by Lynn & John Salmon <>{
Quito, one of the first 12 World Heritage Sites, is one of the highest capitals in the world at 2850m (9350ft) above sea level. It is known as one of the best-preserved, least altered historic centers in Latin America. The city is situated on the lower slopes of Pichincha volcano in a narrow, fertile valley of the Andes Mountains. This was the first stop on our Middle of the World adventure in Ecuador.
With excellent weather our first morning in Quito, we headed up to 4050m (13,287feet) on the TeleferiQo cable car. At the top we enjoyed the swings with views over the city and found a geocache: (GC68EN3). We returned to the city center, had a delicious lunch at La Purisma, ducked out of the rain into a Dali exhibit in Plaza Grande, and stopped for cocoa on the way back to our hotel.
On day 2 we spent a leisurely morning at the Quito Botanic Garden and an afternoon at Casa Guayasamin and Capilla del Hombre. We were not familiar with Ecuadorian contemporary artist Oswaldo Guayasamin's work before our visit to Quito, but we thourougly enjoyed the museum space he created to display his work.
We left Quito at 5:30am on day 3 and headed high into the Andes to visit
the Cloud Forest. Two days later, we returned to Quito
stopping at the
Mitad del Mundo Equator momument along the way.
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Our GPS reading at the yellow line was S00 00.131 W078 27.245 which is 0.15 miles (792 feet) south of the "real" equator.
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Return to our Middle of the World: Galapagos and Rainforests of Ecuador adventure.
Lynn & John Salmon <>{