Why you should never give up your food-veto power.

Friday September 5th, 2014.

Santa Cruz, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador / Quito, Ecuador

Its 8am and we are waking up to our last morning in the Galapagos. It feels good to sleep in. We finish packing our bags and head next door to the hotel-sponsored breakfast bar (apparently its been here the whole time, we were just slow to catch on). We drink a quick cup of coffee and finish our breakfast surrounded by a family of tired parents and screaming children. I also notice a community bookshelf where I ditch my recently completed copy of Farnham’s Freehold (my gift to future travelers).

A few minutes later our original tour guide, Alexandria, arrives to make sure that we get to the airport in one piece. After a 30 minute drive across the island, she accompanies us on the ferry to Baltra, forces us to cut in line for the bus, and then pushes her way through everyone else to make sure that we get our bags first. I am not sure if she is providing good customer service or just wants us off of her damn island! Once logistics are successfully completed Laura and I exchange the obligatory hug with Alexandria and give her our best Texas-sized smiles. We also give her a Texas-sized tip… she was a very efficient guide and a memorable part of our trip.

Once we are in the airport and our bags are checked, we have time to shop around for a little bit. I buy all sorts of chocolate for myself and Laura buys more gifts for her family. After shopping is completed we still have another 30 minutes or so to kill. We grab 2 Coronas from the bar and enjoy our last few minutes at sea level. As we are leaving we notice a little Darwin finch hopping around the inside of the airport terminal. We both say goodbye to the little bird and we are off to Quito.

When we land, we try several different ways to make a quick trip to Ciudad Mitad del Mundo (this is where the famous equator marker is located), but sadly our flight arrives too late and we do not have time. As soon as we land I can feel my stomach starting to cramp up again. We are now back at 9500 feet and my body is not ready for it. 

Our cab ride from the airport back to our hotel takes over an hour and a half. Eventually we arrive at the same hotel where we stayed on Sunday evening. Its nearing 6pm and the streets are packed with bar hoppers (it’s basically Mardi Gras in the middle of the day). Even though we are both feeling sick, we don on our hiking boots and fleece jackets (also known as the only clean items left) and forge ahead into the Quito nightlife.

I’m really not in the mood to eat so I tell Laura that she can pick anything and I promise that I will not veto. She picks Indian food. I immediately regret surrendering my veto.

The Indian restaurant is a lot like a club. It is packed and blasting techno music. We order our dinner and try our best to choke some of it down (neither of us are very successful). After dinner we walk around the bar district for a little bit. It is major culture shock. The streets are shoulder-to-shoulder packed. We duck into a little bar and find a corner table where we can sit down, not talk to each other, and people watch. Laura orders a brandy and I order a godmother. After one round we call it a night. 

Back at the hotel we pack up, climb into bed, and drift to sleep to the sounds of club music, car horns, and very loud voices speaking in Spanish.

Tomorrow we say Adios to South America.