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<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\tI met up with my teammates, Robert and Marcin from Switzerland along with one of our guides, Ossy Friere from Mountain Madness for a healthy breakfast of fresh fruit, juice and eggs. As is normal in these expeditions, there was a bit of getting to know you, but Robert and I have know each other for over 20 years and climbed many Colorado peaks plus Orizaba together so we got to know this Google executive from Switzerland a bit and of course Ossy and Amber.<\/p>\n
Today was an “acclimatization day” which is one of the best in my 25 years of climbing. We spent the day touring Quito and a bonus spot. Mind you, Quito is at 9,350-feet\/2,850-meters so this is a real acclimatization day. Since I live at 4,950-feet, that’s my story, and … \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n
Quito<\/h3>\n
First up was a visit to the\u00a0El Panecillo,<\/b>\u00a0a 200-meter hill located between southern and central Quito and the 135-foot\/45-meter high aluminum statue of the Virgin Mary. It was commissioned in 1976.\u00a0The virgin stands on top of a globe and is stepping on a snake, however, less traditional are the wings. Locals claim that she is the only one in the world with wings like an angel.<\/p>\n As impressive as she was, the view was breathtaking. Quito is a city of over 2 million people covering 125 square miles or 324 Km2<\/sup>, in other words it’s huge! The city is basically surrounded by high mountains. To the west is the Amazon rain forest and the east, only 100 miles away, is the Pacific Ocean.<\/p>\n Ossy, who should be a tour guide in addition to a mountain guide, \u00a0explained what we were seeing and pointed out the key building in this sprawling city. He went on to talk about the history of the Quita people, Incas, Spainish, revolutions, independence and more. This is another country with a rich, sometime violent history. Today Ecuador is known as a safe, friendly country with a forward looking government and a careful eye on the climate as they are the custodians of the Galapagos Islands.<\/p>\n We left the viewpoint and entered the city stopping first at a chocolate store. Ok, I know what you are thinking but new to me is that Ecuador claims to grow the highest quality Cacao. The store owner took us through the process of growing the nuts to turning them into the chocolate we love. Ecuador exports 99% of all the\u00a0Cacao they grow.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/IMG_3706-225x169.jpg\")
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