03 December 09 Mexico
Had to get up very early in the morning (3a.m.) in order to check in 3 hours before our 7a.m. flight on American Airlines to Miami. We had to stay with the One World group of airlines in order to build up our air 
points and this will explain the need for flying from Miami to Quito, in Ecuador. Flying in to Miami gave us a great view of the Florida coastline and the Everglades as it was a brilliant clear day!
We had a four hour wait in Miami Airport in order to connect with our flight to Quito and this time was spent catching up writing a blog or two, having a bite to eat (as we’d missed out on breakfast) and buying a couple of books to read. The airport there was less than impressive, being rather dirty in the area where our Gate was and the staff not very professional at all. Our flight was late leaving and was jam packed! At least they did produce a meal for us which was quite acceptable, although the flight attendant managed to knock a small bottle of wine off her cart, into my salad and then onto my lap! As a result of this, she politely told me I could have it for no charge!
Arrival time in Quito, Ecuador, was around 7.45pm, where we had a minor worry when only one of our suitcases had come through, however the second one ultimately arrived to our intense relief! The airport in Quito is at a height of 9,000ft and it was pouring with rain on arrival. By the time we’d gone through Immigration and Customs and found a young man holding a sign with our names on, the rain had all but stopped. After a long two hour drive in the dark, down one mountainside and up another one, we finally arrived outside our hotel in Cotacachi, at 8,000ft, our destination. It felt rather strange not seeing the landscape along the way but no doubt we’ll come to know it in the morning. By now quite tired after such an early start to our day, we tumbled into bed and immediately fell asleep!
the road from the first, was a pretty little two bedroom home with wrought iron fence and gates, as is the norm everywhere with a small front grassed area. It had a decent sized lounge directly inside the front door, a small but adequate kitchen with two stoves, two good sized bedrooms with built-in wardrobes (each room had just a hammock strung up for a bed) and two nicely tiled bathrooms. There was a huge sour orange tree in the small paved back yard area and a storage room there as well. All in all, it was a nice little home which he told us was the equivalent of $Aus.60,000 and being in a good area with smart homes.
were introduced to Antonio’s son and his wife, who were happy to show us their 5 bedroom home, which they were also happy to sell if we liked it! Although having 5 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms it was fairly dark inside with good quality dark furniture and didn’t really appeal, but at about $A73,000 it was a very good deal. Too big for us in any case. Another three bedroom house also nearby looked a likely proposition but Antonio couldn’t locate his other son for the key! At this point, we dropped Antonio back at his restaurant and continued by taxi to a gated estate over half an hour out of Merida. The house we were shown here was
brand new, with a double carport, 3 very 
pool at the rear. The exterior of the house was a plaster finish but in the shape of weather boards and they looked the real thing from a distance. At 2.25 million pesos ($Aus.180,000) this was great value. Another son, who lived next door to this home, showed us through his own home. An animal lover, he had three dogs, (2 boxer pups and their mum), several big aviaries with very talkative parrots as well as other smaller birds and also a large fenced, grassed area with three deer, a very small, young deer and two bigger ones. The tiny deer’s mother had been shot and the baby brought in to this young man to look after. After seeing these three homes we were able to begin to make some comparisons.
which is safe and tranquil with no currents
Two Adventurers 
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