Quito Plus

At 2,850 meters above sea level where we have been living for the last eight years, Quito is the second highest national capital in the world after La Paz, Bolivia.  For our upcoming Andes ascent of 4,800m, we planned to use our five days in Quito to acclimatize to altitude, to explore the old city and to do a couple of day excursions.

In 1534 the Spanish founded Quito on a ruined Incan settlement.   With a population of about 2 million, the city sits along a long, narrow valley, dramatically surrounded by Andes mountains and volcanoes, mostly in the clouds for our five days there.

Because it's old city centre is one of the most extensive and best preserved in Latin America, Quito was recently named a UNESCO heritage sight.  It is dominated by churches, convents, monasteries, an enormous basilica, all accompanied by the compulsory plazas, statues, crosses and cloisters. 

 

The Iglesia de la Compañía de Jesús, the outside carved in volcanic stone. Completed 1765, after 160 years of construction, it is now considered one of the finest examples of Spanish Baroque architecture in South America.  Entrance by closed gates and rather informal guards...

because every inch of the inside is completely covered in gold sheeting.  Appallingly but brilliantly grand.

From one of the towers, which of course we had to climb, the nave rooftop of the Basílica del Voto Nacional.

Basílica del Voto Nacional is impressively large, nicely landscaped and probably continuously under renovation.

We opted to stay in the old city in a small hotel, restored on the outside to original, with very modern architecture - steel rafters, glass walls, bridges from one original building to another inside. The hotel was midway up a very steep hill, excellent training for our quads and hearts.  (We couldn't go anywhere without several steep climbs, up and down.  The steepest had shallow flights of stairs built into the sidewalk but mostly it was a trudge.)  For wandering the old town, the hotel owner, a kind, soft-spoken man, gave us a map with roads coloured red, yellow or green according to their level of safety after dark.  The streets were empty in the evening, even the green ones.  During the day, the city was lively and busy.  Buskers and characters made people watching in the main plaza very entertaining.  We visited a few churches and marvelled in a bit of an indignant way at the riches of the gold gilded interiors juxtaposed to the obvious poverty outside.  An old story!

A noted street renovated for tourists with restaurants, clubs and galleries, was empty.  The historic centre of Quito, like that of Panama City, has not recovered from the covid restrictions on international travels.  Many buildings were abandoned mid-reno.  Restaurants were closed.  Our hotel owner said that he was only starting to get bookings again whereas before the epidemic, the hotel was always full.  Happily, and unlike Panama City, the streets and plaza are bustling with local activity during the day.  But locals do not live there - rent is too expensive - and, hence, we were the only ones on the street after dark...and we go to bed early.

 

We did a Free Walking Tour.  We hadn't done one since Buenos Aires and had forgotten how great they are.  The guides have to be knowledgeable and entertaining to make their tip money.  It attracts the best.  This guy was no exception.  Here, we were in the central market, mostly closed in the afternoon when we went but the shaman booth complete with medicinal herbs was still busy.  Clients go behind a curtain, strip down and have a branch? or something waved over them so that all ills can be excised.  We saw someone getting treated in the street by a guy (shaman or scammer) who was dancing around him, with a branch and spitting onto the ground.  Intriguing!

Taken from the pool patio of Casa Guayasamin, with a view of what should be snow capped mountains in the clouds.  The dark cone mid photo is part of the gallery featuring Guayasamin's expressionist art featuring emotional portraits and people-scapes.  His depictions of hands whether alone or in a portrait are famously expressive.

The Casa Museo Guayasamin, the home of Oswaldo Guayasamin, was interesting.  Although an atheist of Quechua and Mestizo heritage, his home was not particularly cozy or comfortable, but filled with religious relics and art.  A few pieces of his own art modernized it a bit. 

We took a day trip to Mindo, a small town in a cloud forest.  Only a short distance from Quito, our Spanish only speaking taxi driver, took the only route with steep drops to verdant valleys below.  Road repairs from landslides are ongoing and obviously major.  All we knew about our first stop was that we would see hummingbirds.  We assumed they would be caged like bird sanctuaries we had visited in other places.  We arrived, they immediately plunked us on a bench overlooking beautiful forest, gave us a flower and poured nectar over it.  No explanation...in English, anyway.  And then the birds came!  Wow!  It was incredible.

The little yellow birds were a small version of what we called bananaquits in the Caribbean.  Note the emerald green hummingbird in flight.

They refilled the flower with nectar twice.  And the birds supped heartily, taking turns, some more assertive than others, until, within minutes, completely consumed.
 

Then we were given a plastic bottle top, filled with nectar.  We held it in flat on our palms and the birds came, some sitting on our fingers, some sipping on the go.  

A truly awesome experience.  And the best reuse of a plastic bottle cap!

After feeding wild hummingbirds, the enclosed butterfly sanctuary seemed a bit tame.  

But there were some beauties there too.

And then there was flora.  One of the main exports of Ecuador are flowers.  Roses are sold for about $1US per dozen according to our tour guide. The wild ones were my interest.  The new and the wonderful.  Red bananas

The fruit of the Attorney Tree as identified by iNaturalist.  Very cool.  The human mind does like symmetry, Peter tells me.  And this was perfect.

After again being identified by iNaturalist, Wikipedia tells me that Chuquiraga jussieui is the flower of the Andes. It is a low shrub, reaching a height of about 75 cm. Chuquiraga jussieui is an endangered flower (although we saw lots and lots).  Native to Ecuador and Peru, it grows at 3000 to 5000 meters above sea level. Additionally, it contains bioactive components with medicinal properties.  

A ride of faith across a river carved, jungle filled and very deep ravine.  The basket contraption was just a tad sketchy.  530m long it moved at a fair clip so my fingers were crossed for only a matter of minutes.

We took Rita 3.  The most we could do in our abbreviated time.  We would have liked to have managed a couple but that would have meant no hummingbirds!

While beautiful in their lush, green setting, being from Canada, the waterfalls were familiar.  The best part was the hike.

On our last day in Quito, we hiked up the Pichincha Mountain, starting with the Teleferico or gondola to the trails.  Quito, in the valley,was backed by snowcapped volcanos and mountains on the far side.

We hiked up the yellow, then off to the blue, avoiding the exclamation mark and Paso de la Muerte or Pass of Death - a wise choice.  The climb was steep, needless to say, and we had not yet been coached regarding how to manage the altitude so there was a great deal of huffing and puffing.  

Quito on one side of the ridge and verdant farmland on the other.  The country has everything.

And in the other direction, a very steep pitch of grassland and ravines.

Smiling near the beginning of the hike.  Jacket and sweatshirt still done up.

The ascent.  Jacket and sweatshirt now unzipped.  We attempted to climb at are usual brisk hiking pace.  Peter managed better.  I followed behind.  We both felt the altitude.

Nearing the turn off for the Pass of Death.  We were hiking on a Sunday.  We passed many people - or they passed us, who am I kidding - running the trail.  Up at a steady jog and down at a graceful lope.  One woman gave me some hiking tips in hand gestures as she passed me.  Not sure what they were but I was obviously showing my fatigue.

The last bit before turning around.

A new record for top altitude hiked.  We felt pretty good about starting our Andes hiking trip the next day, after a good night's rest.

Down!

And still smiling!