Ecuador Day 2 - Chill and transfer

Early morning in Miami is certainly a different vibe than Ocean Drive by night.  We were up early and seated at a little place on Espanola way that we'd spotted yesterday for breakfast.

Heading down to Ocean Drive, it was nice and quiet, though the paths and closed lanes on Ocean Drive were full of exercisers - getting their morning sweat in while it wasn't too hot.  We went to the Art Deco Welcome Center, a quasi South Beach Museum and we learned of the importance that the growth of radio broadcasting had led to the growth of South Beach.  This was followed by the whole area acting as a training and staging area for soldiers heading to World War II.  The community really took off after the war to what it is today.  They really have done a great job preserving the look of the original architecture.

By late morning, the temperatures soared and the patches of shadows started to disappear, so we spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon chilling by the pool.  They had great food!

Or late afternoon AA flight, part f the Lindblad/Nat Geo package (remember... FREE!) was on time.  We were starting to get really excited to explore Ecuador.   I found a decent Cubano (actually, who am I to judge...) in the sprawling, modern Miami Airport.  Yum.

We arrived in Quito, the capital, at 10:30 and sped through a very efficient customs process.  We have managed to squeeze everything in our carry on luggage, as we have 8 short flights on this trip, which makes things pretty quick and easy getting in and out of airports.  

We hopped in an Uber for the 40 minute drive to the hotel (which was less that $20... we're not in North America any more!).  I was immediately struck by the infrastructure and size of everything.  I was expecting it to be more like Lima - sprawling and feeling a little like a work in progress.  Everywhere we could see were modern highways, buildings and infrastructure... at least where we were driving.  

Although we couldn't see too much of the surroundings, you could see the shadow of mountains nearby as we dropped into the valley that Quito is built in.

The downtown core was very quiet.  We arrived and checked into the Ikala Quito Hotel and were quickly asleep.  New country!!