Day 14: July 3, 2007 Quito to Guayaquil
Trip Start
Jun 20, 2007
1
14
15
Trip End
Jul 04, 2007
Guayaquil,
Ecuador
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
I awoke at 7:30 and took a shower before going down to another great breakfast at 8:15. Everyone interested in exploring Quito congregated in the lobby at 9:30. We split into two groups. The larger group went directly to the old town. Russ, Lynne, Greg, Barbara, and I took two cabs to the Telesférico and rode the tram up to 4100 m on Volcán Guagua Pichincha on the edge of the city. The ride on the tram was breathtaking as we sailed over the steep mountainside. Lynne, Greg, and I rode with a guy from Quito and his son and a German expatriate woman who had lived in Quito for 51 years.
The view from the top was spectacular. The sky was clear but clouds were around the summits of most of the high volcanoes. We could see Cayambe, Antisana, Cotopaxi, and Chimborazo. Unfortunately, Tunguarahua is not visible from there. All of Quito was laid out below. Our group took fotos of a group of Asian Australians and Germans and they did the same for us. We also spoke with a nice Japanese-American couple on an OAT tour. The ride back down was fun with great views of our surroundings.
Once we were at the base, we took a van cab into the old city. He dropped us off at the Plaza de San Francisco. We took an interesting tour of the Iglesia de la Companía de Jesús. Its gold leaf covered interior was truly amazing. Our guide gave us much of the history of the city and church.
Back on the street, we spotted Mary's bright orange blouse and reunited with the rest of our group. We hung out at the Plaza Central until 2:00 before taking a couple of cabs back to the Hotel Dann Carlton.
Todd and I walked down the street to a restaurant for beers and quesadillas before returning one last time to the hotel. Humberto came with the bus at 5:50. We loaded in no time and off to the airport.
After waiting for 45 minutes for the attendants to arrive, we plodded through the long check-in line and proceeded to our gate. Our 9:45 flight did not take off until after 11:00 for the 45 minute flight to Guayaquil. We went through another security check en route to the transit lounge. Almost as soon as we were in the lounge we were called to board and had to go through security a third time. Once we were settled in we sat on the tarmac until almost 1:00 before taxiing to takeoff.
