I ordered French toast, eggs and bacon and mom ordered the same. We both got orange juice as well. It was sad to say that even though it was restaurant food it sure hit the spot after being away from the food I was used to. I ate it so fast I didn't realize I was done with it until I looked down at my plate. We visited and discussed what was on the schedule for the day. The rest of the group should be getting back to the city soon.
When we were done eating, we paid our bill and Maritza told us about the iguana park across the street. Since the city had free WiFi, I used it to pull up the geocaching app to see if there were any close by to walk to. Turns out there was one inside the iguana park. Score!
We walked across the street and into the Parque de las Iguanas and they were not kidding. There were iguana's everywhere! We spend a good hour or so wandering around the park. I found the spot the cache, The Iguana Park (GC2N944) was suppose to be but the container was missing so I made a replacement cache until the cache owner could fix it. That was a blue pop cap and a receipt I found on the ground. I made it work.
We moved on to the Catholic Church that was nearby and I can tell you I've never been inside one and this one was pretty epic. You could tell it was old with the amount of erosion done to the outside of the building. When we went inside I was in awe of how big this place was and since it was Sunday they were having service. Anyone and everyone could come if they wanted to. The priest was giving his sermon in Spanish as we walked through. The windows were made out of stained glass and everything had some sort of decorative cloth over it as well as lit candles. It was definitely the church of churches that I've ever been to. I was overwhelmed.
We found out that everyone else had arrived from Santa Elena a few minutes ago. They all went to the same place to eat. Afterwards, Amy, Beth, mom, Kaitlin and I went to the small store across the street from the apartment. I needed more gum, some fingernail clippers and some more water. Like I said about the razors, I thought they would take away my fingernail clippers if I brought them onto the plane. I really needed to trim my nails because they were getting scary.
We went into the iguana park again with Amy and Kaitlin because Beth didn't want to go because she is afraid of the iguanas. She thought they were going to come after her. We showed up just in time to watch all the iguanas eat their lunch: lettuce!
We all gathered in front of the park and Myrna told us that once everyone is done we were going to get into some taxis and head to the market. I was actually excited about the market because I hadn't gotten any souvenirs since the few I got on Galapagos. The taxi ride there mom and I made sure to go with Dr. Harris because she spoke Spanish. Again, we made a rule, meet up where we entered the market in about an hour so we don't get lost. I heard when we got there Myrna got left behind and had to take her own taxi. She really wasn't mad because she knew her way around and she was glad it was her rather than one of the non Spanish speaking volunteers.
Mom and I walked in together and started looking at all the stuff. It reminded me of a flea market or an art bizarre. A lot of it you could tell was homemade. I wasn't sure what I was looking for exactly but I wanted a good deal. I knew I wanted a fridge magnet but I had to find the right one. Also, I've been noticing all the hometown soccer team, Barcelona S.C., jerseys people were wearing and wondered if I could get one for Ben. I found a vendor that was willing to sell me one for $6. I knew it wasn't a real one but it was still fun to find something to bring home for Ben. I also saw all the alpaca blankets and wanted to get one. I found out that they are made near Quito in the highlands. I found one for $18 and I knew this would come in handy for the plane ride back to the US. I didn't want to have another blanket fiasco. An hour passed and we met back up at the entrance and got back into the taxis to be taken to the apartment.
From there, we just waited around for a while. Dr. Smith and Thomas wanted to go to a Marathon store and didn't let us know when they were going to be back. I wanted to get on the city tour bus so we could see it in the day light. Remember, on the equator, it starts getting dark around 6ish. It was past 3 already and I was getting impatient. Apparently Kaitlin got sick from too much sun so Amy and Beth weren't going to go with us. When they finally got back from shopping, which was near 4ish, we hustled over to the park and hopped on the bus for $2.50...probably the cheapest tour I've ever been on. The tour was suppose to last about an hour.
It was a double-decker bus and of course we sat on the top of it. I always thought my first double-decker would be in England and never thought it would be in Ecuador.
Life is totally unpredictable and you never know what opportunities are just around the corner. Mom and I combined must have taken hundreds of pictures with our phones and her camera. Our little group of nine enjoyed every minute of it.
Because we were on top of the bus there were several times we had to duck our heads from low hanging trees and power lines. We saw many buildings with amazing architect, neighborhoods, art, churches, parks and even a vista point of a 360 degree view of Guayaquil.
At the viewpoint, we stopped for a half hour and I checked my phone app to see if there was a geocache at this view point and sure enough there was. Lawrence and Ivette both have geocached before so they knew what I was doing. Ivette helped me look for it. It took us about five minutes to locate the nano, Vista - Guayaquil (GC22PC5).
Now I am up to three caches in Ecuador. We spent some time enjoying the view before we walked back down to the bus to head back to the park where we started from.
I would recommend this bus tour for anyone who visits Ecuador in the future it was a fun one. When they dropped us off at the park, Myrna said we could wander around the general vicinity and to let us know the apartment will have someone inside to let you in. It was roughly 5ish and we knew the sun would be going down soon.
Thomas wanted to go find some food. Preferably American food. I agreed. I was yearning for some Americanized food and I didn't care what it was or if it was bad for me. Thomas ended up deciding on McDonald's. I haven't had McDonald's in years. We asked Lawrence where it was since he's been there a few times since he's been here. End of the street along the river. Easy enough. I have never had McDonald's in another country before it makes you wonder if it tastes the same as it does at home. I figured it did because it's a franchise and most of the stuff is probably shipped from the US to the international locations. The menu was a little different because I was looking for the two cheeseburger meal, sadly they didn't have it. Mom and I went with the McDouble meal. Shamefully it hit the spot. We ate next to the windows with the river beside us. Halfway through our meal we saw fireworks about a quarter of a mile upstream. It was kinda cool to see the last night we were there.
We walked back to the apartment. It's been a long 11 days and I was so ready to get back to the states. Beth, Amy and Kaitlin decided we wanted to be taken to a hotel because Kaitlin didn't feel good and we all felt bad making someone get up and take us to the airport around 3:00 a.m. They went in the first wave of hotel goers. Mom and I paid Myrna for the hotel we stayed at for the week and the gas for transportation. Then their relative Lopez took us to the Holiday Inn, yep, same hotel from when we arrived in Ecuador.
When we arrived, Beth and Amy had just finished dinner at the restaurant inside the hotel. She helped us check into our hotel and we were to take our stuff up to the third floor. Amy told us that there would be a taxi waiting for us around 3 to take us to the airport, which was literally right down the road, and to meet in the lobby around 2:50. Ugh, I was not looking forward to waking up that early.
I immediately took a shower and it was more than glorious. It was hot, I started smelling better and the shower head they had on there just felt nice on your back and head. I had to have been in there for at least a half hour. I dried off, put my bed time clothes on and brushed my teeth. I was so ready for a real bed. I booted up my computer while mom showered and got ready for bed. I talked to Ben, Erika and dad to let them know our next journey and when we would be home. I verified that Ben would come get us from the Lacey Walmart when we got into town. Mom got out and she said hi and chatted for a bit before it was time to go to bed. 2:30 a.m. was going to come really quickly.
I got my bed ready, arranged my four pillows accordingly and passed out hard. I actually don't even remember when I fell asleep I just know it was fast.
Next Adventure: Ecuador Day 12: Early Morning Flight back to the States via El Salvador, Los Angeles and Finally Home
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