Ecuador and the Galapagos – Day 16 can be found here.
Up bright and early at 6 am to get ready for our travel day. Early, but practically civilized compared to our 4:45 am departure from La Selva.
Off to the Restaurant for a quick bite, and then back to the room to finish packing. We’d packed virtually everything the night before so it didn’t take very long.
We ended up in the Base Camp on Deck 3 about 45 minutes before departure, which is fine by us – it gave us some time to play cards and relax, something which has been sorely lacking during this trip.
It’s only now – on the verge of leaving – that we realize what we’ve missed. At no point did I ever just sit out on the deck with a cold drink and watch the world go by. I never dropped by the lounge to just listen to music and see who was at the bar. I never even used the Origin’s hot tub, for crying out loud. And – like my son – I too missed the regular trivia sessions on the other expedition ships.
Of course, there are good reasons behind all these misses. We had excursions that we wanted to do instead, and the demands of travel writing can easily become a black hole into which many, many hours can be thrown – particularly when waiting for files to upload or download.
But still, we are very much looking forward to our 40 day cruise from Puerto Williams to Cape Town via Antarctica next year. There should be plenty of sea days which we can wile away in the Observation Lounge.
I digress. 7:30 am, and it’s time to board the Zodiacs. They have this down to a science – the passengers board, dropping our carry-on luggage at the edge of the dock. We take up position around the edge of the Zodiac, while the staff then loads the bags into the middle. Then a very brief Zodiac ride to the pier, where our bus is waiting.
Breaking us into two Zodiac groups means that we don’t have to wait for every bus to fill up before we depart – one bus per Zodiac group, no waiting.
Then off to the airport, which is about a 5 minute drive away. Bags haven’t made it yet, but are in the process of being unloaded as we arrive. 5 more minutes, and we have our bags to check – but we are so early that the check-in counter has not yet opened. 10 minutes later, and the counter opens and we are on our way.
Given that we are only transiting through Guayaquil on our way to Quito, we had hoped that LATAM would be able to check our bags through. No such luck.
We’re also irritated to find out that Silversea had put together a Quito transfer that would have gone on the same flight – so we could potentially get to our next destination a full two hours earlier than otherwise. No one had told us this flight existed until we boarded the Origin, and even then they said it was more expensive – no mention of the extra time savings.
No matter – we’ll figure it out. We head through customs and security, and then we’re right at the lone gate. Not much in the way of amenities here – just a single convenience store / café.
But there is the Magma Lounge. We don’t have access to this particular lounge via the VISA Airport Companion (our credit card’s lounge access program, which replaced Priority Pass) but they’re willing to offer 50% discounts for each of the kids. At $116 for all four of us – and with two hours to kill – it seems like a reasonable deal, so we go for it.
It’s a nice enough lounge. They have soft drinks and coffees, albeit without any espresso or cappuccinos. There are also chips and brownies, and some pre-made sandwiches. I think it’d be a far better deal if you were to visit at a point in the day when you could crack into the sparkling wine and cerveza. But that is not to be – not with the day we have ahead of us.
Flight update – we’ve been pushed back by 15 minutes. This leaves us with 1 hour 45 minutes to turn around in Guayaquil, which is starting to get a bit tight. But there are flights that leave later the same day if necessary – so nothing to do but cross fingers and hope at this stage.
Fortunately, Magma also has some fairly quick internet so I’m able to upload Day 14 before we get on the plane. It was tight. The last video uploaded as they were calling boarding group 2.
Onto the plane, and then up in the air. It was an early enough departure that I’m able to nap for about an hour, at which point it’s time to get ready for our descent into Guayaquil.
Half the passengers stay on board as we depart, trying not to grumble.
But – our bags come off quickly, and we’re soon out through departures. The very helpful Silversea representatives try to convince us to come with them, but we explain that we’ve made our own arrangements to fly to Quito. They make a note and tick some items off on their clipboard – we’d already explained as much to front desk, but apparently the memo didn’t get passed along.
This appears to be something of a recurrent theme with Silversea – their onboard service and pre- and post- have been great, but neither seem to be talking to one another.
For example, we know other guests that had a post-cruise trip to Machu Pichu who had no idea that they would be treated to a five-course meal and an excursion during their layover. They thought they’d be on their own in the Guayaquil airport the whole time.
Back up to the LATAM check in desk, where we’re able to use the priority check-in line to get our bags through to Quito. Security takes another 5 minutes, and then we’re at the gates.
Our VISA Airport Companion program has lounge access here, but we decide instead to stop at El Español for subs and sandwiches:
Photo Credit: www.tagsa.aero
Plus they had some delicious oreo mocha milkshakes:
Not a terrible trade-off, though I think we’d still rather have arrived at our destination sooner given the option.
Our flight to Quito leaves on time – it’s another stopover on its way back from the Galapagos, so we have to struggle to find overhead bin space.
LATAM’s premium economy works on a similar model as to Europe, where they simply have regular economy seats with an empty space in the middle. But it’s nice to have an empty seat where I can drop my backpack, headphones, etc.. And they feed us a modest lunch of chips and a ham and cheese sandwich:
There’s turbulence on the way back – normal this time of year – and I end up holding my daughter’s cup of coke all the way through landing into Quito. Irritating, but we make it work.
Our bags are off in record time, helped by the fact that they were both tagged as priority and the last bags onto a mostly-full flight. Indeed, we’re off so quickly that our driver hasn’t arrived quite yet.
Not a problem, though – we’d already confirmed our driver with Hacienda La Zuleta, so we’re able to send him a quick message via WhatsApp. He meets us a few minutes later, then dashes back to the parking lot to collect his massive orange tourism van. No worries about not having room for luggage on this leg.
He also asks what we’d like for dinner that evening – the options are chicken and rice ‘cake’, vegetables and rice ‘cake’, or shrimp and bacon souffle. We opt for the chicken and rice, not entirely sure what’s meant by the ‘cake’ part. Casserole, maybe? We’re not sure. But that’s part of the adventure, isn’t it?
We’re soon on our way:
Thankfully we bypass Quito traffic on the way to La Zuleta, though the Ecuadorian highlands has a traffic all its own. The wildfire along the way doesn’t help, either:
But mostly it’s just a beautiful, scenic drive.
Our driver Christian intersperses the journey with interesting facts, such as the leading exports of Ecuador – shrimp, bananas, roses, and cocoa beans. Tourism has been down in recent months, though apart from our time in Guayaquil we’ve had zero concerns.
We arrive at Hacienda La Zuleta roughly two hours later at 6:40 pm – being on the equator, the country gets roughly 12 hours of sunlight every single day so we arrive after dark. The lights paint the Hacienda with an otherworldly glow.
The Hacienda was originally built in the 17th century, and was the hotel and working-farm of former Ecuador President Galo Plaza Lasso and his family. Activities on site include hiking, mountain biking, embroidery and – my daughter’s personal favourite – horseback riding.
We’re met immediately by Santiago, who will be overseeing our stay. We schedule a hike to the Condor Huasi facilities (rescue centre) for tomorrow morning, as well as a horseback ride in the afternoon. Santiago also gives us his WhatsApp contact in case we need to get in touch with him for any reason – a simple system that Silversea would do well to adopt.
Santiago then shows us around the Hacienda. We have two suites set aside for us – both rooms lock independently, and then there’s a third door that can lock off to create a private wing. There’s also a beautiful outdoor patio that’s shared by both suites.
Our driver takes our bags inside, and we head to the expansive dining room for dinner:
We start with a carrot cream soup. Not usually something I’d go for, but it’s seasoned to perfection:
And then the ‘cake’ arrives – a dish of cheese, rice, and chicken cooked in a beautiful porcelain pot.
Most meals at Zuleta are served family-style, particularly dinner. There are also a host of delicious cheeses on offer, all of which are made on site.
And our first dessert, which is a stewed apple served with fresh cream:
After, we are invited to head to the courtyard for second dessert, namely that most Ecuadorian of treats – s’mores:
Which is served alongside canelazo – a traditional Andean drink of fruit juice, cinnamon and sugar – and aguardiente, an Ecuadorian sugarcane spirit. It’s delicious.
We’re joined by two of the resort dogs, Mambo and Tango.
We then return to our rooms to find the beds lined with hot water bottles, and a roaring fire in the fireplace:
Our long travel day catches up to us, and we head off to sleep.
Continue reading Ecuador and the Galapagos – Day 18.