Thursday, March 24, 2016

In lieu of my last post, I’d like to share a story:

The weeks before I left the station to meet Anton and Emma, the two other people staying at the preserve had been enthralled by the show Game of Thrones. They devoured episodes. Jonathan stayed up until 2:30 in the morning watching episodes when he knew he had to get up at 5:45 to go birding. We barely talked for a week and a half before I left because they were so engrossed in the show.

When I arrived in Quito, Anton brought with him a hard drive of full of shows and movies. Being as I don’t have much entertainment at the station, I put as many shows as I could onto my laptop. One of these was Game of Thrones. I immediately started watching it, and after the first episode I was hooked. If I could sum it all up in 3 words they would be: sex, swords and sabotage…plus the occasional dragon. Okay so 4 words. Either way I would highly recommend it! In the last 2 weeks I’ve finished 3.5 seasons.

I was watching Game of Thrones on the day we left the Galapagos. My plane left at 3 pm, while Anton and Emma’s left at about 3:45. We decided that after the last 4 days of battling the sun we’d spend our last hours taking it easy. I’d spent the morning walking into town and sending a few post cards and getting some pastries for breakfast. Followed, of course, by watching the very thrilling Game of Thrones. We planned to leave around 12 to be able to make the hour long taxi ride from Puerto Ayora at the south of the island to the canal at the north. The taxi ride would be followed by a quick 5 minute ferry ride across the canal to Baltra Island, where the airport is, then a 10 minute bus ride that would take us to our terminal and then of course check in, security and all that fun stuff.

As I watched my show a doubt scratched at my mind. I paused my episode, and checked my watch – 11:05. I though I’d better check my travel itinerary just in case. Seeing as the last time I had checked what time my flight left and arrived was in Quito on the first day of our trip. I got up out of bed, opened my backpack, retrieved my folder with all my Ecuador trip information and my jaw dropped. I left the Galapagos in an hour and 25 minutes. My flight departed at 12:30. Well shit. Excuse my French.

Luckily I had packed the previous night. I crammed my laptop into my backpack, and yelled at my companions to get their butts into gear. Neither of them were quite ready to go: Emma who was burned to a red, blotchy crisp was in no shape to run into town with her 45 pound backpack and Anton was in the bathroom shaving his legs. (Side note: Anton is also taking a gap year, and living in Cuba. Supposedly Cuban men shave their legs, their armpits, their chests, their everything! And wanting to live like a Cuban, Anton decided to shave his legs – under my and Emma’s expert guidance.) So anyways neither of them were in any fit shape to run about the island like a chicken with its head cut off. I, on the other hand, ran out of our room and onto the street bawking and flapping my wings vigorously.

The vigorous flapping worked and I was able to hail down a taxi. 11:15. I threw my suitcase into the back of the truck and told the driver that I needed to go the airport “muy muy muy rapido.” He asked when my flight left, and when I told him he said there was no way I was getting to the airport in time. I replied that we must try. 11:17. So he zoomed – I don’t know the conversion between miles per hour and kilometers per hour but he was breaking 140 kilometers. I stared out my window thinking about the Spanish words for “is there another flight I can take?” and making up a lie I could tell to get the people at the airport to feel sorry for me and put me on another flight. 11:25. The minutes quickly ticked by. 11:30. 11:35. 11:40.

By 11:45 we had made it to the canal at the north of the island. This wonderful, wonderful man had cut the hour-long drive in half! I should’ve hugged him – I did tip him quite generously though. I thanked him several times as I clamored out of the truck, grabbing my suitcase and ran towards the water. I looked across the canal and saw that the two ferries were stationed on the wrong side. 11:47. A man called to me from the water below and by all God’s graces this man was on a motor boat. I told him my flight left at 12:30 and just like that we were on our way. The 5-minute ferry ride, took just 1 minute on the motorboat. 11:50.

On the other side of the canal one usually has to wait for a bus. But there was one just waiting there and literally the minute after I boarded we were off. I sat in the second row of the bus on the right side, next to a group of Galapagos guides. At this point I knew I could technically make it in time but I wasn’t sure if they’d let me on the plane. I was breathing heavy from running all over the place and I probably looked like a mess. 11:52. The guide in front of me asked which flight I was on. What do you know – he was running late for the same flight, and was trying to call his friend who was the manager of the Tame (the airline I was flying) check-in desk.

We arrived at the doors of the airport at 11:58. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!?!?!? I ran inside to find no line at the Tame counter. I pulled out my passport, and my papers, got my ticket and ran to security…where once again there was no line. Better yet, I didn’t have to take my shoes off! The airport on the Galapagos is very small, with only 4 gates. 2 on the left side of security and 2 on the right. My ticket didn’t say which gate I was leaving from. 12:02. I looked to my right and saw just empty seats. To my left a line was forming. Praise the Lord – I hadn’t missed my flight. In fact, I had just enough time to buy a bottle of water and sit down to enjoy it.

Boarding that flight felt like a miracle. I know I’m meant to be here. Everything in Ecuador has worked out perfectly. This week of solitude has and is going to teach me a lot about myself, and I’m much more at peace with that now.