Guayaquil: ECUADOR! An explore before we leave for the Galapagos Islands!

We were Ecuador in 2010 and boy, did I forget the way people drive!!!  No painted lanes and just chaos that everybody buys into so it works for them.  As a passenger in a Taxi, one had to ignore all the craziness and near misses, horn honking and getting to know the folks in the car right next to you!!! Yikes!

Anyway, we had the day to ourselves and decided to check out what they call the "Santa Ana Hill".  Note to self... PUT ON SUNSCREEN!... you will see why later on!

This hill is located in the northern part of the city.  You climb 444 stairs (in 84 degree weather no less) and reach the top where there  is  a lighthouse and a small church at the top.  As you can imagine, hundreds of years ago it was a fortress area to protect the city.  Even managed to find a geocache at the top of the hill and so now we can say we have found one in the Southern Hemisphere!  

Back to the sunscreen... The overcast skies were thinning and the sun was bright.  My arms felt like they were frying!  Jerry had his convertible pants on and had unzipped his lower leg panels and stowed them.  He got them back out and I ended up weather them on my arms... I was definitely the most styling girl in the area...

 Crazy guy climbing the flag pole to try to get the flag down... there was a knot impeding the normal movement of the rope.

 See my crazy sleeves!

South Beach... We blew in... then we blew out!

Our last day in Miami and we visited the famous Art Deco Buildings in Miami!  The building colors were awesome but a bit muted due to the cloudy, rainy, windy weather.  But that didn't keep us from checking the place out.  Had a great little lunch at 'The News Stand': one of the better we've had as of late.  

We tried to walk on the beach so we could check out the Atlantic Ocean... Alas, jut as we climbed that berm, the wind, spraying sand and the RAIN picked up momentarily.  I did an about face, Jerry followed, and, of course, the rain stopped.  Still, a good time before we headed to the airport for Ecuador!

No Pics here folks, they're on Facebook!

Vizcaya - a Villa and Gardens So Unexpected!

At dinner last night, we were having a great conversation with our server.  As we closed the evening up, we asked her if there was a place where we could walk a bit and discover something many tourist don't see.  She suggested Vizcaya, about 3 miles from where we were staying.

We checked it out and were not disappointed.  It's a villa built to look like an Italian-Renaissance style villa over a couple hundred years old-yet, in reality,  it was built from 1914 to 1916, when Miami not yet settled this far south and the population was only 10,000 people.  It was spectacular with the fixtures and design.... plus the beautiful gardens, all right on the coast of Biscayne Bay.  Sad to say, the owner, James Deering was  only able to enjoy it for about 9 years, before he passed.  There was an Orchid Garden, fountains everywhere, an indoor/outdoor pool, and original furnishings.  

 A man made sea wall... made to look like a beautiful barge!

Not a big bridge, but it's a bridge!  and the wind tried to take my hat!

John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park... wish we had planned better!

So, we decided to do an explore and headed toward Key Largo, about an hour and some minutes away.  Boy, wish we had thought it out better!  Their were glass bottom boat tours we could have taken, but alas, they were booked.  Sometimes, spur of the moment doesn't work out too well!

Anyway, we did go to their aquarium and walked around a bit.  And yup, found our way to a geocache.  Took a trail we might not have otherwise.  Also, found some mosquitoes!!!! lucky us!!!!

 Hawk

 Mangroves at the beginning of the trail...

 Nice groomed trail

 Geocache and, as you can see, he's getting a bite from a Mosquito!

Barnacle Park in Coconut Grove - yup, a geocaching surprise!

Checked email early to make sure Jillian and Steve got home... They sure did, and found out their house had been broken into and Steve's car taken along with all sorts of stuff in the house... but not the TV ... but her makeup, nail polish, blankets, all her jewelry, some clothing... weird... anyway... we had problems getting anymore rest and just needed to regroup.  Hard as a parent to see your kid go through crummy stuff.

Anyway, finally got all settled down and decided to go walking and look for geocaches.  Found a couple but best yet, a great park, Barnacle State Park.  So thick and green within the city limits, and then right on the water.  A nice way to get that icky stuff out of our systems!

 geocache

 see the little heart on the leaf... Jerry's discovery!