Guillermo was ready for us at 7.45am. Andy just had time to weigh our bags to make sure we were within our limit.
The drive to the airport was super easy – no traffic – so we were there soon after 8.10am. If only all airport rides were that easy. On the way, we passed Panama Viejo, and saw a few ruins.
The check in was fine. Breakfast wasn’t. There wasn’t a lot of choice. The food was okay, and the coffee a little less than okay. We had planned to be at the airport 2.5 hours before we were due to take off. But with the easy journey in and our flight time being pushed back by 25 minutes, we had a lot of time to kill. Waiting to board our flights, I made a start on researching our next destination – and as the internet connection was fine, I purchased the Lonely Planet e-book. Andy went off to explore the shops, came back, went off to get a much better coffee and then had to leave half of it behind as they called our flight.
We flew with Copa Airlines. We got decent seats. When the food arrived, it turned out that they’d lost our vegetarian requests, so we made do with a bread roll and a small salad. Clearly today’s not going to be our lucky day for food.
Looking at the flight map, we thought about how we were flying over all the countries we’ve visited over the last nine weeks in less than three hours.
How can we sum up these past nine weeks?
There were some discoveries and revelations. Some places will stay with us forever; some we can’t wait to go back to. We’ve enjoyed the landscapes, the scenery, the cultures, the food, the weather, the many people we have been lucky to meet. I would do it all over again; I don’t think I was ready to leave Central America. Andy knowing we were leaving got himself mentally ready and is looking forward to the next chapter of our trip.
There were some casualties:
- My hairbrush
- My sunglasses
- A jumper left behind by accident
- Andy’s flip flops (he no longer flops)
- His sandals
- His shorts never seen again after our first cenote (forgotten? Misplaced?)
And a few disappointments. We never really got to grips with Guatemala (probably the country we were most looking forward to) and the food in Panama which for us was mostly stodgy western food. We never managed to sort out surfing anywhere.
Some odd numbers:
- Countries visited: 8
- Beers consumed: 35 (Florence), 37 (Andy)
- Photos taken: 21,000 (we have a lot of deleting to do!)
After 6 hours and 40 mins, we landed in L.A.
Andy sailed through immigration. I didn’t. I had one of those guys who get a power trip out of the job and the uniform. The conversation didn’t go well. I had to bite my tongue and think before I spoke (not one of my strengths) but that annoyed him even more as I took too long to respond. Anyway, to cut an unpleasant incident short (and this is by far the worse thing that’s happened to me on this trip), he let me in… so I could get out again.
I’d like to say that we walked into Trump’s America, didn’t like what we saw and turned around.
Or I could say that the low temperature (14C!!!), the mist and the rain did not appeal to us so we turned around.
But the reality is that we’d never planned to spend anytime in Los Angeles. We’re here because of our flights and so we walked ten minutes to terminal B and waited for our check-in to open – over two hours. And then we found out that again the vegetarian meals we’d ordered were not registered, and it was now too late to get them.
Onto security. Yes, of course my bag was picked up for inspection and emptied. And I was asked some ridiculous questions.
This is how bad things are right now. I’m sitting opposite a bar that has Californian, wines, and I’m drinking water. I need the stress headache to go away.
The best (worse?) thing about the departure lounge is a souvenir shop… full of Trump crap. I looked in disgust, not knowing whether to laugh or cry #resist
Hmmm… an airport day, and not one of our best ones.
You’ve covered an amazing amount of ground at a cracking pace. It will be very interesting to read your reflections in a few weeks when the dust has settled and you’re in more settled lands (and have been able to eat some decent food again). Question: what proportion of the Trump merchandise was pro and how much anti? Seems mixed from the photos.
Sadly, it was more pro-Trump than not. There was even a life-size cardboard cut out. Is it a gimmick to keep tourists entertained? Is it because Los Angeles is a big airport with a lot of footfall from other states? So unlike California.
Ok, so 21,000 photos I can believe, but only 35/37 beers? Really?
Really. I’m counting the beers because beer money was my mantra when I was saving for the trip. There’s been many margaritas, mezcal, a few wine glasses here and there, three bottles of wine… and plenty of rum.
Fear not, we’re not going thirsty.
Where there protests at LAX when you flew thru? I have really enjoyed reading about your continued journey! Some day I will make it to Tahiti!
No protests. I had hoped to see some so I could give them some exposure, but I can’t remember whether the judge had reversed the decision by then already. We did see a stall where people could leave food for families waiting for their loved ones however.