Ecuador 2023 - Getting there: Day 1 - Jan. 19th, 2023

In Dec. of 2020 a plan started forming for my husband, myself, and a group of 4 friends to visit Ecuador for some birding adventures. After 2 years of planning and re-planning (mostly due to Covid and scheduling issues), we finally got to go on this long awaited trip organized by Jocotours. Our 4 friends decided to travel to Quito, Ecuador a few days early to do some sightseeing in the city, so they were already in Ecuador and well acclimatized to the higher elevation by the time my husband and I got there. 

We had to leave our house by 2:30am on Jan. 19th to make the drive to BWI and be on our plane for a 6am takeoff. Everything went smoothly and we landed at MIA on-time with over 8 hrs to kill before our evening flight to Quito. During our layover we saw our first bird of the trip - a House Sparrow. Evidently he and a few of his friends live inside the airport and feed off of people's crumbs and garbage.

 

First bird of the trip - a House Sparrow inside MIA terminal

We got plenty of exercise during these 8+ hrs as we walked our entire terminal several times and looked at all the stores and art installations with our heavy backpacks and rolling a suitcase. This was the only time during our trip that I slightly regretted that we had taken on the challenge of doing a long birding trip with only carry-on luggage, but in the long run it was a good decision.  

The Miami airport fish art

By the time we took off from MIA it was dark outside, so the only views I got from the airplane window was of the city lights. 

Goodbye Miami

Panama City, Panama (I think)

It was close to midnight when we finally landed, in the low 50s (F) and raining. After being stuffed into our seats for the 4.5 hr flight we were eager to get off the plane but quickly realized we had to slow down considerably. Our home city sits at 387ft in elevation, but the elevation at the Quito, Ecuador airport is 9,229ft. and our bodies made us immediately aware of this fact by making us gasp for air.

Quito International Airport from the airplane window (opened in 2013)

 Going through customs and immigration was a breeze as was finding our shuttle to the Wyndham Quito Airport hotel. By the time we got settled into this excellent hotel, and got into bed it was around 1:30am. We had been awake (except for short snoozes on the plane) for 23 hrs! Time for some much needed rest.