(no subject)
Up before dawn to get our boat across to Baltra. We were on the boat in time for sunrise, but it was cloudy so it was more a case of light gradually showing through the clouds than anything more colourful. A few sealions were already up, playing and chasing and leaping in the sea, while the rest slept on the beaches. We packed onto the boat and left, taking some final pictures on the way. The journey was fairly rough but we reached Baltra in plenty of time, taking more pictures as we waited for the bus to the airport. Browsed some souvenir stands at the airport, and then went to check in, after arranging to meet some of the others (who were booked onto a later flight) in Quito that evening.
And then off, straining to catch one last glimpse through the porthole of the shrinking, vanishing islands below as we headed back to Quito and then, soon after, home.
The flight passed without incident- I mainly slept through it, again catching a brief glimpse of Guayaquil where we stopped briefly. Once I got back to my hotel, any plans for doing anything that afternoon vanished, as I made use of the internet, tea-making facilities, hot shower and bed. Being back at the Posada del Maple after a month was very strange: I immediately felt settled there as I had settled in there a month earlier, and it would have been far too easy to sink into that feeling as if the month in between never happened- a quick look on Facebook, adding another ten friends from the reserve, definitely helped, but I made a note to myself to watch out for that feeling once I got home: the last month had been too big, too real, too amazing, to let it fade like a dream.
Then I went over to the hotel where some of the others were staying, and we had dinner together: it was nice to be with a few of the same people once more, and a fun touch in the café was the paper tablemats and little pots of chalk, so we all doodled away as we waited for our food, and the two Ecuadorian ex-volunteers showed us “Rin rin, ron ron,” an infuriating number game.
After that we went on to a bar: wandering along Reina Victoria (Queen Victoria Street) really showed off the upmarket/touristy side of Quito, with glass-fronted cafés, their outdoor seating spilling out onto Plazas, with fountains, that would not have looked out of place in Montpellier. The bars were trendy and international-looking, but with a few Ecuadorian hints such as Caipirinas and canguil (salt popcorn). Then we said our goodbyes and I returned to Posada del Maple.
And then off, straining to catch one last glimpse through the porthole of the shrinking, vanishing islands below as we headed back to Quito and then, soon after, home.
The flight passed without incident- I mainly slept through it, again catching a brief glimpse of Guayaquil where we stopped briefly. Once I got back to my hotel, any plans for doing anything that afternoon vanished, as I made use of the internet, tea-making facilities, hot shower and bed. Being back at the Posada del Maple after a month was very strange: I immediately felt settled there as I had settled in there a month earlier, and it would have been far too easy to sink into that feeling as if the month in between never happened- a quick look on Facebook, adding another ten friends from the reserve, definitely helped, but I made a note to myself to watch out for that feeling once I got home: the last month had been too big, too real, too amazing, to let it fade like a dream.
Then I went over to the hotel where some of the others were staying, and we had dinner together: it was nice to be with a few of the same people once more, and a fun touch in the café was the paper tablemats and little pots of chalk, so we all doodled away as we waited for our food, and the two Ecuadorian ex-volunteers showed us “Rin rin, ron ron,” an infuriating number game.
After that we went on to a bar: wandering along Reina Victoria (Queen Victoria Street) really showed off the upmarket/touristy side of Quito, with glass-fronted cafés, their outdoor seating spilling out onto Plazas, with fountains, that would not have looked out of place in Montpellier. The bars were trendy and international-looking, but with a few Ecuadorian hints such as Caipirinas and canguil (salt popcorn). Then we said our goodbyes and I returned to Posada del Maple.