Today was another exhilarating and fascinating and exhausting day in Quito. I’ve done free walking tours in other countries and the one in Quito gets rave reviews so I decided to give it a shot. These tours – in my opinion – are really good because they’re given by a local who talks about his country because he loves his country. They’re typically very passionate about the country and are invested in its future. And – all they work for are tips. So if they suck, they’ve worked for 3 hours for nothing 🙂

This one started in an area of Quito I’d yet to explore. There were a lot of hostels in this area so a lot of English speaking people and also a lot of locals. I do get quite a few looks as I walk down the street here. Is it because I’m so darned white or is it the hair. Who knows, I enjoy it and can usually elicit a smile.

Oddly, I was the only American on the tour. There were travelers from Europe, South America, Australia and even Russia. That alone was pretty cool.

This tour would take me to a lot of places I’d already seen but I was hoping to learn more about each place and its significance to the people of Quito. Our first stop was El Mercado Central – the central market. This is a traditional international market if anyone has been to one. Many kiosks inside selling everything from entire chickens to beautiful fresh fruit to lush flowers and beer. Here you could get a traditional Ecuadorian breakfast of tortillas and coffee for $1. That’s not a typo – just $1. Very nice. Along with the fresh fruit were juices made from these fruit. I tried Moro juice. Moro is a blood orange and indigenous to the area. It is sweeter than an orange and has a bit of raspberry to it. We also learned about Morocho – which is a sweet drink made of corn pudding and spices. It reminds me of the porridge I had in Africa.

The rest of the tour – as I said – went to places I’d already been. But I learned so much history from our local guides. For example, Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela have very similar flags for a good reason. They are/were all part of Gran Colombia which is a republic of some of the countries of Northern South America set up during their struggle between a centralized and a de-centralized form of government.

We also got to go inside part of the presidential palace and learned that the president no longer lives there. Apparently he said that he is not a king and the palace should belong to its people. So they opened it up to tourists but there is still lot of work that gets done on the premises. We also learned that although the current president has been in power for 8 years, prior to his presidency, the country was mired in corruption and went through many presidents. Some of them were literally chased out of the country, some were murdered in the city and one served for just one day. It was during this time that the currency was changed to the U.S. dollar. The hope was to bring about economic stability.

In addition to history, we got to see some history in the making. Today, on September 16, a rally and protest was planned in Old Town to march against government policies. Because of that, there were literally hundreds of police in the Old Town. It was quite a site to see. I should have stayed for the protest itself – in the name of history of course – but had been on my feet for so long by then that I just wanted a nap.

The end of the tour brought us to another place I had yet to visit – the La Ronda neighborhood. The neighborhood consists of Calle La Ronda and is a beautifully restored street in the historic area of the city. It has a bohemian, hippy vibe with lots of cafes and many local artisans – just my kind of place. Apparently on the weekends this is the place to be as it is pedestrian only and boasts live music from in front of its many cafes and bars. Unfortunately, Wednesday the place is dead 🙂 But that was ok – I was really just there for the art. So I wandered and finally found just what I was looking for. It is a pirograbado sobre madera – which literally translates to pyrography on wood. Pyrography is the art of decorating wood with burn marks resulting from the application of a heated poker. It’s so unique and lovely. I can’t wait to hang it in my home and share its story.

I have one last night in Quito and then I’m back off the grid. I’m going to wander close to my hotel and try to find a wonderful glass of wine and maybe a Canelazo. I’m not sure if I’ll have a chance to write tomorrow but if not, I’ll be storing it all up for when I return. I can’t even put into words how excited I am for this jungle trip. It’s going to be scary and eye-opening and dirty and exhausting and CRAZY! I’m ready!