I arrived into Quito (the capital of Ecuador) on Sunday afternoon. I reached the hostel I was staying at and chilled watching the TV in the common room for a while. Then along with four others I went in search of a curry, however Ecuador being a good Catholic country closes up most of it's restaurants on a Sunday evening. We did eventually find a curry but were unable to obtain a beer or even a glass of wine. Unable to believe that you really couldn't buy a drink in Quito on a Sunday we went in search of a bar, but it was true we couldn't find a beer - not even in an Irish bar. Have no fear - there's always a plan B - we returned to our hostel where it was possible to buy a bottle of rum for $3. I made it to bed during the 4th bottle - as I had an early rise to meet Emma and Sanchia in the morning!

I got up in time and arrived at the hotel just as Em and Sanchia did - how's that for timing! They had had a bit of a nightmare journey, with multiple planes, multiple airports and a screaming child but they survived and even managed not to complain about the trip! We spent the day wandering around the old city, saw lots of churches, and other significant buildings, stopped for a break and a jug of Sangria and then returned early as we were all in need of an early night.

On our second day in Quito we decided we would visit the equator, very touristy but something that had to be done! The three of us went along with Becca one of the girls I'd met at our hostel. We arrived at the La Mitad del Mundo and took some very touristy pics on the equator - which of course is not the actual equator! We then walked up the road to Museo Solar Inti Nan, which also claims to be on the real equator (again lonely planet shatters this illusion). This is a much more fun museum with all the water swirling, egg balancing tricks! We all managed to balance an egg on a nail and earned ourselves a diploma. This museum was a lot of fun and a bit informative too. We returned to Quito and purchased some new clothes for ourselves for our Galapagos trip and then went to our group meeting because we were off to the Galapagos the following day!!!!!

We then went for a couple of cocktails as poor Emma and Sanchia had been on holidays for almost 2 days and had not yet had a Caipirhina. We had dinner (with becca and two of the girls who were joining us on the Galapagos trip) and a couple more cocktails and then returned to the hotel (the most luxurious place I'd stayed all trip) so we'd be ready for our trip - to the Galapagos in case I hadn't mentioned it - the following morning!