The joke here in this part of the world that the locals like to say to the tourists goes something like: ´your trip will start at 9:00am South American time´.... which most originally take to mean ´make sure your watch is set properly´. What it REALLY means is that if you are given a time in ´American Time´, you will leave at the correct hour. If you are running on ´South American time´, you should pack a book and some camping provisions, because you will likely be waiting for a long time!!
Our trip back from the Galapagos to Quito today was definitely NOT on American time. We got to the airport on Baltra island at 9:00 am, checked in, waited, waited, and then were told that the plane would not be arriving for another 3 hours MINIMUM. Note: the airport in Baltra is essentially a hut in the middle of a desert... definitely not somewhere you want to spend extended periods of time. Note # 2: while waiting, an English tourist frantically came over the loud speaker asking anyone for Benedryl, as a passenger was having a severe allergic reaction. As per the normal custom of our family, I had a large plastic ziplock bag of every imaginable drug at the ready, and was the only one there that was able to help out! (I could have also given her bandages, 10 other meds, and snacks to last about a week!). Anyway... back to the plane situation. Luckily, a GAP tours rep came to get us and we got to re-board our boat and have lunch there (the passengers we had just said bye to were very surprised to see us!). All in all, what should have been a 3 hour trip took us 11.5 hours today!
Am heading to bed soon, then exploring Quito and hopefully making my way up to the equator tomorrow before heading back to the airport to catch my 10:30pm flight for the long journey home.... to the snow!
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