Alegria

Our flight to Quito arrived at 11:30 pm.  We flew on Avianca airlines.  We can’t say enough good things about Avianca.  The planes are new, they still serve meals and kids get a 20% discount.   Plus their airfares are very competitive.  I don’t know what happened to the US airlines but they could definitely take a lesson from Avianca.

After arriving in Quito, we were met at the airport by our hostel transport.  The cost from the airport was high, but when you are flying into a foreign country late at night, it’s nice to know someone will be there to get you.  About 20 minutes later we were at  Chicago Hostel.  It was after hours and the guy who checked us in didn’t speak English and of course we have limited Spanish, but he got us to our rooms.  A  room with 4 beds wasn’t available, so they put us in two separate rooms, across the hall from each other.  You can’t drink the water in Ecuador and we were so thirsty when we arrived, but the hotel was out of bottled water.  We had to settle for an orange soda.  So far our first impression wasn’t good, as it was raining and the hostel seemed dark,  we were tired and we were getting a touch of altitude sickness, but we went to bed and hoped things would look better in the morning. 

And they did.   It was still raining when we woke up, but the next day things were much better.  Our rooms were actually very nice and extremely clean.  Each room had a double bed and one single and a private bath.  The rooms, including tax, were $20.00 per night each.  Our rooms  and the rooftop terrace, had a great view of the mountains surrounding the city.  The altitude from the rooftop terrace is 9400 feet, yet the mountains in the distance still tower above us.  The clouds come in low with the rain, hiding half of the city in its  mist.  You can sit on the terrace and stare at the scenery for hours.  After a delicious breakfast at the restaurant next door, we really warmed up to the city. 

Our first trip was to walk to Old Town and see the sights.  Of course we had to tour the massive cathedral and churches, but unlike Peru, only one church charged an admission.  La Compania deJesus  charged $2.00 per adult to get in, and it was worth it.  Highlights of the church include a huge painting of Hell, depicting various tortures in hell, and reasons for being condemned.  This contrasted nicely with the excess of the 23 karat gold covering every inch of the church: gold more than likely stolen from the indgenous people by the invading Spaniards.

The rest of the day we just walked and enjoyed the city, Presidential Palace, parks and Plazas.  By early evening we were exhausted and headed to bed early. 

The boat was finally fixed and we were expecting to have her back in the water the next day, when Dan and I had the discussion.  One of the great parts of the last three and a half years, besides being together, has been the travelling to new places.  That came to a standstill pretty much once we got to Aruba.  We had a wonderful time flying to Peru and Chile from Aruba, but we didn’t like waiting there for a weather window to head to Colombia.  In fact, that has been the hardest part of this trip, the waiting for weather, which up until Aruba was never an issure.  But in keeping with my personal motto of never trading time for money, I didn’t see that waiting for a weather window to head to Colombia was better than just flying there now and doing a land tour.  So with an hour to play with before our final committment on going into water the next day, Dan and I decided we would wait.  The boatyard, while not great for living on the boat, was perfect for storing the boat.  After talking to the kids, deciding where each person’s interest lied, we made plans.  A week or so later we had our tickets purchased to Ecuador, flying back through Colombia.  It was a tough call at first between South America and Central America, but the airfares were much better to South America from Aruba.  Then it was a tough call between Argentina and Ecuador, but eventually the fact that it would be much colder in Argentina, Ecuador and Colombia won out.  So our plan is to keep the boat on the hard until our return first of July, then head east instead of west, hoping to be back in Dominica in time for whale season…………… unless plans change!

I really cannot say enough bad things about living “on the hard” or for you nonsailors, living in the boatyard. The boatyard in Nanny Cay BVI, where we pulled out for our first bottom painting, wasn’t bad. It was hot, dirty, and we were smart enough not to sleep on the boat. We were only there about 3 days so it wasn’t bad.

The Curacao boatyard was cleaner, with paved areas instead of all dirt as in Nanny Cay. The bathrooms were within 15 feet of us but the mosquitoes were horrible, and the boat took on black dust from the refinery. We stayed on the boat and all in all, it wasn’t that bad.

The boatyard at Aruba, however, is horrible. Really, it’s not the place to live onboard. On the positive side, the people here are friendly. Jenny, (a he) the manager is nice, if not a bit distracted. The rates are great, and there is a small bar/restaurant here. That is about the end of the positives. The wind is constant, and our boat is forever buried in dust. No matter how diligent you are, and I’ll admit I’m not, you can’t keep it clean. But you pray for the wind, because when it dies, the mosquitoes are vicious. And if the mosquitoes don’t drive you mad, the constant inundation of flies absolutely will. And bathrooms? Well, you are on your own. There are no bathrooms or showers. If the bar is open, as it is most nights, you can use their bathrooms, discretely, as I think they frown on that. When we first were hauled, Tessa and I had to use a bucket. Then when Dan was coming back to Aruba from our visit to our parents, we went to Walmart and found a port a potty. Well, not actually a port a potty. They had one but it was too big and heavy for Dan to bring back on the plane. Instead, we purchased the Fold to Go, a unique product which is like a small lawn chair with a toilet seat. A replaceable bag attaches to the seat for the waste.

Who thought of this? Was someone sitting in a lawn chair at their kids soccer game, realizing they had to go to the bathroom, but where? Idea! “What if I could just go where I sit?” Ding! Ding! The Fold to Go was born!!!

The waste bags are expensive and of course sold separately, and knowing we would go broke buying enough bags for our stay, we opted to use garbage bags. Such is my life. Emptying the bags is our worse nightmare. I am responsible for removing the bag, but the carrying to the dumpster job falls to whoever has irritated me the most that day. Our boat motto is “Stay on Mom’s good side!”