Today we took a tour of the capitol of the country of Ecuador, Quito. Quito was founded as the first UNESCO city in 1974 and has been the political center of the country for years. The city is located essentially on the equator in a large valley that seems to be ever expanding in terms of development. Quito is a very large and densely populated city. There are also many thieves throughout this city so on the tour I did not take much with me on the tour, just myself and my notebook. Every other day I carried around my backpack with everything I could possibly need in it including my passport cash and hydration pack, along with my go pro. Today the GoPro didn’t make it. Looking back on it I wish that I did bring it with me because I missed out on a lot of good videos to be taken.
Anyway, we started our tour at the Basilica del Voto Nacional, this church was huge and very well known throughout the country. The Gargoyles on the sides of the church were local species such as, the iguana, boobie, and turtles. Pope John Paul II also blessed this church which gives it even more significance. From the bottom we climbed all the way up to the top. The first set of stairs to climb were normal stairs and inside the structure of the church then we got high enough and had to walk across this sketchy wooden platform that took us to a ladder at the end in which we climbed up and it took us outside, from here we climbed two more sets of ladders until we got to the lookout point located between the two steeples. Here we talked a little nit more about the city itself and the issues within. The city is located in a valley and like I mentioned earlier is seems as if the city is always growing, development can be seen from miles and miles in the distance and people will build houses where ever they possibly can. One of the problems/ risk that people ignore is building on the hillsides. Many times, when building on these hillsides the housing infrastructure becomes very unstable due to the lack of proper sewage management which eventually leaks into the soils and breaks down the soils causing land slides that take out not only the house that caused it to happen but various other houses on the same hill as well. This is a big problem in the area as more and more people are beginning to build on this type of land. Another issue that they face in Quito is the transportation system. Right now, they have a very intricate bus system that is used throughout the city, but with the expanding population they must expand this as well. Currently they are making a tunnel that goes under the volcanic bubble on which the Virgin Mary statue is on to expedite routes. We also discussed the smog that we could see that was reaching miles and miles and limiting our visibility. Tait told us that thus was Photochemical smog which is when NO2 turns into NO and O and is spread due to the sun’s light. This kind of smog is responsible for bright orange sunsets due to a large amount of pollution which pushes the reaction forward at a faster rate. Tait also mentioned to us how the north side of the city has more vertical buildings and how they are much sturdier because they are build on bedrock as opposed to the 60 ft of soil the hillside houses are built on.
We then climbed all the way back down to the bottom and moved on to the next part of the tour (the way down was so much worse than the way up). We then continued walking and came upon the Main square of Quito in which we were surrounded by government buildings. We were going to try to tour the Ecuadorian equivalent of the white house however they were closed for tours for the day so we just got to see the outside and hear a little history. We then continued on to the “Jewelry of South America” this was a church that use 8 tons of gold in its decoration. Everything and I mean everything in the church was plated in gold, it was pretty breath taking. This church was declared as the most beautiful church in South America by UNESCO, I can absolutely see why. From here we took a trip to the top of the volcanic bubble where the big virgin Mary statue was located. Here I talked to Tait about the potential for renewable energy to be established in Quito and he explained to me how reliant this city was on natural gas and oil for energy and went on to tell me that they would not even consider solar power due to how reliant they are on oil and natural gas and due to how much money it generates for the government. Very very sad in my opinion.
After our tour of the city was over we went to get on a cable car ride to the top of Pichincha to see the overview of the surrounding area, I was not a huge fan of this cable car at all but I guess it was ok because I made it alive. The ride lasted about 20 minutes, so I was pretty nerve wracking but all in all it was ok. We made it to the top and the views were out of this world, it blew my mind. It was also pretty cool because at the top there were so many things to do n terms of hiking and exploring and whatnot, however it started to rain a bit and get cold, so we did not stay at the top for very long. When we got back down to the bottom we went over to the Pacari Chocolate factory for a tasting and to learn about the company itself. Pacari is an all-natural/organic chocolate company that produces real chocolate with the use of the Ecuadorian National Cacao fruit only and not the CCN-51 fruit. The company values the farmers that provide them with their main ingredient and are committed to treating these people and their families extremely well. Pacari spends much more on the fruits than many other chocolate companies because they care about the well being of these farmer and families, however they don’t just pay anyone, the company must screen the fruit and check the process multiple times throughout their relationship with the farmer to ensure that they are getting the best possible product and that it is worth the extra money that they are shelling out for it. The company is very respectable and has extremely sound core values. Once we learned a bit about the company we got a tasting of 8 different types of chocolate featuring different flavoring and concentrations of pure cacao. I am not the biggest chocolate fan in the world, so the tasting was not very appealing to me, but I did it anyway! It was just so hard for me to differentiate between the different chocolates unless there was a bold hit you right in the face flavor compared to others. Overall everyone loved this trip and we learned a lot about the company and the good they do for the community and what they stand for which is: Excellence.
We then headed back to the hotel to put our stuff down so that we could go experience the bus system. It is crazy how efficient and fast it is in terms of getting you from one-point t the other due to the specific lanes for the busses only. However, while they were quick and efficient they were extremely hectic, it was like a bunch of sardines being squeezed into a can, you legitimately had no room to even move because there were so many people. This is why we went back to the hotel first to put stuff down to protect against thieves. The thing that was moist crazy to me was how fast the bus moved from stop to stop, the driver would open the door for legit 3-5 seconds and then close it and immediately start driving. Our side was packed but when we were stopped I was able to see the bus on the north bound side and that bus was even more packed. People must miss their stops all the time. Luckily, we all made it out on our stop and made it back to the hotel safely.
We then went out to dinner in the city, Tait took us to an area where it was along walk with a bunch of restaurants on either side of us. We went to multiple restaurants to look at them before settling on one of them. The food ended up being gross and 100% is the reason why I ended up getting sick the next day. How fun J Other than that It was a great day exploring and learning about the nation’s capital!
Anyway, we started our tour at the Basilica del Voto Nacional, this church was huge and very well known throughout the country. The Gargoyles on the sides of the church were local species such as, the iguana, boobie, and turtles. Pope John Paul II also blessed this church which gives it even more significance. From the bottom we climbed all the way up to the top. The first set of stairs to climb were normal stairs and inside the structure of the church then we got high enough and had to walk across this sketchy wooden platform that took us to a ladder at the end in which we climbed up and it took us outside, from here we climbed two more sets of ladders until we got to the lookout point located between the two steeples. Here we talked a little nit more about the city itself and the issues within. The city is located in a valley and like I mentioned earlier is seems as if the city is always growing, development can be seen from miles and miles in the distance and people will build houses where ever they possibly can. One of the problems/ risk that people ignore is building on the hillsides. Many times, when building on these hillsides the housing infrastructure becomes very unstable due to the lack of proper sewage management which eventually leaks into the soils and breaks down the soils causing land slides that take out not only the house that caused it to happen but various other houses on the same hill as well. This is a big problem in the area as more and more people are beginning to build on this type of land. Another issue that they face in Quito is the transportation system. Right now, they have a very intricate bus system that is used throughout the city, but with the expanding population they must expand this as well. Currently they are making a tunnel that goes under the volcanic bubble on which the Virgin Mary statue is on to expedite routes. We also discussed the smog that we could see that was reaching miles and miles and limiting our visibility. Tait told us that thus was Photochemical smog which is when NO2 turns into NO and O and is spread due to the sun’s light. This kind of smog is responsible for bright orange sunsets due to a large amount of pollution which pushes the reaction forward at a faster rate. Tait also mentioned to us how the north side of the city has more vertical buildings and how they are much sturdier because they are build on bedrock as opposed to the 60 ft of soil the hillside houses are built on.
We then climbed all the way back down to the bottom and moved on to the next part of the tour (the way down was so much worse than the way up). We then continued walking and came upon the Main square of Quito in which we were surrounded by government buildings. We were going to try to tour the Ecuadorian equivalent of the white house however they were closed for tours for the day so we just got to see the outside and hear a little history. We then continued on to the “Jewelry of South America” this was a church that use 8 tons of gold in its decoration. Everything and I mean everything in the church was plated in gold, it was pretty breath taking. This church was declared as the most beautiful church in South America by UNESCO, I can absolutely see why. From here we took a trip to the top of the volcanic bubble where the big virgin Mary statue was located. Here I talked to Tait about the potential for renewable energy to be established in Quito and he explained to me how reliant this city was on natural gas and oil for energy and went on to tell me that they would not even consider solar power due to how reliant they are on oil and natural gas and due to how much money it generates for the government. Very very sad in my opinion.
After our tour of the city was over we went to get on a cable car ride to the top of Pichincha to see the overview of the surrounding area, I was not a huge fan of this cable car at all but I guess it was ok because I made it alive. The ride lasted about 20 minutes, so I was pretty nerve wracking but all in all it was ok. We made it to the top and the views were out of this world, it blew my mind. It was also pretty cool because at the top there were so many things to do n terms of hiking and exploring and whatnot, however it started to rain a bit and get cold, so we did not stay at the top for very long. When we got back down to the bottom we went over to the Pacari Chocolate factory for a tasting and to learn about the company itself. Pacari is an all-natural/organic chocolate company that produces real chocolate with the use of the Ecuadorian National Cacao fruit only and not the CCN-51 fruit. The company values the farmers that provide them with their main ingredient and are committed to treating these people and their families extremely well. Pacari spends much more on the fruits than many other chocolate companies because they care about the well being of these farmer and families, however they don’t just pay anyone, the company must screen the fruit and check the process multiple times throughout their relationship with the farmer to ensure that they are getting the best possible product and that it is worth the extra money that they are shelling out for it. The company is very respectable and has extremely sound core values. Once we learned a bit about the company we got a tasting of 8 different types of chocolate featuring different flavoring and concentrations of pure cacao. I am not the biggest chocolate fan in the world, so the tasting was not very appealing to me, but I did it anyway! It was just so hard for me to differentiate between the different chocolates unless there was a bold hit you right in the face flavor compared to others. Overall everyone loved this trip and we learned a lot about the company and the good they do for the community and what they stand for which is: Excellence.
We then headed back to the hotel to put our stuff down so that we could go experience the bus system. It is crazy how efficient and fast it is in terms of getting you from one-point t the other due to the specific lanes for the busses only. However, while they were quick and efficient they were extremely hectic, it was like a bunch of sardines being squeezed into a can, you legitimately had no room to even move because there were so many people. This is why we went back to the hotel first to put stuff down to protect against thieves. The thing that was moist crazy to me was how fast the bus moved from stop to stop, the driver would open the door for legit 3-5 seconds and then close it and immediately start driving. Our side was packed but when we were stopped I was able to see the bus on the north bound side and that bus was even more packed. People must miss their stops all the time. Luckily, we all made it out on our stop and made it back to the hotel safely.
We then went out to dinner in the city, Tait took us to an area where it was along walk with a bunch of restaurants on either side of us. We went to multiple restaurants to look at them before settling on one of them. The food ended up being gross and 100% is the reason why I ended up getting sick the next day. How fun J Other than that It was a great day exploring and learning about the nation’s capital!