So, here we go.
First, a late arrival in Quito, made later by the aircraft being rerouted around the storm in the gulf. We finally arrived at the airport at about midnight, and were greeted by the Silversea greeters, who whisked us off to the hotel poste haste (probably because they wanted to go home). At the hotel, at almost 1:00 a.m., we were presented with roses and water. The hotel was making pretty certain that its guests did not drink the local water. We spent the next day in Quito, taking a hop-on, hop-off tour of the city. And drinking local beer. Not local water. Not much to see in Quito, but here's a couple of shots:
There were more roses in the hotel room. About the roses: do you know where most of the roses at the florists here come from? Ecuador! The hotel had roses everywhere, and when flying over the city, one can see lots and lots of greenhouses.
The following day, we were off to the Islands via LATAM airlines. It's a real airline. First stop, Isla Baltra, which is your basic desert island. Flat, with a runway. And it's a blast into the past as you land, turn around on the runway (we don't need no stinking taxiways), and taxi back to the terminal which has no air conditioning. That's the only terminal we've ever been in where the wind inside is stronger than the wind outside. Here's the location:
Next we boarded a bus for a short trip to the pier, where we were issued life preservers, boarded a Zodiak, and headed off to the Silver Galapagos. There are a few municipal piers in the Galapagos, but none will accomodate a ship of any size. Therefore, everything that goes onto a larger boat arrives via smaller boat. Everything that goes onto the Silver Galapagos (people, food, luggage, booze, etc.) arrives by Zodiak.
We settled in, drank some wine, and got ready for the adventure.
