Feb. 26 Off to Ecuador
I said my goodbyes then caught a water taxi to shore with Richard; we had breakfast at Galapagos Planet before I flagged down a taxi to the airport. The airport is actually on Baltra, the next island over; so you take a taxi to the opposite coast then a ferry across the channel, where you are loaded onto a bus to the airport. I arrived in plenty of time so I had a little lunch to hold me over since my plane wouldn’t arrive in Quito until after 5:00 pm. Check in was a breeze, however they choose my luggage for a secondary inspection. He seemed to have some concern about the 5 bottles of rum in the bottom compartment and called another gentleman over to look at it, they didn’t say why they were concerned, could be so much flammable liquid in one bag, but I kept telling them, nicely, that I was taking it home to the US and they eventually let it pass.
The flight was uneventful and without delays; upon arrival in Quito my airport transfer wasn’t around so I waited about half an hour before getting one of the airport taxis waiting outside; the price was $9 cheaper than I had been quoted by the hotel so all was good. I am staying at the Veija Cuba, located in the Mariscal district; I choose this one for the price ($58 a night including breakfast) and the reviews which stated English speaking staff, clean and safe neighborhood. The young man working at the desk checked me in then showed me to my room; the room is small, but nicely appointed with newer furnishings including a thick mattress, cable TV, desk, wall safe and private bathroom with large shower and lots of hot water.
I had heard a lot of warnings about Quito, pickpockets everywhere, wear your backpack on your chest, a good place to get stabbed and such, so since it was dark I decided to find somewhere nearby for dinner. When I asked the clerk for a recommendation on a local restaurant he first suggested Burger King, then I explained by local I meant Ecuadorian food, not nearby and he directed me down the street where there was a variety of places to choose from. I opted for a mid-sized bar restaurant and sat on the patio awaiting my order of stewed ox tails with rice and beans. A young street urchin came up to me in tears rubbing his belly and begging me to buy some gum from him, I am usually a softy for kids, but I had heard about this ploy and decided to wait to see what the locals sitting nearby did. The Artful dodger and his gang have nothing on these kids; I just kept saying “no gracias” until he moved on, the tears stopped immediately and he didn’t even bother to approach any of the tables the locals were at. After dinner I stopped at a bar on the corner for a nightcap; the weather here is quite a bit cooler than the Galapagos, most people are wearing jackets or coats and the bars have those portable propane heaters on the patios. I was only wearing a tee shirt so I quickly finished my drink and then went back to the room for some sleep.


My hotel

Feb 27 The neighborhood
Today I figured I would do some exploration of the neighborhood by the hotel, I wondered down what appeared to be a main road and passed many bars and restaurants. This is the Mariscal District and has a lively feel to it; there are a lot of young people, smartly dressed, about along with an adult crowd. It has a good mix of locals and visitors the bars and coffee shops seem to be doing a good business; they range from small local restaurants with cardboard menus showing the daily lunch, to fine upscale establishment that look way over my budget.
I made my way down the different roads, always staying near the main one so as not to get lost; I stopped off for coffee or a drink here and there and also checked out some of the many tour agencies in an effort to book a tour into the mountains. I finally found one that did day tours, I had wanted to go to Copaxiti (sp), a famous volcano, but the women said I should reconsider due to not being acclimated to the high altitude yet; upon checking the itinerary I saw that it involved two hikes, one from 4200 metres to 4500 and then another to 4700 metres (about 15000 feet) and agreed something less strenuous would be better.
I stopped off the Columbian Steakhouse restaurant for lunch, a mixed grill of chicken, beef, chorizo and veal sausage on a stick with a bean salad in vinaigrette along with a beer for $5 right up my alley. I went back to the hotel and started to plan out my time here, plus get a little rest. I’ve had a headache since arriving, but am not sure if it is due to the altitude or sinus because of the change in the weather.

Plaza Foch during the early afternoon, it gets much busier at night


When I went out for the evening I dressed more appropriately and checked out things a little further afield; Plaza Foch is in the heart of the district and was buzzing with activity, there is a large police presence here so it doesn’t feel dodgy at all. I stopped off at various places again for coffee or a drink and did a lot of people watching, while there are a few down and outers around I wasn’t approached by any panhandlers and never felt unsafe. I went back to the Columbia Steakhouse for dinner; they keep their meats in a display case and when I was there earlier I saw a T-bone steak that had to be 1 ½ inches thick, it was calling my name between the tail and the bone it was even shaped sort of like an “S”. The steak, with fries is $15, I ordered some spicy cole slaw ($3) to go with it and a half pitcher of sangria ($9). The steak was cooked medium rare as ordered was very tender, the service was attentive and the sangria nice also.
I left the restaurant and stopped off for a glass of wine at the corner patio bar, it had a good crowd of local people in their late 30’s to mid 40’s, dressed for an evening out; I sometimes feel a little underdressed, besides shorts and tee shirts I only have a pair of “shants” and a Bahamas fishermens long sleeve shirt along with my West Marine sailing windbreaker jacket (bright red). The nice thing about the shirt is it has Velcro pockets, so I only keep a little money in my pants pockets (also Velcro) and the rest in my shirt pocket which I figure will make it harder for pick pockets. I’m usually not the worrying type, but I did meet an older couple who had lost their money and passports to a pick pocket so I figure better to be cautious than not, although I have to say no one has tried to brush up against me yet, could be in my sailing attire I don’t look like a lucrative target.
Back at the hotel I uploaded some videos and annoyed my facebook friend, each room has their own internet router so the speed here is great. I watched a little TV and had some rum then drifted off to sleep, tomorrow I’m taking a hop on hop off bus tour of the city to get a better feel for it.

The photos will start getting more intersting with the next few reports as I have some tours planned.