Courtyard at La Casa Sol
Sunday, May 13, 2001 -- Guayaquil to Quito
I was a little clueless about how and where to buy my ticket to Quito, and confused by wrong directions, but fortunately the hotel shuttle driver had stuck around, and pointed me in the right direction. I didn't get out of there until the early afternoon, but -- in my somewhat limited experience -- getting from Point A to Point B is always the most difficult part of travel, and it's best to be patient and somewhat philosophical about it.
In Quito, I shared a taxi from the airport with another American woman who had been traveling in South America for 8 months. Her Spanish was fantastic. My B&B, La Casa Sol, is gorgeous, run by an Andean couple and their golden retriever, Chato.
Courtyard at La Casa Sol
Wandered around the new town a bit and settled in at the Magic Bean, my new favorite place. I had a huge falafel salad and a mocha for something like $5, and everything is safe to eat/drink. Wrote a bunch of postcards and enjoyed relaxing in the spring-like climate of Quito, which was a wonderful change from the heat-rash inducing Galápagos weather.
Back at the B&B that night, I ended up in a late-night conversation with a couple from Britain and a guy from Israel, all of whom had been traveling for quite a long time. The British couple were just about to head back home after something like 8 months in South America. None of these folks spoke Spanish worth a damn, but I guess they managed okay. This is the first time I've engaged with those constant travelers that you sometimes meet in B&Bs, and it was pretty interesting. They'd all decided to skip the hostel across the street, just to get away from that side of things for a while.
Monday, May 14, 2001 -- Quito
At breakfast, I ended up in a discussion about teaching language and linguistics with a guy who was teaching English at a hospital. He was in Quito for about 6 weeks, and was teaching the hospital workers to improve their English. How social am I? He and I also talked about singing (this was just a few weeks before I was supposed to sing in Skip & Denison's wedding), and after he left, a couple of American women who were singers struck up a conversation. It turned out that Mel and Jan are from Vashon Island, and were going to stay at Yachana Lodge the same days that I was, so we decided to pool our resources for the day.
Jan, Mel and I found our way to the Yachana office, and then took a taxi into the old town. We asked the driver to take us to a restaurant that he liked, which we never would have found on our own. Good arroz con camarones. Didn't drink the water there, though, which was about the first time that I had to be concerned.
After lunch, we strolled around the old town, looking at the various plazas and whatnot. We'd heard that old town was very unsafe (actually, reports are that all of Quito is fairly dangerous, and you're encouraged to take a taxi if you're going even a couple of blocks), but it certainly seemed fine in the daylight. I was glad to be there with other people, though. We visited the Museo de San Francisco, which is still a Franciscan (surprise!) monastery. A very cute guy who repeatedly apologized for his English, gave us the tour. His English was far superior to our Spanish, of course! Jan actually spoke no Spanish, and this was her first trip abroad. Mel had been in Guatemala and had picked up some of the language.
Things I don't understand:
I craved a smoothie, so I had to return to Magic Bean for dinner. I sent Jan & Mel to try it, and they actually decided to move there for the night so they could try out another B&B, and because they had to change rooms anyhow. I do enjoy being a "regular" when I travel, although I don't care for the pressure of being a regular at home. Go figure. One of the Magic Bean pitfalls, though, is that it's a haven for young travelers who do not speak and have no intention of speaking Spanish. The staff always seemed somewhat relieved when I ordered in that language. Of course, I'm sure when I travel someplace where I have no hope of speaking or understanding the language, places like the Magic Bean will be a haven.
Tuesday, May 15, 2001 -- Quito
At breakfast, I somehow became the designated translator when the staff wanted to know everyone's room numbers. I was still a bit anxious about my ability to speak Spanish, so that was a nice shot in the arm. Of course, translating room numbers isn't much of a test.
In the morning, I visited the South American Explorers clubhouse. If one were traveling in South America for quite a while, this would be a great resource: you can send and receive e-mail, exchange books, read and contribute reports on tour companies and other activities, find people to travel with you, stash your stuff.... I wrote a trip report for the Polaris, and exchanged one Billy Bathgate for two other books: a Martha Grimes, and a Robert Parker, neither of which I had read before. Billy Bathgate evidently counts as literature, and therefore has a two-novel value at the SAEC.
The view from my room at Casa Sol
This was a very lazy day, which was kind of nice. I did see a beautiful, iridescent green hummingbird, but he took off by the time I fumbled out my camera.
| previous page |
Back to Megan's Stuff on Dobbin.com
last modified: January 30, 2002