I am in a nice hostel in downtown Loja.
The trip here was a little more eventful then I like. Our plan was to stay at the hostel in Quito until 3 and then take a cab to the airport to check in for our 4:30 flight.
It should have been no problem, weather was nice, cabs were everywhere.
At about 2:45 the clouds rolled in. At 3:00 the rain started. As in everywhere else in the world, it seems that rain causes taxi’s to disappear. The lady of the hostel flagged one down at the corner….just as it started to pour.
I have been in hotel showers that put out less water then was coming out of the sky. Once again, as I was running to the taxi, I was cursing the amount of stuff I was carrying.
I got soaked. The cab ride to the airport was slow….we had to show the driver the best way to defrost his windshield. The water was flowing down the streets, like a fire hose was open, we saw hail on the ground… As we approached the airport it stopped…it had not rained at the airport at all.
We were in line for check in at 3:45…take off on time in a new jet…a nice flight above the clouds to the next town over from Loja… Over being a important word.
The lush green mountains as we came down through the clouds made my heart sing. Small airport…1 runway…small terminal…and then the taxi ride to Loja
Did I mention that we landed one town over? By over it means a 30 minute drive up and over a range of mountains.
I have had some interesting taxi rides… New York where he went up on the side walk… San Francisco where he tried to take us around the block 3 times…Toronto where the driver did not know how to drive…. But this ride will live in my memory for a long time.
The ride should have taken 30 minutes, but our driver was going to do it in 20. He was passing any slow moving vehicle…of which there were many on 20 degree grades… I did not feel any danger, he knew the road and knew when he needed to brake, and when to pass.
It was a great ride.
So today we meet with the people of the school and get a glimpse into what the next few weeks will be about. – Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
