Saturday 31st January 2026: Homeward bound




We got up early to catch our first of four flights home.  We thought we had an agreement with Vicente to take us to the airport, but when he didn't turn up, we went outside the gate and a cab/camioneta immediately picked us up.  On the road up to the airport there were loads of tortoises lumbering along.

At the pier to cross over the channel we saw Vicente but he said he didn't pick us up as we had not WhatsApp'd him.   The process of transferring bags to the airport is unnerving as the taxi driver puts them on the pier edge and somehow, you get them back at the airport.  


 The boat crossing the channel.


Coming into land at Guayacil.










We were in Business Class for the first three flights.  We'd tried to purchase an upgrade for the long flight between Bogota and Heathrow but were unsuccessful.

At Quito we had to transfer from internal flight to international.  All had gone smoothly until we got to the gate.  Joan was called out and marched off with a security guard to a room at the other end of the airport. The plane was due to leave in 20 minutes. Joan walked a long way and up some lifts and was ushered into a room with her case in the middle. Lots of people with guns and latex gloves.
Joan was asked to identify and open her case and then told to stand back.
Search undertaken. It turned out the offending item was a jar of guava jam that she had wrapped in a towel and put in the heart of the case - a gift for a colleague. She wasn't allowed to touch the case to repack but was escorted back to the gate to be reunited with a worried Kevin. The plane lane left late.

On the flight, the guy on the end seat of three relocated to be near his friends so we had an empty seat between us which made the flight more bearable.

We arrived at Heathrow and caught a Hoppa to the Ibis Hotel on Bath Road. Joan opened her case and immediately cut her finger.
Said jam jar had survived a long distance coach journey, several taxis and flights, boat journeys and generally being lugged about. The security guy had put it back on the bottom edge of the case, with no protection.
So one colleague without much loved jam. Blood and glass everywhere. We had to call housekeeping to clean the mess. After that we ordered a Deliveroo as there wasn't a vegan option at the Hotel.



Next day, we picked our car up from Meet and Greet at terminal 2, and went home via Mickleover to collect the cats from Precious Paws and then Fuchsia from 4 Paws at Arkwright.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tuesday 13th January 2026: Up to Cotopaxi

Image
A faint rainbow where a volcano should be! We're sad to leave Quito as there is so much more we could have done.  However our whistlestop tour won't let us linger for long. Today we are moving on to Cotopaxi which is one of the highest active volcanoes in the world.  We're staying in a lodge in Chasqui which is reknowned for its views of the mountain.   Chasqui isn't really a town and our hotel is 500m off the Pan-Americana, so the thought of catching a bus and then having to walk with big suitcases to the lodge did not appeal.  So we messaged the hotel and they arranged a lift for us. Cotopaxi is in an area called the Avenida de los volcanes, a name given by Alexander von Humboldt.  It runs for 200 km and has several active volcanoes en route.  Situated in Ecuadorian altiplano, Joan imagined a bare and desolate landscape, with barren snow capped volcanoes, like those in the north of Chile and Bolivia.  It was nothing like it. Our driv...
Read more

Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th January 2025 - - Whaley to Salta

Image
We dropped off Fuchsia at 4 Paws and the Meezers at Mrs Harris' on Friday.  Our friens, Anne and Nick are looking after Clementine. Having packed, we left home at noon.   The roads were icy and the fields were still covered in snow. The journey to Heathrow was uneventful, except a 30 stoppage near Luton. We are leaving our csr at the Sheraton Skyline.  Built in 1971, it was one of the first hotels to cater for mass tourism by plane. In its heart is what was called El Caribe Paiio, a whimsical fake tropical garden, replete with bamboo shack and pool.  It features in the Status Quo video for Marguerita Nights. The area was closed for cleaning, but Joan got a few snaps. We booked an Uber to Terminal 3 for £15 via a machine in the hotel lobby.   It was several hours before our hysical chevk- in opened but there were machines in the terminal where you could print off your own baggage labels. We cleared securit...
Read more

Saturday 10th January 2026: Ecuador - finally

Image
A few days ago a Facebook memory came up from January 2020.  We,d just got back from a three week holiday in St Kitts and Joan had already bought guidebooks for Ecuador, planning our Christmas 2020 adventure. Well, what a year that was, and little did we know world travel for us would be put on hold for four years. Since then, Ecuador has destabilised due to narcotic gangs and some areas are no longer safe to go to, but the lure of the smoking Andean volcanoes and the magical Galapagos Islands was still there. So, in June, we took the plunge and bought flights to Quito.  In between there have been some petrol blockades, four controversial referenda and night time curfews to muddy the waters, but our resolve was steadfast. For the record the four votes were: - to allow foreign countries (read the USA)  to have permanent military bases in Ecuador, including the Galapagos - ending state funding for political parties, which would disadvantage parties from poorer communitiess,...
Read more