Museum, inside and out

At breakfast today, another couple here from Canada recommended a museum about a mile from here as well worth the visit. So, after breakfast we set out to find it. Of course, there were distractions along the way, including a market that we had to come back by on our way home this evening to buy some more fresh avocados and other goodies.

Anyhow, we found the museum, and it was good, but not up to what we expected. It covered a lot of the natural history of Ecuador, as well as the life and traditions of many of the native tribes here. Then, as we were leaving, the guard told us we should also go around the outside of the building to their outdoor section. We decided to go eat lunch first, and went back to a restaurant we had passed a couple of hundred yards before arriving at the museum. The lunch was not cheap, $16.40 total, but Susan said that it was the best meal she had eaten in Ecuador, and possibly for quite a while before. Thus fortified, we returned to the museum.

It is a good thing we had lunch first, as it turned out that the outside portion was an old Inca fort and settlement, now somewhat restored. Down at the base of the battlements, they had recreated a garden, much as they think it existed when the Incas farmed it, with corn, beans, squash, quinoa, and a variety of other crops that we didn't recognize. They also had a botanical garden with many of the other crops and trees that were used by the Inca or by modern Indians here. The last part of the tour was the section with birds. I don't know how many species they had there, but with the parrots and macaws they had some very spectacular ones.

We then came back by the market and picked up a few things, and came on home. I took a bunch of pictures, but do not yet have them downloaded to the laptop. I may add them at another time.

Anyhow, we had a wonderful day, and are pretty well worn out.