Day 1: Quito and San Cristobal

Saturday, November 26, 2011
Sunset: 7:49pm
To see just the photos (including additional images), go here: Day 1 Photos

Our adventure actually began 2 days before landing in the Galapagos Islands. Concerned about possible travel delays we opted to fly into Quito, Ecuador a day earlier than originally scheduled. We wanted a bit of a buffer should there be any hiccups due to weather, equipment or the whims of the airlines.

So early on Thanksgiving Day we boarded our flight out of Sea-Tac bound for Houston. Four hours later plus a one hour layover and we were on the second leg to Quito. Five hours after that we landed at Mariscal Sucre International Airport just before 10 pm local time. Almost immediately we could feel the effects of being at 9300 feet above sea level. Wendy said she felt as if a brick was pressing on her chest.

Getting through Ecuadorian customs and immigration was straight-forward and relatively quick. While waiting in line I noticed a woman behind us with a familiar camera backpack that had a Lindblad/National Geographic luggage tag. Sure enough, Geri was also booked for the same Galapagos trip as us and was also staying at the same hotel in Quito.

After a bit of confusion with our shuttle to the hotel, we were soon enough weaving our way to the Hilton Colon Quito. Shortly after 11pm we were settled into our room ready for a good nights sleep. Allowing for the time changes we had been traveling for almost 15 hours.

The next morning greeted us with a heavy overcast but pleasant view out our 12th floor room.

After the complimentary breakfast provided by Lindblad, our plan was to visit the old town area of Quito. However neither of us were feeling especially energetic. In the end we lounged around the hotel except for a brief walk around the block. Our rationale was that our focus was on the Galapagos and touring Quito was secondary. It wasn’t a total loss as this did allow us to catch up on reruns of “Friends” on Ecuadorian TV. So our brief introduction to Quito were these shots taken from our hotel window.

Before dinner we stopped in at the hotel bar to redeem our free welcome drinks. The available options didn’t interest us so we offered them to a group of guys behind us. It turns out that they were also booked on the Galapagos tour and two of them were from the Seattle area. After dinner we prepped our luggage and hit the sack in anticipation of another early morning start.

After a fitful night of sleep, we were up and moving early so as to meet up with the local Lindblad representative at 5:45am. Frank introduced himself as we waited for the others to show up. Once on the shuttle Frank informed us that he would be escorting us through the airport check-in and also accompanying as on the flight to the Galapagos. Throughout the trip we were to consistently be impressed with this level of attention to detail that was provided by the Lindblad staff.

The ride to the airport, processing through security and boarding the plane went smoothly and we were soon over the impressive volcanic mountain range surrounding Quito. Half an hour after take-off we landed in Guayaquil where Frank deplaned to meet up with the remainder of the tour passengers. Soon enough we saw a stream of people wearing Lindblad National Geographic gear and nametags. “Equipment issues” had us departing behind schedule but it was followed by an uneventful 90 minute flight to Puerto Baquiero Moreno on San Cristobal island.