So, our day started at 5 am on Saturday. We got up, showered, and finished packing so that we were ready for our 6 am taxi to the Manta airport. The driver showed up right on time and we said farewell to Puerto Lopez. The drive was an hour and a half or so and uneventful with the exception of some closed roads and detours in Manta. We got to the airport on time, and our flight to Quito was short and uneventful.
Now, I should take a moment to describe the Manta airport. If you can envision a white, special event tent, like for an outdoor charity event, that is the Manta airport. Some panels are missing, which function as open doorways.
We arrived in Quito at about 9:30, collected our luggage, and settled in for a long day at the airport. We had coffee, used the wifi, found the comfy chairs, and waited for lunch. Now, we were so early that we could not check our bags or enter the terminal, so we were limited to the unsecure areas. Lunch was at TGI Fridays at the most ridiculous airport prices, but sometimes you have to just go with the flow. A small price to pay for more purified salad and facilities with tp, soap, hand dryers, AND throwing the used paper in the commode.
We broke up the monotony by naps, snacks, and trips to the banos. At 1:30 we were able to drop our bags and by 3:30 we were able to enter the terminal. Of course, we learned all of this by trial and error. Another little snack at 5 and we were off to Bogota at 6:30 pm.
We arrived in Bogata about two hours later and reconnected with some Brits we met at Quilatoa. Our flight didn’t leave until 1:15 am, so we sat around and waited some more.
I had been concerned about the storms in Houston, but we were able to board our flight on time. We got on board, and hot damn was it warm on the plane. The whole plane was boarded, and I swear they had locked us in, and the captain comes on the PA and says our AC is kaput and they are calling maintenance to fix it. (I’m sorry, you knowingly locked us in this hot box why?) After a 40-minute delay, we were off with cool air a-blowing. I promptly slept, and Nathan stayed awake to have his second dinner of the day. Somehow we lost more time in the air, what with the storms and all, and by the time we landed in Houston we had chewed up an hour of our two-hour layover. As we were slowing to a stop, and turning on the tarmac, the plane skidded and lurched a couple times, and then nada. The captain comes on the PA again and tells us that bla, bla, bla, 15-minute detour in the air, late, lost all hydraulic fluid, cannot steer plane, must get towed to gate, 10 more minutes, bla, bla, bla. Hmm, this is about to get interesting. We eventually got to the jet bridge, ran off the plane, ran through immigration huffing and puffing, then customs and I’ve managed to lose my boarding pass. No worries though, cause when we attempt to recheck our bags they say no way – You’ll never make it and neither will your bags. We get put on standby for the 9 am (Sunday now, and 10 am Ecuador time) and confirmed for the 2:40! I was sooo close to being the last passenger boarded at 9, when some late dingleberry showed up with his legit assigned seat and stole it from me. So now we both wait for the 11 am. We are numbers 1 and 2 so if anyone gets on, it’s us (or at least me). Brushed our teeth with said United toiletry kit, and washed our faces with the Cetaphil disposable wipes that came in so handy on this trip. And we wait.