For Spring Break this year, we didn’t have anywhere in mind, and it was going to be shorter than usual because Jaime had to work on that Monday. We used the great open-ended searching of Google Flights and landed on Ecuador because it was the cheapest international flight outside of Canada. Jaime had been about 10 years ago, so I got to close our country gap a little too!
Our flights and connecting through Panama were uneventful, but that changed upon arrival. We took a taxi to Quito’s Historic Center and the traffic got worse the closer we got. When we were within a mile of our hotel, we started to see the cause — tens of thousands of people (that we saw) protesting throughout the area. The taxi driver asked us to get out and walk the rest of the way but it was late in the evening, we had all of our luggage, and it was almost entirely up steep hills! After some back and forth using Google Translate, I convinced him to drive us around the city for more money. He was able to get us within two blocks on flat ground, so we got out and walked the rest of the way. The final block to our amazing hotel, Casa Hotel Las Plazas, was barricaded off and there were rows of riot police blocking our path. I think the kids and luggage convinced them we weren’t a threat, so they let us pass through. The woman at the hotel told us they were anti-government protests and shook them off. I searched online and found a single article in Spanish that they were protesting the release of Julian Assange from the Ecuadorian embassy. I wonder why this wasn’t reported more widely… After dropping off our luggage, we went out to dinner at a place nearby called Vista Hermosa. We ate on the rooftop and the views were incredible. Quito’s buildings sprawl over several mountains that were all lit up at night. It felt a little weird eating a nice dinner and soaking up the views while the masses protested below us. The protests had left our area during dinner for a more relaxing stroll back to the hotel for the night.
Our first full day we spent seeing all the sights in and around the Historic Center. After a great breakfast at the hotel, we started at the famous Independence Square only two blocks from our hotel. It’s great to wander around and people watch. Next, we walked a few blocks to see the Church of Saint Francis. It was a little underwhelming because there was a lot of construction going on in the plaza out front. Following that, we continued strolling to a narrow old-timey street lined with art shops called Calle La Ronda. It was rather empty and most stores were closed, so it was a quick stop. We then took a taxi to the top of a nearby hill where there’s a large aluminum statue called Loma El Panecillo. The views of Quito up there were amazing. You can go inside the statue and climb up even higher too. We had asked the taxi to wait (thankfully as there were no other ones coming), so we got back in and asked him to take us to BasÃlica del Voto Nacional on the other side of the Historic Center. After buying our tickets and taking the elevator up to the top floor, we discovered that kids were not allowed to walk across the main suspended bridge above the cathedral’s ceiling, so Jaime and the girls left and got some ice cream. I went across the rickety bridge and up a very steep ladder to get outside on the roof. There were more steep staircases to go even higher but I didn’t go any further! We met up at the ice cream shop and walked back to Independence Square. On one side of the square, we stopped at the popular Cafeteria Fabiolita to try their signature ham sandwich for lunch. We decided to give Calle La Ronda another shot, and this time it was more bustling but we didn’t ultimately do much shopping. We finished the night by taking a taxi to a hip area of town called Plaza Foch and had a relaxing dinner at El Burro eating tacos overlooking the plaza while night crept in.
After another great breakfast at the hotel, we took a tour to see a few sights around the equator, about 45 minutes north of Quito. The first stop was Middle of the World, a very impressive monument dedicated to the equator, its significance and oddities, and the history of Ecuador. It’s built upon a very large complex surrounded by a small tourist village of shops — definitely created for tour buses of people. There were a couple school buses there at the time too. Unfortunately for them, more modern science has proven that the equator is actually a short distance away so none of the lines, measurements, etc were accurate. It’s still a fun site to visit though. After that we went to a newer place next door where the real equator lies, the Intiñan Solar Museum. It’s a bit more rustic of a place (in a good way) and had more interactive things for us all to play with. Definitely a must-stop. Last stop on the tour was the Pululahua Geobotanical Reserve a few miles away. Ironically this stop was on my to-do list, but I didn’t think we’d get to go. Due to the language barrier we had no idea what was on the tour until we got there, so it was a nice surprise. The reserve has some small shops, though the main feature is a massive beautiful valley that you can view from different vantage points, and even walk down if you have the time. We had a drink and some ice cream while overlooking the reserve before heading back to Quito. We stopped for lunch at a restaurant on Independence Square called Pekaraz. They have great views of the square, and had live music playing throughout our meal. The food was so good we ended up getting carryout for dinner from here the next two nights too! After lunch, we took a taxi to Teleférico, a cable car that goes up one of the surrounding mountains. The clouds rolled in pretty quickly after we arrived at the top so we didn’t get to walk too far before it started raining and hailing! We hid out in an abandoned housing complex for a bit, and then ran to the restaurant near the cable cars to wait out the storm. Our oldest said she didn’t feel well (more on that later) so we headed back down before the storm broke. For dinner, I had searched for the best pizza in Quito and found a slice of home at Georgina Chicago Style Pizza. The place was all decked out in Chicago memorabilia and pizza-themed signs. It was pretty good, though unlike most pizza actually served in Chicago. We then got back to our hotel area and wandered around a bit before calling it a night. That’s when the “fun” began — our oldest started to get sick from altitude sickness…
We had a tour to the rain forest planned for our next morning. Our oldest was getting sick all night. We tried to make it on the tour but right before our transportation came she got sick again, so we canceled it and decided to stay in for a bit. Our younger daughter and I went for a walk and stumbled across an Easter parade that consisted of thousands upon thousands of people dressed in purple robes with pointed hats. I later learned that they are called cucuruchos and we had seen something very unique and special to Ecuador. We picked up ham sandwiches from Cafeteria Fabiolita (again) and went back to the hotel to eat with everyone. The rest of the day was spent in the hotel, and our daughter wasn’t getting any better, so we took her to a hospital the next morning. My wife did a great write-up of that experience on our newly formed World Traveling Kids blog site.
For our last full day in Ecuador, we had a taxi booked to take us about two hours north to a large sprawling indigenous market in Otavalo. We had canceled it the night before since our oldest was still feeling sick. After the doctor visit though she started to turn around, so we asked the hotel if there was still time to make it to the market and they called for a taxi right away. Literally as soon as the taxi arrived, our youngest started getting sick. Knowing that Otavalo was at a much lower altitude, we decided to just make it work and off we went. On the way, we took a brief photo op at a large lake called Laguna de San Pablo. Our driver parked a block away from the market and we spent three hours wandering around and buying various trinkets in the market (known locally as Plaza de Ponchos and/or Mercado Artesania). The kids were both feeling great, so it removed any doubt that their illness wasn’t altitude sickness. One must-stop in the market is the hidden Shenandoah Pie Shop. Thankfully nothing is really hidden anymore in the days of cell phones and GPS. The pie was amazing and it was a nice break from walking. On the way back to Quito, we made a stop in a nearby town called Cotacachi which is known for their leather goods. Stepping out of the taxi, all you could smell is leather everywhere. I walked around a few blocks, bought a couple leather goods, and we headed back to the hotel. The kids weren’t feeling well in the Quito altitude again so we got our third night of Pekaraz takeout.
Our flights home were a bit rough. We had to leave the hotel at 1:30am for our initial 4am flight with both kids still sick. Luckily once we got to the airport and asked for assistance, they put both kids in a wheelchair, and we got to bypass most of the lines. They were sick almost the whole way back, except for an hour on the longer flight when they were both miraculously cured. We got home and started sipping our electrolytes every 15 minutes. It was a slow upswing, so we went to a clinic just to make sure we were doing the right things. We got some nausea pills just in case, and a few short hours later, both kids were 100% better and asking for their favorite nearby restaurant for dinner (which of course we obliged).
Up next is Australia in July!