Exploring Quito

Day one started early, we had breakfast (the fresh squeezed orange juice was a hit) at the hotel and started our day exploring the city of Quito. Everybody was upbeat despite the rainy weather, they were ready with their ponchos, rain jackets and cameras.  

Our driver Patricio was clinical getting us through the narrow roads of old Quito.  

Our first stop was at the Gothic style Parroquia del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús. This traditional medieval church has unique Galapagos islands animals for gargoyles. 

 Our next stop was the Monastery of the Dominicans. The Monastery has also a High School where our group got the brief chance to interact with a Gym class that was going on in one of the main courtyards. Our guide was very knowledgeable and passionate about the history, the art, and the spirituality of the Monastery. It was a beautiful and spiritual place.

After walking around in the Old Quito, we boarded our bus and Patricio took us to “The Middle of the World”. It is literally what it sounds like, it is the place (according to GPS) that reads the 00’00’00’’ latitude. As soon as we got there the rain stopped and the sun came out on full force. The sunscreen came out as well. We then ate our box lunch and soon enough started our tour of the Middle of the World. Our tour guide started by showing us different animals native to that area such as huge spiders, anacondas, condor, and cuy (guinea pig). He also showed us the traditional ways in which the Wuaorani (native indigenous tribe) lives. Finally, the tour became a science experiment. He should us how centripetal force affect water flow and the distribution of mass in different objects. The students had a great time playing with the Equatorial line. 

Our time at The Middle of the World came to an end and we had to go back to the hotel.  We rested for about thirty minutes and then we all went to explore the neighborhood around our hotel called “New Quito”. The students had the opportunity to walk around the streets, sit in a cafe, do some shopping, people watch among other things. We gathered again to have some dinner. We walked to a restaurant where we all shared a traditional meal, exchanged stories of our time exploring Quito, and celebrated a day full of activities and unforgettable experiences.