Taxis, and other things

Today is kind of a catch-up day, before we head out to visit the Inca ruins at Ingapirca tomorrow. We made the reservations this morning, and a driver [bi-lingual] is scheduled to pick us up at 8:30 tomorrow morning here at our hotel.

Taxis are very common here in Ecuador, and very cheap. A ten-minute taxi ride is usually around $2, although that is subject to negotiation, and in Quito, you can usually get them to do it according to the meter, which is usually cheaper than what they offer. The distances covered are not very great, 1-3 miles or so, but the streets are narrow, the traffic dense, and I would be terrified to try to drive here.

Some taxi drivers actually seem to be sane drivers, albeit in an insane environment, but others are positively crazy. In Quito, when we caught a taxi up to the Teleferico [tram up to the mountain top], and he just said the meter was broken and the ride would be $4. We were already in the taxi and out in traffic, so we just said OK. You would think that since the price was already set, and getting there any sooner would not help, he would have driven in a normal fashion, but no. Taxi drivers here never consider a stop sign to be more than a suggestion, and sometimes not even that, but at one point this guy pulled over in the oncoming lane to pass a bus stopped at a red light and honked and ran through the red light, in order to save a few seconds and get ahead of the bus. There were no other vehicles going through the intersection [so I'm here to tell about it], and possibly there was some way he could tell that, but I couldn't tell, and he sure scared me!

Drivers always seem to be pushing the limit, whether taxis or private vehicles, but I haven't actually seen any accidents yet. I have noticed that they tend to treat a two-lane highway as if the center stripe is a passing lane, and everyone seems cool with that. Given that I have observed this behavior when riding in a big bus, it is not quite as scary as it would be in a car, but it is still different.

Visiting Ecuador without knowing any Spanish would not be a good idea. More is better, but a little is essential. If, for whatever reason, you decided to come here without knowing any Spanish, you should resign yourself to hiring a bilingual guide/assistant to interface for you wherever you go. We have met a few people who speak a little English, and a handful who are actually pretty good, but the vast majority do not understand or speak any English. We have enough, between us, to generally get around, and it helps that nearly all the people are friendly and try to be helpful. Actually, the immersion, urgency, and desire on our part, combine to help us make quite a bit of progress in speaking and understanding Spanish.

I have mentioned this before, but I will mention it again. The weather here is marvelous! We have spent quite a bit of time sitting in parks because it just feels like perfect weather for sitting in parks. Sunshine, temperatures in the mid-70's, perhaps a light breeze, and lots of beautiful trees, grass, and flowers. In the evenings, a light jacket feels good, and a blanket is nice at night, but according to what we are told, the weather really changes very little, all year round. Down on the coast it is much hotter, with temperatures commonly up in the 90's, and even over 100, with high humidity, but we are not planning any trips down there, so that doesn't impact us.

Yesterday when we visited the market, there were lots of fruits that we know nothing about, but there were also at least 20 different kinds of potatoes. We don't have the means to try all of them for now, but it would be interesting. They also raise almost every kind of grain that is raised anywhere in the world, and more kinds of beans than we can count. A trip through the market is an adventure, and pretty well overwhelms our senses. However, wherever you go here, you need to watch where you step, whether for broken tiles or just things you don't want to step in. So far this hasn't been a problem for us, but there is a lot of potential for problems.

Well, I think I will end for now. Hasta luego!