Ecuador Seminar: Knoff & Team Explore Quito
Buenas dias from Ecuador.
Adam Knoff here, lead guide for 2016's first RMI Ecuadorian Skills Seminar. As mentioned in the program name, learning new skills is the name of the game down here. The first skill encountered was getting to a foreign country, finding the taxi stand among the bustling group of tour operators in Quito's new airport then getting to the Hotel and finding a way to sleep for a few hours before awakening to meet a bunch of strangers. I am happy to announce everyone passed! We are only missing 3 bags out of twenty so that ratio could be much worse but all humans are accounted for.
This being our first day together as a team, we started with lots of coffee at the Hotel's nice in house restaurant while doing individual introductions and chatting about what is to come. After breakfast we all gathered in a cute mini bus to take a tour of some historical sites in and around Quito.
Our tour began with a visit to the actual equator. Here we saw physical evidence of why, when we flush the toilet, water spins counter clockwise in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the south. We learned about the bizarre gravitational effects on our bodies if you stand directly on the line and three out of eleven actually will be coming home with certificates proving they can use the force better than the rest of us and literally balance an egg on a nail.
After the Mitad Del Mundo, or middle of the world, we drove south into the heart of old town Quito where we gained beautiful vistas of this enormous city, visited an amazing old Cathedral, walked right to the front gate of their "White House" and strolled through Independence Square.
By three in the afternoon we were all feeling the effects of long travel days so we headed back to the hotel for some much needed rest. Throughout the tour the weather was perfect, 70 degrees, partly cloudy and a small breeze. Just what I ordered when I put in my request with the big man before the trip. I must have gotten greedy though because 30 minutes after getting back to the hotel, an absolute down pour fell from the sky with lightning so close the booms were setting off car alarms all around the hotel. Let's hope that got out of the system.
Now it is calm and nice again as evening sets in so we should have a pleasant and dry walk to dinner.
We will write again tomorrow about our first upward outing which could result in a summit over 15,000 feet.
Stay tuned.
RMI Guides Adam Knoff & Nick Hunt
Comments (3)
Justin! I know being up there in the Andes is bringing you all the happiness you deserve, buddy. I’m sure it’s gorgeous up there and after living in Colorado I finally understand why people love being in the mountains so much. There’s so much peace and serenity. My apologies for being an awful friend this year and not keeping in touch. But hopefully before I move in June we’ll be able to catch up!
Carlos
Posted by: Carlos on
Looking forward to seeing more pics and travel updates! Wishing good weather conditions for fantastic viewing! Glad to see the spot is working, Justin!
My best,
Sharon Halls
Posted by: Sharon Halls on
So glad to see Frank in fresh clothes!! Have fun everyone. Love Mom!
Posted by: Alex on