June 6, 2019
Our day started in the resort of Termas de Papallacta were despite being a fancy resort we had the worst breakfast of the trip. We decided to try to get two or three excursions done in the day. We decided on the middle of the world, orchids or butterflies, and zip line canopy tour.
We headed out from Papallacta back into the fog as we ascend higher and higher into the Andes. When we finally crossed into the high plans and started to descend toward Quito the fog lifted. The descent was smooth as we wound our way down and the fog disappeared and even turned to sunshine. Up until this point, we hadn’t run into any real traffic, but that was about to change.
Quito was navigable, but not fun, it is like driving bumper cars but the objective is to only act like you are going to hit the other person. We wound our way around the outside of the city and headed toward the equator with the objective to stand on the equator line. Ecuador is named the way it is because it sits on the equator.
There is an entire city built around the equator detailing all the people grips and different regions of Ecuador, and right down the middle, there is a line where the equator is. There is also a tower where there are science experiments showing the effects of the equator on objects. Probably the coolest demonstration is the Coriolis effect of how water drains in a clockwise or counterclockwise direct. Here there were two bowls of water that filled up and the rotation of the water on each side of the equator can be seen.
After we visited the museum, we went for lunch where Kevin was able to try Guinea Pig. Cuy, or guinea pig, was on Kevin’s list of things to try in Ecuador. The meat was OK but very hard to get off the bone and tasted like pork, probably because it was cooked with pork. Sarah was the only other person brave enough to try it.
From the middle of the world, we continued on toward our destination of Mindo. Our first stop was supposed to be Orchids but the place we were looking for was not well marked so we continued on to the butterflies. The butterfly garden is more like a greenhouse where they raise and study the local species of butterfly. When we were there, there were about a dozen species flying around. They claim about 1/2 the butterflies they raise go back into the wild while 1/2 stay at the garden.
From the gardens, we continued to our hotel. Upon entering we were greeted by the staff and shown our room. This room was the most rustic of the rooms of our stay, but it was comfortable. The hotel has a platform overlooking flowers and fruit were many birds come to eat. We sat and watched hummingbirds and other birds come and go. Mindo is home to 40 species of hummingbirds and Ecuador is home to 132 species.
When the sun set we headed back to Mindo to get dinner, and returned to our hotel for the night.