An Inauspicious Start? May 6-7

The name of this trip is “Survival of the Fittest: Hiking, Biking & Water Sports on the Galápagos Islands.” It turned out to be a bit more literal than I expected. We wanted an active trip, and we got one. There was little time for writing, reflecting, and blogging, resulting in this delayed series of posts. Our first mistake was to take a flight with 3 legs: Salisbury-Charlotte-Miami-Guayaquil, Ecuador. The 2d flight was delayed just long enough for us to miss the Miami flight, and we spent 5 long hours in the Miami airport waiting for the next flight which left at midnight and arrived in Guayaquil about 4am. I was never more glad to see a stranger than the one holding up the sign “Road Scholar” after we disembarked and made it through customs. Fernando was our local guide for the next 2 days. After 3 hours of sleep, we immediately jumped into activities, starting with the orientation session, which revealed there were 6 people total on the trip, 2 other couples (one from San Diego and another from Montgomery County right here in Maryland, and all of them younger and fitter than us). All 3 of us women were named Cathy/Kathy, so that made it really easy to learn names. After a walking tour of Guayaquil that included a lovely botanical garden,lunch, and then kayaking and paddleboarding at a private park where we saw our first shorebirds, Ben and I were dragging and ready to go back to the hotel.