March 24th
Today was a sombre day as Charlie is heading back to Alberta today. I stayed around the hostel attempting to download some photo’s, with no luck. Charlie went shopping around town for a few hours. When he returned we went out for lunch and ordered a pizza special that came with beer. Before you know it we had to head to the airport and go our separate ways … it is going to be a hard adjustment with my brother not by my side.
I went to the ticket counter and made certain that they were aware that I was going to Galapagos Islands (Baltra) via Guayaquil, Ecuador. It was also important that I informed them I was staying the night in Guayaquil and that I would need my suitcase. The tag on the suitcase indicated it was to go to Galapagos, but I had to pick it up in Guayaquil.
After a five hour flight and a two hour change in time, I was very glad I had a chauffeur holding my name up at the airport. This was part of the service of the hotel I was staying at and certainly was appreciated. It was about a 20 minute drive from the airport and a beautiful hotel with a wonderful room. The best part is that it was so quiet … no air brakes, buses, dogs or roosters barking. LOL This hotel was very cheap and I appreciated the free service of being picked up at the airport. Also, when I got dropped off I was greeted by a hotel host who took my name, grabbed my suitcase and took me to the main desk.
I asked them about booking a shuttle back to the airport in the morning. The desk clerk informed me that I should be there at least two hours in advance as there are a few lines I had to go through. They have a shuttle that leaves every hour and I booked one for 8am as my flight was leaving at 11am. After the main desk checked me in, the hotel host had the elevator door open and asked me if I had my room card. I had to touch the elevator sensor to go to the fourth floor. What service.
March 25th
I am so glad I booked the shuttle for 8am. I got to the airport and went to the airlines who informed me I had to go through a procedure before I could check in. I had to go to the first line and pay $20.00USD fee and they give you a custom card. I then had to go to the next line and they put your luggage through a screen to thoroughly test that you don’t have anything that would impact the environment in Galapagos. It seemed like almost every third or fourth person had to open their luggage at a counter. Once you have been approved in this lane they place a green tag on your luggage. I looked back and saw that the line for the first lane had grown from 10 people to 40 people … it will certainly be a slow process if you come later.
I then went to the ticket counter and dropped off my luggage. The suitcase had a tag on it from Santiago and they used the same one (glad I didn’t take it off). I got through all the regular airport stops into the waiting area. They did not post the gate number of the plane until 30 minutes before the flight was to leave.
It was a two hour flight and a one hour time change. After landing you walk from the plane right inside to customs. They check your passport, the entry card received from the Ecuador mainland airport, and collect $100.00USD Environmental Fee. You then go through a luggage screening and again many people were pulled over with their luggage being checked.
Now the fun begins …
When I was in Guayaquil Airport this morning, I contacted the hostel to arrange for transportation to pick me up. I had just read that it was quite a process of getting to the hotel, and being so tired I wanted to take the quickest way.
When I stepped out of the airport I was greeted with a sign with my name on it. The gentleman grabbed my suitcase and took me to a bus and pointed for me to get on as he placed my luggage in the storage space. He asked me to take the remaining seat at the back of the bus. This was a good thing, because the bus driver asked everyone that was standing to step off the bus and wait for the next one. This bus service is free to all and drives you to a ferry.
After about ten minutes, we got off the bus at the ferry dock. Markus, the gentleman that greeted me at the airport, got out first and got my suitcase. We headed to a boat and he pointed for me to take a seat while he placed my suitcase on the top of the boat.
We waited for a second bus to arrive, load the boat and then we crossed the strait. Once on the other side everyone bailed out and called for their luggage. Markus jumped on top of the boat, grabbed a suitcase and pointed to it to check if it was mine which I indicated it was.
We then walked to the road entrance and Markus asked me to wait while he got his vehicle. While waiting I noticed all the taxi’s were white trucks!
Markus pulled up in his white truck, loaded my suitcase and off we went. Well, he was no slouch on the road, there was not a vehicle he didn’t pass and no one was in sight behind us when we reached Puerto Ayora which was about 27km away from the airport. What a process to get to the hotel. LOL
We arrived at the castle, Castillo Galapagos, and as I checked in Markus was off to pick up another person.
At the end of check in, the desk clerk asked me to pay for the shuttle, which I could understand. What surprised the hell out of me was he charged me $60.00USD for that service … OUCH! I had checked out the taxi is only about $18.00USD to get into town. This was my error for not checking into this earlier. I must say I still didn’t regret doing it this way as I was tired and it was 29 degrees Celsius … not a time to be waiting for the next bus or taxi. HaHaHa