Teleferico

After a long trip getting to Quito, which involved an extra day in Miami, Florida due to bad weather on our connecting flight in New York, we finally arrived! It was a beautiful flight. Flying into Quito we were surrounded by mountains. Quito airport has one of the most technically challenging descents for pilots.

Our first day in Quito we went up the Teleferico, which is a cable car that takes people up Pichincha mountain. Here is a picture of the cable car:

The ride up the mountain takes about ten minutes, and it is breathtakingly beautiful!

Here you can see the city, which is HUGE and spread out over the mountain valley.

When we got to the top of the Teleferico we were 14,000 feet above sea level. It gets harder to breathe up there because there is less oxygen so we had to go slowly as we hiked farther up the mountain. On our way back down we stopped at a Catholic church that is near the top of the Teleferico, and we visited a little grass hut. 

Here's the grass hut:

We also stopped to throw my niece, Evangeline, up in the air!

Here I am with my sister at the top of the Teleferico!

It was a great start to our day!