Ecuador - Quito

We had an very early morning start as we were collected from our hotel at 4.15am to get to the airport - but our flight was delayed by 1.5 hours, so it was very annoying that we had to get up so early! Cusco airport is rather basic so there were no cafes to relax over a coffee while we waited for our flight. We were flying from Cusco to Lima and then getting another flight from Lima to Quito, and due to the delay we were advised to check our luggage all the way through to Quito from Cusco. Thankfully the bags arrived safely.

We had another 45 minute delay on our flight from Lima to Quito so the whole day seems to have  been about hanging around airports or travelling. We were met by the tour rep at Quito airport and taken to our hotel. Our first impressions of Quito were very favourable as it although it is a third world country it is wealthier than it's neighbours and has a very good infrastructure with good roads, was very neat and clean. The surrounding mountains are green and very pretty. Interestingly their currency here is the US dollar. 

At 2800m above sea level Quito is the highest capital city in the world (La Paz is higher but is not the official capital of Bolivia though many think it is) It has a population of about 3 million people. The main products of Ecuador are oil, bananas, shrimp & tuna, and ...roses. On Valentine's Day this year they exported 17 thousand tons of roses in one day!

When we got to the hotel we dropped our bags and Gavin and I joined a tour from our hotel to the old town of the city, while the boys went to relax at the pool and gym. Th told town is a charming area with beautiful old colonial Spanish buildings. We walked around and also went to a chocolatier for a chocolate tasting - they have excellent chocolate here. The central squares are flat but the city is surrounded by steep roads, like San Francisco - we went up to the large statue of the Virgin Mary where I took the shot of the city at night (see extras). It was already about 6pm when I took these photos so the light was fading as being on the equator it gets dark very early here. I have been very impressed with Quito.

I am sorry I have not been able to reply to comments or thank you all individually for the kind hearts bestowed  on me. I can only connect when I am in the hotel with WiFi as roaming is too expensive here, so I don’t have access except for a brief period before I go to dinner. Tomorrow morning it is another 4.15am start as they are collecting our bags at 4.30am to check their contents before allowing them to go to Galapagos as many items are forbidden - plastic bags, nuts, seeds etc. We are flying very early from Quito to Guayaquil, allowing more people to board the plane there, and then flying on to San Cristobal Island in the Galapagos where we board our boat. It will be another tiring day, these early mornings and long full days are exhausting!