La Colina Suites Quito

So here we were in South America for the very first time. The very first city: Quito, the capital of Ecuador.<br><br>Quito is the capital of Ecuador and is divided into "The New Town" (a relatively modern mix of hotels, high-rises and government buildings) and "The Old Town" (a majestically preserved Unesco World Heritage Site). The Secret Garden Hostel was located in the north of The Old Town.<br><br>High on the agenda for our time in ...

... Cruz, Island. We were greeted as soon as we got off the boat by some marine iguanas, which are black to camouflage against the rocks and swim underwater, unlike their land cousins. They also spit out of their noses to get rid of the excess salt they accumulate! <br><br>Our lovely guide Bolivar, who must have been about 80 in the shade and still going strong, took us around the centre and explained about the habitat and lives of Diego, Popeye, Bolivar and &#8220;Lonesome George&#8221 ...

... and offers the most hair raising view of Quito. You pretty much get to climb to the top of the towers, and if you want you can go up one more level and sit on the roof with nothing to catch you but the street. It was really awesome and surprisingly quiet, so we got to do almost anything at any time. You walk along the roof of the inner hall and up a back spire, Kristen didnt like the look of the ladder so I got to do it all by myself ...

... is we must recognize that thoughts and feelings are at the base of an identity. And how can we as humans, being forever subject to our own thoughts and feelings, conclude that they do not come from an essentialist nature? Biologically we are all different, and so maybe the amount of feeling/thought related chemicals in the body and brain may differ from person to person, but that the nature of our thoughts and feelings, or those chemicals, does not come from the same origin, what ...

... traditional bronze bowl used for stiring the ingredients. It is an old Ecuadorian method of making fruit-based ice-cream, similar to sorbet. There are many flavors available due to the many different kinds of fruits here in Ecuador (in fact, we were overwhelmed by the unknown varieties in the market we visited...Ryan, you would have loooved it). We stopped for a cone on both of our outtings - I now have fantasies of perfecting this handmade process ...

... around an artificial lake while teenage lovers gather under shady trees. Nearby, a boy runs around being chased by his puppy while an old woman sells fruit cups from a wicker basket. We stroll a tree-lined path filled with paintings for sale by assorted artists, and I wish I knew where I was living in the fall so I could buy some art work. We grab lunch, sitting outside at a little Italian place before returning to the hostel for an afternoon nap. What a perfectly lazy Sunday.<br>

Nach uns**** **folglosen Besteigung des Cotopaxi ging es direkt am Vormittag weit** nach Quito. Es **übrigt sich zu **wähnen, dass wir nach ein** schlaflosen Nacht auf beinahe 5000 m nicht besond**s fit ankamen und wir die meiste Zeit nur gemütlich im Park v**brachten und darauf warteten, dass uns** Zimm** frei wurde. Gestärkt fielen wir nach einem Bi** und ein** Pizza dann ins Bett um uns von den Strapazen d ...

... seems closed for the day (odd at 10am on a Friday) and the taxi driver tells me that he will take me to the border (and immigration) for $6. I agree and we are off. Surprisingly, the driver has a friend who rides shotgun and he tells me stories of how bad the border currently is. Ecuador and Peru are bitterly fighting, and tourist are getting robbed daily by the protesters. He takes me to immigration and I get the Peru exit stamp, then to the Peruvian ...

... league footy with beer accouterments - Barcelona vs Chelsea. After having led for much of the match, Chelsea lost it to a (lucky in my opinion) Barcelona team. We kept the Thursday for a DIY tour of some of Quito's landmarks. Blessed with good weather (and with Angela's nails freshly manicured!), we headed out to get an aerial view of things by taking the teleferico to the overlooking summit - Volcan Pichicanca - on the <br>city borders. Making it to the top, as we ...

so, myself, my teacher silvianna, and two girls from england went to el teleferiQo. a multimillion dollar sky tram that takes passenders on a 2.5 km ride up the flank of Volcan Pichincha to the top of the Cruz Loma. once you are at the top (4100 m), you can hike to the summit of Rucu Pichincha (4680 m). it is called teleferiQo because tele is like television, it is like a watching a tv channel and the view is Quito; hence the ...