A bucket list completion

 Today is another one of those "never to be forgotten" days that we are lucky enough to have on many of our adventures.

"Our guy" Jaime picked us up about 0845 for our fun filled day. 

We started by going to the TeleferiQo (Sky tram) and we proceeded into the clouds about 3/4 of the way up the mountain. Quito is situated at 9350 feet to begin with and after getting off at the top we walked up to the very top which is at 13287 feet, While up there in the fog we took the opportunity to go on the swing set (which is the thing to do while there).

We get seniors discounts too (OK I am cheating by 4 days but close enough!)

Next we drove out of the city and stopped at a famous location which is an indigenous reserve located down inside an extremely fertile volcano floor (it last erupted 2000 years ago).

Next stop, THE EQUATOR,

There is the famous location of the equator (as designated a long time ago by the French scientists) and this has been built up as a large touristy area with many shops etc. and while we did go there (and took a few photos) we first went to the REAL EQUATOR which was determined (by modern GPS technology) to actual be located about 200 meters away

And here we are !!

The guide at this location was really good and she gave us a very good description of the indigenous peoples of the country and had many displays including something I have never seen before, a shrunken head of an approximately  12 year old boy from about 150 years ago. It is a little bigger than the size of my fist.

After several cool displays we went to the equator and after everyone had taken their photos...

we did little experiments exactly on the line that we really neat. Here is Caro trying to balance on egg on a nail. Neither of us could it (and neither could anyone else on our group). Of course the much practiced guide did it in a few seconds .

A VERY neat experience.

I have now completed what I call the fours corners (not really corners)

Firat I went with Dad to the  farthest north town in the world Longyearbyen(800 miles from the north pole).

Next Caro and I went went to Ushuaia Argentina (the farthest south town in the world) and this past year Caro and I were in Greenwich England and went to the 0 degree longitude line.

After returning to the city Jaime took us to the Jesus statue on the mountain near us.

Jaime is expensive (by our standards) at $160USD (cash only)  however he is so good and so wonderful that we have booked him for two days from now for an all day trip to Banos (the experiences with him are worth the cost)

I had (foolishly thought) that $1000 USD and credit cards would be sufficient for us on our trip but Jaime is getting a large portion of that (and we are just started)

When we returned to the hotel at about 4 PM I went "on line" to get tickets for our January 24th flight however I had an hour of aggravation with slow internet and a wonky airline website. Because our next two days are 10-12 hour tours we HAD to book today otherwise we would be booking on Monday for a next day flight which would be expensive. About 515 PM Caro went to the front desk and after chatting with the fellow there she got the name and location of a travel agency. Out the door we flew and we arrived 25 minutes later (rush hour traffic) at 545 PM with the agency due to close in 15 minutes. They were wonderful and got us set up for the Jan 24th flight however it took them an hour. We thanked them profusely and I note that they did charge us $90USD for their services but it took a huge load off our minds!

Upon our return we went to an area near here FULL of restaurants but we didn't see anything that grabbed us so we walked 5 or 6 blocks back to the place we went last night for another fabulous meal. While eating Caro noticed a religious procession at the church nearby. She went to watch (getting good video in the process) while I ate and watched her food grow cold!

Another great day!