I made it!

I made it! Here I sit, in the cloud forest of the Andes completely exhausted but in paradise. My trip to Ecuador started with a bit of a bump. I flew from JFK to Miami and was greeted with an extreme thunder and lightning storm. Upon arrival I was informed that my flight was delayed, and it kept getting delayed. It was supposed to depart at 6:50 but ended up departing at midnight, arriving in Quito at 3:30.
I made friends in the airport during the delay, 3 females; a nurse, engineer, and a teenager all en route to Quito for various reasons. The nurse was a kindred spirit and suggested we get a beer during the delay. Well 3 beers later we finally got on the plane. 3 beers before a plane is not a good idea! I was so swollen and dehydrated by the time we landed I felt like I had elephantitis and had difficulty getting my shoes on. (:
After arriving the airport had just opened (it closes for two hours each night) and there were 2 customs agents for the 150 people on the plane. I was very nervous that my hotel would not be waiting for me as planned as I was so delayed, but lo and behold they were! My new nurse friend who works in Quito finagled with the driver and arranged for 3 of us to ride together.
Original price of my ride that the hotel quoted me: $10 usd
Price post finagling: $5
Not too bad! Arrived at the hotel at 4:30 in the morning, had to wake the proprietor up, she was amazed that I showed up and went promptly to my room. My room was really nice, but I was so paranoid about bed bugs! Maybe it was because I spent last week in NYC or because this was my first hotel in a third world country. Woke in the a.m. after 3 hours of sleep and no bug bites. (Yes I did check the sheets prior to retiring!) Had a lovely breakfast. Was scared to drink juice and tea but did it anyway. Met a young man from England at breakfast who was here to volunteer as well. He couldn’t recall the name of the place he was volunteering as it was through a service but he described it and it sounded similar to mine. We wished each other well and I headed out to tackle the bus system in Quito.
When I checked out of my room the proprietor offered to call me a taxi to take me to the bus station, but I wanted to be independent and save money, so off I went. I had reviewed the directions I received from my first place with my new friend the night before and she suggested a different route. Wow, I should have stuck with the original directions. First there are three different bus companies in Quito. All of them have different “North Stations.” I made my way to the first bus, which was crammed full of people and an American gentleman after admiring my mesh wire locking system for my backpack told me to shove on in. Well shove I did! I rode it to the end of the line and prepared to walk to the “North station.” After walking about two miles I asked a wizened gentleman how to get there. He instructed me to go back to the one I just left. He kept saying things in Spanish that I had no idea what he meant and I kept consulting my map in my Rough Guide guidebook (which by the way was not accurate at all. I am now a die hard Lonely Planet fan.) Eventually an American gentleman approached and told me to continue on four blocks and it would be on my right. He was wrong. I made a right, walked about four blocks and was lost again. Asked more locals, eventually discovered that I had to take another local bus to a different station. I did eventually make it to the correct station, but I was seriously frustrated en route and cursing myself for not taking a taxi.
During my walk I observed all sorts of things. It was like I Spy: Ecuador version. Mormons, people selling fanny packs, street vendors making amazing looking food, and men selling back scratchers to cars at red lights. Back scratchers? I really wanted to buy roasted bananas from the street vendor but the words of the nurse at the travel clinic kept echoing in my head: “Do NOT buy street food.” We shall see how long that lasts.
Once I made it to the correct train station I had about an hour to wait for my bus so it was people watching time. They were selling food there, but I couldn’t figure out what any of it was even with the use of my dictionary so I resisted.
Once I got on the bus, WHOA the bus. Hmm how to describe, tasseled curtains all around, picture of a white woman in a bikini drinking a daiquiri, Donald Duck hanging from the rear view mirror, and a statue of Jesus carrying the cross. Beautiful mountains flanked our drive, and sellers of various food items would get on and off in a matter of five minutes. Some of the items being sold were roasted corn complete with pats of butter, sorbet in cones, dvds and cd’s, chocolate, and fruit. The views of the towns were of a lot of graffiti and cinder block homes with bars on the windows. A couple of very elderly indigenous people got on midway through and the only reason I didn’t take their pictures were that I forgot how to ask in Spanish.
I had asked the bus driver to let me off where the directions indicated and promptly I was let off in the middle of nowhere. No town in sight, just an abandoned looking building next to a shack/rain shelter of sorts. A distinguished gentleman and I got off, as I was getting off in the middle of nowhere I inquired as to whether the camioneta would be coming by, the bus driver nodded yes and shut the door! Here I am on the side of the road in the Andes with a gentleman trying to chat with me in Spanish and I kept saying “No comprendo.” Finally lo and behold a camioneta did come by and the driver and I had a lovely conversation over the rockiest road I have ever ridden on. I found out he has two children and has never been to the US and lives in the local town. All in Spanish! He even told me my Spanish was muy bien! I think he was just being nice. (:
Upon arrival at the eco-resort I was greeted by an American couple who are volunteer co-managers. They signed on for a year and have 1.5 months left. They had no idea that I was coming. Apparently the woman I had been corresponding with quit in June, thus why my emails weren’t replied to. They took it all in stride and said I was quite welcome there though. Whew! Also quell surprise the chap who I chatted with at breakfast was there too! We were shown to the volunteer lodging, which makes me feel like I am at camp. It is a rustic cabin, with the comforts of electricity and hot water. The views are amazing and there are hammocks abound. Many birds were seen during the day and at night I got rushed by a bat. There are huge butterflies here and apparently fer de lance. There is one in a jar outside of my cabin! Yowza!
I asked if either of the co-managers had seen a sloth as I saw it on a picture online and they said that they are in the area but no one ever spots them as they are quite elusive. Who would have thought. New goal: see a sloth. At dinner I found out that there are 19 kinds of bats here. I informed my hosts that I can be the bat whisperer as I am rabies vaccinated.
Dinner was really good, fresh green salad with avocado and mixed rice with raisins and veggies. YUM! Dessert was some sort of fruit that was AMAZING with cinnamon and brown sugar.
Tomorrow it is up early for a hike to be followed by receiving our schedules, I am excited to know what I will be assigned to do.