Four changes of flights and 9 days delay later, we’re both over covid and on our way! An enormous thank you to the Pank seniors who looked after us during our convalescence with endless patience and good humour.
First stop - Miami
International air travel isn’t what it used to be. Covid tests, certificates, vaccination records, ESTAs, enormous queues for check in… Long story short, after arriving at Heathrow 4 hours in advance of our flight, we only just had time to neck a glass of champagne (some traditions have to be upheld) before walking in that uniquely British fast-waddle to our gate to make our flight!
We arrived into Miami at 7pm and made it through US immigration in a tortuous hour and a half…. By 9pm we were heading to FedEx to drop off our bicycle cases to ship
them to our friends in Seattle, where we’ll see them in a couple of months (thank you Holly and Cliff!) It was a relief to get rid of those things. Bikes are far easier to ride than they are to cart around airports (both our boxes weighed in at 23kg, and a metre squared!) All the logistics done, and feeling considerably lighter, we finally managed to meet our friend Alba.
Alba and Lisa met in Washington DC and went on many adventures together - camping in Delaware, Maryland, Utah, and California and a trip to Colombia. Since Lisa left DC in 2010 they haven’t spent much time together and so this was a great chance to reconnect after all these years. Alba lives in Coral Gables, Miami, and the area is full of amazing trees – one in particular which had floor-length beardy fronds.
After a sweaty morning run to Vizcaya for Lisa, while Will drafted a submission letter to a literary agent for his book, we headed out to North Beach to hire some bikes and cycle up the coast to Surfside. We had a quick trip to South Beach to see the Art Deco buildings before we were whisked away to Calle Ocho to have a culinary delight called Frita Cubana (a spiced mix of beef and pork mince, and julienned fried potato in a bread roll), batido de papaya (papaya milkshake) and platanos maduros (fried plantains that you just don’t seem to be able to get in the UK). Little Havana was full of music, wonderful smells, buzzing cafes, and old men playing dominoes. It was true escapism.
Then it was time to get our late flight to Guayaquil, a few precious hours’ sleep, and then back to the airport to get to Galapagos where we’re meeting Charlie (Will’s older brother), Helen (sister-in-law), Roo and Kit (The Nephews).