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Published: October 28th 2005
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Can it be real? Is the trip actually over?
Yup.
It is amazing how something that is so absorbing as a multi-month trip, just ends so suddenly. We are back in Simi Valley, now. In a few days we head down to San Diego to look for an apartment. For those of you who do not know, Ryan is going back to school to get his Master´s in Geography at San Diego State University. That is the reason that this trip came to fruition. We had to quit our jobs at some point, might as well be in March instead of July.
We actually had a Day 8 in the Galapagos. It just wasn´t exciting enough to warrant it´s own blog. We had another very early start (5:30 am) to catch the fast boat to San Cristobal Island at 6 am. San Cristobal is where we were flying out of. It was a very bumpy, 2 hour ride. The only interesting thing that occured was after we entered the harbor on San Cristobal. The side of the boat has a large custom-made plastic sheet to cover-up the huge opening on the windward side. This is the only thing
that keeps half the passengers from drowning in spray during the journey. Well, the first mate accidently dropped it in the water while trying to remove it. After unsuccessfully trying to pull it from the water twice, and realizing the plastic was sinking, the capitán was forced to jump overboard in his clothes. It sank anyway. We could hear him cussing as we transfered to the taxi boat. Apparently, the plastic was later recovered, but we didn´t see it.
We had breakfast on San Cristobal and said our goodbyes to the group. We really enjoyed the company we held the last portion of the trip. After breakfast, we wanted to do some last-minute shopping, so we walked around the town with Cece for a half hour before walking to the airport (a whole 12 minutes). Along the way, we saw the Sarah Dayuma still on the beach not ready for sailing. Though we must admit, there was definitely progress made toward fixing it.
We flew back to Quito on the same flight as Mike and Caroline. We shared a taxi back into the center (where we stayed at our 3rd different hotel) and then all went out to
Mexican food that night. That afternoon, we went to the office for the Sarah Dayuma. They were very accommodating and apologetic. We settled on a refund that was fair and made the trip worthwhile. Despite all the craziness, the owners of the boat were always easy to deal with.
The next morning (or possibly afternoon, we had a very late start) we decided to get out of Quito for the last time. We went to Banos. Banos is a little tourist town that is popular with foreigners and Ecuadorians alike. People go there for the many hot baths, the hiking and just to relax. The latter was on our agenda. We spent 2 and half days there doing nothing. Our main activity was eating meals. In between, we filled our time with reading and a little Internet. The weather also conspired to make us lazy as it rained half the time we were there.
On Friday, we made our way to Guayaquil, where our flight left from on Sunday. Guayaquil is the largest city in Ecuador. It located by the coast and feels a lot different than Quito (especially the temperature). The bus took longer than we expected
and made it to Guayaquil just as the sun was setting. It's always fun when you get to a big city and have to take a taxi to a hotel and you're not familiar with its location. You're at the mercy of the taxi driver to safely take you where you want to go. Luckily, we had no problems.
Saturday we took the local bus to the city center. Guayaquil has a new riverfront walkway called the Malecon, which is very pleasant to walk down (if you can ignore the humidity). All the Guayaquilenos were out strutting there stuff. We also visited the Parque Bolivar (aka Parque de las Iguanas). The park lived up to its name. We saw iguanas everywhere. On the grass, in the bushes and mostly, up in the trees. They seem to have a pretty good life. Everyone was throwing fruit and vegetables at them. I'm sure they never go hungry.
We had lunch at a seafood restaurant where we were able to get some very good encebollado and arroz con mariscos. Later in the afternoon, we climbed Cerro Santa Ana in the Las Penas neighborhood. This neighborhood had recently been renovated and painted.
Most of the houses had pictures outside of how they looked before being restored. The top of the hill had a small lighthouse and good views of Guayaquil to the south.
Sunday was flight day. Our plane didn't leave until 3:15 pm, so we decided to go to the botanical gardens in the morning. They were nice, but a little run-down. Probably a lack of funds (just a guess). Our flight was relatively uneventful. By the end of the day we were back in California.
We would like to thank everyone who has been keeping up with the blog. We have enjoyed making it. As we've said before, it is a journal for ourselves. We have just been allowed to share it with all of you.
One of the questions we have been asked the most is "who writes the blogs?" Well the answer is, both of us. Though Ana has probably written the most. Some blogs were written entirely by Ryan (with heavy, heavy editing by Ana) and others by Ana (the good ones). Mostly we shared the writing. Many blogs alternate writers by paragraph. It all depends on who felt like writing. Also, it was Ana's idea to do the whole third person narration.
Thanks again for reading. Please let us know what you think?
Cheers.
Ryan & Ana
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No, it's not over yet. This is the best part. Fun facts for those who want to know (or are anal accountant freaks like us). We kept a money journal where we recorded everything we bought.
Total direct cost of the trip for both of us (i.e. airfare, hotel, food, tours including expensive Galapagos, travel insurance, vaccinations, etc) ~$12,000
Total cost of trip including above with the stuff we bought to get ready for the trip (i.e. jackets, new boots, clothes, etc) ~$13,500
Entire Trip Total Nights - 136
Nights in hotel - 115 (47 different places)
Nights camping - 7
Nights on overnight buses - 9
Nights on overnight train - 1
Nights on boat - 4
Average cost of hotel room - US$17.09 per night for 2 people (Always a double, we had a private bath about half the time and the room included breakfast about 2/3rds the time).
Argentina Total Nights - 41
Nights in hotel - 36 (14 different places)
Nights on overnight buses - 4
Nights on overnight train - 1
Average cost of hotel room - US$16.33 per night for 2 people
Chile Total Nights - 36
Nights in hotel - 26 (10 different places)
Nights camping - 4
Nights on overnight buses - 2
Nights on boat - 4
Average cost of hotel room - US$19.08 per night for 2 people
Peru Total Nights - 35
Nights in hotel - 29 (11 different places)
Nights camping - 3
Nights on overnight buses - 3
Average cost of hotel room - US$16.72 per night for 2 people
Ecuador Total Nights - 24
Nights in hotel - 24 (12 different places)
Average cost of hotel room - US$16.29 per night for 2 people
Although we didn't keep track, we know we spent about 300+ hours riding on buses in between towns. This doesn't even include local transport.
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danny
non-member comment
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no Bolivia??? You're missing out...