What happened after we cancelled our Galapagos tour in Ecuador due to civil unrest?

It is now 4 months since we made a hasty return from Mexico rather than continue our plans to travel from Oaxaca Mexico to Quito Ecuador and on to the Galapagos Islands. You may remember that 2 days before our flight to Quito Ecuador an Ecuadorian drug lord escaped from prison and all hell broke loose in Ecuador. The president declared a state of emergency and cities were locked down. Lance and I were in total agreement that Ecuador was not the place for us to be traveling to at that time and we immediately went into action. We contacted the US and NZ consolates to get more information and also our travel agent and travel insurance on their emergency number. Our travel agent contacted Intrepid Tours to find out what was going on and to cancel our tour. Of course, they have a cancellation policy, and we were only 2 days out from starting the $13,000 6-day boat tour of the Galapagos Islands. They made it very clear that they would not be refunding any money and assured us that it was completely safe to land in Ecuador. The news report advised us otherwise, with armed soldiers and tanks patrolling the streets, people working from home and schools closed. The problem was that the government advised: Exercise increased caution in Ecuador due to civil unrest, crime, and kidnapping. Some areas have increased risk. Please note that this warning is still in place! Because it was level 2 it meant that people could cross the border, therefore our tour would still be going ahead. But without us! Lance and I were in complete agreement that we would not risk traveling to Ecuador at that time. Our wonderful travel agent Samara from Flight Centre Eastridge took charge and gave us some options to travel home. We paid for another night's accommodation in Oaxaca Mexico, which was no hardship as it is a fabulous place. Then our cheapest option was to fly home via Mexico City and into Houston for 4 nights and then home to Auckland New Zealand. We paid the extra money and took this option. You can read about the fun we had (not) in Houston in my previous posts. Then we began the game of recovering some of our costs. Intrepid Travel was not interested, they offered us a 10% discount on another tour. Which was an insult as they were advertising a 20% discount at the time. They would not talk to us and we had a couple of pretty ordinary emails. However ... Southern Cross Travel, who we had our insurance with, was fantastic. Initially, they said that we may not qualify for any refund but they may consider a claim. We were treated with respect and the person who managed our case was empathetic and we felt listened to. Consequently, we were refunded all of our 'out-of-pocket' costs. A total of $16,901! How amazing is that! To conclude, we will never use Intrepid Travel again, we have traveled with them in the past but, I repeat, we will never use them again. And, we will only use Southern Cross Travel Insurence and will sing their praises wherever we land!

Lamb Shanks in a Hearty Red Wine Gravy

 

Lamb Shanks to warm the cockles of your heart!

Interesting info about why we say 'warm the cockles of your heart'

The word cockles is derived from the Latin cochleae cordis, which refers to the chambers of the heart. 

Lamb Shanks

Ingredients 

4 lamb shanks 2 large onions 3 or 4 cloves of garlic 1 tablespoon of tomato paste 300 mls (approx) of red wine 750 mls (approx) good beef stock 1 tablespoon or so of cooking oil A couple of bay leaves Salt and ground pepper Lemon zest (optional)

Roux: 1 or 2 tablespoons of flour 1 or 2 tablespoons of soft butter

Heat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius.

Add the oil to the pot and brown each lamb shank on all sides then remove.

Slice the onions and in a large heavy pot slowly fry them in the oil, keep the heat low and slow to reduce the acidity and draw out the sugars.

When the onions are clear and very soft, add the garlic either finely chopped or crushed and slowly saute with the onions.

Add the tomato paste and mix through the onions until it has warmed through.

Add pepper to taste.

Turn up the heat and stir the red wine into the onion mix. Cook fast until the alcohol smell has disappeared from the steam.

Add the bay leaves, lemon zest, and stock, and bring to a boil.

Add the shanks. Try and position the shanks so that they are covered as much as possible by the stock mixture.

Make sure the pot is boiling, if you put it in the oven if it is too cool it will add to the cooking time. Pop a lid on and place it in the oven.

Check regularly and after approximately 2 hours, or when the meat is falling off the bone remove it from the oven and salt to taste.

Remove the shanks, be careful because they should be falling apart!

If there is a layer of fat on top it is a good idea to skim it now. You can save this to roast some potatoes, mmmm mmmmm.

Make a roux with equal parts flour and butter mixed, and add gradually to the boiling stock mix stirring well until it reaches the desired consistency. I like mine to be nice and thick.

Place the shanks back into the pot and the oven for around 20 minutes or boil the mixture on the stovetop to cook the flour and then add the shanks. Caution, a thick mixture may catch on the pot bottom when on the stovetop.

Cooking time can vary, I try for 2 hours, or until the meat is falling off the bone.

This recipe can be used in a pressure cooker. Cook for 20 to 30 minutes, again, the meat should be falling off the bone.

Serve with creamy mashed potatoes and greens.