May 9, 2019

May 9, 2019

Today is a travel day. After breakfast we assemble to review the photos the ship photographer took as he followed us around. They will be available for free download when we get home. Then we disembark, make a dry landing, and bus back to the airport. The facilities were built by the US during WWII as a base for protecting the Panama Canal from sub attack. I am always amazed at the number of airports that were initially built by the US and given to the locals.

Aimee and I were very pleased with this cruise. The ship was big enough to be fairly steady during almost the entire journey. By the end of the trip, I got used to being gently rocked asleep. A large ship also meant a dedicated culinary staff and great food. Despite this being one of the larger vessels touring the Galapagos, we never felt crowded on shore excursions or felt we had to wait too long to get ashore. In fact, it was just the opposite. This "expedition" was non-stop action with little down-time.

The service and amenities on this ship were first class, with lots of little extras that sweetened our experience. Aimee liked the gourmet coffee machine right outside our cabin. I liked the souvenir full-color book of animals and detailed expedition map that we were given. Changes look imminent however. Ship owners and Viking Cruise representatives both sailed with us. It looks like a deal is in the works.

The Galapagos Islands are truly a special place. No wonder it was the very first of the World Heritage Sites. Here animals diversified to fill ecological niches in sometimes strange ways. Each island we visited was unique offering an up-close view of nature. We could easily spend another week cruising the western and northern islands. There we would encounter the only tropical penguin, and a cormorant that lost its wings. We could even return to this same eastern island itinerary in another season and see different stages of the animal's life-cycle. For us, a week on a ship is enough and we are ready for solid ground again.

We flew to Quito making a brief landing again in Guayaquil. Quito is the capital of Ecuador and sits high in the Andes mountains at elevation 9200 feet. I see mountains and deep ravines as we approach. From the airport, we had to climb a long steep winding road to reach the town center. The hills of Quito make San Francisco look flat. Our guide said Quito just surpassed Guayaquil as the largest city in Ecuador. I can't imagine how almost 3 million people can possibly live and get around in a city with this much geographical constraint.

After checking into our hotel room, we went to a local market around the corner and then to an Ecuadorian restaurant called Miskay. Supposedly this means Food Culture in some local language. We had Empanadas for an appetizer, and then shared a delicious Rosemary infused chicken. Dessert was a traditional sweetened corn milk drink called Morocho, that we poured over cake.