Ecuador: Presidential Fanfare

"Begin doing what you want to do now. We are not living in eternity. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand and melting like a snowflake.” – Marie Beyon Ray

Only in Ecuador (don't quote me on that) does the President come out to the balcony every Monday morning to greet the citizens. Samson, Tova and I ventured down to Presidential palace to witness this event. Sure enough, hundreds of people were gathered to enjoy or protest the fanfare. There was a changing of the guard, horse parade, national anthem with raising if the flag, and introduction of the President and his cabinet. I've gotta say, it was pretty mesmerizing. 

Following that, the three of us negotiated with a taxi driver to drive us to the REAL Middle of the World, since neither Tova nor Samson had visited yet. After walking away from initial negotiations, we ended up agreeing to $30. That bought us a 45 minute ride each way, including stops at a scenic volcano crater, the middle of the world destination based on modern military gps, and the originally designated middle of the world location based on French exploration and the driver waited for us at each place.

Instead of going back to old town, we had the driver drop off us off in modern Quito at one of the malls. This area was so different because it was full of high rises, actual stores (not 5'x5' bodegas) and malls. We went in Quicentro Mall, which was full of beauty and class. In the food court, we still managed to find a tasty lunch for $3.00. 

After taking it all in, including an ice cup of coffee, we grabbed a taxi back to our hostel. This time, lesson learned, we used the meter. We should have negotiated a price first, but we didn't. The driver was nice, but didn't take the most direct route, so we ended up paying $6.25 for her and still walking 3 blocks up hill. Funny story, the last block of our taxi journey was a steep incline. So steep that our taxi almost stalled and went backwards. You could tell she was relieved when the car, did in fact, make it to the peak. 

In a few hours, I'll be catching my tour van that will drive me over night to the Amazon region. In the morning, we'll stop for breakfast and the Caiman Eco Lodge people will then pick us up. I'll be exploring the Amazon rainforest until Friday, with no wifi 😳 and just a few hours of electricity each evening. So, I'll be off the grid until I return back to Quito late Friday night. Adios! 

 

 

 

 

Volcano Pululahua Geobotanic Reserve