The Revolt of the Chipmunks

It was a dark and stormy night when we landed in Quito.  It was around 7 pm, and raining hard.  We had not really eaten anything since a hurried lunch in Quito. 

Our man in Quito, Rodney, was there to meet us.  We get into our van, meet our driver, and Rodney announces a three hour tour of Quito that night.  In the heavy rain.  The streets are not crowned.  There are no gutters.  Given that it is the most hilly capital city I’ve ever seen, that meant every road was a rushing raging river, more suitable for whitewater rafting than driving or, more importantly, walking.

So we revolted.  Neil and Mary led the charge, with Mary serving as the point of the spear.  Rodney was nonplussed (I gotta use that word more often, it’s pretty cool!), got on his phone, and rearranged our schedules for the next day.  Going to Otavalo was ruled out, with Mary pointing out forcefully that we’ve already been to a weaving demonstration, and we were done. with weaving demonstrations.  The rest of us gave a chorus of hoots and hollers to indicate our agreement.

While writing this, I just looked up the distance to the village, Otavalo, from Quito.  One hundred kilometers.  Yes, 62 miles in a van one way, and let me tell you, the van wouldn’t be going 65 mph.  We dodged 3-4 hours of driving time the next day, as Rodney changed it so we would tour Quito in the morning and then go to the Equator.

Instead, we had a very nice dinner as the Chipmunk at the hotel.  When in Ecuador, get the potato soup.  Called Locro Quinteno, it is one of the best soups ever.  In the world.  So that means it is one of the best soups ever in the world.  And the bowl was so large I could have skipped the main course, which was supposed to be a Lamb Loin, but was so large I’m pretty sure they served the whole lamb.

By the way, we certainly had our problems with Nat Geo on this trip, but they picked excellent hotels (with the exception of the first night in Lima, but since the Wyndham is right at the airport, it was certainly a logical choice.).   In Quito, our hotel, the Casa Gangotena, was right on Plaza de San Francisco in the beating heart of the city.