Despite the fact that his flight was scheduled to arrive yesterday at 11:15pm (which it did), AND despite the fact that our trusty driver Patricio got us (almost) to the aeropuerto with time to spare, AND despite the fact that we had arrived on the exact same flight the night before and things went smoothly and crowds were modest.......
What difference a day makes!!!
Well - two days, actually.
To set the stage, the Quito Aeropuerto is one of two international airports in Ecuador (soon to be three when Manta is scheduled to become "international"). It is, by US standards, a "medium size" airport (think smaller than Albany).
When we arrived the night before total time from touchdown to exiting the arrival area was probably on the order of 30 minutes - including deplaning, picking up luggage, and clearing customs and immigration.
Patricio was able to park within a 100 yards of the terminal and, while crowded, the arrival lounge (where visitors were allowed to wait for arriving passengers) was relatively sane.
This night, traffic was backed up/stopped a good 3/4 of a mile from the terminal. We waited in line for a while and finally decided that I'd walk the rest of the way while Marilyn and Patricio stayed with the car so as to be there in time for Dean's exit.
So far, so good. Right up until we get to the arrival doors.....a veritable sea of humanity. The lounge is about the size of two good sized Micky D's placed side to side - including a snack bar/gift shop area and an "exit lane" cordoned off through the middle to allow egress for arriving passengers. When we arrived people meeting arriving passengers were probably 3 to 4 deep on both sides of the exit lane and thinned out as passengers they were awaiting, arrived.
This night it was literally a can of sardines - shoulder to shoulder in every available square inch (or square centimeter here, I guess). Seems, instead of the one plane that normally arrives at that hour there were three (apparently a weather diversion from who knows where). Regardless, three at once isn't really within the design capabilities.
OK, so we're going to have to pay real close attention to not miss him when he comes through since he'll never be able to pick us out of the crowd - and we'll have to expect a bit of a delay due to the numbers being processed.
11:45 comes and goes as is to be expected,
12:15 slips by, c'est la vie
12:45 - by now bunches of people have emerged from the customs area and met their parties - but no Dean. I'm fairly confident that Marilyn has passed the threshold of "everything's fine" but going to look for her and leaving "my spot" meant missing Dean when he finally did emerge
1:15 - Dean's plane having been the first of the three to land should have, one would surmise, been the first to complete the process and the first passengers to leave the airport. As more and more of those of us waiting were beginning to voice concerns it became apparent that such was not the case. Those currently clearing the doors were from the third arriving plane.....hummmm
1:30 - not normally one to allow such situations to induce elevated levels of blood pressure I continue to believe it's just "one of those things" - luggage on the wrong belt, prematurely removed from the belt by an over zealous baggage handler, or worse case, still in Panama. As the hour crept closer to 2 am though, I have to admit a few pangs of "detained by immigration" crept into my grey matter.
2:10 - Now in full blown panic mode as the terminal waiting area is really thinning out as the last of the stragglers and their handlers depart Marilyn goes into action. "YOU (Patricio) - come with me, you speak Spanish!!" We'll get to the bottom of this. Mrs V in protective Mom mode is a sight easily recognizable in any language and one which pretty much guarantees a resolution ex poste haste. Sure enough, no sooner had the onslaught begun than it was resolved - Dean comes marching through the doors undaunted. Little did he know how close we'd come to having mandatory conscription reinstated for our impending invasion of Ecuador at the hands of Brigadier General Mrs V.
2:30 am ish - Patricio squeals to a halt at our door....tonight he REALLY earned his $10 fee.
After a, somewhat less than good night's sleep we're at the Andino Breakfast Factory recharging and preparing for another day of "vacationing" and playing the tourist game.
We'd previously "booked" Patricio for a 9:30 am pickup and full day of touring. Planning ahead and figuring Dean would be arriving per schedule and have a good nights sleep - so much for "planning".
Following a somewhat lively discussion in Spanish (so as to spare us the details) between Miguel and Patricio the "itinerary" was established based on our previous conversations with Miguel. It should be stated here that despite it being a second language for him, Miguel speaks excellent English. Patricio is somewhat more limited although his English is head and shoulders above our Spanish. Having him with us was a world of help and while he's not yet up to "interpreter" status I have no doubt he will be before long as shows not only a strong desire to become proficient but a thirst for learning - we only wish we had as much devotion to learning the Spanish language (and the benefit of 30 years or so fewer dead brain cells. Why, oh why, don't we start ALL of our kids on a second language at an early age?
Shortly before 10am the five of us pile into Patricio's Hyundai Something (a model not available in the US, legally a 5 seater in the same way a school bus "legal" with 3 to a seat - at least a few of those "legals" better be "little legals".
Entering the traffic flow in Quito, even on a tiny, one way street, is akin to merging onto an interstate at 5 mph. Ecuadorians are, by and large, the kindest, most considerate, happy, and easy going people I've ever met....UNTIL they get behind the wheel - at which time they morph into raving maniacs, hell bent on not stopping (or even slowing down), EVER, for ANYone or ANYthing. "Defensive Driving" is a phrase that not only has no literal translation from Spanish to English it simply does not exist. How they manage to survive can only be explained by their absolute belief in the divine "power" of the horn - beep it loud enough and often enough and it has mystical powers capable of either vaporizing any intruders in "my" space or, at the very least, physically shoving them out of the way with magical beams of energy.
After a harrowing 30 minutes of vehicular warfare (and two "brief" stops for changes of underwear) we left the confines of city life behind and ascended the mount towards the Pululahua Geobotanical Preserve - a valley formed in the Caldera (crater) of the Pululahua Volcano and believed to be one of the only inhabited Calderas on Earth. The pictures speak for themselves but once again can't approach that taken in with one's own eyes. Splendor beyond belief is thy name.
Here's the road leading up to the overlook from which you view the Caldera
At the end of which you reach the Reserve and pay your Tarif (or get waved on by if you qualify for one of the "NO" categories as we did - don't ask any questions)
Once you get past the sheer beauty of that which your eyes have taken in reality sets in an you ask, "Why would anyone live in the Crater of a Volcano?"
That's the point that "George" (I swear that's his name, I didn't believe it either) launches into a thoroughly researched and documented dissertation on "his" mountain
If he didn't actually "write the book" on the history of the Caldera he knows it as well as any man alive and the pages of his "book" bear witness to the fact that if not him.......
We bid George a fond farewell figuring we'd seen more than any person had the right to enjoy in one day but Patricio (that's him in the background in photo above) had other ideas and off we headed, down the volcano, up and down various and sundry mountains and valleys, to the Mitad del Mundo.
Hummm, not what you were expecting? If you've seen pictures of the Mitad Del Mundo (Center of the Earth) they've probably looked something like this:
Now THAT'S A MONUMENT worthy of the name!
And a SIGN to boot!
Obligatory "One foot on each side of the World" photo
How many of your Teachers can say that?
Circles to the Right, Circles to the Left, Goes Straight Down Here
That Coriolis Cat was one bright dude!
If two people attempt to balance an egg upright on a nail -
whom would you put your money on?
On the way UP!!
Only 6000 (vertical) feet to go
Topside
View from above
(those "dots" below are the buildings in a city of a million and a half people)
Churches are everywhere - but not many at 15,000'
History lessons and Science experiments completed we prepare to depart the "exact" Mitad del Mundo but first must wait for the ceremonial presentation of the Certificate of Accomplishment to the ONE individual in our party who stood the egg on the nail - wanna bet who received it?
Then it's off again to TeleFerico - the cable car ride up the mountain overlooking Quito. We had originally planned to do this first thing as on most days it's clear in the morning and tends to cloud over later in the day obscuring the view. Today, of course, was just the opposite but it all worked out fine as Patricio simply altered schedule and, just maybe, got lucky.
Only 6000 (vertical) feet to go
(those "dots" below are the buildings in a city of a million and a half people)
One has to wonder what would posses a bunny to choose THIS for his home - much less climb up here to see if he was going to like it!
Heading back down
A bit of perspective coming in for a landing
Another action packed day in the books.
Now to find Patricio and have him return us to the Andino, then to dinner and the sack - tomorrow is another day and we've convinced Patricio to put up with us for another "road trip".
Now to find Patricio and have him return us to the Andino, then to dinner and the sack - tomorrow is another day and we've convinced Patricio to put up with us for another "road trip".
Today's excursion was just a "warm up" - stay tuned.
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