Quito, Ecuador by the kids

On the 29th we took a plane from the Galapagos to Quito, Quito is the capital of Ecuador and it has 2.7 million people and an area of 372km2. When we looked out at the city from high up (the taxi to get to our hotel had to go over a hill) the city looked huge. When we got to the hotel we put our stuff down and went to look around, we found a nice restaurant, had dinner there and then we went home and then went to sleep.
On the 30th we went out to have breakfast and Emma got a little altitude sickness and then we went to a supermarket and got some food. Quito has some steep roads so it’s hard to climb and it’s really high up from sea level so it’s hard to breath, after that we went back to the room and did some school work and games, but then it started raining. I was looking out the window at the rain and then I saw something, it was falling with the rain, it was little and white, it was little bits of hail, we went out and looked, it was covering the streets. It was very cool, (cool like awesome cool and cool like cold cool). When it stopped we went out to a restaurant and dad had Guinee Pig, a full one, I tried it and it was tough and not that good. I got an absolutely fabulously marvellously amazingly mouthwatering pork belly, It was sort of fat and it had delicious meat. There was also an amazing peanut sauce, it was the best peanut sauce I’ve ever had, after that we went to the room and went to sleep.
On the 1st we went to a big church that had a thing where you can go up in the big spires, it was awesome, we got to walk in the roof, we were above the cement bit but under the wooden bit, we then went right up to the top of the tower and it was a really good view. After that we went to independence square, it had lots of fountains and some plants. We went inside a church and it was really cool we looked around and there was lots of gold coloured stuff, we also went up to the dome at the top, it was a lovely view, we looked around and enjoyed it. After that we went t to another church that had even more gold than the last one, everything was gold, no exceptions, cool. After that we went to a cable car up the mountain, mum didn’t like it that much, when we got up the mountain it was a magnificent view. We hiked for a bit across the mountain and we saw a swing that was a bit close to the edge of the hill so I swung on it, it was cool. After that when we were walking back it started lightly rain and then I noticed that there where tiny balls of hail falling to, when we got back to the room we went to sleep.
On the 2nd we went to Pululahua (it’s a volcano), we hiked down for a bit and then we decided to go up again because it was too hard, when we got up we went to the middle of the world, also known as the equator. When we got there it only cost $15 altogether to get in, there is a big monument that has the first letters of Cardinal Directions. We looked around at some museums, there was a line that went across the whole place and it separated the hemispheres. Now my parents want me to do some research about this place so I will. The middle of the world is called Ciudad Mitad del Mundo in Spanish. The Equator was first mapped out by a French geodesic expedition team that was led by an explorer named Charles-Marie de La Comdamine in the year of 1736. It was mapped out by them but first discovered by the Incas, the monument is actually not on the equator the equator is 240 meters away and is on a ravine, so that area is not really buildable. Ecuador was named after the equator, funny. Of all the time we spent at this place I probably crossed the northern and southern hemisphere like 50 time. After that we went to the taxi and drove home and slept.
On the 3rd we went to Mindo, in the cloud forest, the first thing we did was went to a butterfly park, there where so many butterflies, there were some cocoons that there had butterflies coming out every five minutes. It was really cool, I had a butterfly land on my head, it felt weird. After that we went to a zipline place, Emma wasn’t that sure about it but at the end they turned out to love it, we did a tour of 10 ziplines witch altogether was 3600 meters. The first zipline was 500 meters, the next one wasn’t that big but the one after that was also 500 meters. Around zipline number 6 we saw a really interesting bird, a toucan. There were two toucans there, and in a tree we didn’t see them but we heard them, baby toucans. The guide said the adult toucans are always there because of the babies. At the end we then went to a cable car which went over to another side of a ravine and then we went on a hike to a water fall, on the way down it started raining, and we didn’t bring our coats. When we got down to the waterfall it looked really nice, me and Emma chucked some rocks in the water then we went back up and went back home and went to sleep.
On the 4th we took the underground to a mall where we got Emma a pandora, It was US$210 which is AUD$317, in other words, too much. After that we had brunch in the mall and then we went to a park, There were lots of basketball courts and soccer fields, there was also a huge playground and an old plane on display. The park is 670,000 square meters big, we kept walking and we saw some art, then we went to a botanical garden. We saw lots of plants and cool stuff, then we went home and did blog then at night we went out to a pub. We had some drinks and then we started an Uno: no mercy game, Uno: no mercy is an incredibly cut throat game, the one we played went for 1 and a half hour, and we didn’t finish it, we just gave up and we declared me the winner. Whatever mum, dads or Emma’s blog says don’t believe them we totally declared me the winner. After that we went home and went to sleep.
Andrew (10 years old)

On the 29th we took a plane to Quito from the Galapagos.
On the 30th we had breakfast out. I spewed up belly acid, and it stung like hell. It did not taste well either. Then we did shopping. Up on the hill where we were staying, it was pretty hard to breathe. Then we went back home, and it HAILED!!!!!!!!!!!! We did schoolwork and played a bit of games. For dinner we went to a nice restaurant. Dad tried Guinea pig. I didn’t like it that much. I had a burger. They gave me gloves to put on. It is funny to eat a burger with gloves on. It was a good burger. It had meat, cheese, onion and a bunch of other yummy stuff on it.
On the 1st we went into a massive church. We went up the towers. Mum and Andrew went all the way up except a tiny little bit. To get up the last little bit you had to climb steep steps. Me and dad did it. Mum didn’t do it because it was too high. And Andrew didn’t go up for other reasons. Then we visited a famous square that had fountains. There was also another church. Then we walked around the city. There are small grocery stores scattered all over the place. A few big buildings. Then we took a taxi to a cable car. We went up and up and up! it was so cool. We saw all the buildings getting smaller and smaller. When you look left all you can see is city. When you look right you see city. It is massive. Then we went on a swing that was at the top of the mountain. Then we had dinner at home.
On the 2nd we went to a place called Pululahua volcano. We walked and walked. The path was surrounded by bushes. It was nice to walk in nature. We stopped halfway down the volcano because mum mentioned how hard it would be to back UP the volcano. Then we visited the middle of the world. It is called Mitad del Mondo. Did you know? The Equator is not a line, it is stripe. Did you know? The monument on the equator is thirty metres high not including the massive globe on top. Did you know? In 1979 the monument started being built and it finished in 1982. The monument was built to commemorate the French for their work in the 18th century on the Geodesic mission. Geodesic means the shape of the earth. The earths shape is a sphere just squished. I think that a giant alien stepped on earth and flattened it a bit. That is how the big boom was created. We saw quite a lot of stuff actually. We saw Alpacas, we saw a model of Quito, a few museums. It was fun. Then me and Andrew played on a turning swing.
On the 3rd we drove for two hours. Then we arrived at a butterfly sanctuary. There were so many different types of butterflies. It was really pretty. Then we did ten ziplines. When we were lining up to do the first zipline, I said I did not want to do it anymore. Me and mum got into an argument and mum ended up forcing me to do it. I went with mum on nine of them and on the tenth I went with a guide. It was cool to go ziplining over cloud forest. On the first few I was holding on to mum very tightly but after that I was comfortable, and I enjoy it very much. It was the coolest day of my life. It kept getting higher and higher. Then we took a cable car over a river. We did a trek up a waterfall and played a bit there. But when we were trekking back, it started to rain. We still got drenched even if we had umbrellas. It was really cold.
On the 4th we went to a shopping centre and bought my pandora charm for Ecuador. I got an avocado charm. I was happy to get my pandora then because it was our ninth month on the road. Three months left to go. I can’t believe it, it’s almost over. Aarrrrhh. Then we went to a park. we saw some Bonsai trees. They were beautiful. I decided to get a bonsai tree when I get home. Then we went to a pub. We played one board game because it lasted one and a half hours.
On the 5th we did blog. Then we had a movie night.
Emma (9 years old)Read more