Carina to Quito to Houston & Home, Day 15 - Tuesday, 27 December 2021 - Day 17 - Thursday, 30 December 2021

Galivanting thru the Galapagos & the Amazon

Day 15, 16, 17 - Carina to Baltra Airport to Quito to Houston & finally on home - Tuesday, December 28, 2021 - Thursday, December 30, 2021

It was a nice easy going morning.  We had been able to sleep well since we spent the majority of the night quietly anchored at Rabida Island.  The Captain had pulled anchor about 4:30am & motored us a couple of hours to the Cove in front of the Baltra dock.  That allowed us to get up at our regular 6am & have a leisurely breakfast at 7am.  Something has definitely happened on this trip that I would think that a 7am breakfast was leisurely - Ha!!  Anyway, we were all packed & waiting for the pangas to take us to shore by 9am. 

We enjoyed our morning & Jonathan gave us our final panga ride to the dock.  We're all ready to go home!

At the dock, we waited for the bus to take us to the airport.  It took a while, but we didn't really mind, the local wildlife was still around to keep us entertained - there were Sea Lions on the dock & swimming around and a Striated Heron visited a while.

After we got to the airport & Luis helped us check in, most of us waited around the outside. We had one little incident - Luis had handed over an envelope for delivery to Delfin at the Airport in Quito with records & other logistical requirement for OAT. Unfortunately it was left in the lounge of the Carina which had already started cruising towards Santa Cruz!!! Luis was able to catch the Captain, verify the envelope was there & Francisco got the dubious assignment of bringing it to us! That took a while & we were all just hanging around watching for him. We sat around enjoying the company of Jonathan a little while longer - he had to delay his trip home to make sure the delivery was made. In the meantime, we saw another Galapagos Dove and lots of friendly Finches.

George & I realized that this tiny little airport had a Priority Lounge that honored our pass for entry!  We rested there in the almost empty area & enjoyed free soda, coffee, snacks, & the individualized attention of several Finches.  Yes, I have to admit I shared some cracker crumbs with a few of them!  Just couldn't resist!!

Our flight was a couple of hours late taking off, but by noon, we were finally on our way.  The flight was uneventful once we were on board.

We were all surprised when we landed & taxied to the terminal.  We had not been paying attention & thought we were going to land at Guayaquil, but had gone straight to Quito!  We told Delfin & he just shook his head.  He said he had told us before we left him last week that our flight would be direct to Quito.  Oh well - so much for paying attention!

So Delfin met us at the airport & immediately got us on a transport to the Wyndham where the medical folks were once again waiting for us to give us our required Covid test that would allow us back in the US.  That went without a hitch & then we were assigned lovely rooms to wait for our flights about midnight.  In the meantime, we were to enjoy another "farewell dinner" with Delfin!!  It was in the Wyndham restaurant & was marvelous.  It was a buffet with several choices for the main course, a huge salad bar, bread bar, dessert bar, & even 2 soups!  We all ate our fill & enjoyed chatting together.  Our 3 ladies from Hawaii entertained us by showing up in matching outfits & wigs!!  Too funny!!    

Delfin already had our test results & luckily we were all good and negative.  USA here we come!  Well almost.......just as we got up to our rooms to have a shower & prepare for our overnight flights, most of us started getting warnings from United Airlines that our flight was delayed.  Bottom line - the 3 ladies that were flying from Quito to Miami on American were good to go.  We all went to the airport together about 11pm & they checked in & away they went.  The rest of us (except one lady that for whatever reason OAT had previously scheduled to spend the night in Quito at the Wyndham & fly out about noon the next day) ended up in line for several hours trying to decide how we'd get home.  Our flight to Houston ended up being canceled & we were divided up onto different options.  George & I and one other lady were assigned a room for the evening at the Airport Holiday Inn and would fly out the next morning.   

Our overnight room at the Holiday Inn was delightful & we were able to have a great buffet breakfast.  What I most enjoyed was that our room overlooked an open grassy area & I was able to add 5 birds to my Lifelist - just looked out the window with my binoculars!  It was a lovely morning!

We took the hotel shuttle to the Quito Airport - expecting an early afternoon flight.  Luckily we again had access to the Priority Lounge because that flight was delayed until 6pm!!  No matter, United Airlines provided us with food vouchers & we spent a leisurely day at the airport.  The Priority Lounge at the Quito Airport is delightful!  If you happened to need to while away some time - that was a wonderful place - it's huge, new, & provides great service.   We ate dinner at the TGIF.  It was good too!  We were still with the one woman & she joined us for a while in the lounge.  

We finally boarded our plane bond for Houston.  We enjoyed talking to the pilot before we boarded.  He was the chattiest pilot we've ever run across.  He stood & talked to us for about 15 minutes - telling us they were bringing in a special flight to get us back to Houston & describing some of the recent flight issues due to disruptions due to weather & sickness.  Said he had been stranded at a few airports recently, but hoped things would calm down soon.  He looked like he should be eligible for retirement soon!  He had been flying for more than 30 years - Air Force before United.  He even came on the mic several times during the flight just to chat about possible bumps during the flight.  We were treated to a gorgeous sunset as we took off!  The flight itself was uneventful & the plane was barely half full.  

Unfortunately we landed in Houston too late to make a connection on to Phoenix, so we had to spend a night there.  We were finally on our own - the other lady was assigned to a different hotel & a flight out directly to her home in California.  Our hotel here was not so pleasant - a Super 8 near the airport.  Ick!  It was old, shabby, & barely a 2 star.  But it was relatively clean & we only had to spend the night, so we survived.  Again United Airlines paid for everything, hotel, food, & transport.  The only real negative was an obnoxious fellow passenger that we had run into several times from Quito all the way to our hotel in Houston.  He talked constantly, complained bitterly about wearing a mask, & coughed & sneezed on everyone.  We were embarrassed to note that he was definitely American.  Luckily once we were assigned a room, we never had to see or hear from him again.  We finally got on a flight heading to Phoenix the next morning & got home about 1pm.  The Houston Airport was horrible, very crowded, noisy, & disorganized.  We were relieved to get home!  It was an awesome vacation and now we're ready to get back to teaching dance again!  Happy New Year to you all!!!  Can't wait for our next vacation!  Hope it's as good as this one!!!