This time we are off to the South American country of Ecuador visiting it's capital city, Quito as well as the Galapagos islands made famous by Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution although his theory was not published until sometime decades after his visit to these remarkable islands.
Per usual, I start my planning by getting a decent guide book and looking for travel forums for my location. I quickly find out that much like our trip to Africa, my head is getting light and I realize that I have forgotten to breath.....whooooosh...There are so many choices of how to visit the islands; land trips, cruises, small cruises, larger cruises, different islands to see, different animals at each.....Stop, I need to get off!!!!
Regroup, gather more info, and finally I am feeling a bit calmer.
Originally I was really just interesting in visiting the Galapagos and to be honest, I really had no idea that they actually belonged to Ecuador or that we couldn't just get there in one day and get started. Most everyone that visits the islands must first land on the mainland of Ecuador which usually involves at least one days stay. So I decide that we will stay on the mainland for a couple days before our trip to the islands and because of flight times, we'll stay another couple of days at the end as well.
So, next is the daunting task of finding a travel operator to help arrange everything. I find a great person, Daniela who works at a company out of Quito Ecuador called "Happy Gringo". Now I can't really believe that I actually booked a trip with a company with such a name but they were highly recommended and as far as pre-trip assistance they have been right on the ball. She helps me arrange the following trip:
Fri Jun 1 - Arrive Quito stay overnight in Rabida hotel
Sat Jun 2 – Free day in Quito. Overnight at Rabida hotel
Sun Jun 3 – Bellavista Overnight
Mon Jun 4 - Morning at Bellavista - return and overnight at Rabida in Quito
Tues Jun 5 - Depart for Samba Galapagos cruise - 7 nights
Tues Jun 12 - Return and overnight in Quito Real Audiencia
Wed Jun 13 – Free day in Quito overnight in Quito Real Audiencia stay
Thurs Jun 14 - Day trip to Otavalo. Real Audiencia stay
Fri Jun 15 – Mitad del Mundo ½ Day tour departure 9am. Real Audiencia stay
Sat Jun 16 - depart for home
Planning for this trip has caused me a little more anxiety than planning for most other trips and for so many different reasons.
The climates in the 2 areas that we are going to are so different. Quito happens to be a bit more than 9000Ft above sea level...really??? So there is some discussions on altitude sickness as something to be concerned about. OK, but then, the cruise is a smaller catamaran cruise and we might get seasick...crap. OK, then, because the climates are different, we really need different clothing for each area, warm weather clothing for the islands and warmer clothing on the mainland..UGH.
OK, then there is the issue of money, I read that things are slightly cheaper and no one has change for larger bills so we should be aware of this, then I also read, but don't carry much on you in case you get pickpocketed or even mugged....really, Dave is not going to like this!!!!
So once again, I start to breathe and remember that I am going for a once in a lifetime adventure and that I should just stop thinking so much, and although it is hard to do, I resolve to do my best at not overthinking the little details.
I visit the doctor to get some altitude sickness pills, some seasickness patches and some all important Cipro just in case my stomach doesn't take nicely to Ecuadorian food. I settle on how much and which denominations of bills and that's it......we're done!
Tomorrow we will set off on what I am sure will be an interesting, educational and as always fun adventure!!
