The last stop on my trip this year was Quito, Ecuador. I traveled here by bus from Guayaquil and arrived Thursday evening. On Friday I traveled with a group of Europeans to "La Mitad del Mundo," which is about 1 hour from Quito and is a monument placed exactly on the equator.
After I had been in Cartagena, I flew on to Bogotá, the capital of Colombia. There I met a friend from the carnival in Barranquilla and we explored the city together.
I have spent four days in Cartagena, which is a very charming colonial town on Colombia's Caribbean coast. The old town of Cartagena is enclosed by a city wall. Within the city wall there are a number of cozy, colorful houses in the classic colonial style, as well as restaurants, bars, and cafes. The old town is also full of horse-drawn carriages that take tourists on tours of the streets