Arrived in Bahia, but the ketchup didn’t… yet

We’ve got Internet! Now, for the story of our travel here… and how soon we expect the ketchup. Ernest and Grace took us to the airport. Here’s our obligatory departure photo. The flight to Miami took off on time, arriving on time. We had a four hour layover in Miami and changed planes.

This was apparently where one of our suitcases decided it didn’t want to travel anymore. Perhaps it sensed it was in the same state as Disney World and wanted to go there instead. Or, perhaps the Miami airport employees are incompetent (Miami is where we crossed paths with a surly rebooking lady on the last Ecuador trip).

When we landed in Quito, only one of our suitcases landed with us. The man at the counter checked in the computer and said the bag was still in Miami, but it would arrive in Quito at 7 pm the next day. However, we were flying to Manta at 1 pm the next day, with travel on from there to Bahia. So, he agreed that American Airlines would get it to Bahia. This suitcase contained the extras I mentioned in the first post, the ketchup, ziplock bags, etc. Most of our clothes and our toothbrushes were in the suitcase that arrived. (FYI, the missing suitcase was supposed to be here this morning…. it’s not here yet.)

Our hotel in Quito was quite nice with a comfortable bed and friendly staff. The scrambled egg, toast, and juice breakfast we remembered from our last trip. The juice was blackberry juice, not something we drink in the US, but so good. We should drink it. If my blackberries ever stay alive, I will make it.

It feels odd to us to walk out of the terminal and up the stairs to board our plane. Phillip and I are so used to the jetways at DFW that there’s a real sense that we are in a foreign place when we do this. This, even more than the language difference, tells us we aren’t in Kansas anymore. Wait, make that Texas. We aren’t in Texas anymore.

We took a taxi from the airport in Manta to Bahia de Caraquez. The driver didn’t speak English, but there were some universal language exchanges. Like when we drove past the fish processing plants…. all three of us went “Ough” at the same time. And when he tried to pass a parade of slow moving pick-ups loaded with people, and had to jockey for position with the buses, his frustration was evident. 

We made it safely to Bahia, and the driver found our condo easily. Diane, our leasing agent who lives part-time in Maryland and part-time in Ecuador, met us at the condo. Sixth floor, with an elevator (Robin, be jealous… an elevator!) The condo is airy and bright as you can see, looking into the living room from the balcony.

Looking from the living room to Phillip’s favorite spot on the balcony, and the view of the bay beyond. In the distance, you can see the new bridge built and opened a few months ago, the longest bridge in Ecuador. It joins Bahia to the town across the bay, San Vincente. I’m sure we’ll visit San Vincente before we leave. We are happy right now walking around Bahia. It’s a very quiet town, although we’ll see what the weekend holds. Vendors are setting up along the Malecon (remember, that means “boardwalk”). No bebida con leche yet, as we just learned where the morning market is to get fruit. We did have a grande cerveza last night with our fish dinner at a nearby restaurant.

Monday, I start class. I expect as we walk around town this weekend, I’ll have pictures and stories to tell… and time to do a few blog postings. After all, I’m sure you are worried about our ketchup!