WINE, DYNAMITE AND PENGUIN TOUR: Apr 11

Apr 11 Quito

As Steve was still suffering from the effects of altitude, we decided to explore Quito today

We headed into the Old Town in Quito which is a UNESCO World Heritage site with some beautiful churches and white stucco colonial architecture, green squares and palm trees.

Cathedral in Plaza Grande

From there we headed to the Casa del Alabado pre- Columbian Museum which houses over 5000 pieces of art from this period. The museum itself is housed in a Spanish Colonial mansion and the layout is lovely with a little courtyard café. The works were beautiful with some really compelling pieces. Amazing to think they have survived in such good condition. Favourites below !!

Off to the hat shops next to get a Fedora for Steve to add to his collection. We discovered he has a large head…………..no comments please

Back to La Mariscal area and on to the Artisan market which looked very much like the Cusco and Machu Picchu handicrafts with different place names on them !!

Bought a postcard and then wandered round to the Hilton Colon to see if it brought back any memories from Janette’s last trip to Quito for the opening of the hotel ( approx 25 years ago?) which at the time was the first international chain to open here. it didn't..........

One for the Hilton Crew - Babs especially !!

At this point the weather broke, thunder & lighting started & the heavens opened. I was soaked in seconds..........

Back to the hotel to catch up with Paul and Mandy and pack up for us heading out on our across Ecuador train trip tomorrow.

Apr 11 - SHEENA and EILEEN - Last Day !!

Our last day in the jungle saw us frantically packing and squeezing damp clothes (nothing ever dries here) into already over-stuffed suitcases. Coming from Scotland we thought we knew about rain but last night and this morning has surpassed all expectations.

Our final trip was to a butterfly house. Apparently 1260 different species of butterflies have been found within 5.5 square km of the Tambopata national reserve. Beautiful and unusual to our eyes but tricky to capture.

Finally we said goodbye to the jungle and canoed back to Puerto Maldonado for our final flight to Lima which was surprisingly only 25 minutes late on take off this time.

For our final day in Lima we might head back to Baranco for more last minute shopping - perhaps a bottle of Pisco which no doubt will taste different when we get home.

Pisco purchased !!

Our trip has been a fantastic experience thanks to Paul at Journey Latin America who knew just how much we could fit in, in the time we had available.