Was up at 0600, packed and off by 0700. I headed straight into Miami Beach and looked around the Art Deco district. It was another overcast day so photos weren’t looking that great. I had a quick look at the beach again before heading off to the airport. That was a mission and a half. I followed all the signs to the car rental return area and drove around for about 40min. I felt like I went around the world, but eventually the signs led me to the right place. Then it was another huge hike to the check in desk. Miami Airport is so big!
Other animals/birds seen in southern Florida: Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin, Eastern Grey Squirrel, Osprey, Roseate Spoonbill, Turkey Vulture, Snowy Egret, Belted Kingfisher, Red Shouldered Hawk, Black Vulture, Great Blue Heron, Brown Pelican, Double-Crested Cormorant, Blue Heron, Tri-coloured Heron, Snail Kite and Periphyton (algae).
Checked in all ok, flight left on time and food was ok (even though I have no idea what it was as there was anyone who could speak English to explain it to me). Flying into Quito is one of the best sights ever. It is such an amazing, pretty place. A city surrounded by bright green volcanoes, some snow capped. The airport was tiny. We literally flew in with houses just 200m either side of the runway.
The plane arrived early and I waited out the front of the airport for my friend Gabriela. After an hour of waiting, a man asked if I wanted to use his mobile because I had been there for so long, so I called Gabi, and she had forgotten I was coming. She really hasn’t changed from when I knew her in England as she was notoriously known for always being late, turning up to things on the wrong day or generally just forgetting. Surprisingly, the temperature was around 24⁰C. For some reason I thought it would be hotter.
She came and picked me up and I met her Mum and her friend Summer who was visiting from LA. We went back to Gabi’s unit which is just beautiful. The three of us went out to dinner to a new 5 star restaurant called Zuzu. It was absolutely divine. It was very expensive for Ecuadorian standards, but compared to Australia, it was nothing. I had a 3 course meal of crab meat with palm hearts in this amazingly beautiful cream sauce, grilled swordfish with mashed potato with crab mixed through it and chocolate fondue for desert plus a cocktail for US$42. It was one of the nicest meals I have ever eaten. Afterwards, Gabi insisted we go to her friends club – The Attic Bar in the La Mariscal district, not far from her unit. Being Halloween, she also made us dress up. So I had to wear these pink fluffy bunny ears, red devil tail and arm length red gloves. We were the only ones dressed up.
Thankfully we didn’t stay too long as I was so tired and just wanted to go to bed.
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