Mateo and Pablo with their welcome home sign.

So we arrived safely as you know but not without some hiccups. We came through the immigration in Guayaquil and once again were the last out. We realized after getting our passports stamped that Amandas did not have the correct stamp (she needed it to say she had 2 years). The guy had been distracted by some dodgy characters in the next booth so I guess it was understandable. Anyway we went back in to get it changed but by then they were going home so the chappy wrote her details down and promised to put it in the computer. Yeah right as the Tui add in NZ says!

Anyway that meant the next day (after a long hungry night - we had arrived too late to get any food, thankfully we had some licorice to get us by) after going to the Bethel to get Amandas visa sorted, we would have to go to the immigration dept. When we saw the queue of 20 odd people I thought "oh blow this - I'm playing the ignorant gringo card" and just went up to the counter. Upshot is we were there only about 20 minutes so I like that card!

Then Hma Mena helped us find our way to a transport company which for $80 took us and our copious baggage up to Cuenca. It was a bit of a hairy trip as there was times when the driver had hardly any visibility and also very poor judgment as to when to pass other vehicles. Oh well we made it!

Chad and Michele had made us a delicious lunch/dinner and the Ochoas were here to welcome us, so it was nice. Even nicer to fall into bed though!