What a wonderful, fascinating trip this has been! Highlights of human civilization and natural history, beautiful scenery, fascinating animals, gorgeous flowers, engaging experts, and wonderful traveling companions made this one of the very best journeys I’ve ever taken.
More on that in a moment, but first I’ll briefly describe our morning tour to a local produce market (Mercado La Carolina) and the Quito Jardín Botánico.
I’ve been to quite a few produce markets around the world. The Mercado La Carolina – one of 18 local produce markets in Quito – is far cleaner and less hectic (and much less exotic) than the one I visited in Mumbai and has far fewer dismembered pigs than the one in Barcelona. Vendors sell fresh fruits, vegetables, eggs, fish, meats, and household goods at prices well below American levels (e.g., four dollars for thirty free-range eggs) We stopped at our tour leader Ramon’s casera – his go-to place for fruit – and he gave us a tour of Ecuadorean staples that are virtually unknown in the US.
After the market, we drove through the magnificent Parque La Carolina, which is an enormous park filled with fields, ball courts, biking and walking paths, and people and dogs enjoying a beautiful Saturday afternoon.
The botanical garden, in one corner of the Parque, is a monument to Ecuador’s remarkable biodiversity. Ramon, who majored in tropical ecology, was a wealth of accessible information about the various orchids, trees, flowers, and cacti on display. (Any misidentifications in these pictures are entirely my fault; the notes that seemed so clear when I made them at the park were rather puzzling upon later review.)
With a few hours to go before heading to the airport for my flight home, I thought I’d close this post with some heartfelt thank-you’s:
- To Bill for sharing his passion for and expertise in Inca and pre-Inca civilization, which made our visit to Machu Picchu and other sites in Peru exceptionally meaningful.
- To Efrain, our tour director in Peru, and Fernando, who worked with Efrain, for keeping us well-informed, safe, and, despite our best efforts, on time.
- To Ramon, our tour director in Ecuador and the Galapagos, for his good humor, wonderful insights, and interesting conversations.
- To Smithsonian Journeys and Odyssey Unlimited, for creating a terrific itinerary and feeding and housing us like royalty.
- Finally, to my fellow travelers. I could not have hand-picked a more interesting, engaging, accomplished, fun group to travel with. Two weeks ago, I was thrown in with 17 strangers; I’ve emerged from this trip with 17 newfound friends.
If you’ve enjoyed reading these posts, please follow the blog. I’ll post more when I head to Portugal for a cruise down the Douro River in mid-October.
Finally, no matter what, heed the advice in this final picture:
PuffinlessTravel 