Underneath the plane window thousands of twinkling city lights rose and fell with the undulating Andes.
At the end of a long day travelling from the Caribbean via Miami, my body was exhausted but adrenaline kept me wide-awake. I was the furthest I’d ever been from the UK, and completely alone, for now at least.
It wasn’t the first time I’d felt that mixture of extreme tiredness and intoxicating excitement, but landing in Quito stands alone in my memory. In hindsight, my trip through South America was the final catalyst. I wasn’t even aware of it at the time, but those next three months would define the rest of my life.
Quito, Ecuador’s capital was where my adventure started. At almost 3000 meters above sea level, it’s the highest capital city in the world and I felt the altitude immediately. With a rich culture and one of the most intact historical centres on the continent, it was made a World Heritage Site in 1978. From there, a short bus ride takes people to Mitad Del Mundo, known in English as The Equator. A city with some (literally) very high claims, its quasi-European feel and temperate climate gave me a pleasant transition into travelling mode.
Through my lethargy and altitude-induced rasping I walked with conviction around the plazas and the many churches that first day. It felt less intrepid than I’d imagined, and a little bit like the start of a fortnight on the med. I now know, that the length of a journey away from home and its subsequent exoticism aren’t directly proportionate.
Back then though, I wanted my money’s worth: I’d come to the southern hemisphere for the first time and so expected this world to be unrecognizable. I hid my initial disappointment in shaded cafes and leafy avenues lined with colonial era buildings. The city’s cathedral, which took almost three centuries to complete, was a quiet reprieve from busy streets and rewarded the observant: Peering through the tiny heart shaped window behind the altar I could just glimpse the Madonna statue atop El Panecillo hill.
In those initial days, Quito had allowed me to dip my cultural toes into a new continent, but I had new-found itchy feet. I knew I had a much larger journey ahead and many new friends to meet. Our planned route would take us south from the equator to the Pacific coast and eventually onto the shores of the Atlantic through seven countries. In three months time, I’d sit on Copacabana beach in Rio, an altered version of myself.
In the hostel room that night I began my first ever travel diary. The end of day one’s entry simply reads: “What an adventure this is going to be! I wonder who will be coming on this journey with me?”
Why South America?
I booked my South America trip with Tucan Travel in early 2007. Having recently finished a degree in Spanish, I knew this trip would let me see the countries that I’d read so much about, converse with the locals in a language I was now fluent in and compare the real Latin America to that of countless gritty movies I’d scrutinized over the previous few years.
The continent not only lived up to its colourful and varied reputation, but also utterly surpassed it. I learnt, saw and felt so much during the few months of my journey that it’s hard to piece each moment into a semblance of order. Hopefully, these stories will bring it together into a tangible whole, and inspire people to take their own journey through this incredible region, making a few friends along the way.
The route took us south from Quito weaving our way to the Peruvian border and on towards Lima. After a foray into the Andes mountain range we headed into Bolivia and south to its famous salt lakes. We dipped all too briefly into Argentina before turning east through Paraguay and into our final country; Brazil. Our journey would end in Rio de Janeiro, only a few days after my 23rd birthday. I struggled to say goodbye.
I didn’t want to leave.
The Curious Traveller 
What a fantastic idea to create such a series! Travel bloggers, admittedly rather due to necessity than lack of sense of composition, very rarely outline their stories – they are still unraveling as we read. Most often we can only predict subsequent locations a week or two ahead – and while attention gripping, this is a bit of exhausting, too: like reading a book with no back cover, ever expanding. I look forward to this series as it clearly has a sense of closure to it – like all good books which we finish all too soon, as opposed to those that drag infinitely.
I already cannot wait!
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Thanks! I only hope my story telling ability is able to live up to the challenge! I completely agree with your comment on blogging as we travel. While on the Trans-Siberian I wrote as I went along, not knowing what was to come, but writing in hindsight knowing how my journey ended (and being an older, hopefully slightly more seasoned traveller) makes it a much more exciting (although also more challenging!) task 🙂
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What a great choice of destinations with good sound reasons. I love Quito and have traveled all over Ecuador, but have not been to the rest of SA. I look forward to reading your perspective of a 23 year old out on her own, traveling and recording those vital thoughts in her first journal. I am sure it was quite an adventure, Rachel, and one of self-discovery.
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Thanks Lynne. I’m finding it almost therapeutic to write about my trip so distantly from actually experiencing it. As you can imagine, the way I saw things at 23 (I’ve had a giggle looking back at some of my journal entries!) has changed over over the years but this still remains my favourite ‘big’ trip. Possibly just because it was the first… As well as being a trip down memory lane for me, hopefully my posts will also inspire readers to visit these wonderful countries.
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It looks like a very exciting journey ! I went to Quito in 2011 and I really loved that city 🙂 The food was good and people were super friendly
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Thanks it really was the trip of a lifetime (apologies for the cliché!) I agree with you about Quito – it was a lovely place for me to ‘settle in’ to the continent and very welcoming 🙂 Where else did you travel to over there?
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I stayed 2 weeks in Quito, but one week for Spanish lesson, so all my morning were spent in school and the afternoon, visiting the town and areas close by (otavallo, mindo, etc). Then spent 2 months in Galapagos islands
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Wow I’m very jealous of your time in the Galapagos! We visited the Ballestas Islands in Peru later in the trip – they’re referred to as: The Poor Man’s Galapagos!! Spanish is a wonderful language and I found it made such a difference being able to speak with the local people 🙂
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It is very useful to learn a bit of Spanish as most of people can’t really speak English 🙂 And my mother tongue is French, so learning Spanish was not that difficult compared to other languages 🙂
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Love this series idea! I’ve been dying to go to Ecuador. My only South American country so far is Peru, and it was one of my favorite trips. Great blog!
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Thanks Kelly! South America is still my favourite continent so far and I’d love to go back to see more! I hope you’ll enjoy the rest of series 🙂
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Cool post. I visited there in the 70s.
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