As mentioned in an earlier blog, the altitude of Quito is some 2 850m and they do warn about altitude sickness. On the night we arrived the luggage had a soapy smell and we realised that all liquid containers had been pressurised by the altitude. The shampoo had exploded and in fact the lid had sheared off the bottle. Similarly with a bottle of sun tan cream. Thank goodness for the multitude of zip lock bags everything travelled in although the bag did not manage to withstand the shampoo explosion. The funniest had to be my roller ball deodorant where the ball had actually popped free of the container!
Now the impact on us. Shortness of breath for both boys but they were otherwise fine. I was a disaster and spent the time there in severe pain which felt like swords being driven into my face. Numerous painkillers did not touch sides and I finally concluded that it was air pressure in my sinuses. Thank goodness today we returned to sea level and the pain disappeared.
Dreading the final 24 hours back in Quito next week, I just hope that I do not have the same experience.
- posted by the Krige family
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