Storm Dodging and Some Futbol in Quito
After the previous day's eggcitement (that never gets old), we decided to go for a gentle stroll in the hills surrounding Quito. The weather was looking a little bit changeable, but nothing us Brits couldn't cope with! So we picked up a new international crew; two Americans this time, and headed for the Telepherico which whisked us up to 4,000m. This was the view from the top looking over the city...
....and towards where we were walking. Looks like Saddleworth Moor!
We walked along for a good couple of hours. The weather was really in and out and couldn't make up its mind so we had to keep on stopping to let the rain subside as Adam didn't have a jacket! Some of the clouds behind us were starting to turn an evil shade of dark grey and then we heard the crack of thunder. At this point we were pretty high up so here we are assuming the "lightning defence" position commonly known as squatting!
After umming and ahhing for a while about whether to carry on the decision was made for us when the thunderstorm came directly overhead and it started to hail! Naturally we all legged it back towards the Telepherico, which was all downhill so our knees paid the price the next day!
Last on our Quito hitlist was to go to a futbol game. We (mainly Sam) had been wanted to go to a game whilst in South America but not managed to get organised or be in the right city at the right time through our whole trip.
We managed to get tickets to a La Liga Quito game by asking the owner of the shop (a lady in her sixties) that was located under our hostel. She, in turn, called her regular taxi driver Omar who hooked up the tickets and offered to drive us to and from the game as well. Adam and Nicky (our American Quito buddies) also jumped in on the deal so we had a nice little crew to go to the stadium.
La Liga's stadium is called Casa Blanca (White House) and is seen a bit of a fortress with the team rarely being beaten at home. The game we went to see was vs Emelec, a team from Guayaquil currently sitting 3rd in the league, whilst La Liga were in 2nd position. It was set to be a great game. In the stadium the ultras were stood behind the goal at one end and created an awesome atmosphere with constant singing, chanting and bouncing. Disappointing there were no flares though!
The game played out at a quick pace with plenty of flair on show, much as you might expect Ecuadorian football to be, but it lacked a little polish compared to the European game.
Despite chances at both ends 85 minutes were played out at 0-0 and the crowd around us started to voice discontent. Then after a few quick passes through midfield the ball was played into a La Liga striker who took it down and smashed it into the net. The crowd went mental followed by some celebratory chanting!
After the final whistle there was just chance to pose with the crew for a quick photo before heading out the stadium to meet Omar and driving back into the Old Town to our hostel.
The next morning we had a bus booked to take us to the Columbian border where we would cross into the final country of our trip.