Ecuador, Days 6 – 9
We woke up very early the next day to head to Otavalo. Our guide was Gustavo, he spoke limited English but he made every effort to make the trip enjoyable. The drive from Quito to Otavalo was beautiful, endless lush country-sides and mountains. The market was amazing, it went on and on for many blocks in every direction (Pics 1, 2, 3). We had a great time and, of course, spent much more than we intended buy locally made gifts for ourselves, friends, and family. We spent most of the day in Otavalo and returned back to the hotel to rest. The kids were desperate for some American food so we ordered Pizza Hut to be delivered, it tasted perfect, just like home.
The view from our hotel was great. We had a perfect view of both new town and old town Quito. On the 7th day of our trip we arranged for Gustavo to take us into old town Quito. It was a Sunday and they limited the traffic on the streets of old town to bikes and walking. We walked all over the town, visiting the many historic churches that were there (Pics 1, 2, 3, 4, 5). They wouldn’t allow us take pictures in some of the churches, in particular because it was during Catholic Mass. We also toured the outside of the Presidential palace, sort of the Ecuadorian white house (Pics 1, 2, 3, 4). By far the most impressive thing was the Basilica. The walk up to the Basilica was a challenge given that we were still at an elevation of roughly 10K feet. However, once we got there were toured nearly every inch (See pics 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
On our last full day in Ecuadaor we had Gustavo takes us to Mitad del Mundo, or the Center of the Earth. We were able to stand on the Equator and do some fun experiments (even if they were a bit suspicious). The kids had a lot of fun, a unique experience I pray that they’ll remember forever.
The following morning, we packed our things and headed home. We were thankful for the opportunity to both serve and tour such a wonderful country like Ecuador. Hopefully, this will be the first of many such trips our family can go on.
