El TeleféfiQo

This past Saturday I finally made it to the TeleferiQo, one of Quito's biggest attractions. It's an enclosed 'sky-tram' that seats six and takes riders 2.5 kilometers up the side of Volcan Pichincha. From here you can continue to hike to higher spots, and ambitious hikers can even make it to the summit of Rucu Pichincha.

A group of my friends and I decided to get there Saturday morning to avoid the lines and crowds, and it worked perfectly. We got onto the TeleferiQo without any waiting and started heading up the mountain. The ride was easy with beautiful views, and only a few spots where the heights got to me. Once we got to the top, we could really take in the surroundings. To our east lay the long expansive body of Quito filling the valley, and to our west was the rocky peak of Pichincha. We began our hike, snapping plenty of photos along the way. After a short walk, we reached a field where you can hop on a horse for $5/30mins. We decided to go for it, hoping that the horses would help us conserve some energy so that we would be able to hike further up the mountain. After the ride we hiked up a bit until we were satisfied, the hiking is slow and tiring at that altitude, and with clouds starting to come in we decided to head back. The entire time on the mountain was simply gorgeous, from the rolling to the rocky peaks, and even the impressive views of the city below us, we all had a great time just taking in the sights. Living here is really teaching me to love mountains more than I even had before, even though the heights can still be a challenge.

After this week, I will be done with the in-class portion of my time in Ecuador. I'll have a week off for Spring Break where I'll be heading to Tena (a jungle town in the Amazon, or,'el Oriente') and Cuenca (a colonial city in the southern 'Sierra') with a few friends. After that break, I'll begin my internship at Colegio Camilo Ponce Enriquez (a Catholic primary and secondary school here in Quito) where I'll be helping in the English classes. It's really hard to believe that my program is already about half way through! But I am excited to get started with this next part and look forward to telling you all how the teaching goes.

Chau!