Quito, Ecuador

Last night Amanda and I flew back to Caracas (for the 3rd time!) and we said goodbye. She flew home and I stayed the night in town before leaving this afternoon for Quito, Ecuador.

Three important things to know before you go to Caracas... (DISCLAIMER --- I like Caracas, so please don´t take this the wrong way but...)

1. most buildings that I passed had bars on the windows and the doors, so please take my advice and stay in a safe place. My BASIC room came at a mere $75!! Seriously?? It should have been about $7...maybe $17 on a generous day.
   
2. the laundromat requested $20 for ONE load of laundry. Thanks to some handy new spanish palabras I learned from my friends in Isla Margarita, I talked them down to $10. Thanks a lot, I will be sure to wear each tshirt ten times.
   
3. the taxis from the airport cost about $5 per minute. NO JOKE, I clocked it on my watch (thanks Amanda). But the extortion is worth not ending up dead in a ditch or penniless on an abandoned street corner. (I know Mama Pompei is saying the rosary right now, sorry.)

I went to the hospital to have my ear checked out (scuba incident) and I was treated wonderfully, but I was a little surprised when my doctor, in the middle of a minor surgery (which I was able to watch through an open door) took a cigarette break and never took off the bloody gloves (not even to open the door to the operating room--blech!)

I was also surprised during our flight from Merida to Caracas when the flight attendent opened the cockpit door and delivered drinks to the pilots (yes, just coffee) and she left the door open for the whole flight. Are US citizens the only people who are taught to be afraid that terrorists could rush the cockpit at any moment??

That said, Caracas has incredibly nice and charming people and I will certainly return at some point.

Today I flew to Quito via Bogota, Columbia and I am staying in a gorgeous hotel tonight before I catch a morning flight to the Galapagos. I will be on a boat for the next few nights, so expect a nice posting when I find the next Internet connection.