Leaving Quito

On Friday, we got up at the butt crack of dawn to catch 5am ride to the airport to head to the islands. Our hotel manager , Carlos was a super helpful guy and him and his Dad (also named Carlos) drove us to the airport. Carlos the younger shared with us what he know about the political and economic situation in Ecuador. Interesting stuff. I asked him about the gun shots I heard in the middle of the night and he said they were fire crackers. Hmmmm. Quito has some pretty unsafe areas which we avoided plus we did make sure to not be out at all after dark.

For dinner the night before we had a fabulous meal at a nice sit-down restaurant called Theatorum. We had humitas (corn cakes) for appetizers. Dave had ahi tuna ceviche and I had pork stew (both dishes had cilantro sigh).

At the airport (UIO) we whizzed so fast through the special steps that one needs to fly to the islands (luggage inspection, Ecuador Transit Card $20) that we had three hours to kill. Interesting fact: they are trying to eliminate single use plastics like straws and grocery bags on the islands so they are prohibited from luggage. Good!!  We walked back and forth and back and forth in our tiny terminal.

Our flight to GPS airport was uneventful. We saw several peaks of huge mountains in Ecuador. We had quick layover in Guayaquil but we did not leave the plane. They did come through and spray fumigated all the overhead bins to kill any bugs that might have hitched a ride from other countries.

We landed at the Baltra Island airport (GPS). As we were taxiing to the terminal, we saw iguanas on the ground. There are quite a few steps to get out of the airport and onto Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island. First, you go through customs. Next, you pay $100 national park entrance fee. Next they gave us hand sanitizer and checked our temperature (new step because of corona-virus). Then all the luggage is inspected by a dog looking for any seeds, plants, etc. that could infect the protected islands. But wait there is still more! To get away from the airport you need to take a short bus ride ($5) to the canal that you get on a little ferry ($1) to cross. Oh we saw a sea lion just laying on the dock while we picked up our luggage! Plus some pelicans. And THEN you grab one of the white truck taxis ($25) to take 20 mile drive to Puerto Ayora. Phew!! I'll add another blog entry soon to tell you more about our first day on the island.

Each day we try to think of things we are probably not as appreciative as we should be back home:
- Being able to put TP in the toilet (plumbing in many foreign countries is too small)
- Drinking water from the tap
- Cellular service
- Air Conditioning

Regardless, we love traveling and meeting new people. It's worth all the little inconveniences!