We are booked!

Well, all obstacles have been overcome (except for poordom but whatever). Val's condo mates rejected the proposed renos, VIHA approved her vacation and I just follow blissfully along.  Once Val's vacation time was officially approved, we booked our flight.  This turned out to be more confusing than we had anticipated.  It turns out that there are a variety of routes and airlines one can chose to get to Ecuador.  We narrowed it down to two.  One with United that had one layover in Houston (9 hours!) on the way down and two layovers on the way back (Houston, Denver).  The second option was with Air Canada; two layovers each way (Toronto, Columbia).  Option one had one less stop over and was only one day flight (19 hrs) but it was $400 more.  Option two was overnight each way (24 hrs), one more layover but no stopping in the States where they make you go through customs even if you aren't leaving the airport.  Option two was also Air Canada, which dedicated blog readers know, I hate.  But I had heard bad things about United too and AC International isn't near as bad as AC domestic.  We were going to go with United but the site wouldn't let us complete our transaction, so we ended up on Air Canada anyway.  I am ok with that.  Plus, we were able to tack on a few more days on the end so we got another weekend out of the deal for no extra cost (to make up for the two lost days of travel).  So, all told, $1100 round trip tickets.  Cheaper than I thought, and we fly out of Vancouver, no Seattle, which makes life easier.  Our flight out leaves in the evening and return in the early afternoon so we don't even have to spend an extra night in Vancouver.  With United we would have been overnight both ways. 

We even got to book our seats right away.

Itinerary:
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Travelling to Quito
Wed 22 Feb 2012
Vancouver (YVR) Depart 10:30 pm Terminal MAIN TERMINAL	to	Toronto (YYZ) Arrive 5:59 am +1 day Terminal 1	3,355 km (2,085 mi) Duration: 4hr 29mn	AC Air Canada Flight: 156
3Economy/Coach Class ( 29K, 29H ), Food For Purchase, Boeing 767-300
Thu 23 Feb 2012
Toronto (YYZ) Depart 1:55 pm Terminal 1	to	Bogota (BOG) Arrive 7:45 pm Terminal 1	4,352 km (2,704 mi) Duration: 5hr 50mn	AC Air Canada Flight: 962
3Economy/Coach Class ( 29K, 29H ), Meal, Boeing 767-300
Bogota (BOG) Depart 10:00 pm Terminal 1	to	Quito (UIO) Arrive 11:30 pm	721 km (448 mi) Duration: 1hr 30mn	AV Avianca Flight: 7377 Operated by: AEROLINEAS GALAPAGOS S.A. AEROGAL
3Economy/Coach Class ( Seat assignments upon check-in ), Meal, Airbus A320
Total distance: 8,428 km (5,237 mi) Total duration: 11hr 49mn (22hr 0mn with connections)
Travelling to Vancouver			Note: Your airport check-in is with AEROLINEAS GALAPAGOS S.A. AEROGAL.
Mon 26 Mar 2012
Quito (UIO) Depart 6:50 pm	to	Bogota (BOG) Arrive 8:20 pm Terminal 1	721 km (448 mi) Duration: 1hr 30mn	AV Avianca Flight: 7376 Operated by: AEROLINEAS GALAPAGOS S.A. AEROGAL
3Economy/Coach Class ( Seat assignments upon check-in ), Meal, Airbus A320
Bogota (BOG) Depart 10:55 pm Terminal 1	to	Toronto (YYZ) Arrive 6:00 am +1 day Terminal 1	4,352 km (2,704 mi) Duration: 6hr 5mn	AC Air Canada Flight: 963
3Economy/Coach Class ( 29K, 29H ), Breakfast, Boeing 767-300
Tue 27 Mar 2012
Toronto (YYZ) Depart 10:00 am Terminal 1	to	Vancouver (YVR) Arrive 12:00 pm Terminal MAIN TERMINAL	3,355 km (2,085 mi) Duration: 5hr 0mn	AC Air Canada Flight: 181
3Economy/Coach Class ( 27D, 27C ), Food For Purchase, Airbus A320 _________________________________________________________________________ We booked our flight on Dec 22.  Then Christmas happened.  But now planning is back on track.  Val and I went to the Nova Travel Clinic.  We both completed out Hep A&B and Val had to get Yellow Fever.  Mine is still good from Africa.  If we decide to head into the Amazon basin, we have to prove Yellow Fever Vaccination or they won't let us in.  Apparently, we might try to make out with previously undiscovered tribal people. Uncontacted Tribe in Amazon  Yesterday, we met up to do a bit of shopping.  Val wanted a weatherproof back pack cover since we will be there in the rainy season.  We bought goggles for Galapagos and I bought a new backpack.  My old one still smells of DEET from my Cuba incident.  Plus, the new one is just a bit bigger and it has an attached day pack.  Plus, bonus, it has a built in raincover.  That feature alone half paid for the pack since to buy a new separate one would have been over $40.  Now, I just have to be careful not to use that extra space when I am deciding what to take.  Which reminds me.  Mom and Bill were very generous this Christmas and gave me some cash for my trip.   Plus, Kirsten and Tommy gave a surprise Future Shop gift card so I was able to buy a new Netbook (plus the backpack).  Thanks everyone.  I assume that some parts of Ecuador won't have easy Internet access.  The Netbook will allow me to keep up to date with the blog.  I can just jot down my daily notes and then upload when I get wifi.