Ecuadorean Adventure: Part 2

At the hot springs spa in
the Andes Mountain
while NYC is blanketed with snow.

The day after I got back from the Galapagos, I got a bad case of traveller's stomach. Fortunately, I did not allow it to ruin the rest of the trip. Our hosts arranged for a friend of theirs to drive us to a hot-water spa in the Andes Mountains. For $25, you can bathe in many different hot-water spring pools. They had a nice restaurant where I had a ceviche for lunch. A few days later, we spent a day at the Botanical Gardens which were lovely. 

After I returned, we decided to move to a hotel. I was still suffering from bathroom issues and we asked the hotel reception staff if there were a doctor we could contact. They called a Guest Medical service and a doctor, with a nurse, actually came to our hotel and prescribed a shelfful of medications. He also hooked me up to an IV and gave me fluids because he said I was dehydrated. In the US, the hotel probably would have told me to go wait in an emergency room and no one would have even looked at me for hours.

We had several nice meals in excellent restaurants. Our final days we went shopping at a mall and a market. At the latter while trying on belts, we were standing next to a group of Australian young people who were debating the proper use of the "c**t" word. Over all, I liked Quito more than Mexico City which is too big and crowded. The Ecuadorians were very friendly. One our last morning the news announced Trump was sending the US military to Ecuador to route out drug trafficking. "We're getting out of here just in time," I said.

On the flight back, we had a layover in Bogota, Colombia. The plane from Quito landed so far away from the terminal, we had to take a bus to get there. Then we had go through customs (AGAIN) and race to the gate for our flight to NYC. The Avianca flight was five hours. No movies or entertainment unless you could figure out how to get the Avianca app on your phone (which I could not). One tiny sandwich. If you wanted more, you had to pay for it. 

Ecuadorean Adventure--Galapagos

Ready to snorkel in the Galapagos.

For two weeks in frigid February, we escaped a major snowstorm to visit friends who have an apartment in Quito, Ecuador. This is my first time in South America. The city is surrounded by mountains and it is so highly elevated I feel out of breath after only a few minutes of walking. The first day we took a tour of the old town with its colonial-style churches and then drove out to the Equator monument where you can stand in the exact center of the Earth. The location was originally designated by French scientists in the 18th century but advanced technology has determined the exact location about 20 meters away. There are gimmicky attractions like standing with one foot in the Northern hemisphere and another in the Southern. 

The highlight of the trip has been a four-day travel package to the Galapagos Islands which I found on line. The $700 package included transfers from the airport (which involved a bus, a ferry boat and a long cab ride), meals, and four excursions. I was excited about going by myself but a little nervous. I managed to find a direct flight from Quito to Baltra, the one airport on the island chain, but there were several hoops to be jumped through at the Quito airport. First you have to buy a travel permit to visit the islands ($20, Ecuadorean currency is the same as US), which you must download to your phone. Then you have to have your bags inspected to make you're not carried anything that will disturb the ecosystem, fill out a declaration form and that has to be downloaded to your phone too. Once in Galapagos airport, you have show both docs as well as your passport and a $200 visitor's fee in cash.