DAY 35 SAT. NOV. 3 QUITO - ATLANTA - TORONTO

Montezuma finally left me, tired and slightly weak. I slept the morning away in the hotel room, managed to rally myself in the early afternoon, showered, shaved, went down to the lobby for some exercise and made myself some tea. All in all, it was a completely relaxing day.

Lou, meanwhile, roused herself and joined the final activities that Pablo had laid on for the day. An hour and a half bus ride took them to the town of Mindo, where they walked in the cloud forest and saw a lovely waterfall. Later, Lou said she really enjoyed a time at a butterfly sanctuary, where she was able to attract many exotic species of the gentle and delicate creatures to perch on her hand. This was followed up with visits to view orchids and hummingbirds.

On the bus rides, Lou was able to make a new friend: Pablo's vivacious 8 year old daughter, Camilla. Based on the photos, it seems that a friendship for life was forged.

Lou came back to the hotel exhilarated but tired. She cleaned up and we met our intrepid group for our final dinner in Quito. After several heart-felt goodbyes, we journeyed to Quito's airport for the long flights back to Canada.

The flight from Quito to Atlanta was one of the roughest I've ever experienced. Constant turbulence was our reward for a long trip away from home. We tried to sleep through it, but the buffetting was too much: there was no good movie or TV to watch, so I contented myself by listening to the Bee Gees resurrect the disco era between dozes. We landed safely in Atlanta at the crack of dawn only to endure a 6 hour lay-over in a non-descript airport terminal ( aren't they all the same? ) before a smoother and calmer 2 hour flight back to Toronto. The smiling faces of Frank and Jen greeted us as we nursed our badly injured suitcases one last time. As Frank carried my bag into our house in Newmarket, the final injury happened: the top handle finally ripped itself from my bag. Success !!! It made it through the trip, and will now occupy a distinguished spot in our local landfill when the next garbage pick-up comes around. Lou's bag will be right beside it.

We began the arduous task of picking through the dirty clothes, souvenirs, papers, and photos of our trip. Was it real? Were we really in South America? Did we walk among the ruins of Macchu Picchu, step over marine iguanas in the Galapagos, listen to enchanting Andean music, and walk among clouds, rivers, mountains, jungles and cities? We need sleep and we need it now. Tomorrow is another day, although in more familiar surroundings and cooler weather. South America already seems distant ......