We had a flight from Fort Lauderdale to Guayaquil that was supposed to leave at 11am.  We were delayed for three hours and I started to panic because I know our schedule is very tight.  However, we arrived at 6pm in Guayaquil.  

Apparently, this is a dangerous city.  Is is level 2/3 (depending where you are located) on the US state department alerts.  We are traveling with National Geographic and they picked us up at the airport.  We were hungry after an 8 hour flight and delay, so we asked if we could get something at the McDonald’s in the airport.  She said, ok, just don’t go outside. (McDonald’s was not a good idea, I later discovered.)

Our van ride to the hotel only took around 15-20 minutes.  It was dark and there were a lot of stores lit up at night to see.  Our hotel had a gate and a big fence all around the property. We were asked to stay within the property itself.  It is called Hotel del Parque. They have an animal sanctuary on site that you can visit.  It is a beautiful hotel.  Our room was huge and so was the bathroom. We had coffee alfajores to try (traditional cookies with a coffee cream inside) and they left us lemon syrup, sugar, and sparkling water to make our own lemonade. All were delicious.  

The next morning our breakfast was included and it was buffet style.  The coffee they offered us was delicious.  I had fresh mango juice, which was amazing.  My husband loved the fresh orange juice. They had a range of foods, breads, and fruits.  It was filling. 

After breakfast we had a little bit of time before our bus to the airport, so we wandered the grounds a bit.  My husband had done so earlier and saw some agoutis and I wanted to see them too.  We saw a bunch. We also saw some orange and yellow birds. We did not go in the animal sanctuary because it was closed and we didn’t have time. I hope we can see it on our trip back from the islands. 

On the bus to the airport we were given our boarding pass and our pass to enter the islands.  (We had to fill out a form last night and took a picture of it to make sure we had proof.) We were able to carry water in our water bottles through security, which was lovely.  My husband was frisked, but I was not.  

The flight was about an hour an forty five minutes.  We disembarked from the back of the plane, down the stairs and had to walk a bit to get to the building for passport control.  You also had to pay for arriving on the island (our cost was covered and we had a QR code). You also had to present a QR code that you completed the forms to enter the islands.  It sounds more complicated than it was, they prepared us well.