Flight to Buenos Aires - The Bad and The Good

My flight to Buenos Aires sucked.

First of all, I had to fork over a whopping $40.80 as departure tax at the airport. Totally unexpected. I could deal with $10, even $20...but $40?! Come on!!!!! I understand that Quito needs this money to build a larger, more modern airport outside of the city. But I was NOT happy to part with my precious cash considering that I most likely won't be reaping the benefits of a new airport in Ecuador anytime soon.
Secondly, the flight had 2 stopovers, not just the one in Santiago listed on my ticket. This, too, was totally unexpected. Less than an hour after we took off from Quito, we were back on the ground in Guayaquil. Picking up more passengers, along with fuel. From what I've gathered, ALL international flights make a stopover in Guayaquil to refuel, since the airport at Quito isn't big enough to accommodate all the planes and the fuel storage. Huh. No wonder the city needs a new airport.

So, from there onto Santiago and then finally to BA. 6 takeoffs and landings in less than 10 hours on a redeye flight certainly wasn't conducive to a good night's sleep.

Onto the good...
A) I ran into one of the couples on my Galapagos cruise at the Quito airport, on their way back to the UK. Chatted with them in the lounge until boarding time. Hopefully, they'll send me video clips of the dancing blue footed boobies.
B) One of the most colorful sunrises over the Andes. Interestingly, it's a "flight rule" to keep the fastened seat belt signs on when going over the mountains. Never heard that one before....don't think they do it for any other mountain passes I've flown over.
C) Recovered my passport. I seriously can't believe this, but I left my passport on the counter at the toilets when I went to relieve myself while waiting for my bags to come out. I realized my mess when I was heading towards customs.....CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP!!!! Ran back to the toilets, and luckily, the cleaning woman had picked it up and handed it back to me saying "this must be yours!" Thank goodness. There must be a god watching over me.
But I wonder what would've happened had I not recovered my passport then. I mean, I was in between countries...stamped into Argentina but hadn't gotten out thru customs. They probably can't send me back to where the flight originated in Ecuador without a passport. Would I have had to be escorted away on a flight to Japan somehow?!?!?!
Anyways,
D) I made it to Buenos Aires! Yaaaaaaaaay : ) Beautiful weather. On top of that, I found a guy to share a taxi ride to the hostel from the airport bus drop-off point. And, he picked up 90% of the tab. Thanks!!!

Now, great city life awaits. Hehe.