Botanic Gardens, Quito, Ecuador (January 2014)

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27 January 2014 – Monday – Quito, Ecuador

A strange start to the morning: a very brief visit to the South American Explorers Club building where the ‘President’ tried to recruit us for all kinds of tours, even a tour to the local prison. His sales monologue was uncomfortable and weird and a little bit creepy so we informed him that we were only in Quito for a couple more days and left the building. Next followed an attempt to have a coffee and use the toilet at the Juan Valdez cafe without handing over our passports. We also went to the nearby Cafe Libro but they don’t open until noontime. So we returned to our apartment where Joan whipped up an egg and bacon omelette.

We went to the Botanic Gardens and spent a couple hours wandering the winding cobblestone footpaths. The Botanic Garden is home of more than 5,000 plants, the vast majority of which are native to Ecuador. Ecuador is one of the countries with the greatest diversity of plant life on ​​the planet, containing over 50,000 species of plants (more than the entire continent of Europe). The gardens are divided into a number of compact climatic zones: the wetlands, the Cloud Forest, the dessert and the Moorland. There is a greenhouse where there are plants of the Amazon region; there are themed gardens which exhibit roses, lilies of the valley, bromeliads, and palms. Another special attraction is the exhibition of carnivorous plants.

Most important of all, however, is the orchid exhibition in which about 1,200 native species of Ecuador are exposed. Ecuador is a country of orchids, 4.250 classified species are found here. We marveled at the collection of these famous flowers, admiring their delicate and colorful beauty and exoticism.

The Botanical Garden is located in the southern sector of Parque La Carolina, an 166 acre green space in the north of the city (a sort of Central Park of Quito). It is the largest urban park in South America and at the weekend entertains up to 50,000 visitors using its various sports grounds and other amenities. We spent some time here wandering and watching before heading back toward our apartment. We are feeling the effects of the high altitude today and spent the afternoon napping and reading and writing and breathing very deeply.

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