JFK to Guayaquil
12/31/17
The drive to JFK was confusing and long, and Greg, Angelique, and I were anxious to get there. I'd never been to JFK airport before, and none of us had really traveled out of the country before, (except Greg on a road-trip to Canada with his family...but does Canada really count?) so we weren't only nervous, but we were excited for this experience we'd spent so much time preparing for. It was almost here after about a year of preparation.
Finally, after a small detour, we arrived at the Hilton. Tait was holding a meeting that night and then Greg and I were scheduled to present on the geology of Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. New Years in New York City obviously presented traffic problem and a large demand for pizza, which was an issue when 16 hungry people were patiently waiting for a meal to be delivered from Domino's. So after our presentation, the pizza had still not arrived. Lester decided to do his presentation on the birds we were likely to see on our adventure. Our friends weren't as patient this time around, but I was grateful to learn a bit about the birds we'd be seeing when we arrived. Thankfully, the pizza arrived after about 2 hours.
At that point, it was almost midnight! So we raced back to our room, which had a view of the city, and waited for the ball to drop and then watched the fireworks. Fireworks exploded in any direction you looked- a fitting send-off to our adventure. Everyone climbed into bed after that. We had to wake up in about 2 hours for the shuttle to the airport.
1/1/18
It was going to be a long day. I would consider the sleep situation as more of a nap than anything else. But we had a flight to catch and security measures to get through. Travelling with a large group essentially means that everything will take longer; you have to allow enough time for everyone to get through security, go to the bathroom, get food, etc. So we decided it would be safer for everyone in the long run if we left for the earlier shuttle. That shuttle ended up being late, so it was good that we allowed ourselves that extra time.
Airport security lines were practically non-existent at that hour. Keeping all the papers in order was the only difficult part. After the security line, we all reconvened at the gate. It was very cold that morning. This proved to be an issue only after we had all boarded the plane. The pilot kept telling us that we'd be taking off soon, but with delay after delay, we all became impatient. Catching our connecting flight in Bogota was obviously another big concern. We didn't have that much time to spare. The delay was caused by frozen baggage-loading equipment that we essentially had to wait for them to defrost. The airline, Avianca, fed us 3 times on that flight. We watched movies and tracked our flight progress on the fancy screens in front of each seat. We were fortunate enough to have a delay on the next flight from Bogota to Guayaquil; we ended up not missing the flight and waiting another few hours in Colombia after navigating through customs, which was frankly quite scary. Even after all the fuss about drinking all the water we'd bought at the last airport, I made it through security with a bottle of Gatorade and a half-full Camelbak... Greg and I and several others took advantage of this delay and decided to practice our Spanish skills. We certainly needed that practice, as it would only become more useful from there.
The following flight to Guayaquil was only 2 hours long. They even gave us snacks on this one (yes, this is the criteria on which we based the quality of our flights). After getting our bags and going through more security, Diego met us with our driver outside the Guayaquil airport and we loaded into a small bus for the short drive across town to the Continental Hotel. As we checked in and got our room assignments, the hotel staff offered us juice as a welcome to the hotel. This actually was the norm at every place we visited.
To finish up the evening, we had a meeting about our plans for the following day and headed to dinner. I helped everyone order their meals and drinks, although there was a menu with pictures and broken English floating around that helped. Greg and I shared a very traditional Ecuadorian meal: steak and eggs. After dinner, everyone went to bed, as we had another flight to catch in the morning.
The drive to JFK was confusing and long, and Greg, Angelique, and I were anxious to get there. I'd never been to JFK airport before, and none of us had really traveled out of the country before, (except Greg on a road-trip to Canada with his family...but does Canada really count?) so we weren't only nervous, but we were excited for this experience we'd spent so much time preparing for. It was almost here after about a year of preparation.
Finally, after a small detour, we arrived at the Hilton. Tait was holding a meeting that night and then Greg and I were scheduled to present on the geology of Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. New Years in New York City obviously presented traffic problem and a large demand for pizza, which was an issue when 16 hungry people were patiently waiting for a meal to be delivered from Domino's. So after our presentation, the pizza had still not arrived. Lester decided to do his presentation on the birds we were likely to see on our adventure. Our friends weren't as patient this time around, but I was grateful to learn a bit about the birds we'd be seeing when we arrived. Thankfully, the pizza arrived after about 2 hours.
At that point, it was almost midnight! So we raced back to our room, which had a view of the city, and waited for the ball to drop and then watched the fireworks. Fireworks exploded in any direction you looked- a fitting send-off to our adventure. Everyone climbed into bed after that. We had to wake up in about 2 hours for the shuttle to the airport.
1/1/18
It was going to be a long day. I would consider the sleep situation as more of a nap than anything else. But we had a flight to catch and security measures to get through. Travelling with a large group essentially means that everything will take longer; you have to allow enough time for everyone to get through security, go to the bathroom, get food, etc. So we decided it would be safer for everyone in the long run if we left for the earlier shuttle. That shuttle ended up being late, so it was good that we allowed ourselves that extra time.
Airport security lines were practically non-existent at that hour. Keeping all the papers in order was the only difficult part. After the security line, we all reconvened at the gate. It was very cold that morning. This proved to be an issue only after we had all boarded the plane. The pilot kept telling us that we'd be taking off soon, but with delay after delay, we all became impatient. Catching our connecting flight in Bogota was obviously another big concern. We didn't have that much time to spare. The delay was caused by frozen baggage-loading equipment that we essentially had to wait for them to defrost. The airline, Avianca, fed us 3 times on that flight. We watched movies and tracked our flight progress on the fancy screens in front of each seat. We were fortunate enough to have a delay on the next flight from Bogota to Guayaquil; we ended up not missing the flight and waiting another few hours in Colombia after navigating through customs, which was frankly quite scary. Even after all the fuss about drinking all the water we'd bought at the last airport, I made it through security with a bottle of Gatorade and a half-full Camelbak... Greg and I and several others took advantage of this delay and decided to practice our Spanish skills. We certainly needed that practice, as it would only become more useful from there.
The following flight to Guayaquil was only 2 hours long. They even gave us snacks on this one (yes, this is the criteria on which we based the quality of our flights). After getting our bags and going through more security, Diego met us with our driver outside the Guayaquil airport and we loaded into a small bus for the short drive across town to the Continental Hotel. As we checked in and got our room assignments, the hotel staff offered us juice as a welcome to the hotel. This actually was the norm at every place we visited.
To finish up the evening, we had a meeting about our plans for the following day and headed to dinner. I helped everyone order their meals and drinks, although there was a menu with pictures and broken English floating around that helped. Greg and I shared a very traditional Ecuadorian meal: steak and eggs. After dinner, everyone went to bed, as we had another flight to catch in the morning.