Quito

Quito is a great city ... its actually at 2800m not 4000m like I thought - still quite high. We are staying in a hotel a little outside of town - its an old converted house, with a beautiful reception and sweeping staircase.

We spent a day and a half going around travel agents and boat operators looking for a last minute Galapagos trip. Finally we got a great deal and are getting 40% the price of an 8 day tour on this boat:

http://www.galasam.com/cruises-queenofgalapagos


Its a great deal and we get to see the Galapagos in style ! We leave next Monday (15th October).

Other than negotiating prices, we've been looking around the old town of Quito which is really scenic and has the Andes as a backdrop.

We've also travelled out of Quito to the exact Equator line. There was a experiment there demonstrating how the water drains in different directions either side of the equator line ... I'm suspicious of this - as the drains were only 5m apart. The tour also included some descriptions of native Ecuadorian practices .. including how to shrink the head of your enemy (or nearest and dearest if you wish !).

I went for a run this morning - 30 minutes @ almost 3000m ... pretty tiring ! The receptionist was laughing when she let me out of the hotel, saying that she hoped I had a strong heart !