Quito is another capital city on our journey through South America. And by the way, Quito is the highest capital city in the world at 2850 m.a.s.l. For us, the geographical location alone is very impressive. Despite its high altitude, the city is situated in a basin and the Andean mountain ranges rise up all around the city – even the outlying districts are situated on steep slopes. Accordingly, there are almost no straight roads, as they always follow the underlying profile of the hill ranges. And with that come the corresponding inclines and declines. Nevertheless, the old town is easy to explore on foot without having to put on your hiking boots.

Old town of Quito

The historic center of the city of Quito is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and includes many buildings of baroque architecture. The streetscape is therefore often characterized by older buildings and we take a leisurely stroll through the alleyways. Time and again, we also pass beautifully maintained parks, some of which are located in the middle of the old town and invite us to linger. The safety of tourists is probably particularly important to the Quito police. Never have we been given a prophylactic welcome by the police in a large city. The two nice policemen ask us about our destinations in Quito, draw our attention to the pickpockets and give us a tourist map of the city so that we don’t get lost. Many other cities could probably tell us about pickpockets – we feel immediately welcome. Despite the current state of emergency in Ecuador. We don’t notice much of this during the rest of our trip in Ecuador. Unfortunately, it soon starts to rain, which is why we decide to use the Iglesia la Compañía church as a golden umbrella. On the one hand, because the church is indeed overflowing with gilded walls, domes and altars and, on the other, because we pay US$ 5 twice for the short visit. And by the way: photography is unfortunately not included in the entrance fee – so there are no pictures of the golden church here.

After the rain shower, we make our way to the second church that we want to visit from an architectural point of view.

Basílica del Voto Nacional

The Basílica del Voto Nacional is an impressive neo-gothic basilica on the edge of Quito’s old town. It is not necessarily worth paying the entrance fee for the church itself, because with the entrance fee to climb the three church towers of the basilica we can see the nave of the church anyway, and this from a height of about 15 meters, almost like from a choir balcony. Climbing the church towers is the highlight par excellence. Due to the higher church plus the height of the towers, we have an unobstructed 360° view over the entire city of Quito. And the ascent is also a highlight, as the steel stairs, especially on the third church tower, look like they are glued to the outside of the tower and are more like a ladder than a staircase. You should therefore be free from giddiness for this tour. Another special feature is that the two main church towers each have an elevator to the middle. We’ve never had that in a church before. However, this neo-gothic church is also rather of newer age.

As it soon gets dark again and we shouldn’t and don’t want to be on the road in Quito outside of the tourist zones after dark, we take the next cab and drive back to the somewhat outlying campsite where we spend the night in Quito. And as is typical of Quito and its hilly landscape, we have a view of the outskirts of the city from our pitch. It’s a good place to stay!

Mindo cloud forest

There is a beautiful cloud forest very close to Quito. It is best known by the name of the town of Mindo. However, the cloud forest extends far around the town itself and we take an interesting, unpaved road to spend the night at a lodge in the middle of the rainforest a few kilometers before Mindo. This place is a little more expensive than the regular campsites in Ecuador, but what we experience here is worth the extra cost. Every morning shortly after six, bananas are laid out to feed mountain toucans. This allows us to enjoy a close rendezvous with these uniquely beautiful birds.
During the day, numerous hiking trails invite us to explore the cloud forest. We take a walk through the dense jungle, descend to small streams and climb up again on the other side. However, the location directly by the lodge is the most suitable for observing animals. Thanks to the hummingbird feeding stations, countless hummingbirds fly past the lodge, especially in the morning and evening hours, and linger for a while to feed on the nectar. We can even feed hummingbirds directly from a bowl in our hands. There is always a first time. This time was no exception – we’ve seen a few hummingbirds before, but we’ve never seen them perch directly on our hands.
Another furry cloud forest dweller can be observed here at night. It is called the Andean macaque bear (olinguito) and comes by for its evening meal. It is attracted by the bananas on display and makes a lovely end to every day in the cloud forest in Mindo.