by Grace Lush
I arrived in Quito a few days before the rest of the group. I went horseback riding to the top of a volcano. Although I am used to riding this was a little more than I needed, the first day was 6 hours and the second day was 7 hours. The trip was a little too authentic; we were on the trail the Inca’s used to cross over the volcano to trade goods with the people in Quito. The horses were small mustangs with great footing, but the saddles were made of wood with a piece of carpet over them. The front of the saddle comes farther back than the regular western saddle we have here, so you are secured in it with no room to move or get comfortable. I was also surprised about how cold it was. I nearly froze to death. They thought since I was from Canada I would be used to the cold but it was very damp and at times in the cloud forests we couldn’t see anything for the clouds. We could see our breath when we were riding. It was amazing to keep climbing higher until the city of Quito was laid out below you as though you were in an airplane. pictures
The arrival in Quito was special this trip, the Miss Universe
pageant was in town!! There must have been two thousand people at
the airport to catch a glimpse of the contestants coming in.
And my luggage didn’t make it with all my supplies for the reserve.
It arrived 4 days later but in time to catch the van to the village, most
of the luggage didn't arrive that day!.
On Saturday the rest of the group arrive, Nancy and Eric
from California and Shelley and Carolyn from Florida. Neither
of them got their checked baggage. Nancy and Eric’s came
in on Monday in time to leave but Carolyn and Shelley didn’t get their
checked luggage until we were back from the reserve. It contained
articles to be donated to the reserve like toothpaste, drugs, clothes,
a radio, toys, batteries etc. It was left in Quito for Tracy to pick
up and take to the reserve on her trip in August. Everyone
got settle in his or her rooms at Alcala. It is an interesting hostel,
with private bathrooms and hot water, some rooms had a TV in them, and
they are clean and spacious. There is a lot of security at the hostel with
two gates to open to enter and it is fenced all around, it is in a great
section of town, with lots of other hostels near by and tons of restaurants
to choose from with great variety and cheap prices. pictures
Nancy and Eric went sightseeing the next day, going horseback
riding and to a couple of tourist attractions. Shelley, Nancy and
I went to the market in the park where there were probably a hundred vendors,
selling all kinds of handmade articles or clothing, hammock, jewelry, paintings,
amazing just to watch but very reasonable to buy. There is
a tour company on every corner so it is not a problem to get a last minute
trip somewhere.
There are several markets in Quito that we have found;
they all expect you to barter over the prices although things are so cheap
you really hate to do that. One smaller market has the restriction
that everything must be made by the person with the booth; there are awesome
pieces of jewelry in some of these booths. pictures
Shelley and I took the trolley to the Old Town; this
was an experience in itself. First we tried to enter in the exit
door, then when the trolley door opened we thought it was full, wrong,
we got in to standing room only and another 12 people came in behind us.
As the trolley stopped along the way a few people got off and more got
on. If there had of been a sign that said how many people were aloud on
the trolley, I think we were over the limit by 100. . This was very
interesting to see how the people in Quito lived that were not tourists.
The streets were all cobblestone and very narrow and the building high.
Tiny shops with dried foods in large bags, people in their native dress.
The churches were huge and we did go into a couple and look around, We
didn’t spend too much time at any one thing, we had a city to see and an
afternoon to do it in, we walked along way in the Old Town and the street
are very hilly. The saddest part was the crying children that had
been left on the street for the day while their parents were at work, but
that is the way life is in the Old Town. pictures
Since Miss Universe was in town there was a festival
held at a stadium, we had a little trouble finding it, as we were told
we could walk. After asking a policeman, who told us to take a cab
we realize it was not close at all. It was very interesting with
lots of articles for sale and special folk dancing taking place. But we
appauled to see the ocelot skins at the festival. There were many
of them and some made into articles like drums, and one was made into a
bathing suit. We arrived back to the hostel and were ready to go out for
dinner. Nancy and Eric had not returned yet. picturesCarolyn
joined us and we had a great meal around the corner at a steak house.
That evening we got our luggage out of storage and went to bed early as
over van was arriving at 5am to go to the reserve.