We decided to take a day long tour today to get information about Panama CIty and the Panama Canal, since we are only here for 3 days. We had to meet our tour guide at 8:00 am in the old city. Our taxi took us along Avenue Balboa, which used to be part of the ocean. They used the rocks and dirt from the new Canal as landfill and then built the road and parklands. It's quite pretty. We met at the Cafe UNIDO Coffee Roastere inside the American Trade Hotel for...

We couldn't get a direct flight home from Ecuador and had to have a stopover in Panama so we decided to stay and explore the city. And see the Panama Canal. We arrived in Panama at 10:30 am. There was a guy at the exit holdimg a sign with my name for the cab ride to our hotel. That's the first time that's happened! I know, I'm a loser for getting so excited about that. On the way to the hotel, he was kind of annoying - trying to sell us tours a...

We decided to take the cable car up Mount Pichincha today. It climbs up the Andes mountains to 16,000 ft above sea level and I imagine the views of the city are spectacular. But you know what they say about the best laid plans....it was cloudy today and we couldn't see the top of the mountain so the views would be less than spectacular. We were told there would be no rain, by the cnsierge, so we were hopeful that the clouds would clear out and we could get up...

Well, we are back in Quito after our INCREDIBLE tour of the Galapagos Islands. It was an unforgettable, once in a lifetime experience. I've got to say, however, that it's nice to be back on solid ground and in a room that is bigger than our washroom at home. I still find myself swaying though! The experience was fantastic and the boat was nice enough but, after 8 days rocking and rolling and sleeping in bunk beds, I'm glad to be in a hotel room again....

It's our last day in the Galápagos. We left the boat early, for our last dry landing, to visit the San Cristóbal Interpretation Centre on Santa Cruz Island before flying back to Quito via Guayaquil. It is another scorcher today. It was unanimous that visiting the interpretation centre was a bit of an inconvenience as it was a repeat of most of what we've learned over the trip and since we were leaving we just wanted to get back to Quito. They needed us ...