Guayaquil, Ecuador

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This day was a bit of a disaster and our first visit to Ecuador. After 9 days at sea from Nuku Hiva we were looking forward to our trip to Quito and seeing the high Andes. However, we had been warned that we'd be arriving late which, in fact, turned out to be incorrect and we arrived maybe 10 minutes behind schedule at most. The tour though had already been re-jigged and we were not to take our aircraft until noon - or so they said - but with it getting dark at 6pm we were not over impressed.

In the event, it made no difference as we were told that Quito airport was shut owing to fog. (We were to find out later that this is a far from unusual event). We were told the airport re-opened at 10.30 and we would be given a quick bus tour of Guayaquil on the way to the airport for a rescheduled 1 o'clock flight. No such luck! The flight became 1.30 pm and by the time it was up on the departures board it was re-scheduled again for a 2.20 pm take off. Since it's 45 minutes to Quito before disembarkation etc, it hardly seemed worth the £200 each we had paid for the trip and we took advantage of the offer to cancel, even though we had our boarding cards. About 40 of us quit but 26 pressed on, despite being given no assurances as to the likely weather for the 8.15 pm return flight in the dark and whether or not the ship would wait if the return was delayed - we had a scheduled passage through the Panama canal and we figured the captain would not wait. (This was a correct assessment).

We returned to Guayaquil and had a whole 2 hours before the last shuttle bus back to the ship (which docked at the container port about 10 miles out of town). However, once we were on the 'last' return shuttle we learned that there would be a later bus at 6 pm. All too late to take advantage of - and much too early anyway for 'last shuttle', given that we were not required back on board until 11.30 pm. Having said that, we got a good trip back and were taken down the street where the locals bought their New Year puppets - a bit like bonfire night, they buy papier mâché figures to burn at the New Year, some as large as 2-3 metres high. Before that, we had done a quick tour of the waterfront which was much more enjoyable than we expected, but we were carrying all the jumpers/cardigans and gear for a trip round Quito at 2,800 metres and 10° c - not really appropriate for walking around Guayaquil at sea level and 25° c!

In the event, Quito airport was shut by fog for the return trip and our fellow trippers were taken an hour and a half by bus to a military airport to catch a charter flight back to Guayaquil. They arrived on back board at 11.50 pm, 20 minutes after 'last on board' time and literally 10 minutes before sailing! In the event immigration procedures meant we left 15 minutes late. Whilst this was going on and we were back on board ship we learned that the captain would, indeed, have left them - he was not willing to lose his Panama canal slot and the Travelscope staff had provisionally booked hotels and checked flights to Panama City for 'Plan B'. Hence being cautious but responsible, we missed our trip to 'middle earth' but those who were 'gung ho and stuff the consequences' got some sort of an adrenaline trip as well. Maybe there's a lesson to learn here.

Furthermore, we are quite likely to lose our £200 anyway owing to Travelscope going bust (of which more later).
Not a good day - or not as good as it should have been given it was one of the few occasions when we were on shore theoretically for more than 12 hours.

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