The journey back has been a challenge. It began on Saturday eve when Allan, Bree, Zak, Shea and I headed into Trujillo ahead of Tony, Ben and Ezi. We checked our bags in at the bus depot and found a nice spot around the corner to eat and kill time. It was great when the other team joined us. Then we got on our luxurious bus. And it really was. But...it's still pretty challenging getting a good sleep on a moving bus. And I should mention that all EIGHT of us have tummy trouble right now. No one can be too far from a bathroom for long.
Our faithful tour guide Brand was at the station in Lima to welcome us at 6:15 am! However, our luggage didn't come with us. It turned out that because we had arrived at the bus depot early, they had "checked" the bags in storage rather than "checking" it in on the bus. We had done the exact same thing when we went on the bus up north so along with our language barrier we didn't realize. So there we were - needing to head directly to the airport with no luggage. (the second team's luggage made it just fine.) So after a few VERY anxious moments, we were told that they put the luggage on the last bus when they realized it was left over and should be going to Lima. This meant a 1 1/2 hour wait and anxious moments to get to the airport on time.
But we made it.
We tried at the airport to get Ezi moved over to our itinerary. They said no but we could try again in Guayaquil. Ezi and I worked on it again when we got to Guayaquil but to no avail. They said it would cost $2,000 to change. We were also told in Lima that we would all be subject to a $40 airport tax in Quito. This wasn't great news. For us that meant an additional $160 bucks.
We had to clear customs in Guayaquil and in Quito - these are very long, arduous processes. The crew was pretty tired having dealt with so much stress each place we went - we didn't actually get charged the $40 each which was a bonus. Lots of coordination for bathroom breaks. Our poor crew was pretty worn out.
Arrived in Miami at 11:30 pm. Then an unbelievably long line up to clear customs. By the time we got our van rental and drove to Fort Lauderdale, we got to the beautfiul Riverside Hotel at 2 am with full intention of sleeping for 2 hours and going back to pick Ezi up at 5. (a quick check of our emails and Pablo indicated Ezi's uncle was going to pick him up.) So we enjoyed a magnificent sleep in.
Our original itinerary had us in Fort Lauderdale until 9 tonight - so we had been looking forward to enjoying a full day in the sun, but the flight was changed and now we need to get to the airport for noon which is disappointing. It is beautiful and warm here and the hotel is gorgeous.
But we ARE well rested which is the main thing.
It's bittersweet. We're looking forward to getting home but we'll never forget our experiences in Peru.
No comments:
Post a Comment