After going to airport in Lima THREE HOURS before check-in even opened, I was relieved to finally make it through to the departure lounge! I had chosen to arrive so early, just so I could share a cab to there with some other people from my hostel, all to save a few pounds. However, I then had leftover soles which I had to change into dollars at the airport, but luckily, I actually got a fair rate on them! I then spent this on a stupidly expensive sandwich and a bottle of Coke, completely negating the benefit of sharing a taxi after all! Oh well, I was in such a good mood, I even splurged out on a huge Toblerone - maybe I was pleased to be leaving Peru? Anyway, the flight to Quito was fine and the views of the city from the plane as we approached the runway were amazing - I knew it was situated high in the Andes, but it is built on flat areas between the peaks, rather than clinging to the mountain-sides like La Paz.
After exiting baggage claim, it was obvious that the official airport taxis into the New Town were way too expensive, so I left the terminal and managed to negotiate a better deal outside. The driver, Jorge Washington (I kid you not) was friendly and we enjoyed a conversation in Spanglish on the way to my hostel. I must admit, even though my Spanish is atrocious, I am surprised by how much I have absorbed in South America so far, and we genuinely were able to communicate! Once at the hostel, I dropped off my bags and met some British guys who that day had booked a trip to the Galápagos Islands. Great! I then proceeded to pick their brains for tips and recommendations! Off I set to the nearby tour agencies to get ideas - at that stage, my plan was to take a bus to Guayaquil, flight out to the islands from there and then to just on a boat at the last minute in order to get a good price.
To cut a potentially long story short, it turned out that it was only $20 more to fly there from Quito and that I may get a cheap deal on the islands, but it may take days to find space on a boat and there would be no guarantee of getting one of a decent standard. I also found out that high season would start on June 15th and as long as I booked everything before then, it would not matter that my return flight would be after that time, it would not be any more expensive! The pressure was off! I'd heard about a standard class boat (i.e. slightly better than basic backpacker class) that would be sailing on June 11th for 8 days and it was at a great price. Admittedly, it was still much higher than I initially wanted to pay, but after checking my bank balance, I decided that for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, I should probably treat myself and splash out a bit!
On Thursday morning, I went to Gulliver's Travels to see Erika, who had been so helpful the evening before, to go ahead and book it! She seemed really genuine and I had a good feeling about going with that company. I had intended to pay for everything using my credit card, but then it turned out that there would be an 8% fee. Now 8% of a Galápagos trip is nothing to be sniffed at! So then I had to get hold of enough cash... what a palaver! For three days, I had to go withdraw as much money as possible from 2 different accounts to get enough cash. Unfortunately, in Ecuador, my daily limit is stupidly low and then my back-up account was frozen as HSBC thought it had been fraudulently used. Well, it was me, trying my card in 4 different ATMs!!! In the end, I used my emergency stash of traveller's cheques and finally got enough together to pay Erica. It was certainly interesting walking around the most dangerous area of Quito with a moneybelt the size of a house stuffed up my t-shirt! Panic not, I was absolutely fine and during my time in Quito so far, I have never felt unsafe at all, but should I have been one of the unlucky ones, that mugger would have had all his Christmases at once!
Today, after I'd taken the plunge and booked my flights and cruise, I then had free time to visit the Equator! Erika had given me clear instructions on how to get to Mitad del Mundo, but me being me, decided to walk the first section and skip the first short bus journey that would take me to a place to catch a second bus to the monument. Well, I couldn't find the bus stop and rather than ask for directions, I wandered around aimlessly for too long! I decide to walk back and perhaps follow Erika's instructions after all! Then I noticed a bus with Mitad del Mundo on the front so I asked if it went there - on I hopped, and the conductor then told me I would have to change buses. As is turned out, "Mitad del Mundo" was the name of this particular bus company, not the destination!!!
Of course, I had no idea where I would need to change and after paying the fare (which at least was very cheap), I hoped that at some point, the conductor would tell me where I would need to disembark. After an hour, I was still quite concerned but resigned myself to simply taking the same bus in reverse if I was genuinely lost, and I would then at least end up back where I started... in theory! Eventually, the conductor told me to get off and to take the bus behind us, so within seconds I'd boarded a new bus and was at last on the right one! After I got off, I then had to find out where the real Equator was - the monument at Mitad del mundo marks the official one, as designated by the Spanish many years ago, but it is no longer zero degrees latitude due to the shift in the Earth's poles. Of course, wanted to visit both! First, I visited the official one, but later I found the real Equator as confirmed by military GPS...
You put your left leg south, your right leg north...
There are a few other attractions at Mitad del Mundo, but they cost extra and didn't really appeal to me - once I had planted one foot either side of the line, that was box ticked for me! Then off I went up the road to visit the real Equator and a little museum called Intiñan. I took a guided tour around the museum and I really, really enjoyed it! Our guide was lovely and she explained a little about the history of the area and the indigenous people from there. I was particularly fascinated with her tale of shrunken heads and how they were made... gruesome stuff, although I was that enthralled with it all, I did have thoughts about having myself shrunken after I die. I'm not sure who will want to keep me on their mantlepiece though!
We then were shown some experiments to demonstrate how water drains in different directions on either side of the Equator. I had read that this is an urban myth, but lo and behold, it did indeed work, I was gobsmacked. In hindsight, even though I videoed each demonstration as proof, I didn't notice how the water was poured into the sink before the plug was pulled... maybe she set it in motion first? Either way, it was still great fun. I then finally managed to balance a raw egg on the head of a nail, which is allegedly easier to do on the Equator. It took a while, but imagine my glee when it balanced! I have a certificate to prove it!
Eggcellent Emma!
Once back in Quito this evening, I needed to get ready to be up at 4am tomorrow to take my flight to the Galápagos! Unfortunately there was a power cut at the hostel and so I had no light to organise my backpack! I had also been left a voicemail on my mobile phone. Not good as my answerphone very clearly states NOT to leave a message after the tone, as I will not be paying to check my messages while I am away! So of course, I thought it was the bank and I needed to email home to get my Mum to contact them and tell them it was me who had been trying to use my card all day! So, with no power, no email and I couldn't even send a text message as I only had enough battery on my phone for my alarm the next morning. I had a flight to catch, and one I REALLY did not want to miss! So, off I went in the dark to find a block that still had power in order to send an email. After I'd walked one block I then realised that I was walking alone in the most dangerous part of Quito at night in a power cut. Not clever! Nothing happened and I returned to the hostel, but I realised that nowadays, I am a little TOO fearless!
Anyway, the power eventually came back on and I was able to pack and send the email! I've only been in Ecuador a few days, but I've really enjoyed it so far, a far cry from the past few weeks! What a relief! I think that now I have organised my Galápagos trip, I can relax, the pressure is off! In fact, once I am back here in the mainland, I may even stay in one place for a while and study Spanish as I do have the time to spare. I'm very excited about the next few weeks here... especially as the greatest adventure begins tomorrow morning. Galápagos, here I come!
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