High on the 'Feriqo!

Meanwhile, back in Quito... conditioning for our upcoming Cotopaxi trip, we took the Teleferiqo (gondola) up to a 13,500 foot lookout over the city. Quito is so long--or wide if you go by their maps--you practically have to turn 180 degrees to look from one end of the city to the other. We rode the 'feriqo up and hiked a bit more and froze as we watched a huge shadow devower the city as the sun set over the surrounding volcanos.



Side note: we had really hoped for a romantic ride up in the gondola alone: there was absolutely no one behind us in line. But a split second after we got on the thing, a fully armed cop-type dude came running up and jumped in the cable car. It freaked us out at first, but we calmed down after about ten minutes of the guy constantly whisper-yelling "Charlie-veinte, Charlie-veinte" into his walkie talkie. Not funny, haha, at all...well, actually it was pretty damn funny, but strange.