Hola

¡Hola from Quito! Sorry it's taken me so long to write anything on this Blog but I don't seem to have stopped since I got here in Tuesday night. I admit to being just a little nervous when I arrived, after being told there would be hundreds of people swarming the airport trying to steal all my stuff, but it wasn't like that at all! Slightly perilous landing (no kidding the the runway is just one narrow strip right in the middle of the city, and that's after you've avoided the numerous volcanos and buildings that seemed to be just inches below). Our pilot got a deserved round of applause, mostly out of relief I think that we had survived! Then a crazy cab journey, which included an impromptu Spanish lesson from my driver Fernando, to the hostel. Don't want to brag but this is the view from the terrace of where I'm staying, 'The Secret Garden' (above). Everyone eats together at a candlelit table on the roof terrace which has the most spectacular view over the city and the surrounding volcanos, and once I had got talking to other people staying here, all nerves had disappeared. Luckily they mostly speak English, so I have a few days to settle in before the Spanish starts in earnest.