Home from Ecuador

We took the shuttle from Rincon de Puembo to the Quito airport a little before 8 pm. We made it through check-in with no problems. The security staff at the airport was friendly and helpful. Our flight to Atlanta boarded on time and the five-hour flight was uneventful. We all slept some during the red eye flight before arriving in Atlanta. Our Global Entry status allowed us to get through security in Atlanta with no line. We remarked how valuable Global Entry is to us during international travel.

Our flight to Cincinnati was scheduled for 8:15 in concourse B so we met Whittingtons in concourse A as their 7:15 flight to Orlando was boarding.

Mary picked up a fruit parfait as a morning snack while we waited for our flight to board. The aircraft was completely full for the 8:15 am flight from Atlanta to Cincinnati and left Atlanta on time.

We arrived at the Cincinnati airport a little after 9:30 am, picked up our bags and headed for the ground transportation area. Probably for the first time ever, we got there as the shuttle for the Hilton was arriving so we made it back to the car in record time and made it back home before noon.

We did laundry and started catching up on things that we hadn’t done in the time we were gone. Although we had left the Galaxy Yacht on Saturday, we still felt the boat rocking for several days after we returned.

While it felt good to return to our routine, we will never forget our time in Ecuador. Everyone agreed that this was one of our best trips ever. The activity level of the outings was just right for us, and we got to see so many things that we have read about in National Geographic or watched on PBS nature specials. It was nice to just be immersed in nature. We were initially concerned about not having access to cell telephone signals and Internet, but it wasn’t a problem at all. In fact, it was quite pleasant to not hear about runaway inflation, plummeting stock markets, supply chain breakdowns and political bickering.

We did our best to identify and check off the variety of birds, mammals, reptiles and fish that we saw on the trip. I think that we did a pretty good job of identifying everything but the fish since we all saw so many different fish depending on where we happened to drift by while snorkeling.

We have already started discussing a location for our next adventure. Right now, I think the movement is toward sub-Saharan Africa, perhaps Kenya and Tanzania. There is also discussion of something in the Middle East.

Old Quito

As usual, we awoke early and did a few things in the room while waiting to go to breakfast in the Sheraton at 6 am. We had another great selection of fruit, cheese and breads in addition to the items that are typically eaten in Ecuador. I tried cacao tea since the person at the chocolate maker said that the hulls of the cacao beans are used for tea. I found the cacao tea to be tasteless and smelled only slightly of chocolate. The fresh fruit juices were outstanding.

At 8 am we met our guide for Quito, Patricia, along with the others in the group for orientation and planning. One couple from New Hampshire was delayed because of a Hurricane Ian related cancellation but the other 13 of us were there. After the meeting, we went to our rooms to get what we needed for the morning tours.

San Francisco Convent

We boarded a bus and drove into old town Quito. Upon exiting the bus, we were swarmed by women selling hand woven alpaca shawls. Mary bought some to take back as gifts for the girls. Then we walked through the town square to the San Francisco Convent a Franciscan church. Which dates to 1535. In the courtyard there were several species of native parrots which we understand is common for Franciscan churches. We were amazed at the age of the structure and how good it appeared to be. The walls are now painted white, but it originally had beautiful murals on the walls and ceiling. There was a service going on when we arrived, so we tried to be very quiet and not disturb anything. It was remarkable how well preserved the paintings and the structure of the church was after nearly 500 years.

The Gold Church

From this church, we walked to a Jesuit church, the Iglesia de la Compania de Jesus, commonly called “The gold church” because of all the gold in the church’s interior decor. It was quite beautiful, so we walked around looking at the old church. 

 

We walked to Chez Tiff Artesanal, a chocolate maker in Quito who, like the chocolatier in Mindo, makes artisanal chocolate in small batches. The proprietor is a Swiss man who is married to an Ecuadorian woman. He gave us a discussion on the making of chocolate that was very similar to the process we saw yesterday. We very much enjoyed the samples of their chocolate making.

Lunch at Hotel Grande Plaza

When we arrived at Hotel Plaza Grande for lunch, we met with the toast two of our group, Charlie and Judy from Vermont, whose travel had been delayed by Hurricane Ian. They were a nice couple, and we were pleased to have them join the group.

Cucuruchos in Quito

Lunch was at Hotel Plaza Grande where Mary and I both had chicken coated in local quinoa flour and baked. The appetizer was a selection of native Ecuador’s fruits and vegetables. The real treat was the dessert which was guava and raspberry sorbets in a small metal bowl. The metal bowl was in a slightly larger porcelain bowl with a small quantity of dry ice and water causing the bowl to appear to smoke. The dessert was served by waiters dressed in purple robes called cucuruchos. The also had purple conical cloth hats covering their faces. This is part of a seasonal ritual in Ecuador symbolizing reflection and penance during holy days and especially on Good Friday when thousands of Ecuadorians parade through Quito in the purple robes and hoods.

We had a bit of a scare after we left the restaurant. Cindy wanted a coffee from the nearby café and realized that she didn’t have her wallet. We ran back to the dining room and quickly found the wallet under the table where she and Mark sat.

After finishing lunch, we boarded the bus to visit the home and museum of Oswaldo Guayasamin, Ecuador’s most famous artist. His art was very dark and carried a social/political message that was relevant in his time. I believe that this was the least favorite stop of our time in Ecuador. However, I did meet a lady who lives just a few blocks from Sarah. I was wearing a “Xavier Dad” T-shirt when a visitor at the museum asked me if I was from Cincinnati. I told her that we were from Central Kentucky, but our daughter attended Xavier and her family lives in Pleasant Ridge. It turns out that she lives just a short distance from Sarah in Pleasant Ridge.

After leaving the Guayasamin art museum, we again boarded the bus for our return to the Sheraton where we had almost an hour of free time before the speaker, a professor from the university in Quito, spoke on the geography, economics and culture of Ecuador. He was an interesting and knowledgeable speaker that everyone seemed to enjoy. Following the presentation, we had dinner at the hotel then we went to our rooms to prepare for our early departure for Galápagos Islands tomorrow.

Sightseeing in Quito

I woke around 4 am, which makes sense since Quito is on Central Time and my usual wake-up time is 5 am. I showered then reorganized my backpack for what we may do in the next few days before going to the Galápagos Islands. Mary checked weather and looked for things to do today and tomorrow in mainland Ecuador.

We thought that breakfast at the Sheraton was included with our room, but with the language issue, we weren’t certain. In any case, breakfast was an excellent buffet with many South American items as well as a few US favorites such as waffles. There was a large selection of fresh fruit juices, many fresh tropical fruits, breads, meats and pastries.

Golden Angel's Trumpet

After breakfast, Mary and Cindy planned our outing while I watched an episode of Bonanza with Spanish voiceover and changed clothes. We headed to Parque la Carolina, a large urban park just a few blocks from the Sheraton. We walked around looking at unfamiliar flowers and trees, while watching several groups play volleyball and soccer. 

We visited the Jardín Botánico De Quito, the national botanical garden. It contained a great variety of plants throughout the large garden, and most were clearly labeled with scientific name, botanical family, country of origin and common name in Spanish. 

We especially enjoyed the cactus and succulent area with plants from all over the world. A display of bonsai trees showcased winning displays from a recent competition. A specialty of the Quito botanical garden are the orchids from Ecuador’s tropical rain forests.

While we were at the botanical gardens, we saw a number of birds that were unfamiliar to us. We were especially taken with the many hummingbirds in the area. There were very few other visitors at the botanical garden while we were there. However, being an overcast Wednesday morning, we didn’t expect it to be crowded. We enjoyed our visit to the area very much and left around 1:30 to find a place for a light lunch.

Mary and Cindy spotted Panificadora Ambato, a local bakery. We all got empanadas, flaky bread with chicken or beef filling and shared desserts. The bill for Mary and I was $8, and the Whittington’s bill was about the same. We all enjoyed the lunch the came back to the Sheraton to relax. We were all tired from rushing around on Monday to make an early departure plus spending the previous day in airports or on planes. In addition, none of us are adjusted to the altitude here of nearly 10,000 feet. A midafternoon break was welcome for all of us.

While Mary finished resting and exercising, I went for a walk between the park and hotel. I checked for possible places to eat and got an overall view of this part of the city. Quito is a large city with nearly three million residents, but we are only seeing a small part of it. We understand that we will have a tour of the city on Friday with the Road Scholar group.

We met with Mark and Cindy in the lobby at 6 pm and walked the path I explored this afternoon. We decided to try Chalaca, a Peruvian restaurant. Our waitress could speak English better than most people we have met here in Quito and was very helpful. We started with a shared appetizer of chicken, shrimp, and fish. The waitress also brought a very hot sauce with a name that translates to an unmentionable word in English. She also recommended a local white wine which was a good accompaniment to our meal. I ordered taco-taco con saltado with chicken which is Peruvian beans and rice with stir fried chicken and a light sauce. Mary had chanchito criollo which was whipped sweet potatoes topped with pork in a slightly sweet sauce. Cindy had corvina al escabeche, sea bass with a relish of yellow chili pepper, onions and aji panca. Mark went with the lomito saltado en su jugo, Peruvian stir-fried pork tenderloin with fried potatoes. We all enjoyed our meals and were pleased that the entire meal cost less than $80.

By the time we finished eating, it was after 8 pm so we came back to the Quito Sheraton for the night. For tomorrow, we booked a tour to the Mindo Cloud Forest, on the western slope of the Andes, with a departure time of 7:15 am to meet our naturalist guide.