In Town: Parque La Carolina

Parque La Carolina

(best on the weekends)

This is one of the larger parks in Quito, but is definitely the nicest. This 165-acre park is located in the middle of town and is a hotspot for families on the weekends. On any dry Saturday or Sunday, you will find the park crowded with Ecuadorian families playing sports, walking, rollerblading, biking, picnicking and more. You could spend the entire weekend in the park and not try everything. Below is a list of as many activities as I can recall:

Sports:
Feel free to bring some friends and grab an area of grass. Although the park is usually pretty crowded, there always seems to be room for a friendly game. Also, the park is rather well lit at night so it is possible to go use the skate park, basketball courts, etc well into the evening (as it get's dark here at 6:15 every day of the year). These are just some of the sports you will see:

• Soccer
• Tennis
• Ecua-volley - Volleyball, except you can bring it down a little when setting it and steer it while spiking it. It seems almost like throwing it on the spike. This is a sport for people of all ages and you can see huge crowds gather around certain courts that are known for their high-stakes gambling). Also, this is almost always played with a soccer ball (ouch).

• National ball (Pelota Nacional) - This is a pretty unique sport. It is almost like a really stretched out version of four square played with paddles. There are long boche-ball type courts on dirt, with three separate areas. One team of two men stands in the two sections opposite each other with a neutral area in between. They take turns hitting a heavy rubber ball with paddles. These paddles are covered with rubber spikes. 

• Basketball - In their version of streetball there are a few modifications. First of all, anything and everything is a foul if the ball does not go in the hoop. Second, the rules about checking or clearing the ball are weird. If say two people go for a rebound or tip and the defender tips in the ball, it counts as his the defense scoring 2 points.

Activities / Exercise:

• Aerobics - A teacher comes and sets up huge speakers and a stage. For free, you can just go out there and follow the teacher's dance steps for some great exercise.
• BMX - There are bikes to rent (price?) and a dirt BMX course. This can get pretty packed on sunny Sundays but at other times can be empty. I have yet to try this as the bikes are without shocks and I plan on having children in the future, but it looks like a lot of fun.
• Skate Park - If you are a fan of skating or biking in empty pools, there is a pretty nice skate park at the southern end of the park. There are 2 long pools (100m or so each) and one or more smaller pools. There are roller bladers, skaters and bikers here at all hours of the day. There are also a lot of fans sitting off to the side enjoying the show.

• Biking / Running / Rollerblading / Walking - There are multiple tracks throughout the park for people of all speeds to get their cardio. You will see couples roller blading, children biking, groups jogging, and friends walking. The tracks range in distance. There is a smaller track around the inner fields, then a much larger track that runs the entire perimeter of the park while still staying amongst grass and trees rather than too near the busy streets.

Site seeing / Tours:

• Reptile House - On the western side of the park, there is a small house of reptiles. For around $2-3, you can walk through their collection. They have mainly have frogs, snakes, turtles and caman (mini crocodiles). If you time it right, they have a little show they put on in the back with a live ball python. The presentation is in Spanish, but you can understand the gyst of it through hand gestures and the items they pass around. Plus you get to pet a python.
• Paddle boats - I haven't tried this yet, but Lauren and I love walking around this area of the park. The breeze off of the cool water is refreshing in the equatorial sun.

• Botanical Gardens - Located roughly in the center of the park, these gardens cost $2-3 to enter. The park contains various biomes (deserts, mountains, galapagos, etc). There are a few indoor sections that are being worked on right now, I think one was for butterflies and the other for carnivorous plants. This is definitely a must see, and if you will be in the area for awhile check out the plant nursery (just to the left as you enter). Plants cost basically $1/year of age or so.

Extras:

• Street food - Enjoy mango slices, kabobs, doughnut holes, pizza, hot dogs, ceviche, and more from carts spread all over the park. Most things (definitely not ceviche) should cost around a dollar. Then of course follow it up with an helado (popsicle/ice cream) afterwards from one of the nice red and while carts that little the park.
• People watch - As a gringo, you are the odd man out. Expect to get some looks and enjoy taking in the diverse family atmosphere. This park always puts a smile on my face because it is PACKED every sunny weekend and everyone is having a blast. Wifes, husbands, daughters, sons, grandparents, friends, everyone will get out there and play some soccer. 
• Carnival games - Why not shoot a bb gun and try to win some candy while you walk around? Fancy some cotton candy? They have that too.
• Artist exhibits - On the northing side (near the Quicentro mall on Nacionas Unidas), there is usually an art exhibit on the extra-wide sidewalk. At the time of this post, they have many colorful hummingbirds. As there are hundreds of type of hummingbirds in Ecuador, many of which only live in a single forest reserve here, they gave blank white humming bird statues to different artists and collected them for show. They are stunning.

Interesting Trivia:

• There is a large cross standing at the western edge of the park. This cross was erected where Pope John Paul II held a large mass while visiting Ecuador in 1985.

Enjoy!