Wed morning we checked out of our Villa Nova Inn. It was time for the treacherous but scenic van ride back to Guayaquil . We left at 6:30am Thurs morning so we arranged to spend one night at the Palace hotel , where we stayed one night at the beginning of our trip.
I’m not sure if I described the van ride through the Andes on our way up to Cuenca? Well….. It’s very harrowing ! I’ve posted some pictures of our drive . You know your at a very high altitude when you are above the clouds! That’s not fog…. It’s clouds! 12 thousand feet at the highest part of the journey. It’s very beautiful! Looking out the window is a spectacular view of mountains shooting up to the sky and wild alpaca grazing on the hillsides . But those Ecuadorian drivers are loco! They drive very fast through steep, curving roads, passing trucks and other cars every chance they get . You can hear the tires screeching and feel the van tipping as you tear around the corner at death defying speed! If that’s not terrifying enough, when you reach the highest points of the journey and you are driving through the clouds, the visibility is very bad and that damn driver decides he’s got to pass the semi-truck ahead of us even though he could never see if there is any oncoming traffic!!!! JEEZH!!!! If your an adrenalin junky, this is the trip for you!
Reaching the lowlands was very comforting . We caught a taxi from the van office and arrived at our hotel. Time for a drink! Then we decided a walk around Guayaquil would be good. They have a beautiful malecone which is a large park like walkway along the water. Guayaquil is located right on the coast and is normally a starting point for those visiting the Galapagos Islands. We’ll have to visit that area another time. We enjoyed our walk and made our way through the hustling city , to our hotel. I must say we missed the very cool, springlike weather of Cuenca! It’s very humid and hot down there!
Now we are sitting in the airport in Panama City for a four hour layover then we change planes in Cancun and continue on to our final destination, good old SFO! We’ll be home and ready for bed by about 10:00ish. Back to work tomorrow !!! I’m posting a few pictures I took today If the wifi here in the airport will let me. Cheers!
Let The Adventure "Continue"! 
After such a journey, the traffic in the Bay Area should be very soothing? Chris
1200 feet? (twelve hundred?) I think you mean twelve THOUSAND! 1200 is like the Santa Cruz mountains.
Holly–and Scott, too. Thank you both for sharing your pictures and stories. It felt like I was there, too. It was all wonderful. Wishing you God’s speed as you journey home. See you soon,
Those pictures where you are above the clouds are beautiful. It reminded me of the first morning in our home in Morgan Hill when Rora looked outside and we were above the clouds and she looked up at me and dad “Are we are Jesus’ house” It sounds like that ride was a REALLY LIFE roller coaster ride and you should have gotten a T-shirt with “We made it on the ride through the Andes” OMG
I am going to miss your Adventures however I am glad you are safe and hope Scott is feeling better and that you didn’t get sick 🙂 Love, Mom xxoo
Thanks for sharing the adventure….the pictures are great & love the above cloud photo’s welcome home and ????will it be cuenca? Margaret
Thanks Margaret! Well, as much as we enjoyed our time in Cuenca, Panama seems to be the place for us. It just checks off more boxes in terms of the things that are important to us. But Cuenca would be plan B for sure!