Our morning was filled with another trip to Cafe Hernan followed by some bathing suit shopping, flight change and a visit to the bank so we could pay the rest of the cruise. And again I had way more cash in hand than I really wanted, but being in the Galapagos with it is not so bad. As we waited in line at the bank tour operators were walking in and depositing thousands and thousands of dollards (all in $20 bills) and others were withdrawing the same. Watching the bank tellers count out $5,000 in $20´s for one woman was so bizarre, especially when she turned, walked out the door and strolled down the street as if it were nothing. There is just so much money moving through the Galapagos and walking down the street with ... read more

We woke up super early this morning with the hope of getting to the airport and finding seats on a flight to the Galapagos. At about 5am the cab picked us up from Hostal Mantesa and off to the airport we went. TAME and LAN were both open so we got pricing from them, but we had to wait a bit before AeroGal opened up (the normally cheapest option) only to learn their flight was full. So TAME it was for our trip to the Baltra Airport, the more popular of the two airports in the Galapagos (other on San Cristobal). Having been at the airport super early we had to kill a few hours before the special Galapagos security screening could occur where they check your luggage for any fruits, veggies, meats, cheeses, etc. At ... read more

We arrived in Guayaquil to the main bus terminal about 3:00 in the afternoon. Guayaquil does it right, their bus terminal is gigantic, has a mall and sits right next to the airport. We grabbed some US$ from the ATM (so wild that they use the USD as their currency). In the food court we grabbed some Pizza Hut. Talked to information. Then took a $3 cab ride to the city center. We had the cab driver drop us off near Iglesia San Francisco near the Malacon district, the Miraflores of Guayaquil (aka gringo safe spot). The Malacon recently underwent a massive facelift and is now the nicest part of the city. It is about a 2km long section that hugs the Rio Guayas. The Malacon was quite different than Miraflores. In Miraflores most buildings were ... read more

I noticed that our most viewed blog was when we talked about crossing the Chile/Peru border and I am guessing that is because fellow travelers are always curious about crossing borders. To start, crossing from Peru to Ecuador was significantly easier than crossing from Chile to Peru and even back and forth between Chile and Argentina. To get to Ecuador we followed the most popular route on the Pan-American highway. From Trujillo we took an overnight Oltursa bus to Tumbes, arriving early in the morning. There is no central bus terminal in Tumbes so we were at the Oltursa terminal. The area is not the best so try to avoid wandering around. Lonely Planet recommends taking a CIFA bus from Tumbes headed north as it is the easiest, and we could not agree more. As you ... read more

We left Huaraz on an overnight bus to Trujillo. We left about 10:15 pm on a fairly fancy Linea bus and arrived in Trujillo 9 hours later. They served us chicken and rice and cooked veggies for dinner which was fantastic. All we had brought was bread, not as fantastic. The movie was Alive, rather appropriate as we wound our way down the Andes. Sarah had recently read Miracle in the Andes (Dad, remember giving me that book one Christmas for Elfster because you didn't know how to use the internet?). Alive is based on Miracle in the Andes, the story of a rugby teams plane crashing in the Andes and their survival, which included cannibalism. Sarah tried to stay awake and watch it despite being tired. An hour or so in, after the likely illegally ... read more