Day 62 - The Final Journey Home

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After breakfast we asked the porter to collect our bags and got onto the airport shuttle at 09:00 as scheduled. The Holiday Inn is practically in the airport so we were in the departure lounge within 5 minutes. There was just one other guest in the mini-bus but the driver even took our big bags and went with us to the bag drop area.

It was then we found out that our flight was delayed by 3 hours to 14:30 which was annoying as we could have planned something better to do than wait in the airport for 5.5 hours. The only plus was that it would reduce our waiting time in Santiago by 3 hours.

So we took the opportunity to spend the remaining US dollars we had and bought some nice chocolate to give away. The flight itself was mainly over water until the last 45 minutes or so when we headed inland to Santiago and that's when I was able to see mountains and the Andes again.

The wait at Santiago went quickly as we decided to have some lunch which was quite expensive. We'd been spoilt by the cheaper prices in Ecuador. After that I bought some t-shirts and updated the blog and just make it in time as Daisy had already queued up.

We had changed our seats from window to aisle for the long haul leg to make it easier for Daisy to get in and out of her seat and we sat with a young Maori guy who was on his way home after working in Brazil for 2 years. We watched some movies and got some sleep before getting some breakfast at 01:00 Sydney time, so our body clocks may take a while to adjust.

I think it's a bit strange how you still have to go through security checks again when you are on an international transfer and don't leave the airport.

We left Auckland on schedule and touched down at Sydney on time. We then ordered an Uber which wad just 10 minutes wait and finally arrived ho.e after about 32 hours from the time we left the Holiday Inn Guayaquil.

It's been an epic, amazing adventure which we will always remember. Not just for the landscapes and animals but all the wonderful people we have met, both locals and fellow travelers.

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