Saturday, May 19, 2001 -- Yachana to Coco to Quito to Guayaquil

At breakfast on the last morning, the videographer said (in Spanish, of course), "I have decided what I will call my movie: Gringos Come and Gringos Go." We left the lodge quite early in the morning, and the canoe trip took only about 2 hours or less on the way downriver. We saw a lot of folks heading for the market, and had a good time waving at them. It was pretty cool on this last day, which was sort of a nice change.

Yachana reminded me a lot of camp when it cooled off. It was damp, buggy, quiet, dark, peaceful.... I would definitely return, although I would also like to visit a lodge that is in a wildlife area, as long as it is a true eco-lodge.

Once I finally made it to Guayaquil, I decided that I was ready for pampering, and stayed at the Sheraton. I had no idea what it going to cost, but it turned out not to be too bad. It's right across the street from a mall, and very near to the airport, which was nice since I had to be up at 5:00 or so for my flight home.

Sunday, May 20, 2001 -- Guayaquil to home

This day was pretty much the reverse of the first day, only more painful. Every flight just seemed much longer and more crowded. I was on the same flight as people who were returning from the Lindblad Galapagos trip the week after mine, and I did have a good time comparing notes with a few folks, but mostly they were annoying. I later found out that mom's flight home with the people we had traveled with was even more annoying, so I guess I got off lucky.

When I finally made it home, mom and Cathe picked me up at the airport, with Haida, Nootka, and Shrimpy in tow. Shrimpy had spent nearly three weeks with Haida at this point, and several of those with both Haida and Nootka, as my dad had been sick and in the hospital during most of our trip. He and Cathe conspired not to tell us, because they didn't want us to feel guilty and fly home, so mom didn't even find out until the night she spent in Miami. Nootka and Haida rushed forward to greet me, stepping all over Shrimpy, who couldn't get near me at all. He was quite pathetic about it, and his eyes were watering from exhaustion. He slept all night, all day Monday, and all Monday night before finally coming back to life.

Shrimpy: so tired he can't stand it

 

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last modified: January 30, 2002