Curacao ... cure a what?

Don't expect much to change daily....

This post will be brief in it's entirety... although here for a week we have mainly concentrated on our impersonation of Sloths... after seeing some in Panama we too wanted to chill out all day, every day!

After the early departure from Panama following a flight change, we had a smooth uneventful flight back-tracking to Bogòta airport. Once arriving we thought it all seemed quite quiet for such a large airport... until the PA system advised the airport is closed!

Hence the answer as to why our flights had been changed, some scheduled infrastructure work closing down the runway over a few hours. This meant we now had 7 hours to fill in inside the airport as transit passengers, but all good.

Flight into Curacao was a bit late, which meant it was 9pm by the time we arrived at our apartment after collecting rental car... drive a little stressful in the dark, first time driving for 8 weeks and it's left hand drive, and a bit of typical "island driving" by the locals is evident!

Why Curacao... and what is it....

The reason we are spending a week here is due to Home exchange. A couple utilised our Arrowtown cottage 18 months ago, and we are owed time in their holiday apartment. We have been able to work it in with this trip, why not!

Curacao is part of the former Dutch Antilles territories, or often known as the ABC Islands. Aruba is probably the most well known, then Bonaire and Curacao, which is now an autonomous Netherlands region in itself. Lying north of the Venezuela coast in the Caribbean Sea, Curacao has a large port located at the main city of Willemstad, which is an historic fort site guarding the large natural inland harbour. The population is over 160,000.

Due to it's Netherlands association the island is very popular with Dutch holiday makers, evidenced by the large number of families here during the current school holiday period... a little surprising given it is the Northern Hemisphere summer.... because.... boy it's hot (29-32C, 24/7), makes us realise how cold Panama was😎

Historically the influences show from Europe (various kingdoms having control), the picture postcard houses and buildings have a definite European look. Many date from the 1700's although you wouldn't necessarily pick it as they are brightly painted, and always have been.

Early export earnings were salt, which was in itself the reason other ventures failed as various crop growing experiments didn't like the salt levels. These ventures hinted at by the large historic plantation houses located across the island. In the 1700's slavery was a large industry with slaves transported ex Africa, and spent 2 years here being "educated" before being onsold to the USA etc.

More recently oil has been a major industry, mainly on the refining side. This has had a turbulent history but still operates with Venezuelan connections/partnership. The dubious honour of being in the world top 5 locations for CO2 emissions!, although we didn't notice that.

Tourism is large, and growing, including a mainly short stop point for cruise ships. This island group, being close to South America mainland, has advantages as it is out of the hurricane belt.

Spending time....

As hinted, not much to report on. We spent our time exploring the island or just slothing at the apartment. The complex has 6 apartments, surrounding a lovely pool area. As it is off season (hard to believe) we are the only holiday guests so got the largest apartment and the pool to ourselves😁🏊‍♂️

A resident, very friendly, cat along with resident Iguana's.... who don't necessarily get on. The cat, optimistically, stalking an Iguana which results in the Iguana diving in the pool, waiting it out underwater then climbing out when "safe"!

Around 1 1/2 hours drive from one end of the island to other. Explored various beaches, the downtown bit etc. Went back to selected beaches on a couple of different days. Got sunburnt!!, not sure how but snorkelling was captivating so probably overdid it.

Great dining options, many of the scattered beach resorts have a range of choices.

Language was easy as everyone multi lingual, they would initially start in Dutch or the native language.... and then seamlessly switch to English on seeing our blank faces.

A very relaxing time.... but we are looking forward to getting back into more active touring. An interesting country to have visited.

Row row row your boat, gently down the stream

You can leave your (Panama) hat on

Panama.... it's hot!

Arrived in Panama early and met at airport by pre arranged taxi transfer. At our hotel by 11am, luckily got into our room straight away. Did I mention it's hot?

28-29 C and that was to prove continuous day and night, lovely though as it's our first consistent heat for our trip.

Our hotel is in the district of Casco Viejo, the old part of town, and wow... the buildings are all old colonial type from the 1600/1700's. Some in use whilst others just the shell, although facades have been reinforced/propped up and stabilised by the owners or the government. The area was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1997 , since then serious refurbishment has got underway but prior to that it was largely empty and gangs ruled the area. The area is now hotels, restaurants, cafe's,  ice cream shops and souvenir shops (ie Panama hats), and lots of construction. But not overpowering of any facet and is a stunning and scenic area to be in.

This was a bit of luck as we had been booked in a different area of the city but had made a last minute change based on location.

                            View from hotel balcony

Spent the afternoon exploring the old town, it's a great area. In 5 to 10 years time we are guessing it will be "the" place to be, just still a few gaps at this stage. A pressing priority after 7 weeks travelling was haircuts, yes Noel's lustrous locks included. Whilst Caro termed her trim as "it'll do till I get home" Noel was treated to the full 5 star treatment by the barber of panama, a humorous chap who was quick to scold if questioned. Not quite the same as the quick run over with the razor at home😎 We probably did pretty well given none of the staff spoke English, and another client or a workman on the street outside were called upon to translate what they could.

Can ships climb stairs?

Saturday was Panama canal day! First stop the museum on main square....

This museum covered the background and early construction period by the French in the 1880's, until they ran out of money and men. The USA then took over the project, (1904) a few steps ahead as they were able to combat the Yellow Fever and Malaria that had killed so many (thousands) in earlier times. So it was finished (1914) but in USA control/ownership. Transferred back into Panama ownership on 31 December 1999. The canal is now the major earner for the country, with additional locks opened in 2016 to cater for modern mega-ships and doubling capacity.

In the afternoon we taxied to Miraflores Locks (the original part) to see it all in action. Fairly slow action but it was pretty cool to see. For Noel ... the exciting conclusion to his year 9 school project! Viewed some massive container ships going through, very impressive being so close. The ship crew members photographing the watching crowds, as the crowds photographed them.

          Ship 1 in lock before lowering

 Ship 2 pre lowering, whist to the left ship 1 as per first photo) has been lowered.

Also witness to a massive thunderstorm, which appears to be a daily afternoon occurrence once inland slightly, as it is the wet season....and it happened every afternoon that we were there!! Although other days we could only hear the performance in the distance.

These boots are made for walking...

Sunday morning was free walking tour day of the old town area that we were in. Did we say it's hot? Not the original town site but it was established here in 1673 for positional defense when pirates became active in the area. They were attracted by the gold and precious metals that the Spanish were extracting from South America, and then transporting overland across the narrow Panamian Isthmus to their waiting Galleons. It didn't take the pirates long to work out the prime pickings available

So the town was established with accompanying church's, elegant buildings etc. Once the canal was completed the new city became established further along the coast and away from the established modern American quarter near the canal. The old town located between the two became abandoned to slums and gangs, as per our opening description.

During the afternoon we walked from Casco Viejo old town to the new city part, ie under the skyline so famous for Panama, along a seaside walk/cycle trail, around 4km. So many highrises, casino's etc. Had lunch at a food court and back home. Being Sunday the walkway area was humming with lots of locals out enjoying their time.

If you go down to the woods today...

After saying no more early starts we organised one ourselves! A 6.15am pickup for a tour of Soberania National Park (a rain forest park), we were the only ones on the tour led by an enthusiastic guide Miguel. The drive to the park took about 45 minutes... but this was halfway across the country, no wonder this was the logical crossing point for foot and later canal.

The early start meant we did see lots of life, ably pointed out by Miguel, as we walked a 5km trail. If we had done it solo we probably would have been oblivious! Spotted were a sloth (sleeping of course), howler monkeys (they make a racket, almost scary, particularly after Miguel called them out... bit like stag roaring), frogs (including one poisonous, very!), lizards, a tarantula, couple of large rodent type animals (Tamandua and a large guinea pig type called Cavidae),a squirrel, a crocodile (at a distance), butterflies plus lots of birds including 3 types of Toucan and some bittern types (which got Miguel very excited as he seldom sees this rare variety). All up a great excursion and a nice excursion outside of the city, at the same time seeing a little more of the canal, as the park entrance is beside Lake Gatun which the ships traverse between locks. This is the highest point of the canal at 26masl.

An afternoon of relaxing and forward planning, before heading for a bit more old town exploring and another of the nearby rooftop bars for sundowners!

Hill views, bike rides and packing

Our final day in Panama, in reality probably a day more than required but we had been caught out by a change in flight dates we had not initially been notified of. However we filled in the day splendidly...

Caught a taxi to nearby hill base, Ancon Hill, and walked up. It was hot, in case that hasn't been mentioned. Once you pass around 40masl the humidity just ramps up! (Sweaty!!!) Hill is only about 200m high but as it is the only one in city it gives a great overview of area, city, old town, canal, port and Bridge of the Americas which spans the canal.

Once back down we negotiated with another taxi driver (normally get ride for 1/2 their initial offer ... with the resulting fare we understand to be about 2x the locals rate!). They have no meter, but supposedly a rate card based on zones... we are yet to see one.

This ride took us to the Amador Causeway, quite close ie walking distance but that safety issue through the route takes over. The causeway was formed by the spoil from canal works and links the mainland to 3 small islands. Now quite upmarket and the causeway and it's footpaths/cycle lanes is very smart and scenic.

We hired a couple of bikes and rode to the end. Lunched on ice creams and then returned via a visit to a Smithsonian research base which has a public display area with animal viewing. Turtles, starfish, frogs, iguana, raccoons and a sloth (once again, sleeping) all spotted.

Dropped bikes, taxi back the short distance to Casco Viejo then an early meal before our now well practiced pack in preparation for our early departure...another one after we were advised our flight times were changed late notice (after we gloatingly said we had the last behind us!).

In overall summary it has been a fascinating stop. The canal museum had given great details on not only the canal construction but the various phases of political history throughout. The 60's thru to 1990s friction between Panama and the USA, including unnecessary physical violence and repercussions made interesting reading.

It is a real shame the city is disjointed from a tourism viewpoint, with taxi rides the only realistic method of moving through the "bad" areas. And those taxi rides in themselves being adventure tourism as you have to negotiate the fare... in a foreign language.

Although we had initially been sceptical of the constant warnings, it was obvious to see how poor the neighbouring El Chorilla areas are. Very threatening looking, although there was a police, army presence. The taxi drivers would auto lock the doors as we entered! No doubt you could walk through during daylight... but we aren't that intrepid, it was by far the worst we have seen to date. Tourism police presence within Casco Viejo was high and it subsequently felt quite safe although we did witness one, homeless and very distraught, chap being evicted from the zone. There was still a local population but it was small, any sign of noise and the police seemed to appear.

So farewell to Panama, an enjoyable stay if somewhat frustrating from the viewpoint of those of us who enjoy exploring by walking and biking.

Colombia... forget your Netflix impressions

Buenos Dias Big City

Arriving mid morning in the huge city (10.5 million population) of Bogota, Colombia, we were met by a friend of our home exchange partner who delivered us to the apartment.  An upscale neighbourhood, the embassy section of town with obvious wealth... for example a Maserati dealership along the street.

A sense of space.... bigger than a hotel room!

Rolling in the big bucks, 80,000 Pesos (equivalent $42 NZD)

The apartment is large and lovely, beautifully furnished, and it is fantastic to have space, a kitchen, and a laundry to do our own washing, as well as a neighbouring supermarket after 6+ weeks in hotel rooms.

We spent the first day doing said laundry and exploring the area. A large, very westernised shopping mall with top end stores.... Caro debated a Gucci bag but couldn't find the matching shoes... and the whole area packed with appealing restaurants.

First impressions... wow!

To the market we shall go...

We walked (1 hour) to the suburb of Usaquen, a nice area of old colonial buildings with lots of craft market stalls. Apart from a rain shower, and being repeatedly approached by umbrella salesmen (with reducing prices as the sky cleared!), this was a great way to fill in the afternoon.

Immediately we have noticed how friendly and approachable most of the locals are.... A couple of different occasions when English speaking Bogotarian's heard us struggling with the language they stepped in to assist.

For our evening meal we hit the town and selected a pizza restaurant.. the laughing waitress immediately swapping the menu for an English one as soon as we said Buenos Tardes.... We get the words out but the Kiwi accent blows it. Although few of the locals in this area, and we discovered Colombia in general, speak English they good natureably join in the pointing and gestulating we do to portray our desperate pleas!

Get on ya bike...

Our first taxi expedition armed with our various written notes to show drivers on where we wanted to go, and our homeward address ,we set off with a bit of trepidation. Various stories/reports exist of Colombian taxi drivers. The small, mainly Hyundai, taxis are everywhere amongst the highly congested traffic... (laws are in place for alternate days of allowed car use based on odd/even number plates but not sure if it helps..). and we just would flag down an empty one. Over some 6 trips the price evened out very well, although a couple tried to charge independent of the meter... one of which we bailed out of before he moved/locked doors. If you can pick a clean, newer, vehicle (similarly the driver... younger and tidy) it seemed to help.

We had researched and booked a space on a Bogòta Bike tour, and what a great choice it turned out to be. Although the bikes were showing the effects of much use the tour was very well run, a friendly and knowledgeable guide, and because of the large (18) group, 2 bike mechanics and a graffiti expert accompanied to marshall the group and stop traffic etc (to resultant honking at times).

Starting in the historic precinct, covering basic Colombian history (old and recent) the tour moved through the modern financial district (A minefield full of recent history including a Narcos TV series site) , the red light district (an eye full) and stopped at both a coffee factory and the large local fruit and veg market (a tummy full). We were given tastings of a huge range of fruits... many never seen before... and the opportunity of "real Colombian coffee".

Returning back to central city a sample of some of the impressive street art (more about that later) and a final stop to sample the national sport of Tejo... involving beer and throwing a heavy metal disc at gunpowder... the more beer the better the aim and explosions apparently.!!!

A great day, and Caro had the privilege of being given "Verna", the only nana bike amongst the, mainly young, group!

Ironically we had met an ex pat New Zealander beside the start point of the tour, and then saw him again as we finished the day. The ex Howick, Auckland, chap was all on for a yarn and cracking up at our phrases as he is obviously missing home a little... has an ex wife of Bolivian descent and a couple of sons, so although they had lived in NZ for a period he now owns his own cafe. Since he wasn't open he pointed us in the direction of a good local restaurant for dinner.

A night at the museum (well, a couple of hours in the afternoon)

A wet morning, we were told the temperatures are constant but the amount of rain is the variant. High altitude and surrounded by forest it is not surprising. We spent part of the morning catching up on a bit of forward planning then into the city centre once the rain cleared.

First up a visit to the Museo de Oro (The Gold Museum) which gave a very good insight into the evolution of precious metals but also a lot on the areas history pre Spanish domination.  This proved to be relevant to us over the next day, especially the rituals and value placed on gold and it's manufacture in precious jewellery.  An extremely well presented display and modern museum.

After a bite to eat it was a walk to the bottom terminal of a cable car which lifted us up to the summit of Montserrat, overlooking part of the huge city. A large Spanish Roman Catholic church is here, built over top of what was a sacred site to local indigenous people. This practice of the Spanish was to impose their domination and we have seen this historical action everywhere in South America. A rather sad part of world history really. But stunning views before heading down... and back to the apartment, TAXI !!!!

A day in the country

After debating a number of options, and sadly deciding we really couldn't justify a 2 day trip to a renowned village of Villa de Leyva which we really wanted to do, we headed out of the city for the day. Another friend of our home exchange partner is a travel agent/guide and had offered her services. Monica was very good, has just relocated back to Bogòta, and was keen to take us on what we think was a bit of a training run for her (but this in no way detracted from the trip).

First up a trip up and over the mountains neighbouring the city. A visually stunning area and surprisingly full of very flash houses. Explained to us that a lot of these are weekend retreats for wealthy Bogotarian's and are scattered throughout still quite traditional, and poor, rural communities in many cases. A country of contrasts.

First visit was to Guatavita Lagoon, a crater lake 60 km north east of Bogota, sacred to the indigenous Muisca people. This is the centre of what evolved as the legend of El Dorado (the Gold man or after that the lost city of gold).

Whenever a new king was inaugurated (a fascinating story in itself of the selection to ensure correct bloodlines... not the son of the deceased king, but his nephew by a sister,  to ensure no playing around had occurred that risked a non direct descendent🙄) a ceremony occurred on the lake.

The new king was taken onto the lake adorned in gold jewellery,  gold headpiece, gold body shields and covered in gold flake. He then submerged in the lake to arise free of all the gold i.e. it had been removed to fall into the lake as an offering.

Successive generations of this occurred, then the Spanish invaders heard and obviously wanted the gold (hence the Dorado legend)...

The lagoon was then attempted to be drained... A huge undertaking but appeared to partially work. The cutting is obvious and deep. Estimates are the lagoon was lowered some 10 metres. The Gold in the Museum of Gold in Bogòta includes some of the salvaged pieces, although it is thought the 37000 pieces in the Museum are only some 10% of what would have been looted by the Spanish!

The lagoon site is still very much sacred to the local tribal descendants.  We were fortunate to have a Muisca guide, translated by our guide, who gave great information.

A lunch stop ensured, traditional Colombian fare called Bandela Palsa but not completely to our liking... not great fans of blood sausage. Our lunch restaurant was opposite a large theme park type complex Parque Jaime Duque, looking similar to a cross between a huge mosque and a Moscow replica. A legacy of one of Colombias early aviation leader's.

The afternoon visit was to the mining town of Zipaquira and the Salt Cathedral, Catedeal de Salt de Zipaquira. Carved into the now disused section of a huge underground salt mine it was quite incredible. After passing the stations of the cross on the 200m descent you emerge in the huge underground space. Acoustics are quite stunning, it is regularly used for services, weddings etc... although we were left unsure as to how the bride would toddle down on high heels.

One of the most tourist and religious sites in Colombia, the history is long. Salt mining has been happening in the area for centuries. Around 1932 the miners carved a salt sanctuary in the mine so they could worship and ask for protection daily. During the 1950's a new area was created but was subsequently closed for safety reasons in the early 90's, but then reopened in 1995 after extensive renovation and extension. The underground cathedral has 3 naves; birth, death and creation. A dome roof has also been carved on one section.

Although we are not religious types it was still a stunning space, and simply amazing.

There's no such thing as a free lunch

Our final full day involved a double whammy of free walking tours. Heading into the historic centre of Bogòta first up was simply called Bogota tour ... one of 3 options offered by the company.  Hugely popular it is apparent this form of tourism is growing in popularity. This is the 3rd one we have done in South America and they are in many major cities of the world. A tip at the end is strongly suggested, we have been happy to do so as they are great, for the enthusiastic guides.

Covering a compact portion of the inner city this tour covered history, both from pre Spanish, through the turbulent Escobar years including terrorist uprisings, up to current and explained how this has influenced the country/culture. Architecture, street art, street trading (including the emerald black market), art museum (Botero collection) and recommendations for dining, along with a free local drink sample were included/shown to us.

After that tour finished we had just enough time to get to the start point for our afternoon free tour with a different company, this time a Bogòta Graffiti Tour. We had been impressed by the large, and various, amount of street art seen on our other tours so this was an opportunity to find out more. The group was very large....100 people turned up so they split it into 2. Pretty sure quite a few don't give anything at the end but still a good earner for companies.

Our knowledgeable guide, between an admirable job of shepherding the group across traffic and around hazards, gave a fantastic commentary. The history of street art, the various artists, the meaning behind the pieces and the current move by the city to remove much of it.

As quite a bit is in the historic area the city hopes to paint over it (for obvious reasons of restoring the colonial buildings) but at this stage the freshly cleaned, prepared and smoothly painted surfaces are just attracting taggers!... which the street art people suggest will eventually be painted over by street art again, as it is preferable to tags.

An interesting, and sad, part of the more recent surge an acceptance of the art revolves around police brutality. A young artist was shot dead a few years ago when caught doing art work. Very shortly after Justin Bieber had a concert in Bogòta and on his way back to the airport asked if he could paint some art on a wall. This was allowed under police protection,  with the police chief justifying it as freedom of expression. Obviously this resulted in a huge backlash against the city, and a more open acceptance.

Our final evening meal was a lovely meal just near our apartment. A really funky, obviously hugely popular, and fun place. It had been recommended to us twice so pleased we went (We were lucky to get a table).

Adios con buenas impresiones

Another early start, about the last one for trip hopefully, up at 4.45 for our 5.20am pickup. A jovial farewell from the non English speaking security guard at the apartment block and we were off...

Colombia has been fantastic. A huge history of turmoil but currently tourism is growing rapidly, if they can keep everything stable then there is huge gains to be made. The small area we have seen is stunning, and most people very friendly and welcoming, even if few are multi lingual.

The political scene is far from stable by reports, a new president is about to be inaugurated however many suggest he is just a puppet of the current president... who has some unpopular motives. Alongside that a couple of our guides reported that in rural areas terrorists, often linked to the government, control local thinking.... some 100+ local politicians/community leaders mysteriously dying this year alone!?

All the guides stated, correctly, that they knew all the tourists present had been asked "you are going where?!!!" when people found out their travel plans included Colombia. They acknowledged the reasons,  including a certain Pablo Escobar and drug cartels, but asked everyone to look beyond that. One suggesting that everyone should stop watching the Netflix series "Narcos" as it is not helping the image.

Our impression is the country has a lot to offer, and once again we only saw a tiny portion. Many historical towns exist, the coast sounds stunning and the Amazon regions worthy of exploring.

And trip continues well, with no wrong turns into the wrong street....

Going Bananas...

Feeling sleepy in Equador

Arrived in Quito at 2am and taxied to our hotel in the centre of the historic district. A lovely old refurbished colonial building on the Plaza de Santa Domingo, great accommodation.

The following morning we ate breakfast with a lovely view of an angel statue El Panecillo, a 45m aluminum monument of the Madonna high on a hill overlooking the city.

We spent the morning sorting the mundane stuff... washing and planning our Quito days. The afternoon saw us on a free city walking tour (you just tip the guide at the conclusion), a 3 hour tour pointing out main buildings... churches (there is lots), plazas, the local market etc. A great look around with recommendations on what to do.

Historic Quito is quite compact, more local than tourist orientated with hardware, material shops etc and locals restaurants. We ate in the area of La Ronda, meant to be a bustling night area and just a block from our hotel. It was actually very quiet but we found a cheap and cheerful restaurant. Caro ordering an Empanada, which was bigger than a dinner plate of mainly fried batter!, quite nice but wouldn't say healthy!

Exploring lively mountains

We took a tour out of the city, an early start, 7 clients (3 Colombians, 1 Mexican, 1 USA and us... definitely we were the least Spanish speaking!)  and our bilingual guide to Mount Cotopaxi. Mt Cotopaxi is an active volcano 100km south of Quito (1 of approx 20 active volcano in Equador). The mountain was shrouded in cloud when we arrived.

Our definite impression when travelling out of the city was how green the countryside is. Obvious really given the constant, and damp, year round temperatures... no change in season or day length!

We walked from the car park, 4600masl, to the camp hut at 4860masl. A freezing, vicious, wind to walk in but a hot chocolate at the hut thawed us out.

After a few photos with an occasional glimpse of the summit (5897masl) we descended to the car park, and a quick stop at a lagoon which is apparently a bird watchers paradise... although in these temps not many self respecting birds to be seen.

We drove across the valley and over a range to the crater lake of Quilotoa, a lake within an extinct volcano. This drive was through farmland, first tunnel houses of roses, fields of veges of squash and beans, and some intensive dairy farming country. As we wound our way around the hills we saw crops, oats and barley, pine and eucalyptus plantations as well as some sheep and beef cattle. Some fences for bigger mobs, otherwise each sheep, pig or cow was individually roped and pegged to the ground... put there in the morning and yarded at night.

We were again, at times, around 4000masl.... amazing what grows.

Quilotoa is a growing tourist town, we had a late lunch there before walking part way down into the crater towards the lake. Due to time constraints we were unable to go all the way, although we could have caught a horse ride back up the steep climb. The super fit pairs of horses, and their walking handlers, made it look easy.

Back to Quito by 8pm... A long and tiring day... we dropped some of the group off in the new part of the city, certainly a livelier part of town!

Slipped on a banana skin sensation 

A relaxing breakfast and then headed out to book a tour to the Ciudad Mitad de Mundo (middle of the world city)

Our first major hiccup on the trip... and we should have known better. Despite a number of warnings on what to do and watch for, both from travellers and our Peru guide when he heard we were going to Quito, we this morning fell victim to pickpockets.

In hindsight it was very cleverly done, and we totally fell for the well known ploy that we had been warned about. Involving walking down a quieter street under overhanging eaves, but less than a block from our hotel, a substance like pigeon droppings appearing on our heads, shoulders and backs and some 'concerned' locals surrounding us to offer help. The first of the 3 was a well dressed businessman in his 40's, the second a doddery old chap in his 70's.
😈
In the very brief time period that it took us to convince the 3 people we were going back to the hotel to clean-up... Noel's wallet was removed from a zipped clothing pocket, cash removed, and put back in with zip closed again. Nothing felt apart from helping hands trying to clean muck off... the loss only discovered when checked back at hotel.

Noel was very worried about cards being photographed so suspended his credit card... but we do think it was just a cash seeking operation. Left us both with a gutted feeling for the day... but it could have been worse, there was only our days estimated cash requirement being carried, although extra than normal for the tour booking.

Anyway after restocking cash and buying our tickets we visited a fair trade shop in Plaza de San Francisco, we had previously stopped there on the walking tour and Caro was keen to return. A fascinating shop space as it utilises some of the catacomb passages under the church above to display their wares.

Nothing to buy so then on to the Basilica del Voto Nacional, the largest Roman Catholic church located in the historic district, the largest Neo Gothic Basilica in the America's.  Very similar to Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, being designed by the same architect, and finished in 1909... with personalised gargoyles of South American theme (Iguanas, Galapagos Tortoises, Armadillos). We climbed to the roof for views of the city.

A short quick lunch, perhaps now a bit short of cash as too wary to carry much!, then off to the Equator Line. We took a photo at the official monument which was built to mark the Equator.... unfortunately new technology has proved it is in the wrong spot... so a quick 200 metres further to visit the actual line. This is a fun museum with a bit of history and tricks; water swirling clockwise or anti-clockwise depending on side of equator,  balancing an egg on a nail (for which Noel got a diploma, but Caro failed😭). A fun trip.

A nice meal out, Babaco Chicken for Caro.... Noel focused on a beer to wash the stupidity feeling away a little. This evening there was a huge protest rally in the Plaza in which our hotel is, riot police etc. Apparently the people protesting that since a corrupt former President has been found guilty by world court that they should get their money back.... but all quiet by 9pm.

Life is full of banana skins.... You slip, you carry on

Getting out of the city

The problem with yesterday's pickpocket episode, apart from the loss of a bit of cash, is that it makes you suspicious of everyone nearby... so we decided since we had done our priority Quito list we would get out of the city for the day and booked a tour to Mindo, the cloud forest.

Mindo is a mountainous watershed in the western slopes of the Andes located 100km north of Quito. A full day tour leaving the hotel at 6am to catch the bus.

When we got to Mindo it was a beautiful hot day, unusual enough for our guide to be taking photos of the cloudless sky. First a tour of a butterfly, orchid, hummingbird property.  The butterflies were lovely, a small area but lots of varieties fluttering about. Unfortunately not many orchid flowers but the hummingbirds were definitely active and busy at feeding stations... amazing to watch as they flit about so fast.

From there we were driven up the hills so we could walk down to a waterfall through the cloud forest. At the base of the walk there was an attempt at a water park, with a concrete water slide which had it's exit about 3m above the water and a dodgy platform for diving into the base of the waterfall. We didn't partake in the water activities, with the water temperature so cold only a couple of the group did.

After the hike back up we stopped at a zip line place, 10 lines. Caro thought she would have a go but chickened out at the sight of them. So went off with Noel and around 1/2 the group to another bird watching site. This was pretty cool... lots of hummingbird and other colourful birds.

We late lunched in the township of Mindo and followed up with a chocolate factory tour. The tour was a bit laborious due to the Choclatiers English skills and enthusiasm for his product... but with hot chocolate and brownie included we endured😁

Back to Quito after 8pm, walked back to hotel with a fellow hotel guest from France who we met on the tour.

Off to the Northern hemisphere 

Another early start leaving the hotel at 7am to reach Quito airport for our flight to Bogòta. Walked to a nearby car park with our driver, and Caro noticed there was a gentleman leaning on a nearby balcony. When glancing at him he waved, after looking away she looked back.. he waved again.... so fairly certain it was our pick pocket businessman of 2 days previous, not such a gentleman!!!... Ba.t.rd!

 Overall Quito and it's surrounds seems to be doing well economically after a crippling financial fail in the late 1990's that saw them adopt the US currency.

Equador's main exports are oil and minerals, fish and seafood, fruit (those Bonita bananas), nuts, cut flowers, cocoa and ever increasing tourism.

We didn't see much mechanisation in the rural areas further out, with buckets and wheelbarrow being the main road repair kit. However there is obvious signs of increasing wealth and mechanisation with the highways and roads close to Quito being very modern and well maintained.... the best we have seen in South America.

The people still like to protest, and having killed 2 of their presidents in the past they take their politics seriously.

Apart from one obviously upsetting day, Equador has impressed us with its history, scenery and for the most part friendly people. Another country, along with the others we have visited, that could justify some more time... but definitely with us having more Spanish. We have been spoilt on the 2 tours with not having to make the effort linguistically ... and now we are independently travelling again we are really struggling!