TRAVEL THROUGH ECUADOR.......GALÁPAGOS OR BUST!

After traveling overland from La Paz, Bolivia to Juliaca, Peru (see Rich's Travelogue entry for October 24, 1999),  we flew from Juliaca, Peru to Lima, Peru.  In Lima, we had a four hour wait for a terrifying Aero Continente (the ValuJet of South America) flight to Tumbes, in northern Peru on the border with Ecuador (See Kelly's Travelogue).  We spent the night in Tumbes, rising early the next morning, for the short collectivo ride to the border.  Our stories in pictures of our travels through Ecuador to the Galápagos Islands follow below:

 
As we walked across the Peruvian-Ecuadorian border, little did we know that as we entered Huaquillas, Ecuador, we were entering THUNDERDOME, where chaos reigned.  As seemingly the only Westerners in town, we were besieged by every peddler and swindler in town.  On top of that, we slowly learned that the bus drivers were on strike, and the travel was going to be difficult.

Not giving up on our quest to reach the Galápagos Islands, we hitched a ride on the back of a pick-up truck.  We were soon joined by other Ecuadorians, including a cross-eyed man with one hand (we are not joking--he was very kind and pleasant to ride with), a soldier, and two young Ecuadorian strumpets.  We could only get as far as Santa Rosa, but we soon found a some scabs running a bus from Santa Rosa to Machala, Ecuador.  

View of banana trees from back of pick-up truck.  The Southern coast of Ecuador, given its temperate climate, is prime banana country.  We saw beautiful, green banana trees everywhere!

When we finally made it to Machala, we searched for transportation to Guayaquill, where we would be catching a flight to the Galápagos Islands.  We soon learned that the only reliable way to get there, given the bus strike, would be to fly.  We shuddered at the thought of having to purchase another plane ticket, until we learned that the flight would only cost $15 U.S. dollars per ticket.  On top of that, we also decided to buy our tickets to the Galápagos for the following afternoon, at a cost of roughly $300 per ticket.  Unfortunately, the Tame Airline office would only accept cash.  So off to the bank we went to change $500.00 in travelers checks into 8,000,000 sucres (16,000 sucres = $1 usd)!  On top of that, the largest note in Ecuador is 50,000 sucres, and this particular bank only dispensed 20,000 sucre notes in bricks of 2,000,000 sucres each.  So we left the bank with ridiculously sized bricks of cash, feeling conspicuously wealthy in this land of volatile, day to day, inflation.  Above, Rich counts out some of the 8,000,000 sucres. 

Soon after paying for our plane tickets, we rushed on over to the airport for our flight from Machala to Guayaquill on what looked to be a plane from the 1950s.  While ordinarily we would have been tremendously concerned for our well being, given our close call with Aero Continente, we assumed bad luck would not strike us twice in a row.  We were right, our flight was safe and pleasant.  When we arrived to Guayaquill we were surprised to learn that it is the largest city in Ecuador.  Quito, Ecuador's capital, is the second largest city.

Our luck took yet another turn, as did Rich's ankle.  Only minutes after deplaning, Rich twisted his ankle severely on the outrageously hazardous sidewalks of Guayaquill.  Had this been the United States, Rich would already be collecting a hefty settlement from city planners.  Here, Rich consults in the Emergency room with Dr. Plaza who is suggesting that amputation may be necessary.  Interestingly, it was from Dr. Plaza that we first heard not only that Atlanta was in the World Series, but that they were already down three games to none.

The hospital was surprisingly efficient (not a second of waiting--we were seen immediately).  Other aspects of the hospital were definitely old school, from the nurses uniforms and the inexpensive price ($15 usd for visit, x-rays, and drugs) to the stenciled names on the glass office doors.

Fortunately, the x-rays were negative and amputation was not necessary.  Instead the doctor ordered rest, wrapped the ankle in a psuedo-cast, and prescribed anti-inflamitory and pain killing medication.  Here, from the comfort of our hostal in Guayaquill, Dr. Evil reviews the x-rays and confirms the doctors analysis while enjoying hispanic music videos.

After an additional day of rest, we finally made it to the Galápagos!!  This giant land tortoise looks a lot like we did after our tiring, eventful, four days of travel from La Paz, Bolivia to the Galápagos Islands!  As our Galápagos photo pages will show, it was worth every minute of travel and every dollar we spent!!

 

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