I will apologize in advance for the length of this blog post, but you gotta understand I’ve been on 9 hours of flights and 4 hours of layovers today.
Today I begin my first real South American adventure and as you can see I have sported purple for this particular trip. These toes likely won’t see daylight again until the last part of my trip but one always needs to be prepared.
I did stop briefly years ago in Caracas, Venezuela, when the cruise lines were still stopping there. It was a much less volatile time, but even then we boarded the tour bus in a compound surrounded by barbed wire, had a police escort, entered a hotel through a secure loading dock for our luncheon, and the tourist areas we visited were blocked off to locals. We visited a Murano Glass factory out in the countryside that was amazing.
On this trip I will visit only two countries, Ecuador and Peru, over the next 28 days on small group tours with my favourite tour company, G Adventures. I have previously travelled with them to Costa Rica, Turkey, and The Balkans and I already have a trip booked with them for next year to Israel and Jordan.
The past few weeks have just flown by and I can hardly believe that this trip is here. I’m embarrassed to admit that aside from the detailed itinerary provided by G Adventures I hadn’t read anything about the places I’m going but I have downloaded a couple of guide books and got a start reading them on the flights today. Looks like I’m in for some unique experiences. And on a day when we sadly learn of the sudden death of Gord Brown, MP, at a too young age of 57, life is all about experiences and carpe diem.
Living at Lansdowne in Ottawa has been a delight, but sometimes it creates some interesting challenges. Most of you will know that the Red Blacks CFL team (and league champions year before last) plays at the TD Place Stadium here. When there is a home game the area is full of fun and chaos. Unless you’re trying to get in or out of the parking garage and then it is just chaos. However, there is also a soccer team, the Ottawa Fury FC of the United Soccer League who are at the beginning of their season. It never occurred to me to check the schedule mid-week, mid-day, but alas, today was a specially scheduled game to allow 10,000 students from across the area to arrive, you got it, just as I was about to grab an Uber. Fortunately, in my normal Mrs Fines mode (for those of you who don’t know, my Mom, Mrs Fines, was always copiously early for everything) I was early. So I walked south on Bank Street to grab an Uber on the other side of the canal. Fortunately that was the only hiccup with getting out of town.
The first of 3 flights, this one to Toronto, was on time, with just a little bit of turbulence to assist in my nap. Once in Toronto, I had to change from D gates to E gates, for my next flight to Bogotá, Colombia. My goodness, the hallways went on and on. I had no trouble getting my steps in today, even with the aid of moving walkways.
My first Air Canada Rouge flight from Toronto to Bogotá, Colombia was next and this 6ish hour flight actually ran a bit early. I didn’t notice that the seats were very much closer together on this down-scale version of Air Canada’s offering but when you’re only 5’3” that’s not all that critical. A rare benefit to being short. There was a complimentary meal service that was relatively tasty, although as you can see from the pic, it was the teeniest meal I think I’ve ever seen. Alcohol is available but you have to pay for it. A hint if you’re flying Rouge for the first time, there is no on-board entertainment so download their App before flying to use your tablet or phone to show movies enroute.
My final flight was on Air Canada Partner Avianca From Bogotá to Quito. It was less than 2 hours, but this late into the day seemed to take forever. It’s a really nice airline though, and the flight attendants (all female) wore striking red capes and hats as they traveled through the airport. They fed us a snack that appeared to be a cheese wrap. And I’ve already made an amazing discovery, parsnip chips taste just like potato chips.
This flight was a little late getting in, but the special service I got going through customs made up for it. Must be the blue eyes or maybe the confused look, but I was directed to a kiosk with no line up and after a very simple and friendly interview by the customs agent I was on my way.
The capital city of Ecuador, Quito, is at 9350 feet above sea level which makes it the second highest national capital in the world, second only to La Paz, Bolivia. This of course means that altitude sickness is a real possibility with its symptoms of head ache, difficulty sleeping, feeling like you can’t catch your breath, vomiting, dizziness, etc. Sounds like a pharmaceutical ad, doesn’t it?
I have to admit that I’ve fretted a little about this, OK a lot, but I have taken some precautions to mitigate the effects of going from just 300 feet above sea level to 9350 feet in one day. I’ve come 2 full days ahead of the start of my tour to give myself a chance to acclimate to the altitude before starting out. I’m going to try and stay hydrated, avoid alcohol, and I’ve started taking medication that is supposed to help. So far, I’m feeling a little light headed and I take an involuntary deep breath every once in a while, but no issue with walking up stairs or briskly with the porter. We’ll see how tonight goes as the effects don’t really hit for 24 hours or so.
I was picked up outside of the baggage area by a delightful young man named Hector. (arranged by G Adventures, I didn’t just go with the first good looking guy that came along). He is very knowledgable about languages and we had an interesting discussion in the 45 minutes from the airport. He studied journalism in University and has a plethora of jobs.
So I’m stowed at the hotel for the night and I likely won’t do anything terribly adventurous tomorrow. Thanks for coming along on another adventure.
Lois' Adventures 