Ecuador - The Rough Guide to South America on a Budget - page 576

DAY TRIPS FROM QUITO
There are many interesting destinations
that can be reached on a day-trip from
Quito: Otavalo, Mindo and Cotopaxi are
all less than three hours from the city.

themselves straddling the equator in front
of the monument, this is not actually the
real equator, which lies approximately
300m along the main road to the east at
the Museo Solar Inti Ňan (daily 9.30am-
5pm; $3, W museointinan.com.ec). It's
particularly fun to see the experiments to
prove you are standing on the equator.
There's an interesting exhibition of
indigenous housing and, bizarrely, a guide
on how to make a shrunken head. To get
to Mitad del Mundo, take the Metrobus
on Avenida America north to the Ofelia
terminal and then a green Mitad del
Mundo bus ($0.50). The trip from the
New Town takes about an hour.

La Mitad del Mundo
The most popular day-trip is LA MITAD DEL
MUNDO tourist complex (“The Middle of
the World”; Mon-Fri 9am-6pm, Sat &
Sun 9am-8pm; $3, W www.mitaddel
mundo.com) on the equator, 22km north
of Quito. The centrepiece is the 30m-high
monument (an extra $3 to go inside),
topped by a brass globe. Climb to the top
and then descend the stairs through the
Ethnographic Museum , which has
fascinating displays of Ecuador's richly
varied indigenous populations. There are
various other small exhibitions dotted
around the complex, the highlight being
the France building with a good exhibition
on the discovery of the equator by Charles
Marie de La Condamine. The plaza is a
pleasant place to relax and have lunch, with
music and dance at weekends. Although
everybody wants to get a photo of

6

Pululahua Crater and Reserve
Just 5km north of La Mitad del Mundo
the extinct volcanic crater of Pululahua
has been turned into a 32-square-
kilometre nature reserve. On clear days it
is a spectacular sight and very pleasant
hike. It takes about three or four hours to
hike to the bottom and back up. There
are occasional buses from Mitad del
Mundo, or take a taxi.

ACTIVITIES IN QUITO
After a few days of sightseeing and acclimatization, you will be ready to take advantage of
the huge range of activities in the mountains near the city. The most popular one-day tours
are cycling and horseriding. For cycling , Cotopaxi National Park and Ilinizas are firm favourites
(average cost $65 per day). There are numerous locations south of Quito offering horseriding
(average cost $45 per day). For rafting and kayaking , day tours in valleys north and west of
Quito cost $70-80. The most popular trekking route is around Lake Quilotoa (see p.590).
One- and two-day tours can be booked from Quito. If you fancy climbing , the easier peaks
include Pasochoa (4199m), El Corazón (4788m) and the more challenging Iliniza Norte
(5126m). All cost $65 for a one-day tour. Cotopaxi (5897m), Cayambe (5790m), Antisana
(5755m) and Chimborazo (6310m) are tough and can all be climbed by well-prepared,
fit people on two-day tours ($175-215).

TOUR OPERATORS
The following tour operators offer many of the above
tours as well as a range of other tours throughout Ecuador:
Alta Montaña Jorge Washington 8-20 T 02 255
8380. Climbing and trekking.
Biking Dutchman Foch 714, at Juan Mera T 02 254
2806, W biking-dutchman.com. Mountain-biking tours.
Ecuadorian Alpine Institute Ramírez Dávalos 136,
at Amazonas T 02 256 5465, W volcanoclimbing.com.
Top-class climbing tours.
Enchanted Expeditions De las Alondras N45-102,
at Los Lirios T 02 334 0525, W enchantedexpeditions

.com. Wide range of tours. Specialists in Galápagos
yachts and haciendas in the highlands.
Gulliver JL Mera, at Calama T 02 252 9297, W gulliver
.com.ec. Popular Mariscal operator with climbing,
hiking, biking and jungle tours as well as Galápagos
visits.
Sierra Nevada Expeditions J Pinto, at Cordero
E4-150 T 02 255 3658, W sierranevada.ec. Climbing
and river-rafting specialist.
Yacu Amu Foch 746, at Juan Mera T 02 290 4055,
W yacuamu.com. White-water rafting and kayaking
specialist.