Bi-Hemispheric: Quito, Ecuador 2019

I hope you're ready to embark on a several month long traveling journey together. This marks the start of my time traveling through South and Central America. I was supposed to connect this to Colombia, but getting emergency flown home is not a great way to connect trips together. Because of that, I ended up buying a flight from Salt Lake to Quito, where I spent a few days.

This massive trip was mostly a volunteer trip with a few breaks for some travel. This Ecuador is a short little trip before I ended up flying to the Galapagos. I had to stay in Quito for a few days to get a bit of training, and I absolutely LOVED it! The city was stunning and I really enjoyed exploring all the places around Quito. I hope you'll have a good time experiencing Quito with me!

Mountains over Salt Lake City

Day 1

Fun fact about me: I am totally a last-second packer. I flew out on January 1, 2019 and spent the night before moving for six months out of the country partying with my friends at this massive house party. I didn't get home until 4am. By this point, I hadn't packed at all and I needed to leave for the airport at 6:30am to be on time for my 9am flight. I ended up going to bed for an hour and a half before packing and getting completely ready at 5:30am. The beauty of planes is that you can sleep for hours during the day and no one reprimands you for not being productive.

I flew first to Houston before taking a six hour long plane ride directly to Quito. I was quite glad to not have another layover. My layover in Houston was quite long, so I had the opportunity to call my mom and Abi to plan for our trips. My mom was planning to come visit me in the Galapagos and Abi was planning to join both of us in Peru.

When I made it to Quito, it was nearly 2am. I was picked up by a super nice taxi driver and taken to my host mom Sandra's house. Sandra let me into her beautiful apartment and we headed straight for bed. I could not get the wifi to work for the life of me and had no service, so I hoped and prayed my mom would be able to go to sleep that night without receiving confirmation from me that I was safely in Quito.

Sandra and I on the way to the bus

Day 2

I woke up around 7am the next morning with no alarm, despite going to bed so late. I think I was just excited to be in a new place. I love to visit and experience new places and cultures. Sandra made us breakfast before she helped me take a bus to downtown Quito. Her house was on the side of one of the many mountains that Quito is nestled in. The mountains there were absolutely stunning. They were super green, tall, and just overall really aesthetically pleasing. Sandra lived really high up on one of the mountains, so we could see practically the whole massive city of Quito laid out from her house. She also lived close to several main bus stations and old town Quito, which I unfortunately did not get a chance to visit.

Sandra showed me the main bus stop and dropped in downtown Quito at the headquarters of the foundation I was scheduled to work with. For this portion of my trip, I was working with an organization called Cooperating Volunteers. They have a foundation in Ecuador called Volunteer Ecuador that is run by a man named Francisco. Francisco is based in Quito with the rest of the operations team, so I was able to meet with him and get some information on the Galapagos before heading there myself in a few days.

After meeting with Francisco, I wandered through the streets of Quito for a while until arriving at this absolutely massive park called Parque La Carolina. Parque La Carolina contains a little bit of everything. They had a botanical garden section in addition to wide open sports fields and, my personal favorite part, the water area. Around an expansive section of grass, they had built a moat that people were able to rent boats and float around on. There were fountains throughout and bridges crossing over in various places. There was also a restaurant attached to a boathouse right on the shore of the moat.

I sat in the center island for a few hours and took a nap under a tree. It was honestly so peaceful and relaxing. All around me, families were laughing and playing. Groups of teenagers were sitting and laughing with their friends. It was just a happy day out at the park.

After I finished my nap, I walked around a bit more and discovered a children's playground before grabbing a taxi and heading home. I ate dinner with my host family and then went to bed early so I would be well prepared for the next day's adventures.

View from the top of Pichincha Volcano

Day 3

The next morning, I woke up early at like 6am so I would be prepared to do all the things I wanted to do. Sandra had suggested I take the teleferico to the top of one of the volcanoes surrounding Quito. The cable car views were AMAZING! As I got there right after it opened, I was able to ride nearly alone to the top. Glass cable cars are always beautiful, and this one was no exception. The 360 degree views of the valley in the Andes where Quite lies were unparalleled. The top of Pichincha was fantastic as well, offering views of the entire city of more than 5 million and a trail to hike up near the top of the volcano. I did not take the trail the entire way up, but the views from even the small portion I reached were amazing.

The trail leading up to the top of Pichincha

Along the trail, I stopped at a beautiful old Catholic church and was able to look around some of the classic architecture for a bit. I also sat by the teleferico station for a bit near some traditional houses and had the pleasure of listening to some music.

My favorite part of the day came after following a random side trail up the side of the volcano. I honestly was just exploring and getting exhausted while doing it because I was 18,000 feet above sea level. Even the half mile walk uphill to my destination had me extremely winded. However, it was all worth it when I reached a swingset overlooking the entire valley. The swing was set near the edge and you appeared to be over the edge in any pictures you took. Honestly, there weren't really any safety precautions. If you fell off the swing, there was definitely a pretty high chance you would roll down a fair portion of the volcano, especially because the only landscaping on the entire thing was pretty much grass due to the extremely high altitude of the volcano and hike. While it was a little nerve wracking, the experience was definitely worth it.

Top of the world swing

While I was waiting in line to go on the swing, I met a group of Danish flight attendants out exploring for the day. They offered to take my picture on the swing, and it is one of my favorite pictures to date. The experience itself was so freeing, and I am so grateful I was able to go.

After the wonderful experience on the swingset, I hiked back down the volcano before taking the teleferico all the way down. The views were just as stellar the second time. I took a taxi back to Sandra's house and ate lunch before heading out for my second adventure.

When I was picked up from the airport, I had a very kind driver who gave me his card and asked me to call him if I ever wanted another ride around Quito. I took him up on his offer and had him drive me to La Mitad del Mundo (the middle of the world) in the afternoon. This location denotes the equator and has several museum exhibits.

"Damn, dat ass is bi-hemispheric" - Ashlyn

When I arrived, I was able to buy a ticket in and enjoy a few of the smaller museums. To be frank, most of the exhibits weren't that great. However, I did get to have my picture taken while sitting on the equator. A few nice boys from the University of Michigan were nice enough to walk around with me and take my picture. I think I might just have a thing for people from the University of Michigan because most of my best friends from my Costa Rica volunteer trip were from the University of Michigan as well. When I texted my sister Ashlyn the picture of me sitting on the equator, she sent back, "damn, dat ass is bi-hemispheric," and I have not stopped laughing about it since. If I'm having a bad day, I can think about that moment for just a second and have a complete mood turn around. It's one of my favorite things Ashlyn has ever said, which is saying something because she is pretty funny.

Standing on the equator

I also went up to the top of the monument and was able to see the very southern outskirts of Quito from up high. The actual equator isn't right where the monument is, but there is no way they could move the entire monument, the exhibits, and everything to exactly where it should be so I'll just say I've been to the equator.

When I was finished at the monument, I walked a ways to the bus station and then took the public bus home. I had to switch buses in the middle of my ride. I really had no idea where I was because it was only my second day in the city. However, I am really good with directions and had marked my house with a pin, so I was able to find the right buses. Before I finished the hike up to my house, I printed off my plane ticket to the Galapagos Islands for the next day.

At home, I repacked for my flight the next day and had dinner with Sandra and her daughter. It was a great end to an absolutely perfect day.

Life Lessons

Don't be afraid to go new places by yourself.

Trust that most people who offer to take your picture are really good people who truly do want to help.

Speak the language if you want to take the local bus because otherwise you will definitely be lost.

ALWAYS take a glass cable car, no matter the circumstance.

Send your pictures to your friends and family because you never know what kind of funny replies you might get.