Guayaquil

Flying into Guayaquil, the flooding from the very heavy rains that had occurred in the last month, up and down the West coast of Equador and regions of Peru were very apparent. The rainy season was the heaviest in the last 10 years.

Guayaquil is the largest city in Equador and it's commercial and business hub. The city was the first major port in South America. Getting to the city from the airport was traffic jams and street after street of shops and traders.

Our first stop however, was to an old city park were land iguanas were freely climbing trees & roaming the lawns and paths and you had to watch where you walked incase you stepped on one..

This beautiful church was opposite the park

On the riverside -Guayas River, the effect of the floods was most apparent

An interesting international display of humming bird statues from around the world.

Then to our hotel - it was a very early start the next day for our flight to Lima.

View from hotel window

Otavalo- north of Quito

The town of Otavalo is situated in an adjoining valley to the North of Ecuador's capital, Quito.

The road climbs the Andes ranges and valleys and is highly spectacular. Deep river valleys.

Otavalo is known for its high population of indigenous people and the local markets. Many of the items on sale are crafted by the local peoples and reasonably priced, highly colourful and unique in design.

We also visited a local artisan

All the articles were made locally. He did not use patterns for his designs, so his work was highly unique

Our group Mere (guide), Di, Michael, Susan & Peter at the lunch stop.

Our Scenic Tours Welcome Dinner

Our welcome dinner was at a leading restaurant in Quito situated near the town square. En route we saw the Basilica floodlit by night.

The restaurant entrance....



A silver service 3 course dinner with opera arias sung by a tenor and soprano who sang for many years at the Buenos Aires opera house. The songs chosen allowed interaction with the diners and the night was highly enjoyable.

I am being told that her love for me is like no other ( sung in Italian) but as I betrayed her I must die.

Don Giovanni

Centro de Artes Tradicionas

This centre was very interesting. Young adults learn crafts that can be employed locally and enrich the Ecuadorian culture. We saw sewing, needlework of local costumes along with crafting of metal and woodwork which is so evident throughout Quito

Middle of the World

Our trip to the so called "middle of the world"was firstly to the historical monument erected on the site that was said to be on the equator. The actual line of the equator is some 200 meters to one side.

Quito - Our city tour

Quito is on the equator and located in the Andes mountains at a height of 2,800m.

We started out Scenic tour in Quito flying in the day before from Lima. In the morning we had this amazing site from our bedroom window.

Pichincha - the snow capped volcano to the west of the city

After breakfast, we went to a high point to view the city

View of the city from Itchavia Hill.

Then to the old city center

Town square - Independence Square.

Restaurants on either side of this old cobblestone street called La Ronda.

The angel of the city.

Courtyard inside a church - San Franciscans Seminary of the Dominicans.