The second day of my trip to Ecuador included more flying and a long bus ride. But, I finally reached my first destination in Ecuador, Montanita.
PTY to GYE
I landed at Tocumen International Airport (PTY) in Panama City, Panama at 6 am with a 3 hour layover before the final flight of my journey to Ecuador. By the time I landed at José Joaquín de Olmedo International Airport (GYE) in Guayaquil, Ecuador, I had been in airports or airplanes for more than 18 hours and awake for more than 28. But, unlike traveling to Europe or Asia, I was only one timezone away from home. I was tired but not jet-lagged. My journey, however, wasn’t quite over. I still had a 3-hour bus ride from Guayaquil to the coastal town of Montanita, where I was meeting my daughter, Sierra.
GYE to Montanita
I walked 15 minutes from the airport to Guayaquil Land Terminal, arriving there just before noon. Since it was the middle of the day in a busy part of town, I felt completely safe walking alone.... with the exception of crossing the busy avenue, Av de Alarcon, near the airport. The large crosswalk painted across the street seemed to be more of a suggestion to drivers than a requirement. When I finally saw a break in traffic, I ran!
The Guayaquil Land Terminal is a combination bus station and shopping mall. So, there are plenty of shops and restaurants to explore while waiting for a bus. By the time I reached the terminal and bought my bus ticket, I only had an hour to kill before the departure of my 1 pm bus for Montanita.
While waiting at the terminal for my bus, I was happy to see that all the buses pulling in and out were large coaches with "aire acondicionado". The weather wasn't especially hot but it was very muggy.
The drive from the bus terminal in Guayaquil to the bus terminal in Montanita took just over 3 hours. It made a few quick stops to drop people off at small towns along the way. It didn't rain during our drive but when I stepped off the bus in Montanita, it was obvious they had gotten rain. It was all I could do to keep from slipping on the mud with my rubber sandals. In fact, that evening, right after cleaning up at my hotel and changing into a much needed fresh set of clothes, I did slip! My right side was covered with mud from sandal to skirt. And, with a cow and dogs along the road, it may have been more than mud. A big scrape on my knee is a reminder to watch every step!
Discouraged, but not defeated, I returned to my beautiful beachfront hotel and cleaned up again. Finally (and carefully), I found a friendly open-air restaurant to eat dinner and wait for my daughter, Sierra to join me after her Spanish class.
Slideshow
Here are pictures from Day 2 of my trip to Ecuador.
Expenses
I'll do my best to track expenses in this spreadsheet.
Ecuador Fun Fact
The population of Ecuador is roughly 18 million with an area similar to my home state of Colorado. For perspective, the population of Colorado is roughly 6 million.
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