Hola from Ecuador!
We arrived safely in Quito after a long flight. Technical hitch in Brisbane saw us delayed and then on a replacement plane. However all things important then went well and then next hitch was Peter´s backpack was not on the flight. No problema. Emergency standbys were in small pack!
We arrived at Secret Garden in the old part of Quito and went to the roof garden to check in. It was a truly magnificent sight! Rolling over hills from one side to the other were twinkling lights of the houses etc.On the top of the hill straight ahead was the large statue of the Virgin Mary protecting the city from the small hill, El Panecillo. It was beautiful.
Things took a bit of a down turn after that . We began to realise that Secret Garden is a party, party place and never shuts down! People are rolling in at all hours and when they buzz and enter, the information is shouted from the ground floor to the top,about 4 floors, and back down again.
Then I got really sick with what people have told me was altitude sickness. I did not surface until Tuesday morning for breakfast on the roof top. It was a great view in the daylight and the breakfast was tops.Peter had been on a few walks about the old section and sussed out the food places and effectively communicated with the pharmacist that his wife was vomitting and had some pills for me. The medical kit, so carefully prepared was......in Peter´s misplaced backpack.
We then decided that we really needed to change accomodation in best interest of getting some sleep as we had not had any since arriving, so checked out and left the young ones to keep burning the candle at both ends.
We walked around the old city,and went to the Metropolitan Cathedral.We went up to the domes and the guide explained the columns used for the building to cope with earthquakes. There are many churches to visit but we left these to another time as we were really interested in finding our land legs again.
We will return to Quito in a more relaxed state and explore it better next time.
We enjoyed a nice steak meal at Shorton´s Grill.Our night at Pasada del Maple was so wonderfully quiet and Peter was able to get his rogue backpack from the airport and all was panning out smoothly. :)
Next leg,Galagapos Islands
