Getting there, Galápagos Style

The Galápagos islands are very far away from Quito.  And we almost did not make it today.

Our wake up call this morning was at an unGodly 3am.  3:30am for breakfast.  4:10am departure for the airport.  And we would have made it out closer to on time if some of our Alumni travelers had not misplaced their passports. They had locked them in a box, but mis-recalled which box. Somehow after searching through piles of clothes and camera gear and what not, memory was recalled and the passports located.

Usually a passport scare is enough for any morning's transportation entertainment, but today was to provide more amusement than usual.  Despite our delay, we arrived at the airport before they opened the door to the inspection center for Galápagos travelers. This inspection center is supposed to be looking for fruits and seeds and insects and other items that might put the wildlife in the Galápagos at risk.  Of course, it seemed like the half-sleeping workers might or might not have noticed a pair of prairie dogs stuffed in one of our bags... I guess it is the thought that counts.

We checked in for our flight, and most of the students headed through security to the waiting area.  Something was amiss, though.  Tomas, our intrepid guide, asked me if I had $6000 in cash.  I found that to be a rather forward question, especially since I indeed was not carrying that much cash, and couldn't imagine how we would get that much money out of an ATM in the minutes we had before the airplane would start to board.

Turns out that we were all registered as Ecuadorian citizens in the airline system.  On one hand, this is a good thing because locals pay only $10 for entry into the National Park in Galápagos.  On the other hand, somehow the people at the airline counter recognized that we were indeed not locals, but rather gringos.  Of course, the gringo fee is much much much higher... Our guide said that we needed to pay and additional $182 each to get into the park, and if we didn't, the airline would not let us board.

Now, you can imagine my feelings on this issue.  If we don't get on that flight, we miss the boat... literally... and would not make it to the Galápagos at all this year.  So, I counted my cash (I had alot - tips for the crew of the boat in the Galápagos) and started going around asking all of the students and alumni how much cash they had on hand.  $80 here, $500 there, $2 there...  At some point I figured that we could indeed get $6000 if everyone chipped in.  10 minutes until boarding... do I start collecting money or hope that Tomas might figure things out?

I was just about to start the process when Tomas returned from talking on his cell and announced that everything had been worked out, and that we would be met at the airport by a guide.