15/06/2019 - Travel Day, Sacha lodge to Quito, Ecuador

A nice long lie in today, the knock was at 07:00, although I think we were all awake before! It is nice to have a body clock that wakes you up early although it will take some discipline to keep it like that for the rest of our travels! We got up and put our luggage outside our rooms, where it would be collected and taked all the way to the airport for us. Then we went down to breakfast, enjoying the view across the lake for the last time. We met at the canoes and got paddled across the lake by Jimmy. We saw some bats sleeping and a few birds, and tried to absorb as much as we could on our last little canoe ride! I think we are all sad to leave, it has been a very special trip and an unforgettable experience, it is pretty unique! On the other hand, I think we are all looking forward to some laundry, a good shower, and to get away from the humidity. It is hard to imagine going back to backpacking again after the luxury of the last week, but I’m sure we will get back into the swing of things soon enough. Our suitcases are a good few kilograms heavier than they were on the way to the rainforest, just from the humidity! We walked along the boardwalk to the motorised dinghy and did the two hour journey up the Napo river to Coca. Then we walked up the road into a casa where there was coffee and wifi, a little base to wait until we were transported over to the airport. There we checked in and waited in the tiny airport for our flight. Josh found the little café and bought some small tasters of the Ecuadorian chocolate brand Pacari that had been recommended by our guide. We are hoping to find the Pacari chocolate shop in Quito to buy some more! Then we boarded our tiny little 50 seater plane, this time I sat next to dad. Dad used his new iphone to take some pictures of the vast rainforest during takeoff, and I edited the diary a bit for the 30 minute flight. We landed and collected our bags and were met by our driver that dad had arranged via our accommodation. We drove back to the old town Quito suites apartments that we had stayed in the previous week, and got shown into a different apartment from last time. I think the hosts had some satisfaction from showing us another of the beautifully detailed apartments and seeing us explore it a little. We made some coffee and a snack before unpacking our things. Everything is damp from the humidity so within minutes the place looked like a bomb had hit it, everything hanging up to try and dry it off. We had some downtime enjoying the wifi and chill, and then had a nice hot shower, which didn’t disappoint. We relaxed in the lounge area together and ordered a takeaway on Uber eats, I think we are all happy to just chill in the apartment for the evening.