From the Top to the Centre….

What better way to kick off our long awaited family visit to Galapagos. Originally planned for this time in 2020 to celebrate milestone birthdays, postponed by Covid and “scheduling conflicts” but now finally happening. As most visits to Galapagos, we begin our adventure in Quito, the world’s second highest capital city…..

From the “Top”…..

Quito, a city of some 3 million has grown up on a cluster of Andean slopes and valleys some 9000 or so feet (a little under 3000 metres) above sea level. The city is ringed by several volcanoes, one or two active (including Cotopaxi which is one of a limited number of volcanoes on earth which can proudly boast of its own glacier!) but the others are dormant or extinct.

The volcano closest to the city centre is Pichincha some 15,700 feet (4780 metres) high. Until fairly recently, the crater was only accessible by a long and rather strenuous hike. The crater itself is still only reachable by a long hike but there is now a cable car which takes less athletic visitors up to just shy of 4000 metres (13,000 feet). From the end of the cable car there’s a steep (and on the morning of our visit) muddy and breathless climb up to a couple of swings set at 4100 metres (13,450 feet). On a clear day you apparently feel as if you’re swinging over Quito. Thick cloud cover though meant that our experience was one of swinging into the void!! So we missed out on the view, but because of the weather we also missed out on holiday crowds (today is Good Friday) which can mean very long lines for the 6-passenger cable car

Via Chocolate Tasting….

Ecuador is one of the world’s major growers of cocoa pods so the country is now a leading producer (and exporter) of high quality chocolate. So no visit to Quito is complete without chocolate tasting. Not dissimilar to wine tasting, we’re treated to an expertly guided tasting of different concentrations of pure (solid) chocolate topped off by a cup of hot chocolate and a very rich, solid chocolate brownie in an establishment occupying one floor of one of the historic buildings overlooking Plaza de la Independencia, the main square in Quito’s old town.

Today being Good Friday though, the old town is closed off to vehicles to allow the traditional procession around the area’s churches to take place. The processions start and end in the square, which has a very festive atmosphere as people crowd in to watch. A Good Friday service taking place in the Metropolitan Cathedral which is directly across the square from our chocolate tasting is broadcast over loud speakers

To The Centre....

As we’ll as being the second highest capital city in the world, Quito has the distinction of (almost) straddling the equator. “Middle of the World” city and the super-fascinating Intiñan Museum are around 15 miles (25 km) north of the centre of Quito and 1000 feet (300 metres) lower. Both straddle latitude 0.00 degrees. So here we are now directly on the equator, literally at the centre of the world! We skip the city and spend a couple of fascinating hours at the museum which has exhibits displaying the geographic and cultural variety of Ecuador. But for most people, the draw is the simple, hands-on scientific demonstrations of being directly on the equator. Like which way the water goes down the plug hole depending on which side you’re on of the red line which indicates the equator; or trying to walk along the equator, one foot in front of the other with eyes closed (Bennett ✅; the rest of us ❌); or balancing a raw egg on the point of a nail while straddling the equator (Bennett ✅; the rest of us ❌).