Asheville needs a teleferiqo.

 Today in the morning we went to the Teleferiqo. That's like a ski lift with enclosed cars. It goes up to the nearer peak of Pichincha, Roca Pichincha. The top was 4100 meters, and we walked from there up a bit higher. It was brisk, but not as cold as I had expected. On the way up, we went through a stand of (introduced) eucalyptus trees, then some lovely paramo (montane shrub). Above that was puna, the montane grassland. The paramo is supposed to be really diverse, and it looked it, but the puna is a lot simpler. Short bunch grasses with scattered flowers, including lupine. We met a fellow with some horses, who gave us a ride. Tegre rode with me on Estrallita and Sagan rode with Donna on Constancita.This was the first horse ride for the boys. We had incredible views of the city of Quito. We could see how it is long and skinny (35 miles by 3 or 4 miles). This was the most by far we've spent in a day: $11 for the cabs, $30 for the tickets and $10 for the horse ride. In the afternoon, Donna took the boys to Parque Carolina where they watched skateboarding, climbed on the rocks and ran through the fountain. I had my first biology class. We discussed a bit about tropical ecology, bananas, and DNA. The class is meeting in a room separate from the school. It is a free community space, that includes bathrooms, and has a large walled-in garden with playground equipment. The caretaker and her family live in the place, and her son played futbol with the students during the break. He watched the second half of class, waiting to play again.

Quito in the distance, paramo in the foreground. That's the shrubland.

You really can see our house from here, almost. The big lower building with the shiny roof is the mall two blocks from where we are staying. We are to the left of the mall, between two buildings that are both tall and red and white.

Higher than the paramo is puna, the montane grassland.

This is Rucu Pichicha, the closer fo two peaks of this mountain.