Oscar enjoying his 8th cup of coffee.
That's what happens when you have nothing better to do and the
marginal cost is zero.
The Itinerary
We will be staying in a host family while doing the project in Ambato, which I’m really looking forward to, I reckon it will be good way of experience the country’s culture and customs *knocking on wood, hoping that the family’s a good one*. As far as we know we will be working regular business hours five days a week, however we are hoping to be able to make as many weekend excursions as possible – not least to the Galapagos Islands, nearby active volcanoes and the Inca city of Ingapirca.
After the project is finished in end of July we’re planning to buy a flight ticket from Quito to Caracas in Venezuela from where we intend traverse our way to Bogota, in about 15 days, to catch our flight back to Sweden which leaves on August 15. Hence “Micro travels in Ecuador (and around)”.
What we've been up to
When writing this I’m sitting in a room at the Clarion Hotel in Copenhagen watching Denmark being beaten by Japan in football. Why? Because our flight, that was supposed to leave 11.15 this morning, was cancelled and we are rebooked on a flight tomorrow at 08.00. Now you might think I’m swearing and cursing over Delta Airlines Lines and their lousy service. On the contrary, I’m (almost) feeling sorry for them and the financial backlash they suffered. A quick estimate calculation of direct costs occurring the airline, only for handling passengers, is €237 500. Not peanuts for one flight… And in this calculation I have not taken into account mine and Oscar’s upgrade to business class – sweeet:).
250PAX x (€600 in direct compensation + €150 hotel costs + €200 for food, transport, admin)
Further more, both Oscar and me kept the spirit high during the whole process, which would not have been the case for me some years ago when I quickly would have transformed to a miserable grump.
While actually posting this we have arrived to Ecuador and as you can tell by the photo above the trip was smooth and comfortable – life is sweet as first class citizens. After a day and night in Quito we had a two-hour taxi ride south to Ambato (pop. 300 000) where we will be working for the next 5 weeks.
I’ll try to write about our host family and work next time.
