Exploring Quito

Our first day in Ecuador started early with a buffet breakfast at our hotel. I had expected an Ecuadorian breakfast, but instead the buffet was filled with a western style breakfast: eggs, bacon, sausage, pastries, etc.  If you want the Ecuadorian breakfast, you have to pay  extra for it. Seeing that it consisted largely of soups I stuck with coffee and a muffin.

After breakfast we waited in the Hilton Colon lobby for the other members of our tour group. One thing that stood out was the huge vases of the longstem roses everywhere. It turns out that roses are the second most exported product from Ecuador (oil being number one). They export 400 million roses her day.

We loaded the bus and took off for the Old Town section of Quito. Quito is the capital city of Ecuador is almost 3000 feet above sea level. It’s famed as the highest capital city in the world, and walking around I instantly felt the altitude.

Our first stop was Quito Cathedral. It’s the largest church in South America. This was also a made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978. Quito has one of the most intact historical centers on the continent.

I was more interested in exploring the area around the Cathedral than paying the fee to go inside. There were great views of the city below. Also, there were many vendors selling coca leaves and candy. Even though it’s illegal to grow coca in Ecuador, they are brought in from Peru and sold. Of course I had to try out the candy, and will say that it is no joke! One piece of candy has the same effect as an energy drink on me. It definitely helped with the altitude.

All amped up on coca candy, we continued our tour of Quito. We went to the Inglesia de la Compania de Jesus (Church of the Society of Jesus). Even though pictures were forbidden inside (so you will buy the postcards), I managed to capture a few. The amount of gold in this church is excessive. Everything is covered in gold.

After getting our shiny fix we ventured through the Plaza de la Independence, the central public square of the city. I watched political groups protest, religious groups sing, and locals sitting on benches having conversations. We walked by lots of vendors peddling ice cream, sunglasses, coca leaves, and clothing for dogs.

As we were heading back to our bus an elderly woman bumped into one of our group members. After getting settled onto the bus our group member realized that the clumsy elderly lady had relieved her of her iPhone that was in a pocket in her backpack. I helped her track the phone and then wipe it with the Find My Iphone app. We were told that Iphones are not imported into Ecuador and can be sold for up to $1800.

I was happy to be heading out of the city.

Getting to Ecuador

I find that most kids are like puppies. If you don’t run them out of energy and let them get bored, they will get into trouble. Knowing that we had a 5 hour flight to Ecuador, my mission was to run my son out of energy. That began with wave jumping in the ocean and runnng along with he beach. After a quick shower, we made it to the airport.

This past year I got TSA Pre-check approved. It’s seriously one of the best things I’ve done. Not having to wait in the long line, take off my shoes, and empty my carryon of liquids and laptop has made traveling a lot less dreadful. Because my son is a minor, he can cut the line with me.

I planned for the 5 hours and downloaded movies onto an iPad along with a few new games. My electronic babysitter worked wonderfully.

When we arrived in Ecuador, everything went fairly smoothly. Even though I have backpacked around the world by myself, for this trip I booked a group tour. Since this was Lil’ Mans first international trip, I liked the idea of having a support network in place if anything unexpected were to occur; at least until we have a few trips under our belt together.

Once we got out of customs (and they had confiscated the banana Lil’ Man had in his backpack, we quickly found our tour guide waiting just outside the arrivals gate. I managed to pack us in carry on suitcases so that we didn’t have to deal with baggage claim (I never check bags).

We were put onto our bus and driven 45 minutes into Quito where we would be staying the night at the Hilton Colon. It was already dark out so there wasn’t much of a view.

Once we arrived to our hotel, we checked into our room and set our attention on finding dinner. After a day of travel and not much sleep the previous night, eating at the hotel restaurant seemed like the best bet. This is where I discovered my first shock. There was a large buffet and I was excited at the strange smells and unfamiliar dishes. When our waiter came around I asked how much the buffet was. He told me it was $26. I nearly choked on my water. These were not the prices I expected in a third world country. (On a side note, Ecuador uses US currency).

My internal tightwad could not allow a budget of $26 for a meal and I instead ordered chicken and rice soup from the menu. It was $11. Lil’ Man was tired and not in a very adventurous mood. He ordered an overpriced hamburger.

No one spoke English in our hotel except for the front desk. The service was impeccable and rooms super clean and comfortable. Only later did I find out that the room rates were $220/night if you did not book through the tour company.

I drifted off to sleep still thinking of the outrageous dinner price and concluding that it must just be because we are in the hotel. I slept like a rock.

Preface to an International trip

For the sanity of my kiddo and myself, I decided to break up the flight time for his first international trip. Our flight to Ecuador was scheduled to leave from the Miami airport on Saturday afternoon.  I booked our flight on Friday to Ft. Lauderdale from Kansas City because it was cheaper than flying into Miami. Due to a lot of saved up hotel points, I also booked our first night in Fort Lauderdale.

We took an Uber from the airport to our hotel in Ft. Lauderdale. Uber has started carrying a U-shaped light in their car windows, and you can choose the color you want it to display so it’s easier to spot. (I actually really like this idea and I hope it catches on in other cities).

I noticed immediately that my driver had a very heavy French accent. He told me that he was from Haiti. My little man launched into conversation with him in French. They spent the next 15 minutes having a conversation, while I sat quietly, secretly wondering if they were talking about me. (On a side note, my son goes to a French language immersion school, so he is fluent).

What I didn’t count on for our night in Florida, is that every drunk college student in the US must’ve chosen our hotel to spend Spring Break because it is across the street from the beach. Fortunately, even though the sun was down the college students were on a mission at the bars intoxicating themselves, so we had the beach all to ourselves. I have a mad love affair with the ocean, but don’t get to see it often because I live in Kansas.
The last time I brought my son to the Atlantic Ocean to play, he broke his arm the day before so he never got to get in the water . We walked along the beach in the moonlight, and the temptation finally over took my son and he ended up soaked head to toe.

We called it an early night, however, I didn’t get much sleep due to all of the partying in the hallways and rooms around us. Fortunately, my little sidekick can sleep through anything. We got up early in order to enjoy the the water before our flight. We stopped by a nearby store and grabbed donuts and coffee to enjoy on the beach. We spent the next few hours jumping in the waves and playing in the sand. We returned to our hotel room just before check out so that we could clean up and head to the airport in Miami to catch our flight to Ecuador.

I had intended on taking the Tri-Rail to Miami because it seemed like the most affordable way to transport between cities at $5.00 per person. I ordered an Uber to go from our hotel to the Tri-rail. The Uber was going to cost about $15 just to get to the Tri-Rail. On a whim, I asked the Uber driver how much it would cost for him to just drive us to Miami. It was $36. The convenience of not having to jump on and off with baggage and wait on schedules (not to mention an Uber is quicker) it seemed worth the extra six dollars.