5-6

The Buses of Panama City are a trip!  Old American school buses, air brushed to within an inch of their lives: Now I know where all the 60’& 70’s van air brush painters have wandered off to.  Scenes of eagles, dragons, princesses, castles, children, girlfriends, saints, birds, wiggle across their fenders, sides and rear ends.  They ply the streets without set routes, young men hanging out the front doors hollering their destinations as they speed down the street, screaming to a stop if someone waves to them.  From the rear chrome exhaust stacks, which sweep up to the top, clouds of blue black diesel smoke spew to foul the air and burn the eyes.  Hundreds of these land yachts chase each other through the concrete maze to move the populace for $.25 from one end of town to the other.

Buses of Panama

5/6 to 5/13 

Quito, Ecuador.  We flew into the next continent of our journey – avoiding Columbia.  We were in for such a pleasant surprise: Quito is a lovely, modern, clean city with various sections appealing to tourists and locals alike: the old town, the new (gringo) town, plus the major downtown areas with dozens of huge parks.  Many of the Indians still dress in traditional costume, dating back before the Spaniards invasion.  The oldest church in South America, San Francisco, was built in the late 1500’s. 

              We took the teleferrico (cable car) to the top of one of the many mountains surrounding the city.  We wandered the mountain top becoming breathless with the views.  Ending our trek with a hot cup of cocoa and coffee serenaded by Andean pipe music as we looked over the mountain-scape. 

1. Quito from our window 2. Getting ready to drive 3. Old town

             We visited the “middle Earth” where we straddled the equator, both the French version (1835) and the new GPS version which exhibit over 7” difference.  This results in a physical difference of approximately 100 yards separating the two versions.  On the GPS equator, one can balance an egg on a nail head, if one is skilled and Art is with a certificate to prove that!  There is less gravity on the equator line – one becomes weaker and about one pound lighter and unable to balance.  Our toilet water now circles clockwise when we flush – versus counter clockwise in the northern hemisphere.

1. Quito from above 2. Folkdancers 3. Plaza Indepencia

  
            We are enjoying Quito as we await our 8 day Galapagos tour that begins Sunday, May 14.  We are dreading getting back on the bike after almost 3 weeks off!  It should be interesting, especially at this altitude: 9,000 feet here in Quito.

              We met Silas and Angela, a young New Zealand couple, full of vim, vigor and enthusiasm, who can ride 200 km a day and enjoy it.  They just came from Ushia (the tip of Argentina) and filled us in on the riding conditions.  They took away some of our concerns, particularly through the Alcama Desert, which seems to be hospitable to bicyclists.

1.  Art & friend 2. Silas & Angela 3. Art & Judee at the middle of the world

side trip to the galapagos