San Francisco Convent in Quito, Ecuador

On October 16, 2017 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn South America4 Comments

There are several sites to visit when you walk through Quito’s old town and San Francisco Convent is definitely one of the places to see. It is Quito’s oldest church and monastery and construction began in 1534 and was completed 70 years later. We did a self-guided tour and enjoyed walking through the various sections of the complex. The plaza outside of the church also provides wonderful views of the city skyline.

The center courtyard feels like an oasis where you could sit and relax for hours. With its colorful flowers, palm trees, and even a pair of parrots to entertain you, it is quite impressive. We weren’t allowed to take photos in most parts of the church, but it is very beautiful. As you walk through the halls of the complex, you are able to see a variety of the over three thousand pieces of art that are hosed within the convent.

The plaza outside of the church can be quite busy as people congregate there to relax and enjoy the views. It only takes about an hour to fully tour the San Francisco Convent, but it is well worth the time.

Teleferico in Quito, Ecuador

On October 13, 2017 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn South America5 Comments

If you want to get tremendous views of Quito, Ecuador, the Teleferico is definitely a great way to do it. The Teleferico is a cable car that takes you up the Pichincha volcano. Once the cable car drops you off, there is the opportunity to continue hiking even farther up the side of the mountain. In addition to views of Quito, if the weather is clear enough, you can see other volcanoes in the distance like Cayambe and Cotopaxi.

Hiking at such high altitudes is definitely difficult and can easily take your breath away. It is strange for us, who live in Colorado, to see plants and trees growing at heights as high as 14,000 feet (4,270 meters). The tree line here starts at about 11,000 feet (3,350 meters) at which point the air is too thin for anything to grow. We assume that it is likely due to the high humidity in South America and the Andes mountains that allows plants to grow at such altitudes.

Quito with Cotopaxi Volcano in the Distance

Even if you don’t decide to hike up towards Bear Cave, the views from the top of the Teleferico are worth seeing if you are visiting Quito. The cable car ride itself is quite steep, so if you have a fear of heights you should try to sit so that you are looking up at the side of the mountain and not down. If you are able to, though, sitting so that you look back at Quito as you climb higher and higher provides amazing views. It is often foggy and cloudy in Ecuador, so if you are able to time your trip for a clear day, you will be rewarded with spectacular scenery.

Getting Above It All

On October 10, 2017 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn South America4 Comments

One of the favorite things that we did during our time in Ecuador was to climb up a twelve story tower in the rainforest to watch for wildlife. Like most days that we spent at the Napo Wildlife Center in the Amazon, we were woken up at 4:30 am to have a quick breakfast and jump into a canoe to paddle to our destination. Obviously, the best times to see wildlife anyplace is at dusk and dawn when animals are most active and the same is true of animals in the jungle.

Once we beached our canoe, it was a relatively short hike through the forest to reach the observation tower. Standing at the bottom of the tower will certainly test any potential fear of heights, but it was an easier climb up the stairs than we had at first anticipated. We climbed up through the tree tops as well as the fog and arrived to see an amazing view of the jungle below us. It didn’t take long for the group to start spotting birds. The goal was to act as a team, each of us looking through binoculars and zoom lenses searching for motion that might be from an animal. Once someone saw something, our guides would point their telescopes at it and determine what we were looking at.

We were able to see so many amazing animals from macaws, toucans, and various monkeys. Overall, during our time in the jungle, we saw over 52 types of birds, 5 different monkeys, 2 tree sloths, as well as caimans. We weren’t able to take photos of everything because of the denseness of the forest, but we will treasure our memories of seeing them forever. We had several wonderful adventures during our time in Ecuador, but this day was definitely one that was extremely memorable.