Cambridge, UK

Plymouth, UK

Cornwall, UK

Ecuador by Alex Svendsen

Ecuador - known for being the middle of the world, the vibrant latino culture, the Andes mountains, and the nearby Galapagos islands, and it’s only five hours via Atlanta! This was my first time visiting South America, so it was an incredibly exciting adventure. This trip’s purpose was to celebrate the marriage of my cousin and her Ecuadorian husband. As he’s Ecuadorian, the majority of his friends and family are in Ecuador and nearby areas, and the cultural immersion between the American and Ecuadorian families is amazing.

My mom and I flew in two days prior to the wedding, and the majority of the flights that come from the US arrive late at night, so we didn’t get to bed until around 3am, and had to wake up at 8am to travel to the equator,  which was about 45 minutes from our hotel in Quito. Basically, exhausted is an understatement to describe how we felt that morning, and I wasstill recovering from the jet lag of flying to the US! After lots of coffee, we had a group of 10 people (friends and family - all Americans) with this van we pre-hired, and a driver who didn’t speak any English. Thankfully my mom and I are pretty decent Spanish speakers who can understand pretty well, and another friend on the trip could speak fluently! Once at the equator area, there’s a tour you can take that only costs $4 (yes, they use the US dollar - which is incredibly convenient), you get your photo taken on the physical equator line, and you get an incredible tour of the site while learning about the history of the area. The guide also showed us some experiments about being on the equator, which included trying to walk in a straight line (very difficult) on the equator versus a foot away, and balancing an egg on a nail right on the line - as the egg can balance perfectly on the

equator. After viewing the actual equator, we were taken through a little shop where a native woman was sewing traditional face masks, quilts and more. About a mile or so down the road is the monument for the equator, which features interactive experiments that you can do whilst climbing up the tower, and the top features stunning views of the surrounding mountains. We enjoyed lunch at the small on-site restaurant, and their empanadas, (pastry typically filled with varied meats, veggies and/or cheese) were incredible, (only $2 too!), followed by some cheap and delicious local beer. I also learned that London is exactly 5335 miles away from the equator, so you could say I racked up a few thousand miles on the trip over! Also, the whole site of the equator is referred to as “El mitad del mundo” which translates to: “the middle of the world”. Following the journey to the equator, we spent the night relaxing and catching up with family at a wonderful Argentinian restaurant called El Rincón de Coyoacán, featuring incredible South American dishes with the owner ’s recipes.

The following day was wedding day, so a 6:30am wake-up to begin the five hour hair/ makeup process, as I was lucky enough to be one of the bridesmaids! The venue was about 45 minutes outside of Quito in the nearby town, Pifa. The ceremony was short and sweet, as they were already legally married beforehand, as they had to, in order for the groom’s visa to be valid. Other than my family and a few of the groom’s friends from college, the entire wedding was Ecuadorians - therefore, everything was in Spanish. I mean, some of us were able to understand bits and pieces of the ceremony and the speeches afterwards... but the majority of the family isn’t quite up to speed on Spanish, which, honestly, was quite entertaining to watch. The whole event was a traditional Ecuadorian wedding, and it was such a beautiful and unique experience. From dancers performing traditional Ecuadorian dances, accompanied and followed by a live band playing both Ecuadorian and popular latin music. The food was also incredible, and the saviour of the night was this traditional potato soup featuring cheese and avocado. I couldn’t tell you exactly how much I drank that night, but that soup honestly made me feel flawless in the morning.

After removing the 40 bobby-pins from my hair, we set off to the local mall to get some of the local fútbol team’s jerseys, as we all thought it would be a great idea to go to a national fútbol game - where beer is only $3 - the morning after. I can definitely say that it was an outrageous experience, with the surrounding crowd chanting and yelling, and we didn’t have a single clue as to what they were saying, but it was great to see and feel the latin energy. They, of course, had vendors walking up and down the stands, selling everything from empanadas to hats and bags, and we all managed to get a cap for $1! The 16 of us were all nearly matching from head to toe...and we seemed to make it pretty obvious that we were foreign. All part of the experience, right? Also I shouldn’t forget to mention all of our matching ponchos, as Ecuadorian weather is some of the most bizarre weather I’ve ever experienced, and it would go from rain to shine every 10 minutes, so we happily drank our cervezas (beer) with our ponchos ready for anything. While the chanting and ponchos were entertaining, the most amusing thing about the game was that belts weren’t allowed within the stadium, so if you were wearing a belt they’d give you a little ticket and do a “belt-check,” if you will. This meant that after the game there were tonnes of women standing around with armfuls of belts, which is something you don’t exactly see everyday! Ecuador also takes their security incredibly seriously, and they were prepared with police in full riot gear at every entrance of the stadium, who actively patrol around during the game.

For our final day in the city, we took a gondola up to El teleferico’s highest point and reached 14,000 ft (4000m). This was the highest point in the city of Quito, and we standing in the clouds looking down on the city. The views were breathtaking, (literally - the high altitude makes breathing difficult due to the reduced oxygen levels) and we hiked up the nearby trail to capture the exquisite views. I’m not going to lie, it was rather difficult to hike with the steep hills and low oxygen. We found ourselves trying to catch our breath after walking a few steps, but at least the little shop at the top had an oxygen bar and refreshments. The cost of the gondola was only $6 per person, and everything in the shop was well priced for being the only store within miles. After hiking and catching our breath, we ventured to the city centre and, without thinking, walked about half a mile uphill to the Basilica of the National Vote. Entry was $3-4, and granted entry to the basilica, where you can climb 10 stories to the top. The views were absolutely stunning, with panoramic views of the entire city and mountains. The climb up would probably be seen as dangerous by US health and safety, which of course meant we had to, right? There was this long swinging bridge, about 1.5 people wide, that led to the stairs (almost a 90 degree climb) to the top. These stairs could only handle one direction of climbing, so it was a bit of a task to get 10 people up. Then of course it started raining while we were at the top, so the climb down was full of adrenaline and slipping. After this endeavour, we headed to La Mariscal market, which was the ideal place for souvenir and gift shopping. Key-chains, magnets, postcards, clothes, jewellery, scarves, food, essentially everything was there, and it was all incredibly cheap.

We didn’t get the chance to travel outside of Quito, but everything that we were able to do and see in the city was incredible, and again, very inexpensive. As South America in general is typically seen as unsafe to walk around at night, my mom and I took Ubers between our hotel and the airb&b that our family was staying at (about 2 miles apart), and they all cost between $1.40-$2.50, which still blows my mind. In saying this, I definitely recommend Uber verses a normal taxi, as the drivers typically don’t speak English, and it’s a safe and trusted taxi service.