11 PM:

Quito from the airplane. Photo by Ryan Merrill

The only place I want to be is in bed. Instead, I am back at the Quito airport looking for my lost luggage. I was smart enough to pack my binoculars and a change of clothes in my daypack, but was a fool and stored away all my toiletries (including contacts) and camera equipment in my checked bag. In other words, I'm freaking out.

I arrived in Quito around 7 pm on a flight from Miami with four other members of the trip. I recognized two of them in Miami from the online young birder circles, and the other two I found because there just aren't that many twenty-somethings who wander around airports carrying spotting scopes. Lori Fujimoto, ABA Education Manager, met us cheerfully when we arrived in Quito, but as we drove away from the airport I had to accept the fact that I might not be reunited with my luggage for the next week. At the hostel I was rapidly introduced to seven other members of the group, plus Iain Campbell (co-founder of Tropical Birding) and Bill Maynard (ABA Field Events Manager). Quito had misplaced Bill's bags when he arrived yesterday and I ask him about getting his bag back. "It was terrible," he says with a comforting smile. I tell Iain about my luggage and explain that the airline representative had told me that they would deliver my luggage to the hostel when it was found. "Did you believe her?" Iain asks, and I admit that I was having serious doubts. Knowing how often this happens, Iain says that I can go back to the airport later on with Lori when she returns to pick up the remaining members of the group who are arriving from Houston.

Quito. Photo by Lauren Harter

So here I am, back at the airport. Iain has sent Renato with me, a trusted employee of Tropical Birding and an expert at handling difficult situations. After a rapid and assertive discussion with the airport security, Renato informs me that I am free to travel back through the customs area to look for my bag. I find my way back to the airline desk and spot my luggage sitting at the bottom of a heap. Amazed and suddenly heartened, I wrench it from the pile and whisk it back out through customs. We meet the remaining members of the group and head back to the hostel sometime after 1 AM. It's late and I'm tired, but with my mind at peace, I'm finally ready for birding.

Prologue – Day One – Day Two – Day Three – Day Four – Day Five – Day Six – Epilogue