From Maya to Inca: Quito, Avanti, and the Avenue of Volcanoes

Sunday 2 June 2013

Quito, Avanti, and the Avenue of Volcanoes

While I was here in Quito, I met up with Carla, who I met on the tour de bahia on the Galapagos islands. We went to a stunning viewpoint (a bar I have to admit) and drank canelazo, a hot alcoholic drink which was great for the rainy evening in Quito. Carla works for an Ecuadorian NGO called Avanti that focuses on implementing projects in isolated communities living in extreme poverty. Please take a look at the site and if you are looking for a worthwhile cause to donate to, this is definitely a good one.

Quito lies towards the top of the "Avenue of volcanoes" which is a 325 km long corridor running between two of the Andes' largest ranges and containing many volcanoes just waiting to be climbed. Which is what I'm going to do next. I'm leaving in about half an hour and heading South towards Ilinizas. Ilinizas is an ancient volcano that split into 2 separate peaks over 5000 years ago and I'm going to attempt the Northern peak. Please keep your fingers crossed for good weather!

Parque El Ejido

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Interesting facts

Another slightly subjective fact. Peruvian mountain roads are among the most dangerous in the world.
Kuelap is a Chachapoya fortress in Northern Peru built before Machu Picchu.
Peruvian men are the most persistent men on the planet.
Blue zones are called blue zones simply because Dan Buettner and his research team (who first identified the blue zones) used blue ink to circle the areas on a map with the highest life expectancy. Nothing more, nothing less.
The Inca civilisation arose from the highlands of Peru sometime during the early 13th century.
Contrary to popular belief, Panama hats are not made in Panama but in Ecuador.
Ten of the volcanoes along the Avenue of Volcanoes are higher than 5000 metres.
Rafael Correa has introduced the "pico y placa" system in Quito, following the Colombian example, "pico" meaning "peak" and "placa" meaning "plate". Cars are restricted from circulating in Quito on certain days during morning and evening rush hours according to the last number of their registration plate, in order to ease traffic congestion.
Quito is 72 kms long and 10 kms wide.
Quito is the oldest capital in South America and lies 2800 metres above sea level.
The sex of the tortoises bred in the breeding centre in Puerto Ayora on the Galapagos islands depends on the temperature of the incubators. The eggs kept in incubators at 29.5 degrees celsius become females and those kept in incubators at 28 degrees celsius become males.
The giant cacti of the Galapagos islands are the only species of opuntia cactus in the world that grows like a tree.
Legend has it that the Incas discovered the Galapagos islands in the fifteenth century but no solid evidence has been found to prove this.
Slightly subjective. Playa del Carmen sells the most expensive ice cream in the world. But it tastes pretty good.
The piece of lime in the top of a bottle of beer was originally not for the taste. It was used to wipe the rust off the rim.
Mayan mothers used to wrap planks of wood around their children's foreheads to flatten them.
The dazzling blue ocean along the Mayan riviera is due to the fact that there are no rivers feeding into it. And because of the lack of nutrients flowing into the sea, there is also less animal life along this part of the ocean.