The Middle of the World

Hi:

Well, here we are in the North Andes in Ecuador, but somewhat precisely the middle of the world. This is beautiful country, north of Quito. It is dryer than Quito but still very high. We went up to 3,500 metres above sea level. Having a fabulous time. Our guide for the day was a professional birder so he knew where many of the birds of the area were located. After this we went to Otovalo to tour the market. More later.

Mahara and Ken

Here is a picture of Quito from the air. It's a much larger city than we thought. We are up around 9,000 ft above sea level, so both Ken and I have slight headaches this morning - suffering a bit from altitude sickness. I experienced this in Johannesberg as well. I really didn't feel great until I went down to sea level. Our first impressions is that Quito is an absolutely beautiful city The streets are wide and clean, with care taken for design and style. More later.