Day Trip to Guayaquil

Because my passport isn't due to expire until 2019, I wanted to get extra pages added. For those who don't know, after December of this year, that option will no longer be available.

So I made an appointment with the U.S. Consulate in Guayaquil to come in to get that done. I printed out the document needed, read all the FAQs and waited for my appointment day.

Our driver and friend, Emilio Morocho, picked us up at at 7:15, allowing plenty of time to make my 11:45am appointment. We actually arrived at 10:30! I checked in with the first security desk, after being directed there by a very nice female security guard.

I had read to bring in as little as possible, not even a cell phone. So my purse had my wallet, some bathroom necessities (hey, it is Ecuador), my passport and other IDs and my paperwork. The only thing that caused a question was my little single use Wet Ones.

But the lady guard told me that she would hold it for me - not that I was worried. LOL! From there I was pointed to another desk with my purse in a plastic bin. The bin was passed through an I walked through a scanner, then was wanded. The bin was now moved to another counter inside where I was able to claim it and was directed to the next stopping point. There the Ecuadorians were in a line but I was sent inside the next building. Here my purse was once again inspected and although I walked through some type of scanner, the beep wasn't an alert. I was directed to a window to get helped.

Yes, here I am an hour early, everyone has been very pleasant and helpful, laughing at my Spanish. No hassles, nothing like I had heard from others. The clerk motioned me up when he was free. He spoke excellent English, he took my papers and passport and handed me a paper to take two windows over to pay my $82. There a nice lady took my money and gave me two receipts (I did have correct change but could have used a credit card).

Back to the first window where I turn in the receipts and am told that my passport will be ready in 25-30 minutes. And it was! I took my newly fatten passport, my task completed an hour early. I had forgotten about my single use Wet Ones but the guard hadn't. She saw me exiting the building and handed it back to me. Talk about service!! Thank you to all the staff there!

From there we headed into downtown Guayaquil for lunch and a little sightseeing. We stopped at Chifa Dinastia for a lunch of Chinese food. Stu had shrimp and broccoli, I had chicken and broccoli and here is what Emilio ordered!



Stuffed, with a container of leftovers, we strolled back towards the parking garage. We made a stop at the Guayaquil Iguana Park - what a treat! They're on the ground, in the trees and plants. Here are a few photos:

Here are some photos of the park as well as our walk along the malecon before we left.

If you would like to see more photos or larger versions of the above, please visit our SmugMug Album.

Ciao for now!

Almost Home!

Two months have flown by, as referenced in this blog post on our US blog post:

   Winding down here in the US....

The errands and running around is almost done. Packing is complete - trunks and duffles for checked baggage (total of 6) as well as carry-ons. Reservations made for rental car in Florida, hotel in Guayaquil and transportation from there to Cuenca is also done. Stu has plugged all the holes that he could find under the rig, stuffed them with steel wool and then topped that off with pest repellant expanding foam. That, combined with inside and outside repellant granules and spray, should hopefully cut down on our mouse issue this winter.

Today Stu picked up some brake pads after hearing Scooby's brakes squeal yesterday (our Ford F-250) after fueling up Freddie and adding Sta-bil (our Freightliner). As he got ready to head home a LOUD squeal alerted him to an issue. Looks like the clutch bearings on the A/C compressor have frozen. He disconnected the belt for the ride home - no fan for cooling and no alternator for charging.

Now he's trying to take off the compressor and hopefully get the belt to at least run the fan and alternator. Depending on what he finds we will either finish the repair next year or take it to the local big truck repair place before we leave and have our neighbor bring it home and park it for us.

Still need to do laundry, drop off our trash, pick up the Trike at the Harley dealer (warranty and 1k service), put Sta-bil in during  the trike fuel fill-ups, run a few last minute errands in Cookeville tomorrow and do the final cleaning and winterizing of the RV on Friday. We hope to be on the road by 1-2pm, heading to Atlanta to spend the evening with my youngest daughter and grandkids.

From there we head to Florida for our last two days before flying to Ecuador on Wednesday. We will once again leave Scooby parked at my brother's house and take a rental car to Miami. We arrive in Guayaquil late in the day so we'll spend the night at the Holiday Inn. Our good friend, Emilio, will come pick us up and transport us and our 6 checked bags and our carry-ons back to our apartment in Cuenca.

As much as we've enjoyed our time in the US, enjoying seeing family and friends as well as enjoying the gorgeous fall colors, it will feel good to be back in Ecuador!

We're in Cuenca, Ecuador!!!

As I quickly posted last night, we made it to Guayaquil (y-A-queel) without much in the way of incidents. At Miami, we were told to go from our arrival gate (D-8) to (D-44). That meant several walking sidewalks, two flights of escalators (we took the elevator) and a tram-train through four stops. We got to D-44 and the plane there was going to Barcelona. Oops, they moved the plane to D-1. Yup, right back where we started and down a few gates. Sigh....we got there with more than enough time.

Yeah, more than enough time to see the CNN news about the bombings at the Boston Marathon. Horrific!! That's all I have to say, my heart goes out to everyone.

We left Miami a little late but finally arrived in Guayaquil around 11 pm (12 pm to our bodies since they don't do DST). We got unloaded, strapped up our bags and headed to immigration. Two lines - a REALLY long one and a REALLY short one. I walked up to the nice officer and asked which line with a USA passport and he directed us to the short one.

As we got closer we saw that this was the line for diplomats and disabled. Gulp... Then as we drew even closer we noticed that atop their booths it was also for families, pregnant women and seniors. Guess he saw my nice white hair and Stu's missing hair and knew we were old and decrepit. LOL!

The gal that checked us in spoke English and was really nice. Only asked us if this was our first visit to Ecuador. So now we have passports officially stamped for up to a 90 day visit.

Next was customs and another long line with red lights and green lights flashing. If when you went through the line, the red light flashed, your bags got checked. The very nice official pointed for us to bypass the whole process. YES!!!

Our driver was waiting for us and we got our first taste of Ecuadorian traffic and drivers. Well, it's much like Mexico and we were expecting that. We got to our hotel - basic but clean with working A/C and hot water for $56 (including a delicious hot breakfast).

This morning was a little different. The same gentleman was on duty that checked us in, limited English, VERY limited. We wanted to see if he could call a recommended van tour company for us and if they only spoke Spanish, see if they would pick us and our luggage up at the hotel.

After a couple of funny mistakes (okay, so the book did ask about Madrid and I forgot to say Cuenca), we finally got it done. Well, except that no one answered the phone. Then it was busy, then no answer. Finally the gal who had taken over the duty of helping us (absolutely NO English for her), called another company. Long story short, we ended up with a private car to Cuenca. Pricier but quicker.

Yeah, quicker. Of course that could be because we think our driver was a descendent of Mario Andretti and he was out to set a new land speed record (and we believe he did). Three hours, even with three stops (one for drinks, one for bathroom and one for gas).

Speaking of the gas stop, he pulls into an obviously under construction building. A young boy opens the door, they converse and then his mother comes out. After a few more words, we drive to the back of the lot where she goes into a shed and fills a bucket with gasoline and uses a long funnel to fill it. Goes and gets a second bucket full and dumps that one in. She walks back to the first building and we follow in the car. Our driver pays for the gas and we drive away!

Up through the Andes Mountains, into the clouds - rain, fog, hairpin turns, passing on blind curves, never slowing, never giving an inch to the weather or the road. We finally start to come down the other side and pass through the National Cajas Park. Beautiful - llamas, alpacas, cattle, horses, mountains, flowers, and the never ending hairpin curves.

But we made it to Cuenca, eventually passing through Gringoland (a stretch of high rise ex-pat buildings) and found where we are staying: Hostal Otorongo. The owners wife checked us in and helped up find a good place to eat. Unfortunately they were in the process of closing but we were willing to make us an order to go. We ordered two sandwiches and two salads, both ended up being HUGE and the salads are in the frig for tomorrow.

Only three items lost/misplaced so far. Stu thinks his neck pillow pulled off his bag in our truck so we picked up another one at JFK. I misplaced my 7 day pill dispenser, it's a pain but not the end of the world. I'll see if I can find one here, if not, it's not biggie. Stu left a good sweatshirt on the plane somewhere - he put in a bin and doesn't remember ever taking it out. It's not his only one so he won't freeze. LOL!

Yes, I snapped a few photos but I'm wrapping it up for the night. Time for me to make my email &  Facebook rounds, then head to bed myself. Stu is already sound asleep. We're at over 8000 ft and we feel it, as well as passing through 14k ft mountains and two days of travel.

More later...just not sure when.