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Vendors at Carolina Park

Equavolley, Higher Net, Soccer Ball

It feels good to be home, and Maya would have been happy to stay inside all day and read, but the sun was shining and by noon, I needed a coffee, so we ventured out to Quicentro and then to Carolina Park. Quiteños were enjoying another beautiful Sunday, playing 'Equavolley' (the net is higher, a soccer ball used and the ball is handled differently from usual volleyball), soccer, basketball, or just strolling. There were booths set up throughout the park, selling ice-cream, fritada (traditional dish of pork and corn), cotton candy, foam for spraying on passerbys, soccer and basketballs, bikes to rent and toys.

Grounded Plane in the Park

Playing Foosball

Wandering Child

Soccer and Pichincha

Hotdogs and Ceviche

Maya had never seen the botanical garden, so we spent hours examining the plants and taking photos and learning about the various types of vegetation in the Andes, the rainforest and the coast. Now that I know more about the country, the descriptions had more resonance for me, and I found that my Spanish had improved significantly from the last time I visisted and I found I could understand the explanations throughout the park.

Flowers Flowers Flowers and Plants

Maya wanted to use the camera, and became more and more excited about taking photographs, many of which turned out very well. We spent a long time in the orchid house when the skies turned dark and rain threatened. I learned that Ecuador has a significant number of orchid species that live in the wild. I saw many orchids at Sacha Lodge and at Pululahua crater, but the countless species collected in a small space was quite impressive.

Orchids

I found myself more and more enthusiastic about growing a garden. It appears that everything grows well in Ecuador. Identifying all the herbs was a challenge. Maya was intrigued with the carnivorous plants, which came originally from Sri Lanka, and mostly entrap and eat insects, but the larger ones eat rodents, birds and other small animals. They lure them with colour and entrancing odors, catch them using sticky saliva and then release enzymes to digest their prey!

Rain Threatening

We rushed home to avoid getting wet (it never really rained) and picked up some lovely yellow and pink roses at our local flower stand, stopped at Cyrano's for a baguette, found every recently released movie available at the DVD store (pirated versions only) and stayed in for the evening. Maya returns to school tomorrow after missing the first three weeks, but does not appear concerned or hesitant, just tired after weeks of inadequate sleep. I expect life to settle back to normal for us over the next few days.

Roses, More Roses

Stormy Pichincha