We were exhausted when we reached Quito, and when we found the Alcala Hostel our host invited us in, although it was still early morning, and gave us a room with a wonderful hot shower! We stayed for three days, enjoying Halloween in the very noisy streets of Mariscal!
We missed our dear friends, Tony and Isabel, but maybe one day... But we made a new friend, Vanessa, and for the first time since we left Trinidad, we met a South-African! We hugged like family, enjoying the comfort of being close to someone from our home. She is also running her blog, and shared a touch of her life with us!
We fetched the rest of our luggage from our host in Quito, Lilya, who were so good in keeping it for us while we were in Peru!
Off we were to the airport with bursting bags! Luckily we left early, because when we reached Copa Airlines, the man behind the counter asked us for our air or bus tickets out of Panama! There was no WiFi, so we rushed to the Internet cafe in he building, and struggled to get air tickets out of Panama. Of course it was way too far ahead for us to plan! Who plans ahead for end January already? We tried to book bus tickets to Costa Rico, but without success, we battled to get Expedia on line. We found Air America, and did a booking and printed the tickets! But it didn`t feel right....
We were allowed to go to the gate now, and we flopped into the chairs! But there was no peace for us yet! Marco was called to go with an Airport Person, to get his bag searched! I offered to go instead, because I packed his bag, and all the others of course, and I left my two men standing! A couple of other people were also joining me, going down into the basement of the Airport!
Why is it that already you feel guilty? I stood in front of a steel table with a man and a gentleman and my bag! He asked me to open the bag and I did. My mind was racing! What did I pack in this bag? What if someone sneaked something into my bag? I could see some scenes from movies in my head. And to make it worse, there were these steel cages with barking dogs in it, right behind me, and I wondered about them sniffing...something?
The guy with the gloves, started digging into the bag, and I recognised something pink and white and lacy. I kept on digging and found our zip lock bag with medicine, and that kept them busy for some time. I had a couple of toilet rolls, in this bag, for all the hostels and places we got into with no supply, and that kept him going. It was almost as if he was paging through each roll. And then he found my Coco leave tea! Oh my, that was something." It is wonderful for Machu Picchu and the altitude!" I explained, but a couple of stares and phone calls later, I was told that it was not allowed into Ecuador, although I could swear I saw some in the Markets and squares. By now, I was sweating, and now I was thinking "Movie, Marlene, this is your movie, no longer only a stupid blog!"
I was the only one left, and eventually after a lot of Spanish and a lot of people in uniforms, they told me that I could go! But of course I had to get all the stuff back that was strewn all over the steel table! i did get it back in, but the whole bag was a mess, and of course when the bag reached us again in Panama, it was torn!
My two men were delighted to see me again, and we were hardly seated on the plane and it took off! Luckily for Copa Airlines, they served a tall glass of Cabernet Sauvignon!
We missed our dear friends, Tony and Isabel, but maybe one day... But we made a new friend, Vanessa, and for the first time since we left Trinidad, we met a South-African! We hugged like family, enjoying the comfort of being close to someone from our home. She is also running her blog, and shared a touch of her life with us!
We fetched the rest of our luggage from our host in Quito, Lilya, who were so good in keeping it for us while we were in Peru!
Off we were to the airport with bursting bags! Luckily we left early, because when we reached Copa Airlines, the man behind the counter asked us for our air or bus tickets out of Panama! There was no WiFi, so we rushed to the Internet cafe in he building, and struggled to get air tickets out of Panama. Of course it was way too far ahead for us to plan! Who plans ahead for end January already? We tried to book bus tickets to Costa Rico, but without success, we battled to get Expedia on line. We found Air America, and did a booking and printed the tickets! But it didn`t feel right....
We were allowed to go to the gate now, and we flopped into the chairs! But there was no peace for us yet! Marco was called to go with an Airport Person, to get his bag searched! I offered to go instead, because I packed his bag, and all the others of course, and I left my two men standing! A couple of other people were also joining me, going down into the basement of the Airport!
Why is it that already you feel guilty? I stood in front of a steel table with a man and a gentleman and my bag! He asked me to open the bag and I did. My mind was racing! What did I pack in this bag? What if someone sneaked something into my bag? I could see some scenes from movies in my head. And to make it worse, there were these steel cages with barking dogs in it, right behind me, and I wondered about them sniffing...something?
The guy with the gloves, started digging into the bag, and I recognised something pink and white and lacy. I kept on digging and found our zip lock bag with medicine, and that kept them busy for some time. I had a couple of toilet rolls, in this bag, for all the hostels and places we got into with no supply, and that kept him going. It was almost as if he was paging through each roll. And then he found my Coco leave tea! Oh my, that was something." It is wonderful for Machu Picchu and the altitude!" I explained, but a couple of stares and phone calls later, I was told that it was not allowed into Ecuador, although I could swear I saw some in the Markets and squares. By now, I was sweating, and now I was thinking "Movie, Marlene, this is your movie, no longer only a stupid blog!"
I was the only one left, and eventually after a lot of Spanish and a lot of people in uniforms, they told me that I could go! But of course I had to get all the stuff back that was strewn all over the steel table! i did get it back in, but the whole bag was a mess, and of course when the bag reached us again in Panama, it was torn!
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