Farewell Ecuador

To Guayaquil, Ecuador -- Mon-Tues, April 24-25

We found a nice breakfast spot in town yesterday so we could have a nice meal with Zoe before catching the bus back to the coast. It was a treat to have a chance to visit her and Isabela. 

It rained most of the way on our four-hour ride back to Guayaquil, and we passed some pretty impressive landslides on the way. Since Meg had booked a room using credit card points, our accommodations -- the Wyndham -- were a bit nicer than normal.  Strategically, the hotel is not too far from the airport.

Although Guayaquil is the largest city in Ecuador, it’s not really a prime tourist destination.  Even if it was, I’m not sure we’d be up for seeing many sights at this point.  Our sights, as it were, are now firmly set on the next phase of our trip -- a short little bike jaunt from Boston to San Jose!  Yikes. Meg and I, and more importantly, the kids, are up for it, but it will no doubt be more demanding than what we attempted last summer in Europe.  

Luckily, there was a nice pool on the tenth floor of the hotel, which gave us a way to occupy some of our time.  Dinner last night and breakfast this morning were at the fairly upscale hotel restaurant… we're lazy, and it was easy.  We, in fact, only ventured out once, and that was today, just to walk along the waterfront near the hotel and wander into a few art galleries along the narrow adjoining streets.  

Of course, it wouldn’t be normal without a little check-in excitement tonight for our 9 p.m. flight.  As soon as we walked into the terminal, I realized we didn’t have our laptop. Doh!  Meg, and then I, had been using it up by the pool just before we headed back to the room to get our bags Not really the end of the world, but definitely a bit of the drag.  I quickly called back to the hotel and asked if someone could check by the pool.  They had it, and we were early, so I took figured there was a good chance I could make it to the hotel and back before the flight.  I handed over my backpack, gave Kylie her passport (which I normally carry) and told everyone to get on the flight even if I wasn't there.  These we ideal conditions -- we had friends picking us up in Boston and absolutely no commitment once we got there. Even if I ended up on another flight, no big deal.

After struggling to find the correct airport exit, I frantically flagged down a taxi, explained the situation in my limited Spanish (poor at best), and we were off.  Fortunately, we were less than ten minutes away, traffic was reasonably light, and the driver took my situation seriously. Nothing like a little heart-pounding excitement to kick off the night.  Twenty-five minutes later, I was back in the terminal, through security, and into a mostly empty departure hall.  Meg, Dex, and Kylie were grabbing some last minute food and were amazed to see me so soon.  I’ll just chalk it up to good living!

Eleven months and one day ago, we left the US.  It's been fun and we've seen a ton. Time for the next phase.