2025-01-08 Toggle map

Close to the Sun

A person sitting on the "i" of big steel letters spelling "Quito", with mountains and the afternoon sun in the background We stayed in Quito for a few days in order to acclimatize ourselves to the altitude of the Andes again.

Plaza San Francisco, surrounded by colonial style buildings and a hill with a monument on it in the back A descending cobblestone street lined with colonial style buildings and a view of the city in the valley and on the opposite mountains Stretched out between a number of volcanoes, the city offers plenty of colonial style architecture and narrow streets in a mountainous setting.

Various cacti between rocks under a transparent roof with disco balls between them It's also home to a very beautiful botanical garden with numerous orchids, carnivorous plants and this cactus party between shady trees.

A bird looking like someone mixed a chicken with an eagle standing on a rock and looking at the photographer, with mountain peaks covered by clouds in the background Another attraction in Quito is the TeleferiQo, a cable car taking passengers from 3117 to 3945 meters above sea level in just a few minutes. After gaining an additional 750 meters of elevation by hiking, we met this curious Carunculated Caracara at the peak of Rucu Pichincha, a former volcano.

Panorama of the city of Quito behind some Andean grass from a mountain, spectacularly framed by mixed sun and clouds The view improved significantly on our way back. When we left the cloudy summit, we were able to enjoy an impressive panorama of the city nad its surrounding nature!

A yellow line on a stone walkway leading up to a massive looking stone tower with steel globe on its top Last but not least, we had to visit the monument at La Mitad del Mundo marking the equator where it was estimated before GPS was a thing.