Greetings from Quito Ecuador, 

On my way to the Galapagos Islands I stopped for eight days in Quito Ecuador and once again found a wonderful and affordable hotel, another in the Dann chain. Rarely do I find lodges with everything perfect, but this one came as close as any. The fact it sits under the flight path of the busy airport is a minor annoyance, but my diminished hearing dulls those potential irritations anyway. This place even has free high speed Internet access for guests and a wireless LAN available in the rooms. The business center has FrontPage installed so I have been able to get some long deferred work done on my websites and preliminary drafts of several books. After three nights I left early when the big boss decided without fan fair to increase the lower room rate I had negotiated with an underling on check-in. My second hotel a block from the first, Hotel Akros served well for two more nights, after which I again moved to the truly elegant Best Western Plaza to be closer to the airport and to take advantage of their low weekend rate. Quito sits at an altitude of 2850 meters, nearly 8000 feet and sometimes causes mild altitude "sickness," which in my case means a vague sense of malaise, unusual tiredness and "non-specific anxiety."  

Exploring "Old Town" revealed an early Spanish settlement beautifully maintained in its original colonial charm. There are so many magnificent churches and opulent haciendas it is easy to loose count. Cobblestone streets and multiple plazas interconnect a rabbit warren of mixed residential and commercial neighborhoods. The unique colonial city planning, or lack there of just adds to the exotic charm of the place. The old town is centered around the Plaza de la Independencia or Plaza Grande as it is known locally. Getting around the sprawling city is easy and most bus rides are a mere twenty five cents. Many streets bear names commemorating one date or another; I suspect all 365 days of the year have been taken. During one of my days poking around the old section of town I stumbled  on an anti-TLC rally sponsored by an agricultural workers union. TLC is the short Spanish acronym for the Free Trade Agreement being worked out between the United States and several South American countries. I saw  similar sentiments expressed in Colombian graffiti while in Popayan.  It took me a few hours of hearing a chirping every few minutes to discover the sound accompanies the green light at crosswalks. Interestingly, I never in all my watching saw a blind person in the city who might have appreciated the audible signal. Gas at the pumps is about half that being reported in the United States as I write this in September 2005.   

The "New Town" city center is situated between the historical area and the busy area of multiple shopping malls near the hotels I chose north of the city.  The major shopping areas are connected by an above ground "subway" system modeled after the technology pioneered in Curitiba Brazil. I remember being impressed with the efficiency of that system when I visited there 15 years ago. It has served as a model for many other cities in the world trying to solve their own inner city transportation problems. Double articulated buses speed through town in dedicated lanes stopping only at elevated boarding platforms where  passengers pay a quarter to ride as far as they wish. Like their underground counterparts in other parts of the world, Quito's popular rapid transit buses are crowded and people always find room to push into the already packed cars. 

Naturally, I made the pilgrimage up to Mitad del Mundo park exactly on the equator. Here at the Middle of the World the government has erected a huge monument to mark that important geographic line. One of my photos shows my right foot standing in the northern hemisphere and my left in the southern. How's that for straddling two worlds? 

Someone asked me what I packed for such a long trip. My bag is standard carry-on size soft luggage with padded shoulder straps that can be hidden in a zipper pocket for those times I want to enter a hotel looking respectable. I got it at a sports attire shop in Santa Barbara eight years ago. The Patagonia brand bag cost $250 at that time and though the company is still manufacturing a line of similar bags, I have been unable to find another one exactly like mine to replace my now well worn original. The main compartment opens completely for easy packing like an ordinary suitcase. It is made of heavy Nylon and loaded weighs about 20-30 pounds.  

I carry what I am wearing plus 3 shirts, a pair of dress pants for changing and 5 changes  of underwear (too many). I also carry a virtual pharmacy plus various other personal items like my Pocket PC, a down vest (recently needed), etc. I still feel like that is too much as anything that might be needed can usually be purchased along the way... with the exceptions of my so carefully selected bag and shoes. Bottom line for anyone contemplating the life of a twenty-first century vagabond, is take less than you think you will NEED! But, be sure  to take several means to get money and put backup copies of all vital documents including images of your credit cards on the Internet. 

Finished reading Aesop's Fables. I'd always thought the fables were for children. The introduction to this collection made it obvious they are not, and most were not even written 2500 years ago by Aesop who's name they bear. My research discovered Aesop to be another trouble maker like Socrates, suffering a similar fate. 

After eight days in Quito Ecuador I flew off to the islands which served as the inspiration for Darwin's insightful observations and controversial theory of evolution. Photos taken while in Quito are here. 

Peace,
Fred Bellomy

Quito Ecuador: Some of the Indians resting in the Plaza Grande.