DOLORES OCHOA / Associated Press Illuminated at night, the bustling historical center of Quito is a contrast to the crime-ridden streets of eight years ago.

QUITO, Ecuador – As the sun descends, street lamps take over, illuminating grandiose colonial plazas, antiquated historic buildings and romantic balconies that line the major streets of capital city Quito's “Centro Historico” district in Ecuador.

• To go – really to go – orders

CHACALA, Mexico – Along the secluded, jungle-fringed beaches of the Mexican Pacific coast, things tend toward perfection. There are perfect sunsets, explosions of orange and purple as the sun dips nightly over the bays; perfect waves, which rush toward shore in steady, unchanging curls to the delight of local surfers; and perfect shrimp, which are collected from these waters and prepared by people who have been perfecting their cooking methods for centuries.