[Above: An Indian woman and her child on the streets of Quito, Ecuador.]

Journal by Adam Burgess

I’m laying belly down on the top bunk of a hostel in Quito. The boards pierce me in different segments of my extended body through the terry cloth sheet that covers a soft piece of foam. The frame is a crude design banged together by someone who’s last name was not Carpenter, although I’d have to say I’ve seen very few college style bunks constructed with fine-cut, exotic mahogany. But then again this is Ecuador, so if it were Douglas fir or redwood then perhaps I could then label it “exotic”. I don’t even know anymore. The sun has just dropped. Justin says it falls faster at the equator than back in California because there are even hours of day to light. It didn’t make any sense to me but perhaps there’s some validity. It falls over the horizon in almost a perfect tangent, so maybe there’s less of an angle for it to dilly-dally as it goes. Its cool here and the air is dry. A refreshing change from Panama, it allows for clothes to last more than half a day before they are shot, but only makes adapting to the tropics harder once we return to lower elevations.

Fortunately, we had an evening flight to Ecuador. My last days in Panama were spent hanging out with Neil and a couple of local Panamanians, a COPA airline stewardess from Bolivia and an Indian. We had a surplus of bombas left over from Nicaragua, so we decided to send a few into the air around 3 a.m. in Panama City. We headed off to a little park in a nice quiet part of town and tromped up to the top of the hill where there was a nice clearing. Neil placed the mortar on the grass as we stood a few feet away. I handed him the racquetball-sized bombas with a 12-inch fuse and he plopped it into the long tube. The fuse went with an impressive sparkle and it was off. A deep “Boom!” sent it barreling into the night sky, it then exploded into thousands of red and white bomblets that screamed through the air. As the concussions came to an end, the blissful silence quickly transformed into hundreds of dogs barking. Like a finely tuned mortar team, we loaded up round two: another screaming boom and then to round three. We decided to save a few and casually headed out together containing a childish sense of accomplishment. It was just about that time that we noticed the Panamanian policia running over the top of the hill with his hand on his gun. We tried to ignore him, but it didn’t seem to work since in front of us pulled up three more in a squad car. They seemed pretty angry. Things eventually turned out OK, and later we found out that the Panama City mayor lives at the top of the hill. Perhaps that prompted the police reaction. Mental note: don’t light fireworks off near government gardens.

The next day we were scheduled to fly to Quito, Ecuador at 6 p.m., so Neil and I spent the whole day swimming at a 5 star hotel that overlooked a huge canopy of rainforest on all sides. Coincidentally we were flying COPA Airlines, so when we got to the airport we bumped into our stewardess friend, who was headed for Havana, Cuba. The flight to Quito was pretty smooth, although I hate flying. I constantly wonder when we’re going to plummet towards the Earth in an inverted dive; its one of my biggest fears. I’m not afraid of little planes, but the thought of roaring downwards for over a minute with screaming women and children freaks me out. The landing was considerably hard and bouncy but I soon forgot about it when the doors to the plane opened. We were welcomed by our first dose of pleasantly cool air from the high altitude of Quito. At something near 9,000 feet high, Quito offers a surprisingly fresh climate, despite being 22 kilometers from the equator. We’re staying in “Gringolandia” -- a name given by the locals for a section of the city overrun by travelers from the US and Europe. We’ll have to see what it offers tomorrow.

Adam
adam@drivearoundtheworld.com

Logbook for December 23rd, Day 53
Start: Panama City, Panama
N: 8* 58.204'
W: 79* 32.085''
Finish: Quito, Ecuador
N: 00* 13.019'
W: 78* 30.004''
Mileage: Lots of flying...
Notes: Day Five without our vehicles. At 4 p.m., the team hopped a flight from Panama City to Quito. It was amazing to step outside of the terminal after our arrival and into the cool, refreshing night air of South America. Quito is at about 3000 meters, or 9500 feet above sea level. We were shocked to feel the brisk air after being subjected to the heat and humidity of Panama. This marks the teams entry into the continent of South America and our first crossing of the Ecuator. So far, we´re digging the S.A. (N.O.)

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four certified pre-owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking here. 100% of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.