Arrival in South America

Arrived Sunday evening, the plane journey was interesting! Was lucky enough to have two seats to myself and did nothing but sleep and watch mission impossible 3 again. No screens in the backs of the seats unfortunately. The landing was...interesting! The wings came so close to the buildings i thought we were going to slice them off it then braked when it hit the tarmac, but that wasnt enough, he then practically emergency stopped the plane my life jacket flew out from under my seat - queue thunderous applause from passengers, I extracted my heart from my mouth and exited the plane. The taxi journey from the airport was a mixture of accelerate heavily, slam the brake on and then beep at the person next to you for being in your way as you swerve across three lanes of traffic. On arrival at the hotel, I extracted my fingernails from the upholstery and watched a tiny ecuadorian porter struggle with my rucksack! I was in double room with two doublebeds and ensuite so first night was nice, I have another girl coming to share with me tonight but I dont know what nationality she is but will be nice to have someone to talk to.

Quito is nestled in the Andean hills, the view from the hotel room is spectacular. The traffic is quite crazy. The city itself is split into two parts, the old and the new city. I am staying at the moment in the new city which is the financial district. The old town is more a home for pickpockets but I am being sensible so fingers crossed. I move to the Secret Garden Hostel on my return which is in the old town so will look round there next week.

Traumatic plane landing...

Off to the Galapagos islands tomorrow so hoping I dont get sea sickness.

Currently ok, little jet lagged and have altitude sickness as Quito is so high above sea level. It means I have a headache and no appetite, have to walk slowly and drink lots of water.

Locals here seem really friendly, one girl befriended me at the airport which was nice. The customs guy in Quito was also really nice as he didnt make me take my rucksack off and scan it as i looked like i would fall over with it on!