I hardly know where to start.... after a very long day yesterday, we circled around the most gloriously awesome view I have seen in a very long time. The night lights of Quito glistened, danced and shone like a huge chest full of treasure, different colors sparkling and blinking and bringing tears to my eyes from its sheer beauty. In the distance and all along the horizon, lightening danced from the clouds, lighting them up in an indescribable pink and crystal white. The deep black of the night here made all of this stand out in clear and crisp way that could not have believed........
We left Chattanooga early on Wednesday morning, Steven taking us to the bus stop just south of Chattanooga - thanks for the early morning ride, my boy. The drive to Atlanta on the shuttlebus was gentle and uneventful and we were very thankful that the flooding had not reached us in Soddy Daisy, but that all the roads were clear for us to get to Atlanta. We could see so much evidence of devastating flooding all around. The sunrise was beautiful - presenting us with a huge orange ball balancing in the sky and glistening on the dew, or was it still rain?, sitting on the trees.
Atlanta airport was not nearly as bad as we, or I, had anticipated and we quickly found our gate and then went exploring for a little. The flight to Miami was not bad at all - I had a window seat right in front of the wing with a lovely view. We saw a good few other airplanes headed north and it was good that they kept their distance very well! After the initial sweaty palms and palpatating heart, I settled in and actually enjoyed the flight. There was a soldier who had just come back from his second term in Iraq, sitting next to us and he was going home! Finally, home for good. He was not re-enlisting and was looking forward to a new way of life again... I got some lovely photos of him, both pensive looking and huge smiles too :)
I had been worried about the connection time between landing in Miami and leaving for Quito and had rather picked a much later flight than the one that was due to leave just an hour after the Atlanta flight landed. So we had a very long wait in Miami. Our bags quickly became very heavy with the long walk to our gate and the many inbetween meandering we did, and we wondered just why we had not got the baggage with wheels on them. Ah well, so one learns.
Before boarding in Miami for Quito, Ecuador, I called my three kids, my mom and my sister..... I will be out of phone contact till we get back into Miami in just over three weeks time. It was good to talk to them all, and Kate -you were as funny as all get-out on my last call to you! I could hear you were so excited - thanks! And so finally, we got the call to leave. Instant sweaty palms, churning stomach but a very relieved, very tired couple we were to finally be heading out.
What a wonderful and wonder-filled flight that was! The clouds were like a whole species all on their own, emulating different characters and people way down below, they swirled and puffed and then just blew themselves out as they pleased but there always seemed to be a never ending supply of little fluffy ones willing to grow up and spit fire. And then I saw Cuba!! We flew right over Cuba and Jamaica. The airhostess said that sometimes they are denied a flight path directly overhead right at the last minute, but this was one of those times they were able to fly right over it... its a very long, very thin piece of land and I am glad I did not blink or I would have missed it. But - I saw Cuba :) We were flying at 35 000ft and again, I had a window seat right in front of the wing.
We were given the immigration papers to fill in and shortly after that, supper was served - chicken or lasagne. Frank got one, I got the other and both were surprisingly good! And then we sat and tried to fill in those papers..... why do they have to make the writing so incredibly tiny? But even that did not make the excitement die down.... I was so enjoying the flight. There was a movie playing and I sort of listened to it for a bit, but I watched instead for any lights I could see outside........ It was interesting to figure out just where we were flying at any given time and sometimes they showed us that on the monitors - that was neat........they showed us airspeed, temperature outside on the hull, elevation and a few other details, but what I really liked was when they showed us with what looked like a very sophisticated GPS system (sorry Blondie, but you dont come close to this one!), exactly where we were. Coming in over the top bulge of South America was lovely. There was a strip of lights that gave a border to the ocean and then a huge city - I must still get a map out or try to see which one it was. Those lights danced and twinkled too, but we were too high to really appreciate them. And then for many many miles around, just darkness. Here and there was another puddle of light, some brighter than others, but always surrounded by a deep black of nothing. There were some really good thunderstorms around there, judging by the lightening bouncing around and it seemed as if we went a little bit off course to avoid some of those storms. I just loved it all.....
The last 40 minutes of the flight seemed to take forever. we were both buttsore by now, very very tired and I was still not willing to close my eyes for a minute. Frank cannot sleep while travelling so he stayed awake too. Neither of us had slept much the night before, worrying about waking up in time and just restless, so we were almost literally on the edge of falling over but with permanent huge smiles plastered on our faces. And then we came into Quito. Oh my. I dont think I will ever forget that site as long as I live. I had been feeling sorry that I had changed our flights to a later one, which put us flying in at night time, but when we came lower and lower and those lights just did their magic - well, I will never get over that and no amount of daylight flying will beat that view. Ever seen something so beautiful that you want to sob and lose your breath at the same time? This was definitely one of those moments.
So we landed safely again, (2 flights down, 10 to go) and we were met at the airport, after picking up our luggage and going through customs and immigration, we were met by Gustavo from Klein Tours who was holding a yellow sign with our name on it. Were we pleased to see him! We headed outside into the cool evening to his car so that he could take us to the hotel. This airport here is beautiful inside, very updated and clean and definitely on par with those in the USA.... but once you get outside, you have to watch you step.... there is no smooth sidewalk, no organised directions or anything that looked like it to us. just a flurry of people getting around, all very successfully and with no problem despite the horns honking and uneven ground. It was great! :) We headed to the hotel, booked in, said goodnight to Gustavo and headed upstairs to the resturant for a look at the view and a beer. The beer was great and much needed and the view just beautiful with the lights of the city curving their way up steep and narrow roads to where the mountain said 'no more - this is mine'. I dont know what we looked like, but I think our eyes probably looked a bit like those of vampires by then. We sucked down the beer, ooh-ed and aah-ed some more at the totally awesome view of part of the city with its twinkling lights while finishing off a bowl of peanyts and headed for bed. We did not sleep much either - it was very cold in the room and we could not find the switch to change the settings on the airconditioning, so we shivered all night long. People upstairs seemed to be having a great party with much merry shouting and doors slamming which also did not help the restive feelings.....and we were being picked up by Gustavo at 9am for our City Tour of Quito this morning.
What a tour this was today! This place is just totally soaked in history, in absolutely stunningly old and fascinating buildings and Missions and Churches and plants and cobbled roads and the most aweful drivers I have ever seen! I think Gustavo's car must have repelling magnets all around it as it was simply a miracle that some other vehicles did not smack into us. He is a great driver, a simply wonderful tourguide and just a lovely person too. We visited a good few very old Catholic Churches and I so badly wish I could remember their names - they started with the word Basilica and one was Fransisco, but sorry, I am way too tired to remember or to look it up now. If I have time this coming week, I promise I will. Please dont hold your breath for it though! I just have to tell you this about the one particular church we visited. There is no photography allowed at all inside and this is another of those sob-and-lose-breath moments....Every bit of the inside of these churches were covered with designs, symmetry and huge original paintings.... I mean every single inch! And it is all done in gold.....I bought all the different post cards they had available. It is just glorious and it was impossible to see everything as it was huge and ....well, I will take photos of the postcards and post them! How's that?? Yes, I am weird....
This city is a long thin strip nestled between the mountain ranges, the north part is the newer part and where our hotel is, the middle is the Old City which is absolutely fascinating and the south end is the poorer section which is also where I wish I could spend more time scrounging around the mirriads of fascinating little shops. We walked around the old city for a good long while, visiting the Presidents house, the Central Square and looking at the fascinating buildings all around them. We got to pose with some guards to the Presidents House which was fun - they are allowed to move, unlike those in the UK and I am sure the one cracked a smile at us too.
Its just amazing that almost everywhere you turn, there is a beautiful, intricate old building, a statue, a dome,a steep road made or bricks or cobbles and little shops all along the way, built into the walls of the churches and other huge buildings. The photos will tell you more of what I mean. but it is definitely a place that needs some time to look at it all. We did not visit many of the shops, as we rather wanted to see as much as we can and also because we are coming back here after the Amazon Jungle part and will be going to a market then.
And then we heard a protest starting and the police were closing off some of the roads. Apparently some government workers are unhappy about some things and today was the day that they were going to march around the Old City, shout what they were unhappy about, all the way to the main Square of Quito where the Presidents house was...... and us. So we quickly got out of there, not worried, but just not wanting to get caught up in it all and also wanting to get out before the roads got totally jammed up. Gustavo got us out of there with perfect timing along with a smart quick change of mind at one turn. We were in no danger at all, it would have just got us caught up there and we had more things to see.
There were so many stunningly beautiful things that we saw today and I almost ran out of "oh wow's!!" - almost.
We went for lunch at a really lovely resturant where we were treated to some simply delicious foods and fresh veggies. I really liked the tree tomato but forget what the other yummy fruits names are - one tasted very much like a granadella, but definitely was not one.. Then off we went to the Center of the World - the Equator. We went on a shortish tour there of the different native houses and accommodations - I mean the natives that are the true Amazon Natives. The totem poles were fascinating and their houses and pottery just amazing. You should have seen the absolutely real tiny little head that was on display - it was one that was shrunk by the Head Shrinker Tribe a long time ago! Your head can get turned into just the size of your fist! Very very weird indeed. The wood they used for their spears were very heavy we were told that the blow spear, where they blow a poisoned dart through this tube, allows them to blow it 40 meters! And you should feel the weight of that wooden tube! These guys must be/have been a very well muscled bunch. It was weird watching the demonstration they did on how water flows in the opposite direction on each side of the equator....but exactly on that line - it just does straight down that drain hole with no swirling whatsoever! They had a sink with water in it on a portable stand and showed us that it worked... just three feet on either side of the equator, that water swirls, but not at all in the middle! Weird. And all during this tour the most glorious, irridescent humming birds with long floaty tails flittered around, always just too quick for the camera as someone was always too close by - but I will definitely catch them soon!
The last stop of the day, with us definitely feeling very wilted after so many incredibly sites, a lovely lunch accompanied with a wonderful beer, was to a volcano where people actually live inside it! yup, they do. Apparently they just thought it was a lovely valley, and it is, but it was later discovered that its a volcano..... thankfully very domant. There are no cars in there at all with only a very steep walking path in and out..The community was started by a Jesuit group - the original house is still there, but empty and we could see it from the rim. There are no railings here to protect one from falling over the edge, apart from a very low pole strung up between two posts. This is so unlike it is in the USA and its wonderful to see that common sense is very much alive and well in this very vibrant, very beautiful city.
We were safely delivered from horrifying rush hour where one toot of the horn apparently means 'I am also here' and two toots clearly says "I am going ahead of you!". and often there is only a heartbeat between the two messages. Three busses got in a jam and were all reversing to try to get a better vantage point, or a chance to move on and for a moment it got very interesting watching these huge blue machines kicking themselves into position.
Now, as I type this, Frank is gently snoring, trying to get some rest. I ordered a heater...... oh wait - I forgot to finish that story...... It was cold in here last night, and we could not find the air conditioning controls no matter how much we hunted, (yes, we even checked under the bed!) because there is no airconditioning here!! I thought it was rather quiet. No doubt the huge volcano outside our window that is covered in snow and ice, added to our discomfort last night. But now we have a gently humming heater and plan on a more restful night.
It was an incredible day and feels impossible that it was only last night that we arrived here. We already have well over a thousand photos and my eyes just cant deal with looking through them right now, but I will add them to the photobucket album soon. Hopefully when we get back after the Amazon Jungle cruise we are headed out to tomorrow morning at 6am! We fly from here to a small place called Cocoa where we will be taken to a very narrow looking wooden motorized canoe for a two hour spin up the Napo River to join the Amazon Manatee Explorer. She is a river motor yacht that accommmodates 30 passengers. We will spend the next 8 days aboard her...As far as I understand there is no internet there and it will be a bit of a disappointment if there is!
Now that we have the heater, I am going to open the curtains so that I can see the lights outside while I lie in bed, knowing that I am so incredibly blessed, happy, fortunate and so many other things, to be able to experience this all. It's been totally and absolutely incredible so far and the main course has not yet begun!.
So....till then.
love and light
Annie
Annie
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