Ecuador: Day 10 – How can it be time to go home already?

Our morning excursion for the day was to Bachas Beach. We were hoping to see some flamingoes feeding on the shrimp there, but none were to be found. Still, it was a beautiful beach to walk along, and we got to see a few sea turtles swimming around the island. When the US was building its military base on nearby Baltra, they would park their barges with supplies near the beach. Because the locals couldn't say the word "barges", the beach got the name "Bachas" instead.

Then it was time to pack up our stuff and head back to shore. For the last time, the Zodiacs drove us to the dock where we boarded a bus to the Baltra airport. We were sad to say goodbye to the Galapagos Explorer II, but we'd always have our fond memories of the time we spent aboard. Jon and I both decided to go back some day and do the other 4-day route that the GEII covers to see the rest of the Galapagos.

We had plenty of time in the tiny airport to chat with our fellow cruise passengers. Many of them were avid travelers and had lots of interesting stories to share about their adventures in other countries, and they were interested to hear about what we'd seen in our travels. Finally, we boarded our plane back to Quito.

Back on the mainland, we caught a taxi back to the Hotel Sebastian. We checked in on what we'd missed in the US over the past few days and then set out for a nice dinner in Plaza Foch. Quito was poised to celebrate with a festival going on that weekend, so we spent a little time wandering around the streets before finally going back to the hotel to rest.