What a change a few months make – it wasn’t that long ago (only three months) that I was in Barrow Alaska, above the Arctic Circle, nearly at the top of the world. Now I find myself exploring Ecuador, a country located on the equator – the mid-point of the earth where there is little difference in seasons and the days and nights are equal, pretty much 12 hours long each year-round. At least there are no surprises here – you know what to expect, for the length of the day and night anyway!
Ecuador is roughly the size of the state of Washington and straddles the equatorial line (hence the name). Because of this geographical feature and combined with its widely different altitudes, Ecuador has a striking diversity of landscapes for a country of its size.
“There isn’t a parallel of latitude but thinks it would have been the equator if it had had its rights.” – Mark Twain
Quito, Ecuador’s capital is a city whose colonial splendor has earned it designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In the older part of town, hundreds of colonial-era structures remain to this day, the largest being the 16th-century Monastery of San Francisco. It sits in a long, narrow valley, 30 miles long by 3 miles wide, between a number of active volcanos.
The trip included two days to explore Quito, one day before we headed to the Galapagos and another when we returned. The OAT guides in this busy Ecuadorian city included Fabri, who was with us for all of our time in this country and two local guides that joined us (one on each day) to share their knowledge of the city. It is certainly a plus to have the local knowledge and love for the country along with us.
What fun to begin the Quito visit with a trip to the Iñaquito market, a busy local market brimming with meats, exotic fruits and colorful spices. These markets are great places to observe local life and drink in the colors and scents of the country. After sampling some of the fruits and delicious fresh juice we continued on to our walking tour of the city.
From there we walked through Quito’s colonial nucleus: Independence Plaza and the Presidential Palace. Entrance to the Palace is flanked by stalwart guards in traditional uniforms keeping watch over the Palace. There was a large group of media at the Palace as the politics in Ecuador is currently undergoing some drama. I had the opportunity to talk a little politics with our tour guide over coffee during some of our free time. It was a fun and interesting conversation – after living through their political challenges he wasn’t at all surprised at politics in the United States.
“The only continent where social movements have led to political parties that have pushed through serious social and political reforms is in South America.” – Tariq Ali
The walking tour of the city included visiting one of the many churches that dominate the landscape. A large sign in front of the church states “NO VIOLARAS” which translates literally to “No Rape” as violence against women is an ongoing problem in this country. They are working on education and enforcement to help combat this problem.
A very interesting part of the tour of the plaza was when our guide “purchased” the time of one of the many prostitutes working around the plaza. We were given the opportunity to opt-out of the conversation if uncomfortable but all in our group were very interested to talk with the woman and find out about her life. She was very open (although a bit uncomfortable at first) and answered all our questions very frankly. It is shocking to hear how little money they make in this profession. Experiences like these really allowed us as travelers to better understand the lives of people in the countries that we visited. Thank you to Fabri (our guide) for showing us both the good and the not so good of his country.
After lunch at a local restaurant sampling many of the native foods, we continued the exploration of Quito strolling through narrow lanes sampling traditional foods, and enjoying the city.
After our Galapagos adventures and before wrapping up the trip and heading back to the US we again returned to the mainland Ecuador for a day, back to Quito.
The last full day in Quito started with a visit to the hear the Sinamune Disabled Children’s Orchestra perform. Students may begin the school when they are nine and continue as long as they like. I don’t think any of us were prepared for the quality and exuberance of the concert. The dancers and musicians charmed us with their talent, spirit and joy.
The Sinamune school was founded by Maestro Edgar Palacios in 1993. Palacios is a talented musician who has more than 150 original compositions to his credit as well numerous CD’s. His goal at Sinamune is to teach motor skills to disabled persons through the use of music. The organization has an orchestra which consists entirely of physically or mentally disabled children and adults and has performed all over the world.
What would a trip to Ecuador be without a visit to the equator and there is no better place than the Inti Nan Museum. Inti Nan is the Quechua phrase for “Path of the Sun,” and the sun quite literally charts a path through the museum—it sits directly on the equator.
The museum housed replicas of indigenous sun temples and other interesting artifacts but the most interesting aspect was its location. Displays included fun experiments showing the unique qualities of its location along the center of the earth. Yes, water really does swirl down the drain in different directions depending on which hemisphere you are in!
“With the possible exception of the equator, everything begins somewhere.” – C.S. Lewis
Our final group activities wrapped up with a stop at a local brewery that made and served not only three types of craft beer but also ice-cream and homemade sausage. What more could you ask for!
The last afternoon on our own a small group of us decided to reserve a van to take us to the Aerial Tram – or in Spanish Teleférico. The tram affords spectacular views over Quito’s mountainous landscape, taking passengers on a 15 minute ride up the flanks of Volcán Pichincha to the top of Cruz Loma. Nearly 13,500′ high this location provides awesome views over the city. From the top you can see all Quito and the surrounding mountains and volcanos.
“Anybody who’s been to Ecuador wants to go back because it’s beautiful out there.” – Michael Steger
There is so much to love about Ecuador. It is beautiful and eco-sensitive.
Unlike in Peru where we were given plastic bottles of water every day, here we were encouraged to refill our reusable water bottles. Ecuador is the most bio-diverse country per unit in the world and in 2008 was the first country to adopt the legally defensible Rights of Nature, which are eco-system rights.
Their Constitution includes a novel set of articles that appear to be the first in any Constitution granting inalienable rights to nature. The wording alone is fascinating, as is the simple fact that the provisions were included. Fascinating enough that I feel compelled to include the pertinent sections here:
Rights of Nature Articles in Ecuador’s Constitution
Title II Fundamental Rights
Chapter 1
Entitlement, Application and Interpretation Principles of the Fundamental RightsArt.10 Rights Entitlement.- Persons and people have the fundamental rights guaranteed in this Constitution and in the international human rights instruments.
Nature is subject to those rights given by this Constitution and Law.
Chapter 7th: Rights for Nature
Art. 71. Nature or Pachamama, where life is reproduced and exists, has the right to exist, persist, maintain and regenerate its vital cycles, structure, functions and its processes in evolution.
Every person, people, community or nationality, will be able to demand the recognitions of rights for nature before the public organisms. The application and interpretation of these rights will follow the related principles established in the Constitution.
The State will motivate natural and juridical persons as well as collectives to protect nature; it will promote respect towards all the elements that form an ecosystem.
Art. 72. Nature has the right to restoration. This integral restoration is independent of the obligation on natural and juridical persons or the State to indemnify the people and the collectives that depend on the natural systems.
In the cases of severe or permanent environmental impact, including the ones caused by the exploitation on non renewable natural resources, the State will establish the most efficient mechanisms for the restoration, and will adopt the adequate measures to eliminate or mitigate the harmful environmental consequences.
Art. 73. The State will apply precaution and restriction measures in all the activities that can lead to the extinction of species, the destruction of the ecosystems or the permanent alteration of the natural cycles.
The introduction of organisms and organic and inorganic material that can alter in a definitive way the national genetic patrimony is prohibited.
Art. 74. The persons, people, communities and nationalities will have the right to benefit from the environment and form natural wealth that will allow wellbeing.
The environmental services are cannot be appropriated; its production, provision, use and exploitation, will be regulated by the State.
Considering the fact that the Galapagos Islands are part of Ecuador kudos to the citizens of this beautiful country for recognizing and memorializing the importance of Nature.
It was a truly awesome trip to Peru and Ecuador, one that I would recommend for anyone that loves wildlife and history. Being able to experience another country was amazing and I will certainly be planning more trips to locations around the world – as a matter of fact I just booked a trip to Africa for May 2018. Taking my Dad on safari with Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT), will be his 80th birthday next year – should be a great trip!
“From the peak of Chimborazo (volcano) to the Pacific coast, from the Amazon rainforest to the Galápagos Islands, may you never lose the ability to thank God for what he has done and is doing for you, may you never lose the ability to protect what is small and simple, to care for your children and your elderly, to have confidence in the young, and to be constantly struck by the nobility of your people and the singular beauty of your country.” – Pope Francis about Ecuador
Dana;
Thank you very much for this blog. I will use your information to help plan my 3 days when I will be in Quito and the local area.
Thank you for this wonderful record of the trip!