Safety in Quito

I should preface this by saying that I have only been in Quito for a couple months and am no means an expert on safety here – these are just some of my anecdotal stories and things that I’ve heard about and experienced in my time here so far.  I am hoping this doesn’t change anyone’s travel plans or scare anyone away from coming here.

View from the upper part of our garage gate/fortress

Where to begin…well, the safety issues and concerns started early before we even moved here.  People forwarded us emails from the embassy about foreigners being targeted in robberies involving scopolamine, a hallucinogenic drug that causes the victim to feel very sedate and when under the influence they can be coerced to do pretty much anything including showing the robber around the house and giving them all their valuables.  The victim usually wakes up afterward and has to piece together what happened.  The scariest part is that the drug simply has to be blown into the victim’s face, in one case it was on the robber’s map as they asked the victim for help with directions.  So there’s not a ton you can do to prevent it except refuse to accept anything anyone is trying to give to you.  Watch for people trying to distract you with something on the street but other than that I’m not sure what else – short of someone inventing a scopolamine detector device that can be worn on your person.

Okay, so being drugged with scopolamine was the first big thing that I remember being freaked out about.  Next was the general pickpocketings.  We read story after story online about people being pickpocketed in Quito and all over Ecuador.  There was one story about a woman who walked with a cane who was wearing a gold chain and they stole her chain from her neck!  She fought back with her cane and eventually got it back! After reading all these stories I remember second guessing my decision to go – did I really want to put myself into such an unsafe environment?  I’m so safe in Denver, I can leave my purse on the back of my chair, I can accidentally leave my garage door open and the door unlocked to the house and have no issues (okay, there was the mountain bike incident right before I moved out but they still didn’t come in the unlocked house).  Anyway, I was nervous that I would be completely locked inside our apartment here.

So now that we’re here I can see how it really is and hear about everyone’s experiences with safety in Quito.  We’ve heard stories about corrupt ATM machines where they steal your account number and PIN and proceed to empty out your account.  And then there’s the petty robberies – pretty much everyone I know has one or more stories about themselves or people they know being pickpocketed.  One moment they have their camera, phone, money, and the next moment it’s gone.  I’ve heard about backpacks being slashed and all the robber got was a soccer ball, someone else had their phone and camera stolen on the same night, someone else had hundreds of dollars in his left pocket along with a macbook pro in a briefcase held in his left hand, and his wooden hostel key chain in his right pocket and what did they steal?  Yep, his wooden key chain because it had the shape of a wallet.  Lucky for him.  And that was in the touristy area where we visit at least once a week.  (Knock on wood) Sung and I have been okay in this respect.  We rarely carry our cell phones and only carry as much money as we think we’re going to need for that trip.  We only carry our credit card or ATM card if we know we’re going to buy something using it or stop at the ATM.  And ATM trips are also carefully planned and we go home immediately after we get our money.

If we do carry anything with us we are super vigilant on the Ecovia, the bus, in markets, anywhere in Centro Historico.  I am so vigilant that sometimes it is exhausting constantly walking around being so aware of everyone around you, looking over your shoulder, pressing my hand against my pocket at all times.  There is no down time when you are out of the house and you have any money on you.  This past Saturday we were in Centro Historico and we stopped to eat and when we went to leave I realized my zip pocket on my jacket was open and it was the pocket where I had my money.  I started to have a heart attack when I remembered that I had switched pockets after paying for our food.  The energy expenditure thinking about safety, changing my plans around it, worrying about it, this is probably the hardest part about living in Quito.  And being blonde haired and blue eyed I am no doubt the biggest target out there.

And then there’s physical safety overall.  I think this might be a larger hazard than pickpocketing.  In the US when there is work being done there is careful thought into how to block off the area so that pedestrians, bikers, cars, everyone can stay safe.  Here that is definitely NOT the case.  There are huge gaping holes in the middle of the sidewalk that if you aren’t watching for you could just trip right into.  And then there are the wires hanging down, the ankle breaking sidewalks that are at an angle, cobbled, and some with ceramic tile that is super slippery when wet!  And Latinas love their high heels and walk through all of this unscathed – this completely amazes me!  I am here in my sneakers trying not to twist my ankle and I’m watching them in their 4” heels in front of me – wow.  Oh and I can’t forget to mention the hundreds of stairs everywhere that are generally not level, have lots of holes, and are of varying heights (read: lots of tripping and ankle twisting possibilities not to mention trying to huff and puff your way up hundreds of them with 20 pounds of groceries, in the rain).  Ah, but I digress.  Safety, back to safety.  The houses near where we live are all fortressed with high walls and above the walls there are several parallel wires that are flowing with electricity.  In fact you can hear the periodic spark of the electricity as you pass by (comforting, very comforting).  And then if that wasn’t enough there are large shards of glass with only the sharpest of points sticking directly upward out of the ledge at the top of the wall.  Needless to say the old people here don’t sit on their front porches all day and watch the world go by.  In fact any exposure from the house to the outside world is carefully fortressed with metal bars so that thieves can’t just smash them and get in.  Even some stores you can’t get in unless you ring a bell and then they have to buzz you to get in.  If you’re too unsavory looking I imagine that you don’t get granted access.  Each block here has its own security guard who stands watch all day (and sometimes all night) to make sure the residents and businesses are safe.  Somehow for me, the more guards the more scared I feel overall.  I’m always glad when it’s the weekend and our guard isn’t there – he actually kind of creeps me out a little bit.  Maybe it’s because of all the weird security guard stalkers I’ve had over the years.  I am a creepy security guard magnet apparently.

Just found out that the apartment next door was robbed this morning at 11:00 AM.  Somehow their gate was left unlocked and the robbers got in.  This is despite the fact that our block has a guard who I know was there this morning.  And this robbery took place while I was playing the ‘flag down the gas guy’ game where every time I hear a horn I sprint as quickly as I can outside and try to flag down the gas guy with the goal of getting a full gas canister.  It’s exhausting and took most of the day.  Anyway, I can’t believe I didn’t notice anything.  Now I’m really wishing I hadn’t forgotten to pack my Valentine’s present from Sung – runner’s mace – so I would be ready for these robbers.  I also need to figure out the number for the police and set it to a speed dial in my phone.

I haven’t even touched on the safety of walking overall.  This can be highly dangerous, and I’m not kidding!  Just crossing the least trafficked road you can think of can result in being run over by a quiet moped or a mountain biker flying down a hill at top speed.  And then there’s the intersections with lots of cars – these require Frogger like skills that must be honed over time.  When I’m trying to cross a street I generally find an Ecuadorian who is trying to do the same thing and try to cross when they cross, and even then sometimes it seems too dangerous and I wait until there are less cars.  The other day Sung and I were crossing when we had a chirping crosswalk sign (meaning – go) and this lady tried to mow Sung down in her SUV!  He had to run to avoid being hit at the very last second.  Cars have the right of way here, not pedestrians.  Drivers use their cars like weapons and the pedestrians are the targets. 

Sung has a book that describes all kinds of hikes around Ecuador.  So a couple weeks ago when our maid arrived I decided I would try one of the hikes on my own.  I took the Ecovia until it ends at La Marín, a major transportation hub.  At that point I had to find a bus that had a couple specific words on it (along with about 20 other words that I had to read as they were breezing past).  I finally manage to get on the right bus and an hour bus ride later I arrive at the cross street where the ‘hike’ was supposed to begin.  Of course it was an urban start – I was walking up into the hills from town and so I was passing all the locals.  At first it was no big deal but then after a while I started to get more and more strange looks.  And the book had terrible directions on how to get to the trail so I kept back tracking and trying new roads to the trail.  I finally found the right road and I hear a few people calling after me in somewhat nervous/serious voices: “Senorita, senorita” – so I walk back down to where they were and they start speaking quickly to me, something about something that happened to a couple people over the weekend.  But I couldn’t understand what – so I clarified – and it sounded like they were robbed while they were hiking.  They were telling me that I shouldn’t go up by myself, that it was too dangerous.  So I heeded their advice and turned around, disappointed.  But I’m sure they’re right, and I need to be smart about it.  Frustrating because I’m home during the weekdays when everyone else is working and I feel kind of trapped.  I spend my time studying but I don’t have the option of going to a coffee shop to study – it’s too much of a risk to carry my laptop anywhere, and if I’m in a coffee shop with the laptop out then robbers know I have it and when I leave I’ll be a huge target.  So most of the time I end up staying home.  I know once I do move back to the States I’ll never take my safety for granted again.