2012.04.17
Quito
Getting from Cuzco to Lima (Peru) entailed getting up early, transferring from one flight to another and (inevitably) waiting at the airports for our time of departure to our final destination: Quito in Ecuador. Such is the nature of travelling. Sarel and Peter probably used the time to talk about orchids - the focus of their tour.
Our flights were during the day, so during take off and landing we could see the patchwork country below, some of the coast line and the cities below as they came into focus during our landing.
Lima (Peru) lies on the sea.
Just look what happened to my half empty water bottle in the aeroplane!
Hello Quito (Ecuador)! After two and a half hours in the air, we were pleased that the end of the flight was in sight. Just look at the magnificent Andes in the background. Quito is the highest capital city in the world at 2850m above sea level.
Closer and closer to the city that was declared a World Heritage Site in 1978.
And finally, a look at our aeroplane from the safety of the airport.
Quito is renowned for its roses as this arrangement in the airport showed.
Our bus was waiting patiently for us, but it drove over a traffic cone - but, thanks to Mrad, the damage was rectified and we could continue on our way.
This interesting statue graced the entrance of the airport.
We crossed the equator near Quito. Quito is the world's capital city which is closest to the equator. The statue with the ball shows where we crossed the equator - but a much better interaction with the equator was still to come.
One of towns which we passed en route to Mindo.
As you can see it was getting darker and darker as our bus wended its way through many mountain passes, dark green forests and beautifully tended fields.
Fortunately, Mindo (B) was merely +-90km away from Quito (A), but as you see on the map, innumerable bends made it slow travelling.
The tasty trout supper replenished body and soul and the group wandered back to the hotel in high spirit!
The next morning we woke up at the crack of dawn to track down the elusive "Andean Cock-of-the-Rock" (which incidentally is the Peruvian national bird). Oh well, even in Ecuador, it's a mega tick!
To follow our birding, click on this link:
http://mi60mindobirds.blogspot.com/2012/07/mindo-andean-cock-of-rock.html
If you'd rather just see some of the beautiful orchids and plants of the Mindo area, then click on this link:
The following link will take you through the next section of our whole trip in Ecuador:
http://mi60ecuadortrip.blogspot.com/
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