Quito at an altitude of 11,200 feet
Quito is a beautiful city situated at an awe-inspiring altitude of 11,200 feet above sea level. It is a place where you can breathe the purest air and enjoy stunning panoramic views of the surrounding landscapes. The city offers an array of cultural and historic sites that will captivate your attention and leave you mesmerized. The unique geography of Quito makes it a perfect destination for adventure seekers and nature enthusiasts. The high altitude has led to the development of unique flora and fauna found only in this region of the world. From hiking trails to mountain biking, Quito offers a plethora of outdoor activities that will keep you engaged and entertained throughout your stay. Whether you are a history buff or a nature lover, Quito has something for everyone to enjoy.
The one small problem you need to be vigilant about. Pickpockets work in pairs, a mother and a small child. The mother picks your pocket and then paces the contents from your pocket to the child. The child runs away, turning into alleyways and disappearing along with whatever the mother gave the child. It does not really help to call the police because they will search the mother right there on the street, and find nothing. At that point, there is nothing they can do. Just be aware that this goes on and keep vigilant.
However, I can emphatically say that the people in this beautiful, fantastic South American country are friendly, kind and helpful. We fell in love with Ecuador and would have moved there forthwith after packing up and sorting things out. We hit a stumbling block. Quito is 11200 feet above sea level, and this gave Lucille a major problem. With the result that she suffered nose bleeds and really struggled to get her breath. After walking about 40 to 50 yards, she needed to find a place to sit down and rest. It was very difficult for Lucille, so obviously we called off our move to Ecuador. I am sure anybody who suffers from altitude sickness knows all about the problems she had. However, we know we will travel to Ecuador in the not-too-distant future.
When you travel to Ecuador, please look on the positive side, because every Ecuadorian we talked to was great. So helpful and always smiling, we found it a pleasure to communicate with everybody. The food was fantastic and very, very inexpensive. One attraction we visited was The Centre of The World (The Ciudad Mitad del Mundo). To point out that this tract of land is owned by the prefecture of the province of Pichincha. It is located at San Antonio parish in the canton of Quito, 26 km north of the centre of Quito. They have built a monument right on the equator, and a yellow line has been painted. This is to demonstrate you can stand with one foot in the northern hemisphere and the other foot in the southern hemisphere. Quite cool, I thought.
One more to take off my bucket list
Furthermore, just walking around the parks in Quito was undeniably relaxing, with interesting monuments to look at, also take photos of. Ecuador is without a doubt a beautiful fantastic South American country and one we will visit again
Guagua Pichincha Volcanic Activity
The dangers related to the Guagua Pichincha volcano eruptions are the fall of ash on the city of Quito and the surrounding valleys; the formation and destruction of domes inside of the caldera of the volcano; and production of explosive activity with pyroclastic flows, landslides or lahars (mudflow on the slopes of a volcano produced by the fall of ash mixed with heavy rains).
In addition to volcanic hazards, the city of Quito and other cities that settle along the Highlands are threatened by the occurrence of earthquakes. People of this part of the county have witnessed significant damage from earthquakes. Ecuador’s central highland is elevated due to the two tectonic plates; continental and oceanic, pushing against each other. As a result, the entire country lays in various geological faults. The compression between the tectonic plates creates stress on the faults, releasing earthquakes of high magnitude such as six, seven or even magnitude eight earthquakes on the Richter scale.
The city of Quito has a population of approximately 2,000,000 people and the centre of the city is only 6 miles (15 km) away from the volcano. Urban growth and management of the land is another potentially serious problem for the citizens of Quito, which, if combined with volcanic eruptions, can represent a serious hazard. “The population of Quito has quadrupled over the last 30 years”. In 1960, the city had 330,000 inhabitants.
In the last 30 years, the city expanded its surface area by 40 times, and more people live on the mountainside. The city is long and narrow. There is not much more space for growth, except in the northern and southern suburbs, which are outside of the city limits. The yearly rate of urban growth in this area is 17.5%. This uncontrolled environmental management, combined with potential volcanic eruptions, represents a serious problem for the citizens of the city of Quito.
The southern suburbs of Quito are protected from volcanic eruptions to a degree because of a natural barrier of mountains such as Ungui and El Cinto, but there is no guarantee for the safety of people who decide to build their homes on the mountainside since it is an area of high risk. Thus, local municipalities must take action and should educate people, so they can be part of the solution and not the problem.
Galapagos Islands
This beautiful, fantastic South American country was everything we had hoped it would be. The unbelievable Galapagos wildlife is something that needs to go on your bucket list, especially if you have never been there. My wife and I travelled to Ecuador where we spent five and a half weeks in October 2011. We flew into Quito for twelve days before spending one week on the Galapagos Island of Santa Cruz. Then again, back to Quito for the remainder of our stay.
The week we spent in Santa Cruz on the Galapagos was unquestionably one of the most fascinating places we have ever been to. First, the air is pure with as near as you can get to zero pollution; we realized that air pollution is a major problem for Lucille. They diagnosed Lucille with Multiple Sclerosis in 1989. M,S. is an autoimmune condition. This means your immune system mistakes the myelin for a foreign substance and attacks it. The myelin becomes inflamed in patches (called plaques or lesions), which can be seen on an MRI scan.
We found that Lucille could walk further than she had walked for years. Unfortunately, we, like almost everybody in the world, cannot live in the Galapagos unless we were born there. Since that first day, we know we have to travel to Ecuador again.
The wildlife in the Galapagos is not afraid of humans, however, the law says you must not attempt to touch them. Henceforth, you can walk within a few feet of sea lions, marine and land iguanas, giant tortuous and even the pelicans you can get close to. However, it is undoubtedly a magic place and one we will travel back to one day soon.
The cost of food in Santa Cruz is more expensive than on the mainland. However, when you think they have to transport food 720 miles to the Galapagos islands and remove all rubbish back 720 miles, you expect it to cost more. Nevertheless, it is still cheap compared to lots of countries, just not as cheap as mainland Ecuador.
There is a surprising amount of wildlife in Santa Cruz, and this is a result of strict laws protecting wildlife. The Ecuadorian’s are very protective of all wildlife. You can see all the different finches that Darwin wrote about. You will see, Blue-Footed Boobies, Red-Footed Boobies and Frigate birds to name just a few.
Notwithstanding that amount of birds, the Sea Lions, marine and land iguanas, giant tortuous, crabs and all manner of fish. It is undoubtedly a special place, absolutely fantastic.
We will travel to Ecuador again because we will visit the southern coastal area. We need to check out the area from Bahía de Caráquez in the north right down to Machala in the south. Also, to check out areas with altitudes up to 5000 feet, because Lucille can handle that altitude.
Moreover, we need to know if we can add Ecuador to our list of countries to move to permanently.
The Magnificent Blue and Red-Footed Booby's
The Male and Female Frigate Birds
The magnificent frigatebird (Fregata magnificens) is a seabird of the frigatebird family Fregatidae. With a length of 89–114 centimetres (2 ft 11 in – 3 ft 9 in) and wingspan of 2.17–2.44 m (7 ft 1 in – 8 ft 0 in) it is the largest species of frigatebird. It occurs over tropical and subtropical waters off America, between northern Mexico and Perú on the Pacific coast, and between Florida and southern Brazil along the Atlantic coast.[1] There are also populations on the Galápagos Islands in the Pacific and the Cape Verde islands in the Atlantic.
The magnificent frigatebird is a large, lightly built seabird with brownish-black plumage, long narrow wings and a deeply forked tail. The male has a striking red gular sac which he inflates to attract a mate. The female is slightly larger than the male and has a white breast and belly. Frigatebirds feed on fish taken in flight from the ocean’s surface (often flying fish), and sometimes indulge in kleptoparasitism, harassing other birds to force them to regurgitate their food.
Pelicans waiting for the guts of the fish and a Flock of Flamingos flying by.
A Magnificent Land Iguna and Marine Iguanas basking in the sun
The Maria Bird joined my wife and I for breakfast every morning. Very partial to jam.
A group of nine Giant Tortoise cooling off in a pond.
A Sea Lion was about to take a dip in the hotel’s swimming pool. This happens every day, she then climbs on a sun lounger.
A Brightly Coloured Crab sitting in the sun
A Water Taxi
A water taxi that travels in and out of the small harbour of Santa Cruz. They drop people off at hotels or beautiful white sand beaches. For this reason, they are, without doubt, needed.
This beautiful, fantastic South American country was everything we had hoped it would be. The unbelievable Galapagos wildlife is something that needs to go on your bucket list. My wife and I travelled to Ecuador where we spent five and a half weeks in October 2011. We flew into Quito for twelve days before spending one week on the Galapagos Island of Santa Cruz. Then again, back to Quito for the remainder of our stay.