Sunday, the day for resting, and 18th of May, International Museum Day, a beautiful morning in Quito. Which museum should we pick to visit? We decide on Yaku.
What is Yaku?
Yaku is a word from the indigenous Kichwa language which means “water.” We leave for the city center and drive towards the El Placer neighborhood on the slopes of the Pichincha Volcano. Steep and narrow streets lead up to the Water Museum.
History has it that in this part of Quito the famous Inca Atahualpa had his ceremonial baths to purify his body and the bath houses were known as Casas del Placer de El Inca, “Houses of the Inca’s Pleasure,” which is why the neighborhood today is still called El Placer.
When we get to the museum, the friendly staff welcomes us. Luckily there aren’t a lot of other visitors. While we wait until a group is formed, we have time to enjoy the wonderful view over the historic center and the city, idyllically situated between the mountains. A great place to take pictures!
With a very nice guide we visit the exhibit hall Media Agua (literally: “half water”, a term used in the highlands for small houses). It consists of a small sustainable home, where we learn about the best way to use water. While the kids enjoy playing at taking a shower, we get to know water’s many great qualities and the way to reuse and recycle this precious good.
Our tour continues on an ecological trail where we see endemic plants, ponds full of tadpoles, and yellow flowers that look like baby shoes. We try to clean our teeth the way our ancestors did, before there was toothpaste, with the leaves of the arrayá tree (Myrcianthes hallii).
The next part of the exhibition invites us to learn about the physical and chemical characteristics of water, about water in the world, water in the oceans, and much more. The kids are super interested and keep asking questions.
After the visit of this fabulous museum we feel a new appreciation for this vital liquid and are inspired to think about ways in which we can develop sustainable alternatives in our everyday life, in our homes, offices, and in the entire environment.
Would you like to see more museums but do not really know which ones? Then check out our favorite museums in Ecuador!
