It’s finally here: packing day before we depart for Ecuador, South America, tomorrow. It’s relatively easy to do in this small room with only a tiny closet and a few drawers. Most of our belongings remained in our suitcases, to which we’re adding the excess today. The biggest project will be packing the supplies bag, which has enough supplies to last us until June, when we return to South Africa, where we can restock most items.
After considerable research, I discovered that many items we use won’t be available in South America. However, there is the popular Mercado Libre, where some items we use may be found at twice the cost in the US. So, we may or may have been wise to stock up.
Today, when I am done packing, I will finish this post. Tonight, we’ll order takeaway from Pizza Luce. We love their meatballs, sauce, and parmesan cheese dish, which we ordered last night when we met Tammy and Tracy for dinner and trivia. Tom’s nephew Kevin stopped by to hang out with us, and we had another great time, the last we’ll spend with family before we depart tomorrow.
We usually carry one clothing bag each and one supply bag, all of which we check. But, it looks like we might save money by taking a fourth bag, which we still have, and paying the $65 extra for it to avoid being overweight by five or ten pounds in our other bags when they charge much more for being overweight.
Once we arrive at the hotel in Quito, we’ll use the fourth bag to pack for the cruise since we won’t be able to bring everything with us on the small (16-passenger) ship. We’ll have the hotel hold the remaining bags for us until we return for the last two days in Quito at the end of the cruise. From there, two days later, we’ll fly to Manta to collect the rental car and drive to the holiday house.
On the way to the house on October 24, we’ll stop for groceries and water. We’ll provide our drinking water while at the house since the water, as expected, is unsafe to drink. The owner said he’d have a filtering device like Brita, but those filters do not eliminate bacteria and could result in serious illness. Instead, we’ll buy plenty of bottled water, which will hopefully be safe.
Also, we won’t buy fresh vegetables in Ecuador or eat raw vegetables or salads in restaurants. Most likely, the vegetables and fruits from the farms have been rinsed in tap water. If I buy avocados while there, which I eat almost daily, I will carefully wash the exterior before cutting. However, instead, I will look for prepared guacamole, which may be safer to consume.
I don’t eat fruit other than avocados and tomatoes (I won’t eat those there either). But Tom eats an occasional banana and must carefully wash it before peeling and eating. When we buy fresh vegetables, we’ll only use them for cooking, which kills the bacteria if cooked well enough after careful washing.
We are researching to determine if there are any other nuances about Ecuador that we need to know. We will continue to do so until we arrive and then after that. One can’t be too safe, especially when neither of us needs to get sick right now (or ever, for that matter).
It’s hard to believe that in 48 hours, we’ll be in Quito and know how we’re doing with the altitude. If all is well, we will be thrilled and enjoy our time in the second-highest city in the world.
Today, at 3:07 pm, the Minnesota Twins baseball game will be on TV. We plan to be done packing and able to relax, watch the game, and eat our takeaway meal after the game ends. Hopefully, tonight, we’ll get a good night’s sleep. Last night was not so good for me when I was awake for three hours.
Photo from ten years ago today, October 10, 2013:
