I know that I have not written in a while. However, there is not much to write about when your life consists of lying in a hammock and dodging waves. I had originally come to the Puerto Lopez area thinking that I would take surfing lessons. However, as it was pointed out to me, I am not the luckiest person; so trying to surf right before my big expensive (already paid for) scuba diving trip in the Galapagos might not be a good idea.
So needless to say that life has not been too stressful. Two days ago I went to Montanita (where I had planned to learn to surf) with a lovely lady from Prince Rupert I met and another young woman from Switzerland who was moving to Montanita. We spent half the day touring around and watching others surf. It really does look hard to master. Montanita is a funky place that I think I would have enjoyed for a couple of days. It reminded me of what Playa del Carmen used to be like before it was invaded by the big resort chains. However, since I can't surf, I am heading to Ballenita for two days before heading to Guayaquil instead. There is supposed to be a really interesting museum of natural history there and a funky hotel shaped like a lighthouse.
This is why I think the universe thought it was time to throw a wrench into my travel plans. After trying to book my flights to and from the Galapagos online with Avianca and being told that access was denied, I was forced to book through their telephone service. At first a woman on the other end blamed me for the online problem but after calling to make my reservation I was told Avianca was indeed having website problems. That should have been my first clue of things to come. Despite this, I was charged an extra US$20 for using the telephone service. That should have been my second clue. Next I was told that the validation of my credit card could take 24 hours so I waited. The next day instead of being sent an e-ticket I was sent a message that said I had to call Avianca by the end of the day or my reservation would be canceled. When I called I was told that because I was using a foreign credit card I had to answer some questions in order for my payment to go through. They were ridiculous questions like who was the passenger registered to fly and what flights were they. They told me my ticket would be issued in an hour or so. It wasn't, so later that day I called again and was told there was a problem (but not told what the problem was). I was asked to wait near the phone number I gave (my hotel's) in case they needed to ask me more questions. I was told that if the problem was resolved I should see my ticket in my e-mail inbox. During that time I called my bank and verified the trouble was not from them. When I did not get my e-ticket the next day I called again and was told they were having a problem with their system which should be resolved in an hour or two. It wasn't and it took until today for me to finally receive my booking confirmation and ticket, and only because I called yet again! While it has worked itself out, I was sure I was going to lose my reservation. It took almost six days from the time i booked my flight to receiving confirmation of my booking. I guess this is why their nickname is Avianunca. (Nunca means never in Spanish).
When I relayed this story to a fellow hotel guest who is an American expat, he joked that they actually fixed the problem early. In their minds, as I was not flying until the 24th, they still had four more days to make things right. He said that the general thinking in Ecuador regarding incompetancies like this is "That's just the way it is". Hmm, this should make the next month and a half interesting.
