Earthquakes and the equator

It’s been a funny old day. It started at 5am, I hate jet lag. Altitude sickness has unfortunately hit Ali and she was up most of the night  I’ve fared ok so far, people are mentioning breathlessness and nausea. The solution is apparently to drink chocolate so Ali is happy.

After a copious amount of breakfast, we waited to be ushered onto the bus but then the earth wobbled! It didn’t last very long, nor was too strong, an earth tremor but having never experienced that before, it was pretty scary while we sat under our foyer full of glass.

We started our city tour at the Basicilica looking at the ornate gargoyles. Young girls were wearing traditional dress, babies on their backs and selling scarves to the coach loads of tourists, the colours of their clothes is amazing.

The tour through the old town was wonderful, past colonial buildings while the street got more and more narrow. We visited the palace where I guide told us the reason for every plaque, I only remember the person that found the source of the amazon and the prime minister that was murdered. I hope there isn’t a quiz later. We saw the first flag of Ecuador, then off to the cultural museum which was a bit like walking around a university library…because it was. We went into one of the art galleries of Carmen Silva and came out feeling a bit sick. That might be the first and last time that Ali and I try to look at art, gosh Carmen likes boobies though, and not of the blue footed kind ;)

We visited the most ornate churches, covered in gold with their mixture of indigenous and catholic memorabilia in an attempt to convert the indigenous people. The heaven and hell pictures were scary, apparently you will be eaten by a pig if you commit adultery!
Ecuadorian buffet for lunch of potato soup with avocado and cheese, surprisingly yummy. On route to the equator, our guide told is some interesting facts about the economy, the 5 biggest incomes for the economy. 1) Oil, 2) the money sent back home from illegal immigrants, 3) bananas, 4) roses, 5) tourists.

Then we visited equator city to stand in the middle of the earth between the northern and southern hemisphere. Also, what was first thought to be the middle of the middle of the earth. I.e . the middle length wise as well as width wise. We watched as tourists concocted all manner of ways to take their pictures either side of the equator, and visited the top of the building for some great views over the mountains.

Tomorrow we have an early start for our flight to the Galapagos islands and boarding our cruise and surprisingly, there is no liquid limits! But tonight our bags are being checked by the Galapagos agricultural authorities for seeds, seed pores, any leaves, bark or food of any kind. Nothing biological can enter the islands!