Quito, Ecuador

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December 28, 2019 - January 06, 2020:

South America, finally! As my mind so often does, I was dreaming of my next travel destination and hopped onto this website called TheClymb.com. They offer warehouse prices on outdoor/trekking/adventure equipment, but also curate trips. I used their recommendations to Nepal with great success. They were having a deal on an 8-Day Multisport adventure in Ecuador. Why not?

To get to Ecuador from the U.S. is quite long. I had to fly from LA to Ft. Lauderdale and then to Quito. The arrival times are really weird too. I think I arrived at 1 in the morning. The airport was brand new and customs was so easy. Everyone was so nice! The airport is about a 45 minute drive from the city, so the middle-of-the night arrival times are better for traffic.

I think by the time I got to the hotel and went to bed it was about 3 in the morning. I spent the following day really out of it - not only was I recovering from the exhaustion of travel, but I was also adjusting to the elevation. The city of Quito is at 9350ft!

The hotel that the trip organizers provided us was very fancy! I wasn’t mad at that! It was so nice after such a long day of travel. That night, I met the guide and members of our group. It was a bigger group than I expected, but had several solo female travelers which I thought was really cool. I hung out with a few of my soon-to-be-adventure buddies at the hotel bar that night and got ready for the adventure ahead.

Once back from the adventure part of the itinerary, I booked a few extra days in Quito to extend my holiday and learn more about the city.

Stray Observations:

  • Ecuador uses the U.S. Dollar (after a financial crash in 2000).

  • The flags of Ecuador, Venezuela, and Columbia are similar because those 3 countries were liberated by Simon Bolivar.

  • Quito is an oddly shaped city - it’s very long (40km/25 mi) and narrow (5 km/3.1 mi). 

  • The dolls are used on NYE to burn and jump over as part of a tradition.

  • Since Quito is so close to the equator, the weather is unpredictable. There really isn’t such thing as weather forecast.

  • Uber was super easy to use and they had Wi-Fi a lot of places.

  • I was surprised at how much meat was on the menu - I expected more vegetarian fare.

Photos:
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