Quito, Ecuador in 12 hours

It's Mike and Anne from HoneyTrek.com. Checking in from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. We're about to board our flight to Iquito, Ecuador for the next month. Yeah, we're super excited. It starts in, from Iquito, we go to the Galapagos, then we go down Volcano Avenue to Colonial Cuenca, the adventure capital of Ecuador's baños, see some hot springs, then we're going to take an Amazon riverboat and explore the jungle. It's going to be a wild month. See you on the other side. Welcome to Iquito. Buenos dias. We are here in Iquito, Ecuador, staying at the Casano de la Ronda Hotel. It's over 300 years old. There's so much history here at the historic center of Iquito. And we have a full day ahead of us, from seeing historic churches to vibrant markets. We're doing a cooking class. So, join us for this really exciting day in Iquito. We're here in San Francisco Church Plaza. This was actually the first church built by the Spanish. Before the Incans ruled this city and to show their authority and new dominance, the Spanish actually tore down the Incan temples and used the stones as the base of this new pillar for the city. It's the most beloved church in all of Iquito today and really a symbol of Catholicism in the town. Up ahead there you can see the beautiful tile domes of the Compañía de Jesus. They say the interior is actually one of the finest examples of Baroque architecture in all of Latin America. So, we're going to check that out next. This is the actual medicine man. The actual altar was also the medicine woman. It was a privilege for the man. No doctors. We're going to do the preparation of the ceviche. As a main course, this is the corvina. The shrimp. We just mixed the red salsa and the lime juice and now we have the onion over our soup. Very good. This is my birthday in Iquito. Thank you. Salud. Notice what would be the gargoyles are actually endemic animals from the Galapagos. We're standing high above Iquito right now. The second highest capital in the world at 9,600 feet. That's twice the height of Denver. It's an incredible city. A UNESCO heritage preserved city with chapels and plazas dating back to the 16th century. It's exquisite. It's lively. You can hear the music high up even from this viewpoint. We've had a blast exploring the colonial streets. We went to the equator, to the mitad del mundo. It's a place we're dying to come back to. Buenas noches, Iquito.