Ecuador Day 5: Heading Back to Ecuador, Guayaquil and Sorting Supplies

We all got up around 7 and started to get ready and pack our stuff.  Jose was coming to get us in his truck at 9:00 a.m. I got myself out of bed...I was feeling the full rampage of my cold now even with the potent South American drugs, yes they are more potent than our drugs in the US.  I moved slower than usual.  I repacked my backpack again so everything would fit.  My poor Cougar bag was getting beat up because it was too heavy with all the stuff I brought to do on the plane along with my laptop.

I ate some of the bread and bananas that were left in the kitchen from yesterday.  I needed something before we went to the airport.  I brought all my stuff down and piled it near the door so I didn't have to climb up the narrow steep stairs again.  While everyone else was getting their stuff ready I took some pictures of our Air BnB.

Jose arrived promptly at 9 a.m. and we piled our bags into the back of the truck and jumped in.  I am glad we had this connection with Alex because it definitely made our stay in the Galapagos much more efficient and we were able to do more with our time.  

We drove the 20 miles to the canal where Jose dropped us off.  We noticed that this side of the island gets the sun and the other side is like being at home in Washington.  What a drag!  We paid him and he helped us get our bags out of the truck.  We thanked him for a wonderful time in the Galapagos and we appreciated his time he spent driving us around.  We got on the next water taxi to get us across the canal and we got to watch blue-footed boobies dive for fish near the boat.  It was fun to see.  About halfway through, they send the money collector around for a dollar.  I gave them one of my Ecuadorian dollars I received while shopping yesterday.

When we got across the canal, we grabbed our bags and missed the first bus, but we sent Kaitlin and Beth ahead so they could get in line for us at the airport plus Kaitlin lost her travel document.  We waited about 15 minutes until the next bus arrived but couldn't leave until it was full.  We had to wait until the next set of passengers got off the taxi and sandwiched themselves onto the bus. 

We got to the airport in less than 10 minutes.  We grabbed our bags and went inside the airport and looked for Kaitlin and Beth.  We hopped in line with them and Kaitlin informed us that they were going to let her go back to Ecuador without the paper she lost.  We went through customs, got our tickets, had our bags scanned and waited at the gate until it was time for our flight back to Guayaquil.

We walked out to our TAME plane, found our seats, put our bags in the overhead compartments, sat and relaxed.  I got to sit by my mom on the way back.  Most of the time we shut our eyes and took mini naps throughout the flight.  The flight attendants handed out sandwiches, chips and drinks again even though this was a short flight.  The nice thing about these international flight is no matter how short the plan ride was, we actually got food instead of just snacks.

This plane ride wasn't as turbulent as the flight over to the Galapagos.  When I wasn't napping I was writing in my travel journal.  Before we knew it we were descending into Guayaquil again.  The weather looked decent. 

We grabbed our bags and went into the airport to wait for the people who were suppose to pick us up.  We weren't sure what they looked like but we knew they were relatives of Dr. Harris.  We had no way of contacting them so we just hung out until someone walked up to us.  We went into the pharmacy to buy more cold medicine which they sell pills with separate ingredients.  For example, we had to buy a decongestant and a fever reducer because they didn't come together like our pills do here in the states.  And like I said earlier, they are more potent too.

Within a half hour of us arriving two older people came up to us and asked if we were here for the dental humanitarian project and we said yes...plus we were wearing our blue shirts so we stood out.  It was Dr. Harris's aunt and uncle and they were helping shuttle people to the apartment in the city.  Her other aunt, Edna was also shuttling people to the apartment.  Amy, my mom and I rode with the aunt and uncle and Beth and Kaitlin rode with Edna.

The city was insane.  I bet if I lived here and knew where I was going I could adapt.  It would take some time to get used to it but once I did better watch out!  It took probably a good 45 minutes to get to the apartment which was above a Chinese restaurant up several flights of stairs.  I knew the stairs were going to be a problem toting our luggage and supplies up and down in the next few days.

When we walked upstairs we were immersed in hospitality and conversation.  We met everyone and the owner of the apartment, Maritza.  They showed us where we could put our stuff and which rooms were available to us to sleep in.  Mom immediately found her bed, changed her clothes and laid down.  Her cold was kicking her butt.  The rest of us sat down at the table while we were served chicken and rice...almost like we had no choice, we were GOING to eat it.  Haha!

The rest of the late afternoon and early evening more people arrived.  As more people arrived the apartment got smaller and smaller.  I just chilled and listened to the people chat about where they were from, their experiences and their adventures so far since they got to Ecuador.  I guess two of them, both from Washington State and about my age, were on a flight down here from Atlanta and their plane got stuck in a thunderstorm and they thought they were going to die but the pilot was skilled enough to keep the plane and the passengers safe.

Most of the people in the city could not afford internet so the city provides it but only for 45 minutes at a time.  I got frustrated when my phone would time out.  We had to be out on the deck for the strongest signal.  It was spotty inside the apartment.

Four people staying at the apartment were suppose to arrive after midnight, that included Dr. Smith and his son, Thomas.  Then we heard about Dr. Harris and her flight companion's unfortunate flight experience.  They missed their flight and had to come in tomorrow evening.  Dr. Harris's mom, Myrna took charge and had us all help her get a little organized for tomorrow's site, Monte en Senai.

I was so tired and my cold was kicking my butt.  I took a shower, got ready for bed and was glad I was not one of the people coming in after midnight because they kinda ran out of comfy beds.  By the time everyone was finally in the apartment there were almost 20 people crammed up in there.  I had a hard time sleeping because I was not used to sleeping with just one pillow so I had to cram some of my clothes underneath it to get comfortable, the Chinese food smell got to me after a while, it was warm then cold then warm again, I am so glad I brought my ear plugs and it was hard just sleeping with a sheet.  Eventually I did fall asleep because I knew the next day was going to be a very busy, long, hot and humbling day.

Next Adventure:  Ecuador Day 6: Our First Volunteer Gig in Monte en Senai

Ecuador Day 3: Ecuador to the Galapagos Islands, Tortuga Bay and Downtown Port Ayora

Our wake up call was at 7, when that time came, it was a weird ring.  I answered it and they said good morning this is your 7 a.m. wake up call and I told them thank you.  I really did not want to be up.

We got ready for the day, ate our cereal and bananas, found out our milk was really yogurt (which was a bummer we didn't know Spanish) and also found out instead of the 7:45 shuttle we were now leaving at 8:30 because our flight left at 10:45 instead of 10 plus no one was ready in the other room.  They tried texting us through the WhatsApp but we didn't have it downloaded.  Since we weren't responding they should have called us through the room phone to at least let us know the change.  Mom found out by walking to their room to find out if they were ready to go.  So we both sat in the room for 45 minutes watching Chinese soccer in Spanish and I was on my computer for a little bit.

Once 8:15 hit, we all walked downstairs and tried to get on a tour bus instead of the airport shuttle, ha!  We got on the right bus and was dropped off at the TAME airline check in.  We got  in line and found out we were in the wrong line.  When it was our turn to check in, she said we had to go check our bags in and do customs procedure to travel to the Galapagos Islands.  We were basically declaring why were were traveling there and if we had any evasive species on or with us (fruit, veggies, dirt, seeds, etc.)  The line took forever and I was worried that we came too late to get all of this done.

Finally we got there, paid the $20 for our visa to enter the providence, checked our bags (they sprayed them with a pesticide) and then got in line for our boarding passes.  Since it was getting down to the wire when we got to our gate and they had already started to board, so mom and I just boarded instead of waiting for the rest of our party, it really didn't matter anyway since we were all in different seats all over the plane.  I found my seat and put my bag into the overhead storage.  For some reason we had to wait a bit to leave.  I think they were trying to fill all the seats.  Once we did get to leave, the plane had a lot of turbulence...the whole way there.

I sat next to a woman from Massachusetts who was on her way to meet up with some other teachers for a week to teach children.  I wrote in the travel journal for most of the trip over.  It was going to be about a 2 hour flight.  About halfway through they served us ham and cheese subs and drinks.

About 30 minutes later all the flight attendants opened all the overhead compartments and sprayed insecticide on our bags because of the evasive species threat.

20 minutes later we were in our descent to the airport on Baltra Island.  They literally have an island just for the airport.  It was a small airport and we exited off the plane on to the tarmac and walked to the airport entrance.  It was really windy and about 84 degrees. 

We stopped as a group to take a picture of us with the welcome to the Galapagos Island sign. 

We then went inside and went through customs (I got my second stamp in my passport) and security bag scanning.  We used the restroom and then got onto a free bus to take us to the water taxi.  We had to wait until the bus filled up before we got to go.

It was about a 15 minute drive to the canal.  We had to stop twice for iguanas along the way.  We got out, gave the water taxi guys our bags to stick on the top of the boat, got on and rode across the Itabaca Channel for a dollar.  The boat ride was calming for some reason.  I think it had a lot to do with the really blue water.

We got off on the other side, waited for our bags and got on another bus that would take us to Port Ayora, which was about 20 miles south of where we currently were.  It would only cost us $2 each.  Since we were also last on the bus we got to stand, lean or sit on the steps by the door.  We watched the gorgeous 80+ degree weather turn into 50+ with the elevation that we gained in the highlands near Santa Rosa.  In another 10 miles we would be at our destination and I was getting uncomfortable where I was sitting and I was hoping the weather would get better when we got closer to the port.

When we got to the port, we got off, grabbed our bags and Kaitlin started trying to figure out where we needed to go to get to our Air BnB, Gecko House (and the weather never improved).  We had the address but the addresses are so different here.  We tried asking some of the locals and none of them seemed to know where it was...which was pretty weird since it was a small town.  We walked down a street to see if we chose correctly, we didn't.  We asked an older lady who owned a bed and breakfast if she has heard of Gecko House and she didn't either.  We asked if we could use her WiFi to see where this place was and she wouldn't even do that for us.  The address didn't show up on my geocaching map.  We stood there while some of us took turned running around the area trying to find this address.  Katlin and Beth went to go find out where it was.  In the meantime, we had several people walk by, taxi trucks drive by and mom took a turn walking up and down the road.  Next door two ladies cam out and luckily one of them spoke English.  We asked them if they knew where the address was.  One took out their phone and called the Air BnB for us.  She took it a step further and verified it with the taxi drive that was going to take us there.  Just then Katilin and Beth showed up telling us that they found the address at a slow internet café.  We told them we had some ladies call for us,  We hopped into the truck and we were finally on our way to the Gecko House.

When we got there, we were greeted by Alex, the owner of the house.  He spent time going over a map with us, things to see, places to eat and do.  We thanked him.  I got on the internet immediately to let people know we got here safely.  We chose beds, got settled in, put swim suits on and freshened up a bit before heading to Tortuga Bay (Turtle Bay) before it closed at 5:00 p.m. local time.  Alex had told us there was a trail to get to the path.

It was very rocky and when we got to the end it was really steep for Amy, who had broken her ankle last year in Hawaii.  We saw the entrance to the beach, checked in our group and continued on the mile-long paved path.

We talked about various things along the way.  Katlin and Beth were about 100 yards ahead of us and mom and I walked with Amy because she was struggling with her ankle.

When we finally got there, it was awesome. 

The sand was white and the water was blue...it was a great transition to see.  Mom was disappointed we didn't get to see turtles.  But there was a reason we didn't get to. The beach after 5 was closed to the public so they would not disturb the turtles laying eggs.  It makes sense.

We walked the beach, took pictures of the birds, crabs and at one point we saw a seal.  I thought it was someone's dog but pets are not allowed at the beach.  Beth, Kaitlin and Amy went swimming.  The water looked inviting but it was as cold as it was at home.  I expected it to be warm because of where we were located but then I found out later that this area was coming out of their winter.  I just dipped my feet in.  We wrote things in the sand and watched Kaitlin throw jelly fish at Beth and Amy.

Around 5, we started walking back after everyone gathered at the exit.  We walked the mile plus back catting and wishing that we didn't wear flip flops on our walk.  When we left the park/area, Beth had a kid sing to her (an American song the Spanish kids knew) and we watched some water/ice deliverers fun up the stairs to replenish their supplies at the check in.  We didn't go back down the rocky trail on the way back to our Air BnB because it was really hard on Amy's ankle.  We went the long way around.

When we finally got back, some people took showers, got ready then walked down main street to find some dinner.  We picked a place on the corner called, La Esquina Del Sabor (The Taste Corner).  We were pretty much the only ones there.  Most of the restaurants and store fronts were open to the outdoor elements where birds could fly in and watch you eat.  Very few places had windows and doors.

We ordered our food, most of us ordered chicken, potatoes, beans and rice, Kaitlin ordered fish and I didn't get rice or beans.  We had colas, juice and bottled water.  I took a couple of group GoPro pictures as we waited for our food to be cooked in front of us.  They made everything from scratch in their little kitchen.  When the food and drinks were ready they brought them out and we ate.  This was the first real meal I've had since lunch time before I left for SeaTac.

When we were done, we paid ($8) and walked down to the port where we arrived a few hours earlier.  It looks very different at night.  I noticed my throat started hurting...definitely a sign of getting a cold.  Bummer.  There, we looked at the various shopping opportunities. souvenir and photo ops when we came back down tomorrow.  There were a lot of kids running around playing.  We took a picture of the Galapagos sign and decided to come back down here the next day in the daylight.

Beth, Amy and Kaitlin got ice cream on the way back to Gecko House.  The way was longer than I thought it was.  When we did get back, I was so excited to take my socks and shoes off.  I told a cold-ish shower and got ready for bed.  I was exhausted.  I tried talking to Ben via Facebook messenger but our WiFi connection was pretty poor.  I wrote in my travel journal for a while, downloaded pictures from mom's camera onto my computer and then laid down.

I had a hard time getting comfortable because I was not used to sleeping with just a sheet and just one pillow.  Then I heard Amy snoring and then it started raining hard and loud because the roof was tin.  I got our my ear plugs (so thankful I brought them) and went to sleep.

Next Adventure:  Day 4:  Los Gemelos Craters, Giant Turtles, Darwin Museum, Boat Ride, Geocaching