Final Leg

We checked-in at Quito airport at 14:30 (local time) yesterday. At Guayaquil we disembarked for 90 minutes whilst they re-rostered the crew and refuelled. Quito’s altitude apparently requires a refuel for the flight to Amsterdam. Finally we re-boarded and settled down for the flight back to Europe.

I’ve been really lucky on this trip. I’ve been with a small group of 13 and we all got on really well together. There has been lots of laughter and gentle banter as we took on the various challenges that faced us each day. Our travel company NatureTrek did a great job with the logistics and there were no real hiccups.

So we reached Amsterdam at 13:35 today, where the majority of us went our separate ways for the transfer flights to our ultimate destinations. There were 13 of us on the Galapagos trip. 2 did not go on to the Amazon so flew back last week. The Australian couple flew out on Monday (and should get home today),the German couple caught a train home to Frankfurt from Amsterdam. Those now remaining had a last coffee and chat before saying our farewells.

The plane to Bristol touched down at 17:00, I’m just waiting for the luggage to be unloaded and then it’s the taxi home to see Cathy, at last.