Thursday, June 22, From the Galapagos to Quito

We arose early before the alarm sounded. There was a marine iguana outside. We showered and then went to the restaurant for a nice outdoor, waterfront breakfast. We were only mildly irritated by Darwin's finches, which wanted some of our crumbs. After breakfast, Jonathan, our local guide, arrived at exactly 9:45 AM, and our journey to Quito began. Jonathan seemed to speak very good English, but didn't seem inclined to say very much to us!

Our journey today was as follows: (1) water taxi to the main harbor or Puerto Ayora, then (2) cab ride to the other side of Santa Cruz island (the cab was a four door white Toyota pick-up, as are ALL cabs in Puerto Ayora), then (3) a short ferry ride over the Itabaca Canal (channel in English) to Baltra Island, and then (4) a short bus ride from the ferry terminal on Baltra to the airport. Our flight out did not go through Guayaquil (as all inbound flights must), but was direct to Quito, about a 1 and 1/2 hour flight with a one hour time change.

In Quito, we were met by A&K's representative and travel guide, Mariana, who seemed pretty sharp! We were transported to our hotel, the Hotel Plaza Grande, named after the square where it is located. The Plaza Grande is the main square in Quito's old town. The official name for the square is the Plaza de Independence. The hotel is beautiful in an old-fashioned way with elaborate carved woodwork everywhere. We were give an upgraded corner room with three balconies, two of which overlooked the plaza, which was pretty lively in the evening. We were also given vouchers for a welcome drink, but we really had no time to use them!

After a short break, Mariana and the driver collected us for dinner at 7 PM at a restaurant called Theatrum. Even though it is only about three blocks away, it took more than a few minutes to get there given the one-way streets and traffic (would have been quicker to walk, we think). The restaurant is located on the second floor of an historic theater, the Sucre National Theatre. The dining room is very grand! There were not too many diners at the moment, but that is because it was too early to eat by Quito standards. We had a very nice conversation with Mariana who is a senior guide and has been with A&K for twenty years (must have started young since she is not an old person!).

The food here is intended to display Ecuadorean gastronomy representing different regions of the country. For a starter, Rob had a salad of mixed greens, walnuts, apple, bleu cheese and a vinaigrette. I had a traditional potato soup pureed with sour cream and avocado. For mains we all ordered the same dish: "El Pernil de Cerdo Casero'" also known as sour pork. Mariana explained that this was a very traditional dish. The presentation was gorgeous -- very disappointed that I did not take a picture. There were thin slices of pork served over a bed of hominy (giant corn kernels) with a kind of vinegar salsa on top with a few other items on the side. We also enjoyed a delicious red wine. For dessert, Rob had passionfruit and blackberry sorbets. I had Ecuadorean chocolate lava cake with vanilla ice cream. Mariana had a chocolate souffle that was so large that she couldn't finish. Chocolate is very popular in Ecuador!

We were returned to the hotel some time after 9 PM, and we went straight to bed, watching a little CNN on the television.