Let me warn you straight away! Staying for so long in Quito is not for everybody. Although I think I can only recommend it. Call it a staycation or any other new trendy buzzword I have enjoyed my time in Quito as best as I could.
After some three months on the go and few countries that even closed their doors to me (Mexico and Nicaragua - in case you haven't been following my blog), I was ready to have some rest. Hostel life is great, but it surely wears of. All the same questions and type of people can be overwhelming at times.
So when I have spotted an Airbnb for 200 dollars a month I was in - without much hesitation. In fact it was just an upgraded Hostel where the guests had their own rooms instead of dorms. Bathroom and kitchen were still being shared so I wasn't going too far from my average.
My window view was overlooking a weird parking lot. Every day a guard would come and open the gates for clients to come, but in the evening he and all the cars would disappear and the whole place would become a junkie paradise...
The whole area was known not to be the best, but heck, for two hundred dollars it was absolutely fine. Let's say it is better to stay inside after dark, which happens after seven PM in Ecuador. And yes they would make the place a mess in no time, so every morning when the guard came, he would set up a fire and burn the rubbish left after them...
Luckily there are also better things to write about than drug addicts. On my first night we ventured out to what was supposed to be a language exchange, but our group from the hotel end up being the only one. However we have enjoyed their terrace with open fire and spectacular views enormously. We played some language games well into the night to than "hijack" an Uber driver, while paying him a little bribe for being too many persons for one car.
In the next days I have finally got myself into why I came to Ecuador and that was research on residency and company law. I have been meeting Lawyers and that got me into more fancy areas of Quito.
Quito and even Ecuador as a country has decent amount of skateparks around. It was my duty than to get back to my old hobby and I got myself a second hand skateboard from FB marketplace. Functioning and decent board for half the price of a new one... So my days consisted of doing my immigration research, while consulting with chat GPT, going skating, doing some basic exercise at home like stretching and push ups and cooking. That pretty much for a month straight.
In the rest of the time in between I would further explore the city...
Some of the best way to enjoy Quito is really some of the rooftop terraces. The whole old town is being protected under UNESCO. So you better visit before it falls apart - some of the houses are five hundred years old! And if you climb up to the roofs, you'll be rewarded by awesome views and atmosphere.
It should be also noted that Ecuador is well known for Alpaca products and they make up for great souvenirs or gifts.
A month in Quito went by really quick in retrospective and I would easily do another one. It is truly a special city and I haven't yet visited a nicer one here in Lat Am. Maybe something like Medellin can be a valid competitor, but that I am still to find out...
All the best,
Global Local