Saludos desde Guayaquil, Ecuador! Estoy finalmente aquí.

After a grueling 23 hour day, I am finally here in Guayaquil, Ecuador. If you read my entry from yesterday, you'll know that my flight was majorly delayed, and I didn't even get to my hotel until 2:30 AM and only had enough energy to take a much-relished hot shower and seriously collapsed into bed. The hotel in which I'm staying is a VERY old, elegant 4 story mansion right on the Guayas River- full of ornate, wrought-iron metal work, a grand staircase, arched doorways and intimate rooms full of character. They play smooth jazz that carries throughout the hotel, and the clientele is young and hip. I woke this morning to a sunny, warm (upper 70s and humid) day and stood out on my private balcony looking around at the architecture, palm trees lining the Malecon - the boulevard along the river - and dined on a delicious Ecuadorian breakfast of fresh fruits (watermelon, bananas, passion fruit, pineapple and mangos), granola, scrambled eggs and some kick-ass coffee. I'm off to take my first steps into the city and get myself oriented and do some shopping. It's still surreal to me to realize that I'm actually in South America and below the Equator for the first time in my life. It is finally sinking in. The long ordeal-of-a-trip is behind me now, and my tour begins! Adiós por ahora! Espero que todos están bien y gracias por acompañarme en esta asombrosa aventura!! note: for those of you who don't speak Spanish, myself included, go to: http://translation.babylon.com/english/to-spanish/