Long Layovers - Have you ever booked a flight with one? I have always found long layovers to be interesting, especially if you are able to secure more than 8 hours in the city. This allows for ample time to venture out of the airport and make the day an adventure.
My favorite long layover was not during my 3 month trip through Latin America. It was the 9 hour layover in London from noon-9PM with my friend Erin on our way to South Africa in April 2015. A co-worker of ours put together this amazing walking tour of the city. We grabbed some fish and chips then headed back to the airport. It was a great day and perfect timing!
During my 3 month trip in South America, I had 4 long layovers. Although these layovers didn't live up to that one wonderful day in London, I still had some really cool experiences that are definitely worth sharing. I enjoyed these layovers so much, I attempted to book a flight back to the States with an 8 hour layover in San Salvador. Unfortunately, this flight didn’t actually exist on United so I wasn’t able to explore another new city.
With that said, here is a summary of my 4 layovers, beginning with my favorite layover.
Layover #1 - Buenos Aires, Argentina 7/02/17 11:00 AM to 9:00 PM.
This layover was between my boyfriend and my flight from Puerto Iguazu, Argentina to Mendoza, Argentina. Before traveling to Iguazu, we spent a week in Buenos Aires from Sunday to Friday. We didn't stay in the San Telmo neighborhood until Monday because Justin put us up in a luxury hotel for my birthday (which I absolutely loved - but that's a story for another time). The San Telmo market is every Sunday, which we didn’t know during the week we had in BA. Long and behold, our layover back through Buenos Aires happened to bed on a Sunday!! Since I've always loved little markets, I was excited we were going to be able to go to one in San Telmo!
We made our way via bus to the San Telmo neighborhood. I was blown away with the sheer size of the market. I expected it to be in the building located on Google Maps. But no, it spanned the entire neighborhood!
You can't see it too well, but the street was completely filled with people all the way past the stop light. 😱
We spent all day wandering around looking at the unique set of goods being sold here. The market was offering a lot of antiques, leather goods, and some other trinkets. Of all the things we could have bought I ended up with....a belt. Which I've now lost. Never even got a chance to wear it 🙈
We ended the layover relaxing with a bottle of Malbec at an outdoor concert. There were all sorts of little concerts like this happening at the market. We'd spent an entire week in BA and felt the city was somewhat lackluster and sleepy. This market totally transformed our views - it was so lively!
Layover 2 - Lima, Peru Part 2 - 8/5/17 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
As you will find out in more detail below, I did not enjoy my first long layover in Lima, Peru. This second time around I did it right. I headed straight to Mira Flores - an upscale neighborhood in Lima with a long walking path along the Pacific Ocean.
First thing I did when I exited my uber was sit down and attempt to get Justin's drone working for the first time in almost 3 weeks. As I was trying to calibrate the compass, I was approach by a Peruvian man who wanted to chat. He basically professed his love for me after five minutes of speaking (in Spanish of course). It was an awkward situation for me, but great Spanish practice right??
I made my way down this lovely path along the Pacific Ocean.
Eventually, I ate some ceviche for the last time in Peru. It would have been great except that day my stomach (or mind?) didn't appreciate eating really big pieces of basically raw fish.
I explored more and headed back to the airport. This neighborhood of Lima was extremely nice. I am so glad I had my second chance to explore!
Layover 3 - Panama City, Panama 6/24/176:00AM to 4:00 PM
The best part of this layover was meeting up with my boyfriend after being a part for 5 weeks! Our flights landed within 10 minutes of each other . We had the same flight later that day from Panama City to Buenos Aires. The only reason I ended up flying through Panama City from Cusco to Buenos Aires (clearly out of the way for me) was my dumb boyfriend convinced me it was a good idea. Was it? Well, maybe. Maybe not.
We took an expensive Uber into Bariloche - a super cute neighborhood near the water where we ate breakfast and walked around. It was the first time I was able to play with Justin’s new DJI Spark drone! We nearly flew it into the ocean, but somehow managed to keep it intact and got some cool pics!
We then headed out to the Panama Canal because Justin is a nerd and wanted to watch the boats go by. I was pleasantly surprised I found learning about the engineering efforts that went into the Panama Canal.
We watched a quick movie in the museum, watched one boat go through canal, and ate some ice cream. After, we headed back to the airport and relaxed in the Copa Airline lounge.
We were thankful the lounge had showers available! It was humid and in the high 80's in Panama City. I was recovering from being sick. I was not doing well in the humid heat. It was so hot I was dumping water on my head and trying to strip off as many clothes as possible. The water bottle in the drone pick below was probably taken right after I dumped water on my head. The actual shower in the lounge was very welcomed.
This was my first business class flight. It was amazing! It was a good way to bring in my 27th birthday! I'm now a perfect cube!
Layover 4 - Lima, Peru Part 1 - 6/23/17 12:30 PM to 2:15AM (6/24/17)
This wasn’t exactly a layover, but a 14 hour stay in Lima before Layover #2. I was very sick after my Machu Picchu trek, which ended the day prior. I was so sick and delirious, I showed up to the airport in Cusco 3 hours before my flight. My first stop in Lima was a farmacia where I purchased more antibiotics. I then stopped to eat where I purchased the menu del dia. This was a Chinese Peruvian crossover, which is known as Chifa.
I then made my way to the Corta Verde Beach. I was sad to realize the entire beach was under construction. I found a little opening and sat on this smelly, rocky beach.
I wanted to find a bar with wifi to relax in for the evening. I found this cafe, which closed about 30 minutes after I sat down. The employee referred me to a nearby shopping center with a cafe. Upon arrival, I realized it was a grocery store with a cafeteria and movie theater next door.
Movie theater? Hmmm, that sounds like a great way to kill some extra time. So I saw Marvella Mujer or in English Marvel Women (spelling). It was in English with Spanish subtitles.
After, I made my way back to the airport where I waited to be allowed into the gate. If you can’t tell, this was not the best long layover.
So there you have it! My adventures through random cities.
