On March 14th, 2025, we flew out from Jacksonville to Miami and then to Quito, Ecuador. The flights were a little delayed, but we made it in eventually and without too much difficulty. Thankfully our transportation from Disney was ready to greet us and bring us to the nearby hotel even though it was super late at night, or early in the morning depending on how you looked at it. By the time we were in bed ready to sleep, it was 3:45 am.
Saturday, March 15th, we slept and then went on an e-bike tour with a local guide Jose. We almost canceled the tour because it looked like a certainty of rain, but decided to go anyways. It was a good decision, because the rain held off, and we had almost perfect weather for the bike ride.
Jose and his partner picked us up from the hotel in a large van and first took us by a local sandwich shop for lunch. We had chicken and turkey sandwiches with some kind of mayonnaise like dressing, fruit, and veggies.
After lunch, we went to a local park, put on some high visibility vests, and familiarized ourselves with the bikes. They were German made and nice bikes, although the throttles were turned off so they were only pedal assist.
The tour through Quito was often on bike lanes or pedestrian paths, but there were a few times we had to venture out in the traffic. Jose was great about being safe and keeping us together. I wouldn’t say that Quito is an ideal place for bicycles, however compared to some places we’ve been previously it felt safe. Even when we were near the cars, they weren’t going fast where you were worried you’d die if they bumped you.
The tour took us through downtown Quito, through some parks, and to some of the older and historic areas as well. The ride was mostly easy and fun, and I’m glad we opted to use a service that offered e-bikes instead of a regular bike. Even with the pedal assist set on the maximum power, there were some hills that we struggled on. The city is built in a valley, and some streets could easily have been staircases they were so incredibly steep.
We had a great time with our local guide Jose. He was charming, friendly, and knowledgeable about his city and country. After the tour, we were riding back to the hotel in the van and Andrea realized that our guide for the following day had canceled on us due to illness. We had such a good day with Jose, we asked him if he was available for the next day to take us on a city tour, and he was available and willing to spend another day with us.
In the evening, we ate dinner at the hotel and went to bed early.
Sunday, March 18th, we met Jose for a Quito and Equator tour. Jose picked us up in his brother-in-law’s Chinese made SUV. It was a little bit of a squeeze and Connor was a good sport about riding in the very back in the cramped third row. The traffic in Ecuador wasn’t quite as scary as some places we’ve visited, and we liked that they all didn’t constantly honk their horns, but it was a little bit of an adventure driving up and down the mountains on the twisty roads.
Jose took us to the Teleferiqo Cable Car and we rode together up the mountains. At the top, we had a bit of a hike through a muddy trail to a swing that was perched at a lookout point above the city. It was quite picturesque, and we all took turns swinging out to enjoy the view, and to get some Instagram worthy photos.
After we went back down the mountain, Jose took us to a local market. There really aren’t a lot of tourists in Ecuador, and it was so interesting to see a place where the locals shopped, and to see all of the variety of foods. There were mountains of fruits, many kinds we’ve never heard of, as well as some of the biggest bananas we’ve ever seen. Jose had us sample some of the more exotic types, and we would have liked to try more, but we were apprehensive about eating the fresh fruit as our travel consult physician warned us to avoid uncooked fruits. I guess it’s possible that although they’re washed, the water is unsafe to drink, and can leave microorganisms that could make us ill. So, with that on our minds, we had to reluctantly refuse any more samples of the local cuisine.
Although we didn’t eat anything else in the market, we went through almost every stand to see what was for sale. I thought the chicken heads and whole plucked chickens were kind of shocking to see up close. Connor enjoyed eating some cow’s tongue in Costa Rica years ago, and we got to see a few entire tongues behind the glass at a few shops. There were hearts, kidneys, livers, and feet chopped up and ready to buy.
The fish and seafood stalls were our last stop. There were some attractively arranged strings of crabs for sale at a few shops. Andrea took a photo of one up close and then Jose asked if we knew that they were still alive. Jose and the shopkeeper picked up a few of the crab packages and it was eerie to see them all spring to life, legs kicking, eyes moving around, and little bits squirming. We honestly felt bad for the poor little buggers, what a way to go.
We had considered eating at the market, but we were a little overwhelmed by everything and were a little concerned that it was tailored to serve the locals and may not be the safest place for our sensitive tourist tummies.
Instead, we went to a restaurant that had been recommended to us by the guide that canceled on us. The restaurant was perched up on a corner that overlooked a monument for the latitude 0 location. The menu had all kinds of interesting Ecuadorian dishes to try. We started off with a couple different types of empanadas, and for our meal Andrea and I tried a local pork dish, Connor got a sirloin steak, and Paige got a Filet Mignon. We all enjoyed the meal, and Jose joined us, so we had good company and conversation as well.
Our last stop of the day was the Equator Museum. There were a few different ones in the area, and we went to one that Andrea thought would be the most enjoyable. The admission was only $5 per person, and that admission included a guided tour. There was a one hour and forty five minute option, and a thirty minute option. We were definitely interested to learn about the equator, but I can’t imagine being so interested to listen to the long tour. The thirty minute option was plenty for us, and was a perfect length. We watched a demonstration of a sun dial, and then a water whirlpool experiment where the water changed direction depending on whether it was on the north or south side of the equator. It was surprising that on the equator line the water would just flow straight down without making a whirlpool, while just a couple of feet on either side it would flow in different directions.
We did an egg balancing experiment, which was harder than we expected. Apparently it’s slightly easier to balance an egg on a nail head when you’re on the equator, although it still took a soft touch. Paige and Connor both got it quickly, I got it after quite a bit of fiddling, and unfortunately Andrea couldn’t get it to stay up. The last part of the tour was to see an old house where an Ecuadorian lady lived with her Guinea pigs, and then we were done.
After the official tour ended, Andrea was determined to go back and master the egg balancing. We went back to the pedestal with the eggs and were happy to see that nobody else was there or waiting on it. Andrea jumped up eagerly to her position and decided that this time around she’d give the egg a good thorough spinning, to get the yolk going. Maybe it was the magical equatorial forces, or maybe Andrea was just too strong for that egg, but it exploded in her hands. Yolk and eggshell went all over Andrea’s hands, her handbag, and in her hair. It was quite traumatizing, and that ended our time at the museum.
Jose took us back to the hotel, we bid him farewell, and thanked him for our two days of tours together, before we headed inside to meet our Adventures by Disney tour guides for the Galapagos.
Our days in Quito turned out to be incredibly fun, all thanks to Jose. We are so thankful that we went ahead with the bike ride despite the threat of rain, and thankful that Jose didn’t have any plans for Sunday so he could give us another tour. The weather worked out perfectly for both days, and although we often saw rain off in the distance, it hardly sprinkled on us at all.
Quito was an interesting city to visit and I’m glad Andrea planned some activities for us to take advantage of our time before the official tour started. Although the ABD tour officially starts in Quito, the first thing on the agenda is to fly out to the Galapagos, so we would have missed it completely if Andrea hadn’t planned something for us.
