Galapagos Adventure - Day 2 - June 15

We have changed our Latitude.

There was a little drama with our flight from Chicago to Miami.  We experienced a one hour ground delay after boarding American Airlines flight 1121.  The weather in Miami was the cause of the delay.  We had a two hour connection so we were not overly concerned.  Our Quito flight AA 2259 was supposed to depart from terminal D which is where we landed.  Upon landing I received a text advising our new departure terminal is terminal E. I asked the gate agent for directions.  He said turn left.  “It is a really long walk.”  Without exaggeration it was at least one mile.  We arrived at our new gate with little time to spare.  Our plan was to eat dinner at the Miami airport during our two hour layover.  The reality was buying a pizza to take on the plane.  Once onboard the plane the pilot advised that the mechanic wanted to do a test run on the engine he just repaired before we can depart.  The engine roared to life.  All is well and we are on our way to Quito.  Our plane has many children onboard. A little bit surprising since we will land after midnight.  Perhaps some of them will be in our Tauck tour group.

Here we are with all smiles departing from Chicago O’Hare airport.

Our total travel time from leaving home to arriving at the Hilton Colon was 13 hours.  The grandkids did great. They are seasoned travelers.  Upon arrival in Quito we noticed the air is thinner than at sea level. It was a long and steep departure ramp from the plane to the terminal and we were huffing and puffing.  We were in row 9 on the Boeing 737 plane with 36 rows.  That gave us a good advantage to get to a shorter immigration line.  We cleared customs by putting our luggage through an X ray machine and met our Tauck handler.  He called the driver and we had a 35 minute ride to the Hilton Colon.  Check in is swift at 2:00 am.  We have two large room suites and divided up boy, boy and girl, girl.  

Flying into Quito, Ecuador started me thinking about other high altitude cities I have visited.  Denver, Colorado is 5,280 ft which makes it the mile high city. Last year we flew through Adis Ababa, Ethiopia on our way to Kilimanjaro, Tanzania for our African safari.  The altitude was 8,612 ft. The altitude at Machu Picchu was 7,980 ft but to get there we spent two days in Cusco, Peru which is 11,152 ft.  They recommended chewing coca leaves to help with the altitude sickness.  I had the opportunity to fly to La Paz. Bolivia which is 11,942 ft but decided to pass.  That was one of my few bad travel decisions.  But it could still happen.  Quito is 9,380 ft above sea level.  Take it slow and easy and lay of the beer and wine let that whiskey be.  Quito is only 1,180 ft below 2 miles high.  

During my last visit to Quito with my family we went to a bull fight. This was right after there was a public outcry about the cruelty of killing the bull in the arena.  The compromise was to nearly kill the bull in arena and then take him behind the scenes and finish him off in private. 

While watching the pageantry before the bull fight the picadors (men who stab the bull with spears to make him angry) placed a mirror in the center of the arena.  My daughter Alison asked me what was the purpose of the mirror.  I asked our Peruvian friend Oscar Rubio.  He did not know.  He asked our Ecuadorian host Fernando.  He did not know even though he had been to many bull fights.  Fernando asked several people in the seats next to him and we found finally got an answer.  The purpose of the mirror is to scare away the rain. Bull fighting was banned in Ecuador in 2008 so must have seen one of the very last bull fights.

On Sunday morning we were on our bus at 8:30 am after a full four hours of sleep or restless tossing and turning. Our first stop was the equator. 0.00 latitude.

Eleanor and Jackson pose for the money shot. .

Here I am filling some pretty big shoes with one foot in northern hemisphere and one foot in in southern hemisphere. The sign behind me says 0.00.

Here is our entire group straddling the equator.

In preparation for our trip to the Galapagos Islands the grandkids tried on a tortoise shell.

We had a lovely lunch at the El Creator restaurant. It is built on the edge of a volcanic crater.

The restaurant has an alpaca and llama grazing next to the parking lot.

We spent the afternoon touring several plazas and cathedrals in the old town section of Quito. We were warned to beware of pickpockets. Eleanor said she was lucky because her dress didn’t have any pockets. We have friends that were pickpocketed on two occasions while traveling so we were on high alert.

Our final activity of the afternoon was a roof top garden reception overlooking the plaza. Champagne and Hors d'oeuvres were served.

We have a little time to rest before the welcoming reception and dinner at the Hilton Colon. Tomorrow we will be on our bus at 6:15 am to go to the airport to fly to Baltra and get on our cruise ship the Santa Cruz II in the Galápagos Islands.