Vlog by Nate Buchanan (with Kara) documenting a day in Quito, Ecuador after returning from the Galapagos. They meet friends Jordan and Julianne, eat local breakfasts and lunch at the Central Market, join a free walking tour led by a guide named Beto (covering plazas, churches, and local history), ride the Teleférico up to ~4,100 meters for city views, and try street foods including a large empanada. Scenes mix travel-log commentary, cultural notes (e.g., presidential history, equator significance), and sensory descriptions (food, weather—rainy season).
Questions this video answers
April 26, 2017
Two days after they returned from the Galapagos.
About $3.20.
Approximately 4,100 meters above sea level.
Chapters
We're really excited right now.
Two of our favorite people are about to be here. They might actually be here.
So today's vlog is picking up two days after we return from the Galapagos. We've been in Quito for another two days and we have yet to explore the city.
We've gone out to eat a few times, and I have Instagram storied it, so. So if you want to know what we do when we're not vlogging, you need to follow us on Instagram.
So we're taking the last two days to catch up because we didn't have wifi for a week while we were in the Galapagos. But then last night, something really exciting happened. Two of our favorite people arrived. I'm getting a phone call. Unlock it. Hold on.
There they are.
Right behind you.
Look how cute her little sweater is.
So hi. Hi.
Hello.
So excited y' all are here. Cautious Carlos.
Let us know.
Chase.
Yay.
You may remember us from Greece and New Zealand. Go back and watch those videos here.
These are two of our best friends, Jordan and Julianne. They also brought us back an old friend.
So I broke this camera last year skateboarding in Poland. We got it fixed and they brought it back to us. We've been told multiple times not to take our camera out while we're in Quito, so we're not going to take the fancy camera that we're using right now. We're going to take this out so somebody takes it. It's not like the end of the world like it would be if this.
One got stolen, but we were still going to try to not let that happen.
And now we're going to get a local breakfast. Yum.
Should I turn off the heater?
Yeah, probably. Y.
Kara. I think we missed it. We definitely missed it. Wait, that's is.
What the heck?
We came back to the restaurant that Nate and I ate at the other day because they had breakfast and it looked so good and we couldn't wait until Jordan and Jul and they don't open for 30 minutes. And we have a tight schedule, so we have to try a new place to eat.
Oh, there's a lot of people. I feel good about it.
The place right next door serves the exact same thing, so we're hoping it is good.
So we just ordered tortilla de verde, which we think is some kind of fried plantain mix with a fried egg on top. We saw being next door the other day and decided to come back and try.
So he's had a really Good breakfast. And now we're meeting at the community hostel for a free walking tour to see the city.
Perfect. Now let's go see if they actually do.
We just met our guy for the day. His name is Beto. And we're about to get started. We have a huge group, like tons of things.
When you go to Rome, you do what Romans do. I got that one backpacking around Europe when I was younger. Here in Latin America, we don't even have a concept of personal space. We touch each other, we kiss each other, we hug to each other, we shake hands to each other, even when we don't know each other. So today I will kindly ask you guys, please come a little bit closer.
Our first stop is Central Market.
Market.
It's huge. There's tons of food. They said we should come here for lunch. See, it's very local. And he told us that we needed to get tortillas, dinner and for breakfast. So we're off to a great start.
On our boat in the Glob Jost. We have the best movie ever. And it's called Guanabana. And we found it in the market and we all got one.
It's so good. It's this huge spiky fruit and it's amazing.
We just arrived in the main town square. This seems like the place to be on Friday. It is packed with locals. Behind me is the Presidential Palace. This way is the town hall. And then it's like surrounded by beautiful colonial buildings and churches.
So far the church goes really well.
So we just learned a lot of history about the former presidents here. How one of them had to have a chopper airlift him out of the palace because of protests and he fled back to to the US Another one was killed, dragged through the streets and burned. And then like some other crazy stuff has happened to past presidents. So now the President is no longer live in the Presidential palace for safety reasons. At least that's what I got from this thing. And we have the screen back so we can actually see that we're both agreeing. Yay. Missed. The G7X.
La Compania de Jesus. It was built by the Jesuits, right? Started to be built in 1605. And they finished its construction by 1765. Over 160 years more than four generations of indigenous slaves.
So we're not allowed to video or take pictures in this church. But the inside is completely covered in gold. Our guide said it would be hard to find even one square inch that's not gold.
So now we're in San Francisco Plaza and We just got a really long explanation about why Quito believes the center of the Earth. So the earth is like a little smushed at the poles and then at the equator it's the widest. And this is the only place on the equator where there's a mountain range that runs through it. So we're at like 10,000ft right now. So we are technically at the highest point on the equator. And that had like a ton of significance for the Incas and how they were able to use the sun and the mountains to be able to like use all these mathematical equations for seasons and times and stuff like that. Now I have a 20 minute break to explore the plaza, get some coffee and hang out.
We just finished the walking tour. It was very good. Our garden was really nice. And this is now our 10th day in Quito and it has rained every day.
I guess it's the rainy season. It even hailed for a minute. And now we're finally going to find some lunch. We came back to the central market and ordered another menu. Del Diaz, they just call it armor here, which is lunch. So ordered lunch, which comes with the soup in the main meal, maybe dessert.
We got some really hot soup.
With chicken claws. Oh, my gosh, it's a claw.
Don't look so disgusted.
Cara's soup came with the foot and mine came with the head.
So this typical alguerazo we found comes with either chicken or beef. I went with these today. Rabbits is some kind of veggies or salad. This one is avocado with cucumber and a lime on top. The best part is every table we've sat down to eat at has homemade sauce. So if your meal is good, you just grab and eat this. And it's amazing. So we decided to go ride the telefrico up to the top of the volcano or mountain. I'm not sure which it is. And we're going to ride it up to the top and watch the sunset. But first we have to get some coffee. So we got our coffee and chocolate. Yeah, we got mochon two in one.
So we took the taxi to like the top of the mountain where you catch the cable car. It was at least a 20 minute taxi ride. Cost a whopping like $3.20. But during the taxi ride, it started raining pretty hard. So not sure what we're going to be able to see you from the top, but we're gonna try anyway.
Jordan, aren't you at this?
So we just got to the top of a mountain after riding teleferico which we almost didn't get here because we couldn't describe what we were trying to get to the taxi driver. We got up here, and it is extremely foggy. We're hoping it clears up, maybe see the sunset. Right now we see about 50 yards.
Can we go inside?
Amazing. Darkness. Darkness. Everyone.
Quit being so weird in the background of the video now.
Oh, my gosh.
I'm so cold.
Help me.
I have to video. I'm sorry.
Yay.
That was crazy. Those clouds cleared for, like, five minutes. We could see the entire city, and then they all came back in. Also, it's freezing up here. We're at 4,100 meters, so we're about to head back down.
So we came back in the neighborhood called Laranta, which is the bohemian neighborhood that we visited during our walking tour today. We stirred with the local tea. I have no idea what's in it.
It's so.
This is very.
What is it called?
I don't know. We don't know what it's called.
Well, you got a whole jar of it.
This is so huge.
Everything about it. Fried bread, sugar, cheese.
Jordan.
How would you describe the giant empanada?
Tastes like a funnel cake with some really good cheese.
It's in between, like, a savory and a sweet. But.
Some lights are savory.
Some lights are sweet.
Okay, and then that's it.
And then. Hold on.
Why is the nice view not in the background?
Naturally.
Yeah.
We. Now we got this white wall.
Oh, this feels so weird.
I do. I missed it.
Cute, guys. So cute.
Listen, I mean, look at that.
That's, like.
All right, girls. You'. Yeah.
So we just got to the top of the mountain on Teleforca. What's it called? I'm gonna redo this.
Della Ferrico. Wait, that's what we rode. We rode. We rode the Teleferico.
Sit it on the side.
Smile. Look like you're enjoying yourself.
The light's so pretty. You look like angels.
Seriously. I have an angel mermaid. Hey, there's my flippers.
