Latitude zero

Today I visited the Northern Hemisphere, several times in fact. I went to Mitad del Mundo nearby, which sits on the equator. It was from Mitad del Mundo that the French scientists confirmed the location of the equator, deduced that the earth was not quite spherical, and conducted measurements that would lead to the metric system.





I´ve been in the Quito, Ecuador´s capital, since Sunday. It´s a beautiful city. You can probably tell I prefer it to Lima by the fact that I´ve managed to stay here for more than one night at a time. Lima has its plus points but Quito is much more pleasant. I´ve been staying in a cheap hotel in the Old Town ($5 a night for a whole room with three beds in it to myself), which is the quieter but more beautiful part of the city.



Quito is only 25km south of the equator, but retains a spring-like climate all year round thanks to its high elevation. It is surrounded by several volcanoes and the old town in particular is very hilly. The steep cobblestone streets are hard going if you´ve got a full rucksac on but the views from the top of the hills and church towers are fabulous. Within the space of a few blocks are several beautiful plazas, picturesque colonial buildings and cathedrals, basilicas, monasteries and churches everywhere you look. I´m not one for walking round churches all day (the Spanish art gets quite tiring after a while), but some of the interiors of these buildings are quite stunning. One church, La Compañia, is reputed to have required 7 tonnes of gold to deck out its interior, and Quiteños proudly regard it as the most beautiful church in Ecuador. Almost every church is steeped in gold, art and architecture, something quite different to the churches back home. It´s evident that the Catholic church has always been a holder of great wealth here in Latin America.





Quito´s New Town is more like the cities in North America and Europe, with skyscrapers dotted around the place. It´s not as pretty as the Old Town but it´s still a pleasant place to explore, graced as it is with several parks. Most of my trips to the New Town have been to the South American Explorers clubhouse. It´s a home away from home, what with free tea and coffee, chillout area, book exchange and a multitude of resources on volunteering and other things to do in South America. Speaking of books, I´ve just finished my fifth of the trip, Long Way Round by Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman. It recounts their motorbike trip from London to New York via Siberia and is of special interest to me because I dreamed up the exact same trip (though imagining I´d do it in a 4x4) when I was about 12. It´s good to read a book about travelling while you´re travelling yourself, and it is inspiring me to do more adventurous things in the future. I once heard of a man cycling (ie on a bike with pedals) from Holland to Nepal, and then climbing Everest. Hardcore!

One thing I love about Quito is its transport system. It has a tram network that I think is at least as good as Sheffield´s (and only $0.25 no matter how far you go). The trams generally have their own lanes so they can whisk you from the Old Town to downtown in just a few minutes. Last night however I experienced a much more fun form of transport. Starting yesterday and going on until the 6th December is the week in which Quiteños celebrate the anniversary of the founding of Quito. There are many street parades like this one



and many instances of an intriguing type of bus called a chiva, a picture of which is here, hurtling past you on the street. In keeping with the fiesta spirit they all sport bands on the roof, playing all kinds of loud music! It´s great fun, and last night, SAE organised one for all its members. We cruised round the streets of both New Town and Old Town, complete with beers and whistles. It was a good laugh! (Sorry, no photos of night time things because my camera flash isn´t working properly!).

I´ve found some volunteering to do! In the next couple of days I´m going to head up to Reserva Los Cedros, which is only 60km northwest of Quito, but which takes about two days to reach. The volunteering here will probably be a mixture of trail maintenance and building, bear tracking, admin work and plant/insect species research. I´m going to be there for at least a month, and all my accommodation and food is included for $300 per month. I´m really excited about it and I hope it will be a great experience to do over the Christmas and New Year period. I think there is internet access, so I´ll keep blogging - with any luck I might capture a picture of the famous bespectacled bear.