We needed to get up just after 2 AM in Dallas to get our rental car returned and make it to the airport 4 hours early as recommended these days for an international flight. We had been emailing the officials in Texas to try to get our Covid test results which are required to enter Ecuador. There was nothing in my email as we sat waiting for the United desk to open.
It was 5:30 when the United kiosk opened and our check in was simple. We headed to security where - as usual - I went through without issue while Pam got more personal attention than she wanted. Once through we still had about an hour before boarding. It was before government business hours so our last hope for our test results was coming at the Houston airport where we had a two hour layover.
The system in Texas is overwhelmed with testing mainly because they chose to open back up while the cases were still going up. Our only option since we are not Texas residents was pop up testing sites they had near San Antonio. We chose the firehouse in Adkins since they began at 8 AM and went to 4 PM where the other two sites were taking the first 175 people only and not starting until 10AM.
We arrived before 8 and there was about 100 people ahead of us. We were done before 11 AM and headed off to Austin to finish some items on our check list.
Back to Houston, we didn't get our results and the chances of them coming before we arrived in Quito was slim so we had a sense of resignation and surrender as we took our seats in the waiting area where our temperatures were taken and we were asked if we had our results and where we were heading. When we told them we were tested but had no results we were taken to the testing area to wait for a test. Our tests were easier than the initial tests in Texas and our results were done in 15 minutes.
We both were negative and elated to be so, but still unsure of what that meant for us as the official government position was that if you were non residents you would be required a 14 day quarantine in a hotel where you entered the country where you would not be allowed to leave the room the entire time. There was an option for an additional test after 7 days, but I won't explain that process here.
What did happen was that they asked us if we were planning to quarantine in a hotel or at home and we quickly answered home. They stamped our paperwork and we gathered our pile of luggage and headed to the hotel for the night and let our arranged driver for the morning know that we were good to travel in the morning. Whew!
Roadtrip...Quito to Cuenca!
We were out front at 7:30 AM and our driver arrived on time in a very clean van for our journey from Quito to Cuenca - about an 8.5 hour drive. Edwin was masked and had hand sanitizer which he used after every interaction with toll booths, etc. As a professional driver in Ecuador he is tested every 2 weeks.
The drive was beautiful! As we climbed up and then descended the Andes along the route we were witness to about 99% compliance with masks along the way. What a difference from the maybe 10% compliance in Texas. Edwin enhanced the trip by pointing out the volcanoes, interesting sites, and sharing lots of interesting facts: did you know that the closest mountain to the sun is located in Ecuador?
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| One of the incredible volcanoes along the route. |
We also passed the first Catholic church in Ecuador which is just shy of 500 years old. Unfortunately, like all of the other attractions located in North and South American, everything is closed, so we took a picture from outside and moved along.
The rolling hills covered by puzzle piece like farm fields everywhere where beautiful!
Cuenca!
We arrived in Cuenca at 4:30 and headed up to Dennis and Jackie's place where the best pizza in Cuenca was waiting for us, still warm as it had just been delivered! The last 10 days of scrambling from San Cristobal to Texas and then down to Ecuador with all of the uncertainty washed away immediately - the bottle of Old Bushmills Irish Whiskey we brought helped.
Now the next chapter begins with the exploration of Cuenca and surrounds. We have to find a place to rent and finish our resident visas, but neither are close to the daunting tasks we already pulled off as a crazy good team.
Those stories and some more from the time in Texas are yet to come, but for Safety Sunday we decided to go with this post first.
We hope this post finds you all safe and healthy and we promise more soon. Peace and love peeps....
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