Quito
From Machu Picchu we traveled to Quito Ecuador. Like Lima, this was a necessary evil as it was an overnight stop over on our way to the Galapagos Islands. We arrived late in the afternoon, and awoke very early the next morning to catch our Aero Gal flight to the Galapagos. When we left the Galapagos, we returned through Quito and had less than a day there before returning home. So there aren't many pictures from here and little commentary.
Quito is another high Andean city, 9,000 feet if I recall correctly. It makes a good first impression. Clean. Safe. Moderate traffic. Everything pretty much seems to work. The only real negative from my perspective is that, because of the surrounding mountains, and because much of the traffic is diesel powered, there is a fair amount of air pollution. Ecuador sells a tremendous amount of oil and produces something like 2/3 of the world's bananas. The country is prosperous and it shows as you walk around Quito.
Ecuador also had national elections while we were there. We learned that voting is mandatory in Ecuador. Fail to vote and many of your rights disappear, like the right to work, to travel, to license a car and so on. It's a powerful incentive to participate in the democratic process. As we approach the US mid-term election in November 2006, I can't help but wonder what would occur if absolutely everyone voted.
Naboa, one of the leading presidential candidates, is a businessman who owns a couple of hundred companies including some that produce and sell bananas. The other, Correa, is backed by Hugo Chavez, the president of Venezuela and leader of the "Bolivarian Revolution." Chavez is seeking to unify Latin America under his leadership and has aspirations to become a modern day Simon Bolivar. He recently spoke to the UN where he called Bush "the devil" and said he could smell sulfur left over from the president's speech a few days before. That Chavez has so far tried to unify through the electoral process is encouraging. If he succeeds, I doubt it will be a stabilizing force in the world.
These photos were taken in October 2006 mostly with a Nikon D200.
Read MoreQuito is another high Andean city, 9,000 feet if I recall correctly. It makes a good first impression. Clean. Safe. Moderate traffic. Everything pretty much seems to work. The only real negative from my perspective is that, because of the surrounding mountains, and because much of the traffic is diesel powered, there is a fair amount of air pollution. Ecuador sells a tremendous amount of oil and produces something like 2/3 of the world's bananas. The country is prosperous and it shows as you walk around Quito.
Ecuador also had national elections while we were there. We learned that voting is mandatory in Ecuador. Fail to vote and many of your rights disappear, like the right to work, to travel, to license a car and so on. It's a powerful incentive to participate in the democratic process. As we approach the US mid-term election in November 2006, I can't help but wonder what would occur if absolutely everyone voted.
Naboa, one of the leading presidential candidates, is a businessman who owns a couple of hundred companies including some that produce and sell bananas. The other, Correa, is backed by Hugo Chavez, the president of Venezuela and leader of the "Bolivarian Revolution." Chavez is seeking to unify Latin America under his leadership and has aspirations to become a modern day Simon Bolivar. He recently spoke to the UN where he called Bush "the devil" and said he could smell sulfur left over from the president's speech a few days before. That Chavez has so far tried to unify through the electoral process is encouraging. If he succeeds, I doubt it will be a stabilizing force in the world.
These photos were taken in October 2006 mostly with a Nikon D200.
