GETTING THERE! (8th/9th)

Be warned Miami airport IS without doubt the worst in the world for visiting travellers. From the gate where Virgin passengers disembark we walked for a mile to get to passport control, no exaggeration. Then queue for half an hour to begin the A.P.C.(automated passport control) Easy???? No! You then either get a 'Pass' receipt or a 'Fail' 90% Yes Ninety per cent fail at random, we were told so then you queue for 90 minutes to go through manned passport control, where you give finger and thumb prints on both hands followed by a photograph! Welcome to America!
By this time all luggage had backed up by the amount of folks queuing bags and cases were piled in heaps between the various carousels. Horrendous, avoid Miami, if at all possible. We just had a one night stopover before our onward flight to Quito and beyond, so before we knew it it was 5.30a.m. and it was back onto another shuttle bus as dawn broke over the chaotic Floridian metropolis. Miami departure area is much more friendly, once they've got you! American Airlines flight AA947 was due to depart at 09.45, so as we sat smugly in our allotted seats and waited and waited AND waited the Captains voice of doom told us there was a minor problem. Beware minor problems, they grow! After over 2 hours of sitting on a plane going nowhere ........... We had to de-plane! The plane was leaking fuel and couldn't be sorted anytime soon so after another hour of unrest from disgruntled passengers, a new bird in perfect working order was found. Our 4 hour delay was generously added to by air traffic control, not finding us a spot by 40 minutes, so our afternoon in Quito was wiped out and we eventually arrived at out hotel at 7.45pm
 Quito, Equador, South America! Wow, my first visit to a new continent. So now, lucky I've visited Five continents, how amazing is that? The main thing I guess as I don't 'Do Cold!' is I won't be doing Antarctica, so I've now achieved what I wanted. The journey here wasn't easy if fact it seemed we had problems each day since we left. But now we had arrived at the Hilton Colon, Quito - and very nice it was too - very plush and a beautiful bedroom to rest our tired bones, was just what was needed before our 24 hour visit to the city tomorrow.