can help you visit this incredible country first hand.

Our original plan was to record this episode while in Quito but I think we underestimated the impact of Quito's elevation at almost 10k ft above sea level. It takes a little while to get used to and we were only there for 1.5 days. So let’s talk a little about how we ended up in Quito. Melissa, you were heavily engaged in the planning of this trip

Melissa: If you listened to the episode where we talked about our bucket list for travel, you’ll know that the Galápagos Islands were on the list even though we hadn't originally planned to go so soon. Last year we were approached by a couple of our friends to join them on this trip and our immediate answer was “let’s go”.

So we immediately began making plans because these trips fill up fast.

We booked this trip through a travel company called Galapagos Travel Center and their website is

https://www.galapagosislands.com/ We worked with Diana. They want you to arrive a day early in Ecuador because from many parts of the world there is only one flight a day and it gives you some buffer (and more tourism for them) so part of our tour package included a guided tour on the day that we were in Quito. We had a choice of three different tour options which included two nature options or a trip to the Equator and tour of Colonial Quito.

Scott: I wanted to do the one that included the gilded churches. I’ve been to Quito for work before, but didn’t do any sight seeing while there. Several of my Ecuadorian colleagues had suggested on my next trip I should make time to see the gilded churches.

Melissa: When Scott travels for work and I’m not in tow (which was most if his trips when our kids were younger) he sees the hotel, the office or client site, and wherever they take him to dinner. That’s it. I’m working hard to change that, especially when I’m with him. I’ll share a funny story about him in New York in an upcoming episode how I’ve trained him to use google maps to find what’s around him.

Scott: Let's back up for just a minute. We don't normally use a tour company when we travel. What made this trip so different?

Melissa: You mentioned that some friends invited us to tag along and they had already been working with a travel company to book this trip when we joined in so pretty much except our input on the choice of tour we were happy to just join in on what they had been planning. With this trip though I would say the logistics of getting to and from the airport and taking another flight to get to the ship etc with necessary fees for the National park paid and documents ready to go, having the tour company on the ground in Ecuador handle all that ahead of time made the logistics easy.

Scott: Would you recommend using a tour company for anyone thinking of taking this trip?

Melissa: Yes I would and I also think having a travel advisor that is super familiar with the trip you are taking specifically is really important and knows exactly what flights from Quito to book and having someone to get you to and from the airport and take you on the tour. So basically we just had to get to Quito by a certain day, and they took care of the rest. So that’s how we got to this point in ths Trip.

Now let’s tell you a little about the tours we did in Quito. It was a full day of activity that included history, visiting a volcanic crater, local cuisine and drinks, and doing all of this at approximately 10k ft above sea level. That a big deal for those of us that spend a majority of our time living no more than 20 ft above sea level.

Melissa: We started our day with a visit to the Intinan Museum which boasts that the actual equator flows through the site of this Indigenous History museum rather than the official monument that you can see towering over the location which celebrates ancient civilizations that once inhabited this region. If you take the guided tour a student from the local college will provide you with information about the ancient cultures and then lead you to what they claim to be the actual equator. If you have a GPS, you should be able to pinpoint that this location sits less than 2 One-Hundreths of a degree off the actual equator.

Scott: It's amazing that these ancient cultures figured this out without the advantage of today's modern tools such as GPS. They literally used rocks and the sun to determine exactly where the Equator or "center of the earth" existed. We were able to do some pretty interesting experiments such as balancing a raw egg on top of nailhead, trying to walk a straight line with our eyes closed, and see how water flows differently depending on which side of the Equator you are standing. While the last one called the correalis effect was forced for the demonstration, it does help to explain why tornadoes are in the Northern Hemisphere and Cyclones are in the southern hemisphere.

Melissa: our tour guide gave us an option at this point to go to the actual historical equator monument or go to a volcanic crater. We all chose the crater because we saw the monument driving by so it would be nice to see the volcanic crater too. We left the equator and made a short drive to a volcanic crater. This crater was massive and a small community has formed in the basin of the crater. We just happened to time it with clear skies for beautiful vistas that allowed us to look down and across from the edge of the crater and imagine how massive the volcano that used to sit atop this crater must have been. If you have the time and energy, you can hike down into the crater as a day trip and visit the community that has established itself down in the basin of the crater. Our guide said that may locals will hike down and camp in the basin and is a favorite for school trips. Here was also your opportunity to get some great deals on souvenirs that have been hand-crafted by local artisans in the shops they had set up there and Don't forget to bargain for the best deals but our tour guide was on hand to help with that!

(I want to note that every tour I’ve ever taken like this, in Mexico, Portugal and and here- a stop has always been made to support the local shop, tradesman, economy etc so this is very common to have the tour guides help support other aspects of the local economy. )

Scott: After we left the crater, our tour guide knew a local place where you can get Ecuadorian Pan ice cream. It involves spinning a large metal pan on top of ice and pouring in fresh fruit juices until it freezes into a soft frozen treat resembling ice cream. Modern versions include all kinds of flavors and on the day we were visiting, they were making bubble gum flavored. Melissa and a few of our friends that were traveling with us were allowed to try and make the dessert. They quickly realized that it was a lot tougher than it looked. Almost like patting your head and rubbing your tummy.

Melissa: This was supposed to just be a quick treat but our guide knew the shop owner and so that was fun to try our hand at making it end of course trying some. We were on our way into downtown Quito where we had reservations for a delicious Ecuadorian lunch but I’ll never turn down dessert first ( I even had to have 2. It was like a sorbet and made from local fruits that we don’t have so why not because I could only get it here.

Scott: After lunch it was time to stroll through Colonial Quito. This is something that I have been looking forward to for years since my last visit to Quito for work. We walked out onto a magnificent plaza surrounded by historic buildings, churches, cafes and even the Presidential Palace. In 1978, the city of Quito was recognized as a UNESCO Heritage Site and rewarded for being the best preserved, least altered historic Center in Latin America. Here in Colonial Quito we were able to visit three of the gilded churches built during the Spanish Colonization period. 17th-Century Jesuit church, named La Iglesia de la Compañía de Jesús, and the 16th Century church and monastery called the Iglesia y Monasterio de San Francisco. These building feature ornate interiors were covered in literaly tons of gold leaf. The Iglesia y Monasterio de San Francisco took nearly 70 years to complete, however, the style of decoration continued to evolve for another 150 years after completion. Imagine every surface covered in ornate wood and gilded with shiny gold leaf. It is definitly a sight to see. If you love architecture, this is definitely a place you are going to want to add to your travel list. A couple of the churches don't want your to take pictures while inside. Use this as an opportunity to fill your memory banks with unbelievable works of art that just isn't replicated today.

Melissa: While walking around downtown, our guide introduced us to several local candies including locally made dark chocolate with interesting flavor combinations, local sugar cane liquor and other delicious snacks you will only find in Ecuador. That was the other benefit from having a guide here is that we would have missed trying all the delicious food and snacks if we had been on our own in the Old town. We finished the day with a spectacular view of Quito from an area up on the mountainside and then back to the hotel for a little rest and relaxation before dinner.

Scott: We did something for dinner that we normally wouldn't do in many areas of the world. We actuallty ate at the hotel. We were all pretty tired from a full day of activities and we knew that we had to get up very early the next morning for our journey onward to the Galapagos islands. We were recommended to try some seafood paella while here and it just so happened that the hotel had a seafood restaurant in it. I've personally had paella all over the world, and this wasn't bad. It allowed us to get something good to eat and get ready for the next day without staying up too late.

If you enjoy an adult beverage or two, you may want to pay attention as they say the effects of alcohol in those altitudes is much more impactful on your body and it goes to your head very quickly.

Scott: So Melissa, I think we should try something new for all of our episodes that are about traveling to a specific place. Let's give the listeners a list of the essential items that they need to pack when visiting Quito.

Melissa:

Sturdy walking shoes (like many older and colonial cities, the streets are stone and tile and you need to be able walk safely on uneven surfaces)
Anytime you are visiting churches I would recommend pants or skirt and to wear or bring something to cover your shoulders so I had a light jacket which is good if a building is cold too
Phones and cameras for pictures and A small bag or backpack
A hat and sunscreen and sunglasses (you are near the equator) on sunny days
Rain jacket or umbrella if it is rainy season
Our guide also said that it could be sunny in the morning and then rain showers in the afternoon so it’s a good idea to carry along a backpack and have both.
Credit card and then Cash for tips and souvenirs
The Ecuador museum also had a stamp you could stamp in your passport so you can bring that along if you wanted to and keep it safely tucked away in your bag

We’ll put some links in the show notes where you can learn more about Quito and the contact information for our tour guide that did such a great job in sharing his vast knowledge of the geography, people and culture of Ecuador. If you have a favorite place to visit in Quito that we didn't cover, leave us a comment as we are always looking for new places to discover and things to do.

We hope you enjoyed this episode and will find some inspiration for your next trip or perhaps this is something that you want to add to your bucket list. Most importantly, subscribe to our podcast and share it with your friends to help them catch the travel bug. You never know, they may become your greatest travel companion.

Episode 3: Exploring Quito and the Equator

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