Saturday, July 30, 2005

We checked out of Mawamba and took the boat and then a bus home.  There were three people on the boat/ bus that were part of a volunteer trip through the Houston zoo (they were the ones tagging turtles) so we all talked to them, especially Genevieve who hit it off with a woman named Tara. Again tons and tons of migrating butterflies.  We arrived back at Hotel Grano de Oro to find our rental car still there!!  Oh no!  The front desk called Budget but nobody there knew anything about it, and the downtown office (which was literally a block away) was closed.  The front desk assured us that they would take care of it in the morning.  We checked into our new room, unfortunately just a single with a king bed and a cot this time because the family suite was taken.  It’s okay though, there was good lighting, a super nice bathroom and a tv so we were happy.  We went to KFC for dinner (again mingling with the locals) and then let the kids watch tv while we did our final packing.  And so to bed.

Sunday, July 31, 2005

We got our wakeup call at 5:30 and got the kids up and ready and we were eating breakfast by 7:00.  Our cab picked us up right at 7:30 as planned, and we got to the airport in plenty of time to pay the departure tax ($26.00 per person!), check in, and go through the security line.  The kids played with the other kids on our flight in the waiting area.  In Dallas, we had to clear customs and then go back through security (why do they bring you outside of security in the first place?!) and then walk and walk and walk to our gate, stopping for dinner at McDonalds along the way.  This flight was kind of a nightmare–I don’t know what got into Genevieve but difficult doesn’t begin to describe it.  And Charlotte was no help either, climbing all over me, spilling her apple juice all over me, and generally being a nuisance. Thankfully there was a kind woman next to Mark who entertained G for the remainder of the flight.  And back home, where are pets and house were thankfully more or less as we left them.  And as a postscript, I did finally hear back from Budget, at some point they reclaimed their car and we were only charged up until the 26th, thank goodness.

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