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Back in Quito again. Went out for a farewell dinner with the Galapagos group in the square where we should have gone before. For anyone looking for a good place to eat, there is a man doing his best to stick out by wearing a bright white poncho, who will welcome you to what turns out to be a very nice (and not overly expensive) restaurant, the name of which I have obviously forgotten. Afterwards we went out for pina coladas at a bar in the square. Turns out the bar staff hadn't yet had the "carrying three massive glasses of cocktail and not spilling it all over you guests and their neighbours" training, so we ended up covered in the stuff (and still without a drink). On the bright side, when they did arrive with sufficient steadiness to remain upright they were pretty good (and surprisingly strong; I hope Hannah managed to get her 4 am flight).
For the last day in Quito, I went out the monument to the middle of the world. In the hills above the city, the monument marks the "approximate" spot of the equator with an impressive tower and a village filled with tourist attractions. About 240 yards up the road, however, is the Museo de Intinan, which marks the actual equator and has a much better set of tourist attractions ranging from an explanation of how preserve the shrunken heads of one's ancestors and/or enemies, to an exploration of the effects of being a few feet north of the equator, a few feet south of it, and precisely on it (yes the water does drain in different directions, yes you can stand an egg on its end on a nail and yes, the guides do insist on taking all of those cheesy tourist photos, especially when they discover they have a Brit and a Kiwi so can play North v South the whole time).
Next stop: Lima
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