I like this picture. The snow capped mountain in the background is Cotopaxi, the second highest summit in Ecuador (5,897 m /19,347 ft) and an active volcano, last erupted in 2016.
I took the photo from the window of this place, the Hacienda los Mortinos, an "idyllic destination getaway" about two hours south of Quito in a plain or valley known as Predregal. I had to go to some meetings in Quito, and we decided to go a few days early to some place that was not like Lima, and we ended up here. It was fun and we even had our own llama herd that wandered in from time to time.
Another picture of Cotopaxi from the hacienda.
The area around is largely pasture land for horses and cattle, mostly dairy cattle. Not far and a little lower, the land is planted with potatoes. I suppose the volcanic origin of the soil in southern Idaho, as well has here, makes for good potatoes. The man in the photo is a "Chagra," the term here in Ecuador for a cowboy. If you look closely at how he is dressed you may see some clues about this place that are not evident from photos - it is cold and windy, as well as spectacular.
The area is surrounded by horse pastures and one night some of those horses managed to escape and spent the night wondering around the hacienda. Check out the video clip. It's what horses do when free to wander where they're not supposed to be.
With Cotopaxi spectacular, but cold and windy and feeling the effects of the altitude, we decided on an adventure hike at a lower altitude. About 30 minutes away from our hotel in a four wheel drive vehicle over very rough dirt roads is a trail up a little canyon along the Rio Pita to a waterfall known as the Cascada Cóndor Machay. The amazing thing is that it is a very jungle-like environment even though we were still at around 10,000 feet and not that far from the nearly 20,000 foot Cotopaxi.
The trail crosses the river about six or seven times with bridges such as this. Although made of steel, they still sway. Kids, wanting to annoy their parents, can make them sway about a foot or so. With an adult being careful, such as Grandma Evie, it will still sway 3 or 4 inches, just enough to make you look down to the river far below.
Resting with our Spanish speaking guide and driver -- a nice young man, but crazy driver.
The Rio Pita begins in the glaciers of Cotopaxi, flows down the high plains until falling here into the canyon. It really is a cool place (and favorite for locals with their families).
Quito
While Grandpa Mike went to some legal meetings, Grandma Evie went shopping and explored interesting things of Quito, such as this piece of public art. Afterwards we did the essential tourist things we missed on our last trip, including:
The TelefériQo (the name derives from teleférico and Quito), a gondola lift running from the edge of the city center up the east side of Pichincha Volcano to lookout Cruz Loma. It is one of the highest aerial lifts in the world, rising from 3,117 m (10,226 ft) to 3,945 m (12,943 ft).
That afternoon, it was on to....
Mitad del Mundo (see this post Mitad del Mundo). Having lived in some of the "4-corners" states, and having taken our children to the actual 4-Corners monument years ago, we thought it would be fun to have pictures of two different hemispheres.
So close, yet really hemispheres apart.
The Mitad del Mundo monument was not as lame as I had expected and was well done. Grandma Evie enjoying some of the interesting public art.
When we were waiting to go through customs at the Lima international airport on our return from Quito, we met three sister missionaries returning from missions in Honduras. We then walked into the public arrival area to this huge, loud welcome, which of course was not for us but for the three missionaries standing behind us. I appreciate that SLC has a reputation for over the top welcomes for returning missionaries, but these Peruvians have taken it to another level. The photo doesn't come near to capturing the event (it wasn't really our party to take pictures of). There were three large groups of 20+ with matching t-shirts and various welcome home banners. One sister had to walk through a mock welcome home finish line tape to greet her awaiting family. Our ride from the airport was late so we were hanging around for the next 45 minutes or so during which the families all took photos for themselves welcoming home a missionary. This was actually one of may favorite moments of the trip. It was not tacky or feigned like so many things nowadays, but sincere (and very well executed, which is not always the case here).
