Our first two days were spent getting to Guayaquil and Cuenca in Ecuador. Although you can travel to Cuenca from Miami in one day we decide that these two old folks ought to just fly into Guayaquil and hold up for the night. No sense in pushing it.
So we left Tampa Florida about 7 AM on Thursday, September 23rd with a medium size suitcase and a backpack each. No way did I believe that we would get out of the house with so few suitcases but I have to hand it to Di, she held my feet to the fire and made me pack light.
We arrived at the Miami airport park and fly about 11:30 AM and transferred over to the airport American Airlines curbside international departures area. Our luggage was checked through and we had our boarding passes in about 10 minutes. We were first in line. We couldn't believe it. Now it was time to head to the worst part of our trip. Security check in. We always put Di in a wheelchair because she can't manage the long walks through the airport. I never push her because if I did we both would never get where we need to go. We would both still be in Miami. As normal we paid an airport assistant to push her. This assistant was real good. The line at the security point was huge. That assistant pushed us right to the front. As normal I was first through the security check with mine and Di's stuff because they have to send her through pat down due to her pace maker. We made it to the bar next to our boarding gate and had lunch and for me a beer (a big one). We paid the assistant well and sent her on her way.
At 3:45 PM we were loaded into the plane like cattle and at 4:35 PM sharp we were airborne. The flight was pretty much uneventful. We both slept a lot and they served us a sandwich for our in flight meal. Needless to say I had a cocktail (or two or.....). The flight landed right on time at 7:30 PM. It was a nice smooth 4 hour flight. For those who don't know it, Ecuador is on Eastern Standard Time which right now is one hour earlier than the States. The States sprung forward to Eastern Daylight Time. There is no need for Ecuador to change time as it is on the equator and the days and nights are the same, approximately 12 hours each depending on where you live in Ecuador.
We were met by an airport assistant at the door of our plane with a wheelchair for Di. This guy was good. Not only did he get us to the baggage claim quickly and get our baggage quickly but he got us through the baggage check area without a search and to the customs area quickly. Then he took us straight to the head of the line in front of about 250 other passengers to the customs check through. Man that wheelchair paid off again. Our passports were in order, they put us in their computer and we were through. Now to get the Howard Johnson's shuttle to come get us and we would be down for the night.
At this point I would have paid a taxi $100 to take us across the street to a flea bag hotel. Di and I both were tired. As we made it from the customs check to the departure area we told the airport assistant that we needed a Howard Johnson's shuttle. Ten steps later there was a guy standing there holding a sign that said "Robert & Diane Spencer" and under it it said "Howard Johnson Hotel". I knew then that Di and I had died and gone to heaven.
They treated us like royalty. The van was already pulled up right in front of the terminal exit door. There were two guys. There was the driver and the guy that met us. On the short drive to the hotel we were checked in while on the shuttle. They don't fool around and it was Mr. This and Mrs. That. We never had to touch a thing. Next thing we knew we were in a beautiful king room by 8:30 PM. Needless to say we tipped everyone at both airports and Howard Johnson Hotel well. They earned it. A drink at the bar for Di and I and by 9:30 PM we were in bed. What a first day.
Day two. Friday, September 24th. It was a quick uneventful traverse through Guayaquil airport at about 8:30 AM. Di didn't even need a wheelchair for this part of our trip. This was our short flight from Guayaquil to Cuenca. Now you got to remember that Di and I had worried that we might have problems with altitude sickness in Cuenca. For all of our lives we have been relatively speaking nothing but flatlanders. Cuenca is nothing but up there. Average altitude in the city is 8,250 feet. Now that's nose bleed seats in any stadium in the country including Denver. We were leaving sea level at Guayaquil for a 40 minute hop to 8,250 feet and we weren't coming down for five weeks. So here we go.
We took off at 9:30 AM. Again it was an uneventful flight on a cloudy day and we had no idea where land was until we suddenly broke out in the middle of the mountains. Right next to us! It was beautiful. We landed at 10:15 AM and got through baggage claim quickly and didn't even use a porter. This is where I really appreciated the new four wheel luggage we bought. You could push it around with ease. We went about 50 feet to the taxi stand caught a taxi from the airport to our hotel in Cuenca. What a ride. I knew this was going to be fun when we got through with that taxi ride.
We were at Villa Nova Inn. The taxi dumped us and our luggage there and we paid him $3.00. A nice young gentleman helped me get the luggage up the 1,000 stairs (well almost) to our room and we were there. PHEW!!!!!!! Man the air was thin!!! We went down to the terrace and I had a beer and Di had a coke and we just simply crashed. Then we went to our room and we just simply crashed. Man the air was still thin!! So we took a nap. Man we love retirement. Later that evening we went next door to Sakura Sushi restaurant for our first dinner in Cuenca. Now you have to understand, it was close and Di and I don't eat our bait, we fish with it, so we opted not to have sushi. They did however have a great steak meal. This dinner is when we realized that we really needed to learn the language real bad. You may not get what you really want. Well it was good and we went back to our room and went happily off to sleep. So ended our second day.
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