Quito 2 - 26th March 2009

Last night it was Vicky’s Birthday (19, Wandsworth), and we went out with Angela (28, Glasgow) and Barbara (Switzerland). It was a pretty good night all round, just $8 entry and all you can drink! I didn’t actually get too drunk though, a combination of too much food, the high altitude and general knackeredness meant that I stuck to the beers.In the morning, the four of us got the bus to the Equator (Mitad del Mundo), where we saw the monument, established by the European settlers in the 18th century, although it’s actually about 300m away, where the Incans originally said it was, and GPS proved it.

While we were there, I bought a fairly ridiculous Indiana Jones-style leather hat - I’ve since got rid of it! At the Incan equator, there was a museum/tour, where I succesfully managed to hit a cactus with a blow-dart, but failed to balance an egg on a nail – apparently this is only possible at the Equator, because otherwise the yolk is off-centre.

In the evening, we met the rest of the tour group, of which most are Australian. There are I think five of us going all the way to Rio - Carly (25, Essex), Mina (19, Norway), Angela (28, Scotland), Lia (25, Melbourne), and me, while Kerry (22, Melbourne) is going to Buenos Aires, and Richard (28, Auckland) is going as far as Santiago. Most of the people are leaving the tour in La Paz, where we'll no doubt pick up new members.

After the first group meeting, we all went to the same Ecuadorian restaurant as I did last night, where I tried Ceviche de Concha (‘shell’ ceviche – not really sure what it was exactly but not very tasty), followed by beef tongue, which was so tasty and tender, with a simple cream sauce.