I got up at 4am to catch a van from Cuenca to Guayaquil, a three hour van ride. At first we ascended from 8000 in Cuenca to 11000ft in the Cajas Natl Park, then descended down to 0ft where Guayaquil is. The descent down from the Andes is dramatic. We (the van) were in and out of clouds, like descending when in an airplane. Periodically we could see 3000-4000ft of sheer drop off when the clouds cleared. There really are no trees to speak of in the Andes. But when getting down to sea level, it is lush and green with many tropical trees and marsh.
After making it through the busy morning traffic in Guayaquil, we made it to the airport. On the 1.5 hour flight over, I sat next to an American who was traveling around the world on a sailboat. We talked about navigation since I was in the Coast Guard. He had started in Maine and with a group of other boats, went through the Caribbean, Panama Canal, and was headed directly west to some atoll, then Polynesia, Australia, South Africa, then back up to Maine.
I made it to Baltra Isl which was an old US Air Force base. We took a bus to the end of the island, a boat across the water (not far) and then a taxi to Puerto Arroyo on Santa Cruz Isl. There I was able to find a hotel. Next week will be tougher finding accommodation given its Carnaval in South America.
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