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Published: June 12th 2017
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Geo: -0.223151, -78.5127
Given the printout of our weather forecast for the week, which I consulted several times during the short hour-and-45-minute flight to Quito, I fully expected to land in the midst of heavy thunderstorms. We were treated, instead, to a spectacular low descent in near cloudless skies, weaving our way through and past several mountain ranges. The airport is brand new, opening within the past year, and was quite impressive. We saw the former airport later during our tour, which was located close to downtown and which was surrounded, nearly to the runway edges, with homes, and which involved a tricky maneuver between two peaks when landing. Though located way outside town, we quickly appreciated the benefits of a new airport, clearly designed to handle (and impress) foreign tourists. As soon as we exited the plane, the thin air was evident. Though we'd already begun a course of medicine to help with the altitude adjustment, by the time we reached the end of the jetway, we were all three a little winded. We were talking to an American couple from the flight, and we all laughed at how breathless we'd already become.
Though we landed at the same time as two
flights from Europe, we managed to clear immigration quickly and just as quickly had our bags in hand and met our driver in the arrivals hall. I won't pretend to know or to even have asked our driver's name, as he did not speak a word of English. Thank goodness K's Spanish started to come back quickly, and my Sesame Street Spanish had a little resurrection as well.
We managed to shoehorn our bags into the trunk of the Toyota Corolla our driver had brought. Thank goodness K sat in the front seat, as she did her best to translate the impromptu tour the driver was giving us during the hour-long drive into central Quito. Most of the drive in was on a series of new highways -- including part of the PanAmerican Highway, which runs from Alaska to Chile -- which have been built and/or improved by the current president of Ecuador. He is a Socialist with somewhat pronounced anti-U.S. sentiments, but the signs of what appear to sincere efforts to better use the country's oil revenue and distribute some of the wealth were evident. More on that later.
We hit Quito during a Friday rush hour, but our driver made
his way off the highway and up and around a series of steep hills before spilling out into Quito proper, which is built along the top of the highest plateau in the country -- more than two miles above sea level. The driver explained that the city sits little a Chorizo sausage along the top of the plateau; built long and curvy. We have the Big Apple; Ecuador as the Big Chorizo.
Our hotel -- the Hilton Colon -- was located in the business district of town, in the "New City." We would be staying at this hotel for our first and last two nights. We were thankfully upgraded to a suite for all three nights, which was a really nice treat. Having the extra room and top-end room proved a really nice way to enjoy the beginning and end of the trip.
While we were not hungry enough for a sit-down supper, we did go up to the lounge on the 17th floor to enjoy hors d'oeuvres and drinks while overlooking the city.
There is only a one-hour time difference between Ecuador and Virginia, so we all concluded that we liked not having to travel over night -- as in going to Europe -- and being able to turn in as normal. We were all tired and were in bed by 10:00pm.
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