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Ecuador: 16.11. – 07.12.2010 Before we started our way south again, we wanted to visit the center of the earth. So we jumped in the Museo de Sitio Inti Ñan back and forth to the north and again to the south of the equator. Even if the museum lies south of the official Equator Monument, it is the one who is exactly on the equator. As the old monument got erected before the invention of the GPS, only later they found that they miscalculated by about 200 meters.
Next to displays from the indigenous cultures like shrink heads and
their traditional way of living, one can take part in interesting
experiments in the solar museum. Because on the equator the carioles
force is nonexistent, it is for example much easier to balance an egg on
a nail. Also the water drains here without a vortex.
After a very informative hour we headed once more for Guayaquil. Where
we spent the next day in the huge mall del sol in the food court, with
free internet we again have been writing email, phoned the brokers and
evaluated the figures and our feeling about the different brokers. We
were about to lose head; if we could not organize it by today we would
be in trouble to catch the ship on December 2nd. But we wouldn’t be the
N-Team if we could not solve these problems and ultimately we could look
forward to a relaxing weekend at the coast.
On Friday evening we reached Puerto Lopez. For the next days we erected
camp on the parking of the beautiful Mandalay Cabanas. Or you could
almost say it was in the garden of them, with beautiful flowers all
around us. Unfortunately the Ruta del Sol was like the rest of the
country, if not rainy, it was at least clouded or foggy, the sun just
didn’t want to come out no more. Anyway our mood wasn’t affected by this
and we enjoyed a very relaxing weekend, because we knew what lies ahead
of us; a week of intensive cleaning. To import Nisto to Australia he
has to look like new; after two years of traveling and driving thru all
the places that we’ve been we knew it take would a lot of energy to
achieve this.
Back in Guayaquil the first horrifying message reached us from our
broker. The VIN number in the customs papers was wrong and does not
match the registration papers. Godfriedstutz, Markus had to correct the
customs guy three times it still the form was not correct! But all the
excitement was useless the missing ‘R’ would not show up because of it.
Our broker promised us a solution the next morning, of course it was
only another day later in the evening that he told us that we would have
to pay $300 to change a mistake that we have not caused; well not with
us, of course we already had our solution in store and Markus drove with
all the papers on the same evening for three hours to the closest
border town to Peru. If necessary he would go for a night to Peru.
Fortunately that was not needed and he returned at 2 am with new
paperwork that was changed free of charge; now operation “old becomes
new” could continue.
Till sunset on Saturday we followed every possible and impossible trace
of dirt sometimes even with toothbrush and tweezers. Half of Nistos
interior got showered in our hotel room and the under floor ultimately
became a new paintjob. Sunday a curfew was deployed, we had to spend the
whole day inside of the Hotel, because of a census, that even we had to
take part in. We used the time to inspect and clean our divegear.
Right on time at 8am Monday morning we were ready to drive to port, just
the broker was missing. A call brought the second horrifying message to
light; we could not continue as planned, the container could not be
loaded inside the port and a different solution needed to be organized,
Ahhh! We suspected something like it, but it all didn’t help all we
could do was waiting and indeed at 1 pm the good news came; container,
transport and location to load was ready, however it took till 9 pm till
Markus returned this time with the news that it all was solved only
that he would have to return to port to let the drug dog thru all of
Nisto. Two days later also that was done and Nisto was ready to board
ship just in time, sometimes (always) these things just need an extra
day or two to be organized.
After one and a half weeks and the knowledge Nisto is on the ship we
left Guayaquil and traveled by bus into the little town of Baños. Here
at the bottom of the since 1999 regularly out barking volcano Tungurahua
we wanted to let our journey thru South America draw to a closure. Also
here the weather was dull, however the volcano gave it all. While we
first thought wind is pulling on our window and door, we soon realized
they were eruptions from the volcano some five kilometers away.
Tungurahua broke out for a second time this year and spit lava and ashes
some 3 kilometers high in the air. While we felt the shockwaves at the
distant viewpoint in town highest alert got declared and some close by
villages even got evacuated. Also the only access road got locked for a
few hours. What brought us some excitement, because how could we get to
Quito the following Monday to catch our flight. Fortunately seismic
activities declined to secure a degree so we didn’t have to abort our
visit earlier as planned.
After 640 days in the Americas our journey should go one big step ahead.
We really looked forward to that, but also here there was a worm in the
system. We have been ready with all the other passengers to board the
plane as a further horrifying message reached us, the Delta flight to
Atlanta was canceled. The pilot flew on the approach to Quito thru the
ash cloud of the Tungurahua, he landed safely but now the engines where
covered with irremovable dirt. The next four hour we spent at the
airport, till there was a solution found for every passenger, and of
course we didn’t make it into the first row. The realization came quick
that we would not make it for our connecting flight to Sidney, because
the only possibility early next morning with a different airline was
already sold out. We rang the alarm bells at our Australian friends as
we got a ticked thru them with Staff-Travel on V-Australia and have been
on the waiting list. We had no idea on how it all could be solved.
However at 5am we sat with lasagna and beer in the Junior Suite of the
Sheraton, at hand we had a ticked for the next day to Sidney in business
class from Delta.
If we managed to start our flight across the big pond on the next day and in what class you can read in the next report.
Till soon.
Sonja and Markus
Here it goes to the pictures... |
