Parque la Carolina
Today I ventured a little further north, to Parque la Carolina, for the first time¹. I am glad I did because it made me feel differently about the city. The reason I went was mundane: to go to the centro comercial, or the mall, of which there are several around the park. I was looking for the elusive big box electronics or photography store to replace my camera with any available and affordable Sony E mount (because it would be sad to go to the Galapagos islands without a camera), as well as a few other things. Also in that direction are the botanical gardens, inside the park, and the recommended Museo Guayasamín, a few blocks up the hill.
When I entered the mall just south of the park, I was stunned. The place looks just like a North American mall. There is nothing poor or “developing” or copycat about it. There are many American brands as well as Ecuadorian and European ones. A Radioshack greeted me across from the entrance (but did not have Sony cameras). I had a good cappuccino in the food court from Sweet & Coffee². I checked out the outdoor store, and the prices were not outrageous – though only if you don’t find the prices at REI outrageous. The mall bathrooms are clean and spacious and free and have the no-longer-so-new-fangled hand dryers that actually work.
Modern Quito.
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The park is, at first glance, similar to El Ejido across the street from la casa, but bigger. There are scattered small trees, many crisscrossing foot and bicycle paths, and many people and children. The park is surrounded by very modem and new looking high rises – high being 20 stories or so. I circumnavigated the aforementioned botanical gardens, but did not go in. Remembering that I had already seen everything that may be in there out in the wild, and that I still had a camera to hunt down, I chose not to pay the $3.50 admission for the stroll.
Further down there are athletic fields and, what really caught my attention, a dirt bike circuit. There in the middle of the city is a serious of dirt ramps and turns, with dozens of kids racing and jumping and pushing their little bicycles up to the starting line as their parents cheer on. It really made the city feel like a special place to live.
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I thought I had seen the “New Town” in the Mariscal, but this area caught me by surprise. The modernity surrounding the Parque la Carolina made me feel like, at least to some extent, Quito chooses to remain a little gritty and old fashioned, which makes the old town and La Mariscal a little more charming.
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I spent the rest of the day fruitlessly searching for the Sony camera, exploring the other four shopping malls surrounding the park. The only place that had anything similar was the official Sony store, which had all the latest models for about double the U.S. retail price. It’s hard to believe any Ecuadorian would drop $4K+ on a camera (the top end a7-II-R), but the store had plenty of visitors. I did buy a hat³ (my Nepali specimen also lost to Quito) and some gifts (for here). I’ll have to get to the museum in one of the two remaining days.
La Ronda
I went down to La Ronda for the evening. It’s a fun, family friendly, weekend night promenade in the Old Town. The street is permanently blocked off to car traffic, but only comes alive at night. Every door is a restaurant serving canelazo and mulled wine as well as food. Many have live music. Most of the others have karaoke. I roamed a while and sat down for a glass of canelazo.
¹ The host mother later corrected me that this is about the center of the city. The “north” is still far off.
² There’s one near la casa but I haven’t gone in yet.
³ I am not interested in one of the famous and handsome “Panama hats” sold at the markets because they don’t seem very practical for hiking and backpacking.
Costs
A few parting gifts and more sunscreen.
Cost today: $102.93
Cumulative cost: $2,621.77