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   Ecuador 1; Guayaquil, Quito and Middle of the World

 

 

 

 

 

            Ecuador; it's a little country full of big scenery, friendly people, one of the most popular capital cities in South America and a medium/large sized brown dog with a limp to help him remember me.  It was in the mountains just south of Riobamba where that dog ran into my front tire and caused the accident I wrote about on August 23. 

            The Guayaquil photos are from the historical city park area but the rest of the city is very modern.  The page is completed by a trip to Mitad del Mundo, or Middle of the World park, which turns out to be a little south of the actual middle. 
 

Click on the image then look it up on YouTube.

 

First meal in Ecuador at a roadside eatery just north of the border.

Grub closeup, more dried meat with a side of rice and soup.

Guayaquil, shortly after my early evening arrival.

Guayaquil is Ecuadors largest city, with 2 million people. It's also a very modern city, with iguanas.

Cathedral in the historic section of town.

Dinner cruise boat, about $50 bucks. The humidity in Guayaquil makes it feel like a large city in Florida.

Banana plantations and shrimp farms are a huge part of the coastal economy.

These pictures are all from the historic part of town, on the edge of the river.

Each of these steering and throttle posts is a remote control for a boat in the pond, lots of fun.

Fountain.

Another part of the riverside park.

Alausi, a small town on the main highway to Riobamba.

Lunch stop.

Back in the Andes. They're lower and more tropical in Ecuador and Colombia than the highlands of Peru and Bolivia.

Mountain scenery.

Serene.

It was on this highway, about 20 minutes after this picture, when the dog accident happened.

Last one of the mountain shots before doggie d-day.

Riobamba is about 8,000 feet above sea level with a population of 150,000.

Hospital where I got x-rayed. It looks large and modern but the whole thing was closed except for the emergency room in the cold basement.

This was exposed for about 5 seconds. One second into it I cleared my throat so the beggar turned her head for the ghostly-blur effect.

From a park in the center of town.

New friends in San Miguel, on the way to Quito, where I stopped at a store for directions and a snack.

Shortly after my rainy, foggy, cold arrival to Quito.

Taken in the old colonial center of town.

Quito has about 1.5 million people and an altitude of 9,000 feet above sea level, the second highest capital in S. America, behind La Paz, Bolivia.

The Andy Warhol exhibit was closed tonight.

Mitad del Mundo National Park, about 13 miles north of Quito, a popular tourist spot.

GPS shows that it's ".129 Seconds" south of the actual equatorial line.

I asked about it and one of the park employees explained that it was about 150 meters south of the line, but this was just a better spot for the park.

This unique little museum was closed. It's centered on the actual equatorial line, just northeast of the park.

Just a foot or so south of the equator.

Short equatorial friends.

Interesting building at the park.