After cruising the Galapagos, we were ready to continue our Ecuadorian sojourn on land. From Quito airport, our ride was slightly detoured by wildfires, but got us safely to Casa Gangotena. Located in Old Town, our historic colonial boutique hotel had the only Michelin restaurant in town, but we opted instead to explore Calle de la Ronda and dine nearby at La Purisima for their signature locro de papa and crispy pork. We ascended the TeleferiQo next morning, but Westley adapted poorly to the 4000m altitude and vomited again, leaving me climbing the final steps solo to swing in the clouds. For lunch, we joined locals at Hueca Fest to sample ceviche, encebollado, barrel-grilled pancetta, and coconut bastidos to help beat the Guiness world record for most traditional Ecuadorian foods served in 12 hours. Westley perked up on the way to Mitad Del Mundo, where we browsed the kitschy displays and shops surrounding the towering monument marking the 18th-century French-Spanish Geodesic Mission’s attempt to map the equator. Modern GPS placed the actual line a few hundred meters away at the Intinan Museum, where our hour-long guided tour entertained us with Ecuadorian history and culture, followed by fun, but exaggerated science experiments like egg balancing and the Coriolis effect. Back at Plaza de San Francisco, we sampled Yumbos chocolates and got cup noodles and room service for movie night. On Monday, we toured the San Francisco Convent, Church of La Compania, and the Basilica del Voto Nacional exterior that featured Ecuadorian animals in place of gargoyles. The changing of the guards at Independence Square was cancelled for the national holiday, so we headed to Mercado Central for a cheap lunch of seco de chivo, caldo de pata, fried corvina, and morocho, capped with sit-down palia ice-cream from Heladeria St. Agustin. We booked a taxi that afternoon to Pululahua Crater en route to Mindo Cloud Forest. At Casa Divina, we arranged for a guided night hike after dinner that featured fluorescent scorpions, pregnant amblypygi, poison dart frogs, and a miniature glass frog among other critters. The giant ants here were as bitey as the mosquitos, providing Westley much-needed practice in ant-icide. We awoke early Tuesday for bird watching from the lodge, followed by a visit to Mariposas Butterfly Farm where we lured butterflies onto our fingers with mashed bananas. Tubing down the Rio Mindo in the rain was cold but exciting, although Westley was more excited to ride back standing in our 4×4 truck. After lunch, we fed hummingbirds at a local sanctuary, followed by a more hands-on choco demo at Mindo Maya Chocolate, where we sucked on cacao fruit, drank cacao juice, sipped cacao tea, roasted cacao beans, and even tried out cacao skin care before indulging on their hot cocoa and rich brownies. We concluded with stone-seared beef tenderloin at El Chef and a less-successful attempt at a self-guided night hike before bedtime. Next morning, our guide Efrain took us to Las Montanas for another hummingbird feeding session, followed by a rigorous hike with a bag lunch and few waterfalls that ended with a ride aboard an open-air cable car driven by a car engine. We dined at the luxe restaurant next door, enjoying beef cheek, paella, and an overly-sweet pizza of caramelized pineapple and onions. Our final morning was an adrenaline-fueled ziplining adventure across 10 courses. After a Persian lunch and Yumbos brownie, we chilled at our lodge before our drive back to Quito for our flight home. Being in the Galapagos and rest of Ecuador had been a trip of a lifetime, yet has whetted our appetite for more adventure.