Number Twenty-Seven

Cusco to Quito, Ecuador -- April 11-12

The last couple days have been pretty uneventful after our five day trek to Machu Picchu. According to my iPhome, we ended up hiking 60 miles with some pretty significant hill climbing along the way. All I can say is those Incas must have been in awfully good shape. After those long days, Dex and Kylie slept most of the way back to Cusco in the van on Monday night. The only plans for yesterday (Tuesday) was getting organized and ready for the last big part of our overseas adventure, our week stay in the Galapagos.

View over Cusco

Inca wall in the old part of Cusco

Meg was finally able to call American Airlines and finalize our flight back to Boston, which for some reason had never been confirmed on line. I worked on uploading pictures while we all watched a Shrek DVD downstairs. Eddie Murphy is awesome and totally makes the movie. Afterwards, we took care of the other items on the to do list: headed out for a breakfast, picked up the items we left behind at the trekking office, got money, printed our Galapagos tickets, and dropped off a few kilos of well soiled clothes to be washed.

Here's Meg's take on our day today: 

It was another early (4:30 a.m.) start for Team Hoornaert.  We are getting a little better with these pre-dawn wake-ups, but Kylie still much prefers a post-7 a.m. alarm.  On tap for the day were two plane rides to get from Cusco to Quito, Ecuador (country number 27!) in anticipation of our flight to the Galapagos on Friday.  In all, the day was uneventful and smooth sailing.  No nail-biting incidents getting through customs and immigration.  Always a plus. 

So long, Peru

We arrived at our hostel in Quito by 1 p.m. and proceeded to get caught up with online tasks.  The kids have been troopers while Dean and I are preoccupied with the electronics.  One of the games they were shown while with our Salkantay Trekking group, was 7-card poker.  Dex, Kylie, and I played a few rounds with marbles as our currency.  It was pretty fun and I was glad the kids could show me how to play it again.  I'm not much of a poker player, it seems.

After reviewing our dinner options, we chose the nearest place that was opened at 4 p.m.  It happened to be a brew-pub.  I really enjoyed my Honey Ginger Brew, though Dean wasn't as keen on his. Our tacos and pizza were good, and it's always neat to walk along the streets to explore different parts of the city.

Quito is another high-altitude capital (now "only" 9000 ft) with homes and structures placed amongst the hillsides.  Flying in this afternoon, everything was a beautiful green.  Tomorrow we'll have a chance to explore more of the town, but for today, I think we'll just work on getting caught up on some sleep.

View of Quito