We woke up at an ungodly hour very early this morning to take a flight from Cusco to Quito, Ecuador, via Lima. I felt a little sad to be leaving Cusco, as I knew there were over a dozen other beautiful and historic places we just didn’t have time to visit. And while I knew we’d still be at high altitude in Quito, I knew I’d also miss having my daily dose of coca tea provided by our historic hotel in Cusco. Coca tea is supposed to help with adjusting to altitude, as locals have known for centuries. For me, it tasted like an interesting mix of almost savory mint and herbs. While Quito is still quite above sea level at about 9,350 feet (or 2,850 meters), Cusco is significantly higher at 11,152 feet (or 3,399 meters) above sea level. Quito would be our last destination we’d hit on this trip before eventually returning to sea level in Guayaquil about an hour’s flight southwest of Quito. So it was time for us to say “adios” to Peru and “buenos dias” to Ecuador, otherwise known as La Mitad del Mundo, or the “middle of the world,” given that the equator runs right through the country; Ecuador’s name actually comes directly from the Spanish word for the equator, “ecuador,” because of this.

I have to say that on the two flights we’ve done on LATAM Airlines (first from Lima to Cusco, and this second one from Cusco to Quito) that I truly love their service. The flight attendants are always so cheerful, friendly, and eager to please. They always introduce themselves by name (after asking which language you’d prefer, Spanish or English). They always say they will do anything they can to best serve you — and it never seems like they are bullshitting you; the words are spoken with sincerity. And it never feels like you are bothering them when you ask them for something or have a question. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for any U.S. airline counterpart. The last flight, I told them I’d prefer English. This flight, to humor myself (and to get myself to listen to Spanish better), I told the flight attendant I’d prefer Spanish. And so she continued to speak to me in Spanish and listen to my choppy, nonexistent Spanish words. She never once made me feel embarrassed or like I was an idiot.

And here’s another really kind, out-of-the-way act of service that a flight attendant did: during our flight, she could see that Kaia was being a bit fussy with us. So she randomly whipped out a little sheet of stickers along with a LATAM postcard and asked if Kaia wanted to decorate the postcard. Of course, it was stickers, so Kaia eagerly took them and started sticking away. Chris noted that while it was a LATAM postcard the flight attendant gave Kaia, the stickers were not LATAM branded. We later learned that the flight attendant just bought the stickers on her own and would take them out to appease young children having their fussy flight moments. We thanked her for her kindness and generosity and eventually got off the plane. Kaia gave back the sticker sheet but happily got to keep the LATAM postcard with all the stickers she stuck on it. It ended up being her little prized possession the rest of the trip.

We arrived in the afternoon in Quito. As we went through immigration, we were greeted with an entire wall of fresh Ecuadorian roses. Each immigration kiosk had an individual fresh rose in water. And when we walked into our hotel to check in, we were greeted with three massive vases of at least five dozen roses, all over 2.5 feet in height! I was completely floored. I do not think I’ve ever been this close to this quantity of roses, or this height of roses, in my entire life. I love fresh flowers. I adore fresh roses. But roses this tall with blooms this fat and big — I was just not accustomed to seeing. I always knew that Colombia and Ecuador were renowned for fresh flowers (I actually learned this years ago when Chris first set me a flower bouquet from The Bouqs, which tracks flowers from when they are cut at their place of origin and then go straight to your home), but today, I realized that Ecuador was likely considered the best in the world. I later learned that Ecuador is the second largest global exporter of roses in the world (after The Netherlands). The U.S. is the number one importer of Ecuadorian roses. Given Ecuador’s location with the equator line running through it, locals say that it’s the best place in the world to grow the highest quality, longest lasting roses. Someone at the hotel told us that while the average roses from elsewhere may be lucky to last six to seven days in a vase with changed water, Ecuadorian roses are so high in quality that when properly cared for, they can last over two weeks!

I don’t know what it is about “long stemmed” roses that get me. But these were most definitely extra, extra long-stemmed, and this made them even more breath taking and regal. It’s amazing what the world has to offer when you keep your eyes open for them.