Sheraton Quito Hotel

... you could easily be in Spain or Italy. Grand old churches and civic buildings line cobbled streets.

We're busily booking up our next few weeks with the Galapagos, the jungle and a short Spanish course to get us on our feet in the communication stakes to come. First though we are off to the market town of Otavalo – Catherine is in need of a new hat!

... possible or at least walk in populated streets. Very off putting, we were now more cautious than we had ever been in Colombia.

Afterwards we headed downstairs to use the wifi, connect our skype account and headset to call relatives in the UK. We were on the phone for a good hour. Christie and I discussed the possibility of going to the Galapagos Islands, there was plenty of information around and they had a tour agency here at the Secret Garden. There were some good looking last ...

... Quito is. I, with 5 other students, decided to attempt the hike to the top. The day was not super clear unfortunately but we got decent photos. Most of the trek was grassy and hilly. When you get to the point where there is about 30 to 45 minutes remaining it turns rocky. At this point because it was freezing and beginning to sprinkle all but one of us decided to turn back. We were almost in line with the clouds. Very fun day ...

... site was essentially fill dirt, making the home unstable. To make matters worse, the team was pulled off with all four walls up, and the roof ready to be installed. We had to meet a lunch reservation.
Team Gato fared better, but the build site was boxed in on two sides by a fence, and the other two by homes, making construction difficult. We got the call that we were being pulled off in 20 minutes, and Gato cranked things up a notch--we were able to finish the build for a ...

... um 10 Uhr nachts erstmals eine Jugendherberge suchen bevor wir am nächsten Morgen die wunderschöne Altstadt (Weltkulturerbe) bei herrlichem Sonnenschein besichtigen konnten. Unsere bleiche europäische Haut konnte den Sonnenstrahlen jedoch trotz Sonnenmilch nichts entgegenhalten und wir bekamen den ersten Sonnenbrand. Des weiteren machten uns die ungewohnte Höhe (2800 m) und die Autoabgase zu schaffen und wir mussten unseren Entdeckungsdrang etwas zügeln.

Insgesamt gefiel uns Quito ...

... other things. today is labor day for ecuador. this was actually like a retreat for the engineers that work for diego. his gf works there too. it was basically a day for time to spend time together, away from the office, and learn more about one another. although the ride home was miserable, and we got pulled over for having too many people in the back of the truck, and i was freezing ...

... hotel - by GAP. So at least part of tomorrow will be spent making sure my Galapagos trip is still intact! A quote from my journal "Oh my gosh! A plane just flew overhead - low! The airport isn't far - in the middle of the city. Landing feels like you will come down right on top of some substantial buildings - like this hotel apparently. Day 2 A few hotel notes. Room is comfortable, shower is absolutely glorious - hot and strong. There is a ...