Cartagena and Quito
Most of Columbia was a 'no go' area because of the drugs cartels but fortunately we could go to Cartagena. This is a fairly typical 'Old Town' street. The 'New Town' isn't nearly as photogenic.
Something else that you don't see in the 'New Town' are these metal statues. There is a whole square filled with them in the 'Old Town'.
The 'posh' end of the 'Old Town' also has a lot of splendid old colonial buildings, many of which were former private residences.
Quito is a long, narrow city that occupies a volcanic valley. Roughly speaking it's divided into four bands - the suburbs, the Old Town, the New Town and the business area to the north. This view is from the Quito Virgin which is a statue on the top of Cerro Panecillo.




The church is San Francisco which is the oldest Spanish built church in South America.
The 'Virgin of Quito' is unusual in that it has wings. It's an enormous copy of a small statue that can be found in the church of San Francisco at the bottom of the hill.
This isn't a winter scene. It's the road opposite my hotel on the morning after the volcano - Guagua Pichincha - decided to have a mini eruption of dust.
The dust was so severe that it closed the airport for over a week while an army of people with brooms tried to sweep it all away.
Nevertheless it wasn't enough to stop the Ecuadorians enjoying the spectacle of bloodletting that is the five day 'Dias de Quito' festival. The picture shows the pre-bullfight festivities.
In case anyone is in any doubt I DON'T approve of bullfighting. I was there as an invited guest. I went because if I'm going to condemn something I'd rather do it from a knowledgeable point of view.