On the Equator
Tuesday was the day for Quito sightseeing. We saw the colonial quarter and newer downtown and had a panoramic view of the city from Panecillo Hill. There was time for shopping in the colonial quarter. Several of the Marine guards from the US Embassy were off-duty and looking around one of the shops. They seemed rather bored--Quito was too quiet.
In the afternoon, we drove out to see the well-known Equator Monument.
Returning to Quito at the end of the day, we stopped at radio station HCJB for a tour of its broadcasting facilities. HCJB, La Voz de los Andes, could be heard in Ecuador and on shortwave in South America and North America in Spanish and English and other languages. While generally an evangelical station, it also provided a good news service in English on developments and culture in South America. We saw the radio studios and the television studios of HCJB-TV.
In the evening, a fokloric dance program rounded out our Quito visit.
