We met at 9am in the threatre for our trip to Quito. As it turns out, we were scheduled on the second of three flights. That morning the visibility at the Manta airport was too low so the airport was closed. Our chartered flights could not leave Quito to come pick us up. About an hour later the airport opened so our flights were in the air to pick us up. We loaded into buses and headed to the airport. Manta airport was very small but it did not take us long to get through security (if you want to call it that). Our plane was now an Embraer 190 of TAME airlines, an Ecuadorian airline. I had brought one of my American Airlines business cards saying I was a 777 captain so ask the flight attendant to give it to the captain as we boarded. She did and he turned around and invited me into the cockpit but I told him I had to put our bags in the overhead bins (too heavy for Rebecca to do it). After everyone was settled into their seats I went up to the cockpit to say hi. The captain ask me if I would like to ride up in the cockpit for our flight. What a treat!!!! I was excited like a little kid.
The flight was only about 35 minutes but was over some 15,000 foot mountains, actually volcanoes that were still active ones. I believe they said there were currently 13 volcanoes still active in the country. Unfortunately, today they were covered with clouds which is normal in afternoon this time of the year. There are rain showers almost every afternoon now. I could see on the captain's terrain display that the controllers were vectoring us in through a valley and onto a visual final approach. The captain pointed out the new airport which is to open next year. The copilot was flying and made a very nice landing. I told him I was going to take credit for it with the passengers.
A tour guide met us in the terminal and lead us to awaiting buses for the 30 minute ride to our hotel. There were 24 of us on our bus and Veronica was the name of our guide. She and our bus driver would be with us for the two days here. Veronica was a wealth of information about Ecuador's history, government, economy, schools, etc. Just wish I could remember it.
Quito is the capital of Ecuador but only the second largest city. It is a long narrow city in a valley lying between the Andes mountain ranges. The city is 22 miles long and only 2-3 miles wide with a population of 2 million people. Because it is at 9200 feet elevation the temperature is around 50F at night and 80F during the day year round as it is basically on the equator. Recently uncovered archeological sites has civilization dated back to 1500BC. In 1534 the Incas in Quito were conquered by the Spaniards who wanted their gold. The Spanish brought Catholicism to the sun and moon worshiping Incas.
After arriving at the hotel we checked into our rooms, stowed our luggage there, and had a nice buffet lunch. The hotel was a 5 star Swissotel and we had a very nice suite with bath and a half. We boarded our bus again for an afternoon tour of the old part of the city. We arrived at the largest plaza in old Quito, "La Plaza de la Independencia". There we saw the government's palace, a incredibly, beautiful cathedral. We thought it more beautiful than St Peter's in the Vatican. Unfortunately, photos inside the church were not allowed. As it was a Sunday, there were lots of people in the plaza enjoying the afternoon. Rebecca bought some nice hand made scarves from a lady who lives in the countryside south of Quito. Ladies from there wear a distinctive outfit and hat. After a walking tour of the old city we boarded the bus and drove to another plaza to see the San Francisco church complex which had been built from 1536 to 1580 by the Spanish Jesuits. We would be returning here that night to visit the art museum and to have dinner in one of the large halls. For now it was back to the hotel to freshen up and dress for dinner. Men were to wear sports coats so was kind of dressy event. We came down a little early to have a glass of wine before leaving for dinner but found out that the President of Ecuador made a law so no alcohol could be served on Sundays. Somehow we were served beer and wine for dinner in the San Francisco church complex with dinner. The dinner was very nice with impressive service and even a small combo providing some music.
We were back at the hotel at 9:30pm and very tired for two reasons: it was a long day and the high altitude is hard on the body when you are not used to it. We had been drinking lots of water all day as that is a key to preventing altitude sickness. Neither of us had any problems but after walking up a few steps you were huffing and puffing. I even noticed my rate of breathing faster when in bed. Photos of the day next.
