Ecuador – November 2007
Day 0 (November 17, 2007) : After months of anticipation and planning, we finally made it to Quito (and more importantly to Christina)! We arrived in Quito at ~10:15pm. Made it through immigration and customs to see Christina’s beaming smile! Chris quickly negotiated a driver and gave directions to the hostel. We arrived at a well locked and gated Hostal Sandmelis..… Needless to say, we were a tad concerned, as was our taxi driver, because we wouldn’t let him go. After some searching around we found a buzzer and someone who helped us in and register. The hostal (sp for hostel in case you were wondering) is nice & clean. We have two (small) rooms, each with a private bath so there are no complaints!
Day 1: After a somewhat (but not totally!) restless night (we are in a busy city), we got up to find that Brian had not returned from his morning run. He has no phone, no id, and no way to contact us. We showered and by the time we checked again, both Chris & Brian (who had returned) were showered and ready for our breakfast (all inclusive). Where we are staying is considered expensive for the area at about $20/person for lodging and breakfast. After limping through ordering coffee (café au lait – well a Spanish version of the same) and having a typical Ecuadorian breakfast we packed up our stuff and headed for the bus station. Chris quickly proved herself invaluable as a very knowledgeable and guide and fluent in the local language! She has no qualms about asking strangers for information, and everyone ‘we’ talked to was very friendly. We saw several buses – and then the right one.
After about 1 ½ bus ride(s), we arrived at the Midad del Mundo. aka, the equator.
Well, actually 2 equators. The first equator we visited was actually the “real” one based on recent gps and magnetic testing devices. At the very chevere Museo Solar Inti Nan, there were lot’s of cool science and demonstrations regarding the earth’s forces at the true equator, and interesting Ecuadorian history as well. E.g. creating vortexes in water (Coreolis effect), balancing an egg on a nail head, etc. Some skepticism remained after the testing, but the theories are fun. There was a bit of Ecuadorian tribal history which was interesting, complete with an ancient recipe for shrinking heads, Don’t try that at home, but we all did try our hand (mouth?) at the blow gun. Then we went to what was thought to be the equatorial line in 1736 and for many years after. There we wandered around lots of cool monuments, shops, food, entertainment, etc.
During the hair-raising taxi ride back to Hostal Sandmelis, Brian managed to nap in the front seat(!?). Once back at the hostel, Christina and Deb went looking for Agua sin gas. After a lot of walking (it was late Sunday afternoon), we found the Swiss Bakery that had not only 5 bottles of agua sin gas (we wiped them out), but some very nice cheeses and pastries. Goods in hand, we walked back only to find if we had turned right out of the hostal versus left, we would have save about a mile and half of walking. But, selfishly, I wouldn’t have traded the walk for anything! It is so nice to be with Chris and our whole family!
A little before 5:00pm our hiking shoes went back on (or clogs), and we headed for Christina’s home in Ecuador on foot. Chris knew the way and the rest of us made mental navigation notes (since we would be returning the hostel w/o her tonight). Chris’s Ecuadorian home (owned by her ‘host mom’ Patricia) is a very nice 4th floor walk-up inside a secure but attractive, brick ‘compound’ of several apartment buildings. Complete with manned guardhouse and five levels of keyed entries. Patricia had invited several other guests to join us for dinner. Some of us spoke English, some Spanish, but only a couple (including Chris) spoke both well. But we all did our best and the conversation was quite lively and fun but a bit chaotic. Brian the good-looking gringo hombre was an instant hit with the ladies, and we all enjoyed discussing the sites of Equator, watching soccer, and eating some wonderful, authentic tamales wrapped in banana leaves.
After some nice dessert drinks (Patricia and her family were terrific hosts) we said ‘hasta luego’ to Chris and the others. Chris stayed there to study for classes the next morning, and Brian P, Mom, and Dad walked back (without incident) to the hostel for the nite.
Actually, we stopped in for a drink at a local Chinese restaurante, and even bought a couple nightcaps for the room, from the local panacia. We were all pretty tuckered out after our first day at 9500 ft, so turned in early in anticipation of another busy day manyana.
Well, actually 2 equators. The first equator we visited was actually the “real” one based on recent gps and magnetic testing devices. At the very chevere Museo Solar Inti Nan, there were lot’s of cool science and demonstrations regarding the earth’s forces at the true equator, and interesting Ecuadorian history as well. E.g. creating vortexes in water (Coreolis effect), balancing an egg on a nail head, etc. Some skepticism remained after the testing, but the theories are fun. There was a bit of Ecuadorian tribal history which was interesting, complete with an ancient recipe for shrinking heads, Don’t try that at home, but we all did try our hand (mouth?) at the blow gun. Then we went to what was thought to be the equatorial line in 1736 and for many years after. There we wandered around lots of cool monuments, shops, food, entertainment, etc.
During the hair-raising taxi ride back to Hostal Sandmelis, Brian managed to nap in the front seat(!?). Once back at the hostel, Christina and Deb went looking for Agua sin gas. After a lot of walking (it was late Sunday afternoon), we found the Swiss Bakery that had not only 5 bottles of agua sin gas (we wiped them out), but some very nice cheeses and pastries. Goods in hand, we walked back only to find if we had turned right out of the hostal versus left, we would have save about a mile and half of walking. But, selfishly, I wouldn’t have traded the walk for anything! It is so nice to be with Chris and our whole family!
Brian & Deb continued exploring Old Town together, which became another challenging ‘sport’. Our goal was to climb a hill east of Old Town to Café Mosaico and Parque de Itchimbia at the summit, both of which are renowned for their exceptional vistas. After a little wandering – amazingly all in the right direction - and a lot of climbing sidewalks and stairways through a hillside residential area (at 9100 feet), we found our way to Café Mosaico. Along with an amazing view of the city, a well-earned beer/wine/bottle of water and a Mesa (Greek) platter were our reward. Since it was Monday, everything was pretty quiet and, except for a well-seasoned Delta flight attendant and her boy friend (who lives most of the year on his boat in the BVI or Cape Cod), we had the patio to ourselves.
Needless to say our sea-level lungs knew we were high! We hiked around a bit & took a lot of great pictures. 
(the rooms were very simple with a shared bath).
One thing we have learned about the Ecuadorian culture is that “I don’t know” is not an aceptable answer, so people make things up. After running between police stations, the US eEmbassy & funally finding passprt photos, we finally pulled things together and all to the appropriate police station. One the report was in progress, BWB and BPB ent to get a Cervece tee-shirt and lunch. CMB & DWBB completed the passport process with the police report, got lunch, underwear and a new raincoat. We met at the hotel at 2:50, packed for Mindo, & left at 3pm to catch a cab to a (different) bus station. (There is only one afternoon bus to Mindo). Amazingly, we made it on time, getting for of the last seats on the bus.
BWB had a terrible fall, severely pulling a quad. In order to keep Brian immobilized, BPB ran and CMB & DWB ordered pizza to carry in. Private pizza party on the hammock deck outside our rooms (complete with a bottle of wine). 
Grabbed our bags, lunch and caught the bus back to Quito.
Because of an airline incident a couple of weeks ago, there was still a plane at the end of the runway, so we were going to have to make a refueling stop in Panama, so we know up front that there world be a delay. We boarded the plane, pushed back from the gate and waited. We finally took off for Panama, landed and again waited. (Efficient fueling is not their strong point.) By the time we got to Houston, we had missed our connecting flight. We attempted to get on the next flight to no avail. By the time we got home it was 11:30 p.m. CST – or 12:30 a.m. according to our body clock. And Brian had a 2+ hour drive to Champaign. Lauren graciously waited to drive down with Brian and the two of them got to Champaign after 2 a.m. Monday morning. For Brian Patrick, it was a 23 hour day.
they all visited Otavalo (with their own driver!) and Wednesday they explored Quito. Christina was extremely well fed with them!! 
