When the sun sets on Quito

The past two nights, I have been walking outside to pleasantly stumble upon a beautiful sunset. Let me tell you, sunsets are different in Quito. They aren’t your typical, picturesque sunset affairs – they’re unusually different. Perhaps it’s because at 9300 ft, high in the Andes, we seem to be above the setting sun. I enjoy sunsets here in the city more. They are so unusual and distinct compared to what I’ve seen before.

(I don’t have pictures to go along with my explanation, since my bearing witness to this spectacle has always been an impromptu matter. So my words will have to do.)

Imagine you’re walking along a busy city street, one not quite jammed with traffic, but quite busy with the rush-hour flow of buses, taxis and the many city drivers. Suddenly—and it does seem to happen very suddenly—you realize that in every direction above the Ecuadorian cityscape, a sunset is occurring. A panorama sunset, 360 degrees; every way you look, the sky has transformed into a farewell ode to daylight. In the west, there’s the most color, of course – a milky reddish orange backlit by the setting sun. To the left and to the right, large clouds really high in the sky, yet which seem to be just out of reach, are glowing with a brilliant gold outline. The sight of a huge, distinguished, backlit cloud so high up there is really strange. I’ve never seen a sunset take place at such heights. In the east, a strand of purplish clouds dash the darkening sky, as if the sky’s afterthought.

I had to stop in the sidewalk and slowly do a 360 to take it all in.

That’s a Quito sunset.