Quito at Last & A long day of Travel

Day 1 - Thursday: today we spent the entire day traveling to Ecuador. With three flights, five hours in layovers, and 21 people traveling together, it was a great day of traveling!

Day 2 - Friday: Today we slept in - in Quito - ate breakfast as a group, and then spent the whole day exploring the city and visiting the Equatorial Line!

The city itself was beautiful!

Our excursion to the Equatorial Line was fascinating and fun. Students had the opportunity to walk along the Equatorial line, balance an egg on its end, flush water straight down a drain, and play with gravitational forces...

After the exuatorial line, we made an impromptu stop at a beautiful and massive basilica that, for those willing to hike up the daunting stairs and ladders, offered a breath-taking view of the entire city of Quito!

After leaving the Basilica, we ate lunch in the city center and spent the afternoon exploring the old city. With winding streets, colorful buildings, and friendly locals, there is much to love about Quito!! We stopped at the presidential palace, the San Francisco monastery, the site of the future metro station, and the Santo Domingo monastery before returning to our hotel...

We ended our perfect first day in Ecuador with a hearty local meal and a brief celebration for Kyra's 18th birthday!

Now off to bed, because our flight to the Galápagos leaves Quito at 6am tomorrow!!