30th
Had to get up far too early (I’m never drinking again!) to go for a 5.45am panga ride around the nearby estuary. Large shallow sheltered bay with lots of mangroves growing on the basalt rocks. Saw lots of wildlife. Large and small eagle ray. A school of baby white tipped reef sharks. Lots of boobies and pelicans. We stopped at the end of the bay and a nearby mangrove branch was shaking violently. Juan Carlos looked closer and declared that there was a Turtle caught in the branch. We watched for a couple of minutes concerned for the poor creature until we realised it was two turtles having sex!
Back on the boat we had breakfast and packed our bags ready to leave for the airport.




There was a couple of numbered envelopes on our bed for the tips for naturalist and crew. The brochure for the cruise devotes an entire page to explaining what the suggested tip should be and going to great pains to point out that it is optional and the crew are paid good wages etc etc. We both thought the suggested amount was a bit high and the week long trip had already cost us a small fortune being about 50% higher than expected thanks to the Aussie dollar's performance the last couple of months. Ecuador's currency is USD.
We left the crew $60USD as they had been very friendly and helpful and they worked pretty hard to keep the boat clean.
Juan Carlos we left $20USD as although he had been informative during our trips and was happy to answer questions, some of the information he was giving us was incorrect (he needs to study up on his geomorphology) and despite him putting on a friendly face he was kind of a jerk.
Everyone gave him his tip envelope before we left the boat and he shot off to his cabin to check the numbered envelopes to see how much people gave him. “Oh dear” I thought. Are the low tippers going to get their bags accidentally dropped in the water while offloading?
He seemed to be quietly fuming to himself on the bus trip to the airport and when we all got off the bus he decided it was time to show us what a jerk he really was and declared that in all the years he has been doing tours he has never been so insulted and turning on a nice young Dutch couple he said they can have their $5 back and thrust a $10 note into the guys hand. He said this isn’t $5 and tried to give it back but Juan Carlos turned his back and walked away leaving them in tears of embarassment.
Up until that morning the trip had been perfect, what a way to leave a bad taste in everyone’s mouths! And to single them out in front of the group and give them $10 back was just nasty. We all wanted to ask for our tips back then but he still had all our plane tickets to book in our luggage so we were kind of stuck with him. He came back a few minutes later in damage-control mode and apologised for his behaviour but didn’t seem too sincere about it.

After booking in we had an hour to wait so went to the airport cafeteria and watched Darwin Finches hopping around on the tables eating crumbs.

The flight back to Quito was uneventful but boring as we had to stay on the plane for an hour while refuelling at Guayaquil.

29th
Visited the island of Rabida. Lots of cactus trees and sea lions on the beach. A large iron ore deposit makes up the island so it is very red including the sand on the beach. Salt lagoon behind the dunes which is currently too salty to support any animals although it used to have lots of flamingos.
Snorkelled off the beach and saw a blue footed boobie diving underwater for fish as well as a Penguin! The penguin just swam underneath me and rapidly disappeared but I was happy to have seen it.

Afternoon trip to an island called Sombrero Chino (Chinaman’s Hat) which was a rocky volcanic cone. Sarah didn’t bring shoes as a lot of the previous ‘rocky’ walks were able to be done barefoot but this walk was on sharp jagged lava flows and crushed coral! I shared her pain and she wore my sandals on the return trip. Very painful going! The crushed coral was the worst.

On the way back to the boat we detoured along the coastline and finally saw some elusive Galapago Penguins sitting among the rocks.

At dinner we had a drink with the crew as it was our last night on board. Juan Carlos thanked us in advance for the generous tips we would be leaving the next day and explained that envelopes would be left in our cabins the next morning. One for his tip and one for the crew.

Everyone stayed up quite late playing cards and drinking and we depleted the beer supply for the second time in the week so the cook had to take the Panga to go get more from Nemo II which was fortunately moored nearby.

Visited the island of Bartholome which was a stark volcanic cone and one of the youngest islands in Galapagos. We climbed to the top of the ‘volcano’ and had a great view out over the area. The island had very little vegetation, some Lava cactus’ and small shrubs.
Getting back into the Panga, Domonique stepped in some sea lion poo and accidently smeared some on Lev’s leg. Bit of a stinky ride back to the Nemo after that!

Later we got to go snorkelling again being dropped off in a nearby bay by the Panga. We were told there was a chance of seeing penguins in a little bay but instead we had a cute little sea lion come and play with us for a while. He seemed to enjoy swimming around with us and we had fun diving under the water and playing with him.



On the way to the next island we had another large pod of dolphins swim along with the boat for a while.

In the afternoon we stopped on the island of Santiago and walked to “The Grottos” which were little canyons and undercutting of the basalt rocks along the shoreline. Saw sea lions swimming and sleeping along the sides. Lots of marine iguanas and pelicans.

Thurs 27th
Arrived in a bay after dark. Lots of sea lion noises.
Took the Panga to land on the beach and had a short walk on the island. Two little beaches. Massive cactus trees. Saw one land iguana and Galapagos Hawke on the sign.
20 minute cruise to a snorkelling area (first bay too dangerous due to bull sharks.)


I went to bed as I was feeling sick. Not sure why but I was feeling very nauseous since waking. Couldn’t eat any breakfast so skipped the snorkelling and lunch and slept on and off to 3.30pm when went ashore and visited the Charles Darwin research centre.


Saw some Galapagos Giant tortoises including “Lonesome George” who was found on one island 20 years ago as the last of his species. They had been trying to breed him since and he had a couple of female companions of a closely related species from another island but no success. They may try cloning him as a last resort but he is a youthful 85 years old so they still have 150 years or so to try breed him before needing to resort to that.
They also had baby tortoises who look so funny because they looked exactly like the big ones but only a few centimetres high. Like they had been shrunk!

Walked through the town to the dock to be picked up. Juan Carlos had ditched us to have coffee with a girlfriend. Lots of t-shirt (“I like Boobies” ones are popular) shops along the main street but very high prices. Saw a fish stall on the dock with some pelicans and a sea-lion keeping a close eye.
After dinner most people went back to the shore to go out in the town. I stayed in bed as I was still feeling sick. Apparently they had fun at the bars and caught a water taxi back to the boat just before midnight.

Wed 26th.
Woken up to the sounds of something being "shooed" up on deck and saw a sea lion walk over our cabin hatch! He then settled in outside our cabin window for an hour or so. So very cute!

Later we took the Panga to the beach, “wet landing” in the water with a small number of sea lions. Walked across the island from “green” beach on one side which had lots of small semi-precious stones (Malachite?) to “flour” beach on the other which was fine white sand from coral. Some turtle nests in the dunes.
Afternoon trip to post-office bay. Walked through a lava-tube (cave) before going to the “post office” which was a wooden barrel and tradition dating back to 1700s. You could leave a letter or postcard and someone who later visited might collect it and hand deliver it to the recipient. Someone went through calling out towns in case someone present lived there!

In the afternoon we left quite early as had a distance to cover before dinner. During previous days the boat had been doing most of the cruising during the night while we slept. They put the sails up (and left the motor on too) and we saw a massive pod of dolphins which must have numbered 50 or more. We all went up the front of the catamaran and sat on the netting as they swam with the boat below us.

Each evening we had the schedual for the next day written up on the whiteboard.

Typical schedual:

25/11
Island “Española”
“Punta Suarez”
7am Breakfast
8:15 Dry Landing, 2.5 hours, very rocky trail (circuit)
-Sea Lions, Marine Iguanas, Lava Lizards, Blue Footed Boobies, Hood Mockingbirds, Darwin Finches, Waved Albatross.
-The Blow-hole

-Departure 50min

“Bahia Gardner”
12pm Lunch
14:30 Wet Landing/snorkelling
2 hours free time at sandy beach, take snorkelling gear.
-Sea lions, Hood mockingbirds, migratory shorebirds, snorkelling off the beach.
18:30 Briefing
19:00 Dinner
20:00 Film (BBC Galapagos)

Morning Panga to island of Española. Off the boat onto rocks. Passed marine iguanas and a couple of sandy bays with baby sea lions waiting for their mothers. Some very small, newborns.
Walking across the island we saw a juvenile Galapagos Hawk which Juan Carlos was quite excited about as it’s unusual to see one so close. He said the hawk was hatched in the rocks nearby and he had seen it as a chick.

Came to the albatross “landing strip”. Clearance in the bushes with baby albatross hanging around under the trees. Albatross don’t build nests. One adult landed to feed a chick while we were watching.

Walked to nearby cliffs where the albatross’ go to take off. More marine iguanas on the rocks and a blow hole with some nesting Nazca Boobies which had green feet instead of blue. On the walk back to the boat we saw some blue-footed boobies doing their courting dance.

In the afternoon we snorkelled off the boat and went to nearby beach to sunbake and paddle with the sealions. Later we snorkelled off the beach. Saw sea lions, coral snake and lots of fish.

Lots of Boobies!

In the morning after breakfast we took the Panga (Rubber-ducky inflated boat) to another island which was very rocky and barren looking with lots of dead looking vegetation. As we were approaching the landing spot there was a bull sea lion swimming around in the water calling to warn off other males as this was his territory. Juan Carlos called back a few times which made him a bit mad so we had to scramble quickly out of the boat up onto the rocks.

There was a pair of Swallow-tails Gulls nesting close by. They are the worlds only nocturnal feeding gulls and were quite pretty for seagulls with red markings around their eyes.
Lots of sea lions close to the water and we had to step carefully around a suckling newborn and it’s mother lying on the path. The pathway was marked with white posts and we had to stay within them as there were lots of little Lava Lizards which nested in the sandy areas and might have been stepped on!

Walking further inland we saw nesting Frigate Birds which were jet-black apart from a bright red throat sack on the males which they inflated in order to attract females during breeding season. Takes hours and a lot of energy to inflate so they don’t eat for days when they do it. Basically sit there in the nest they build waiting for “the ladies” to fly over and admire their big red sack. They make some weird gutteral noises with it as well which our guide said was used for the pterodactyl calls in one of the Jurassic Park movies which is quite fitting because there is a prehistoric look about them.



After the Frigate birds we came to some nesting Blue-footed Boobies which were very funny looking birds. The adults are mostly white with bright blue feet. They are named Boobies from “Bobo" for clown as they are not very graceful walking on land and do a funny mating dance lifting their feet side to side and bowing to each other while whistling. Incredibly good divers while fishing though. Glide on the breeze over the water and just fold in the wings and shoot into the water like an arrow. We came across a juvenile Boobie and the guide tossed a small stick to him and he walked around flipping it in his beak, getting practice for when he would need to do it with fish.

After lunch we snorkelled off the Panga. Saw a sea lion zip past and some large white-tailed reef sharks and a squadron (What’s the collective noun for rays?) of maybe 20 eagle rays. Took a disposable underwater camera which is yet to be developed (film! What‘s that?) but Andy had a proper camera which was waterproof and got some good pics.


In the afternoon we went to another island which was inhabited by Land Iguanas. Most of the Iguanas in Galapagos are marine but these ones have evolved from the marine iguanas to now live solely on land. They live in groups with a dominant male and spend all day sitting under a cactus tree waiting for the fruit to fall. As a result the cactus on the island has become very tree-like with massive trunks.
Did a loop walk around the island which looked so alien with the green cactus trees, red saltbush and grey gravel earth.

During the night we had a long cruise to the island of Española which was quite rough and made a few people sea sick.

Galapagos Islands

Woke up at 4.45am and finished packing what we hadn’t done the night before. Checked out of the hostel at 5.40am, Moritcio was waiting for us to come down as we had settled our bill and let him know we were leaving. He waited with us on the street until Paul from Carpe DM arrived to take us to the airport.
Paul had a little two door jeep which we squashed into the back of with our backpacks. There was another Aussie on board Andy from Newcastle who was also going on the cruise. He wasn’t in a very good condition having been out partying with friends until 3.00am. We stopped off in “New Town” to pick up Lev from Alaska and got to the airport with plenty of time to check in and get a coffee.
Had a window seat on the plane with a good view over Quito for the first few minutes until we disappeared into cloud. Landed at Guayaquil and had to disembark and after another hour in the airport, took a second plane another hour and forty minutes to the island of Baltra in the Galapagos. The view was impressive as we flew in to land on the island. What I could see was flat and barren with steep cliffs. We were met at the airport by Juan Carlos who was going to be our “naturalist” guide for the week and took a short bus trip to the dock where we boarded our boat the “Nemo“.

Sarah: It was weird as there was a whole family of sealions taking up all the seats at the dock and we saw our first frigate-birds which are big and I think look a bit like pterodactyls. So if any of you had a look at the link for nemo, the boat was exactly the same (deep down I had a feeling that it was going to be a old dodgy boat but I was happy to be wrong) the boat was amazing and far exceeded my expectations. Damian and I had one of the two double suites. It was tiny but practical and enough room for the necessities. Every cabin had their own bathroom which had toilet which you had to pump to flush. After a lovely lunch we headed to Sandy beach on Santa Cruz island where we saw our first Marine Iguana, a lonely Flamingo, lots of Sally Lightfoot crabs which are bright red with other colours around their mouth. Very beautiful and were an amazing contrast with the black basalt rocks along the shore. The coolest thing for me was seeing the Turtle tracks lead up to the sand dunes and around a depression in the dune where they would have laid their eggs.





200 photos of the trip

No updates!

Quick update to say there will be no updates for maybe the next week as we are leaving early tomorrow morning to go to the Galapagos islands where we will be on a boat for 8 days. Promise to take lots of photos though!
We booked through a guy called Paul from Carpedm travel agents and he is picking us up at 5.45am to take us to the airport for the flight to the islands.


Had a pretty lazy past week. Some pictures of a visit to the nearby Basilica are on Facebook and we took the cablecar "teleferiqo" for a 1km climb up to the top of the 4100m ridge. Pretty cold and misty up there. Will post pics when we get back from Galapagos.

Well we changed hostels this morning because we found one which was a little bit cheaper, little bit friendlier, larger room and free internet! Even able to be online in the room. Yay for wifi! :)
There is also a common kitchen on the roof so we can cook our own meals and it has a great view of the city.

We have booked to go on an 8 day cruise around the Galapagos islands from next Sunday. Will be flying there from Quito and were able to get one of the two "matrimonial suites" on the boat so we will have a double bed and won't have to share a room. Looks like a really nice set-up on the boat and it's limited to 12 passengers so should be a great trip.











New photo album for Ecuador on facebook.

Someone sure had their cranky pants on writing that last post!
While waiting for our flight I was able to log on to the airport’s free wifi and have a quick chat with Jill and Alex on Skype and IM’d Jeanie on Facebook. Have I mentioned before how great it is to have Whitey (the EeePC Netbook. Sarah named ‘her‘) with us.

We are currently in a Café in Quito, Ecuador waiting to have some breakfast. The flight yesterday was pretty uneventful. 1 hour in Panama airport for the connecting flight to Quito. Watched the animated movie Wall-E in-flight which was quite funny. We had separate seats on the Panama-Quito flight (Refer to previous comments on the check in woman) but the kind flight attendants were able to switch someone so we could sit together.

Arriving at the airport we took a Taxi to “old town” which was a 10 minute drive. There is a “new town” area which has the trendy hostels and internet cafés but it is supposedly a bit dangerous at night time so we went for the safer area.

After checking in to a hostel which was $12USD a night plus tax we had a walk around old town and got some lunch.
After Mexico City at an altitude of 2500m above sea level, we are finding ourselves a bit breathless in Quito which is one of the worlds highest cities at 2900m. The city is nestled along a valley with massive mountains above. From the roof of the hostel it’s quite a view with buildings running up both sides of the valley.

Today we are going to check out tours to the Galapagos islands and decide how much time to spend in Quito.

Adios Mexico

It's currently 4.23am and we are sitting in the airport waiting for the coffee shop to open so we can get a desperately needed coffee before boarding the plane to Ecuador via Panama. Yo necessitar cafe!
We woke up around 1.30am despite setting the alarm for 2.15am. Went downstairs to check out at 2.45am and had to wake up the poor guy on night shift. We had been assured the day before that the front desk was manned 24hours and checking out at 3am was no problem and we had booked a Taxi to collect us and take us to the airport. The guy we woke up took a little while to start functioning but the taxi arrived and we got to the airport with plenty of time to spare for our 6am departure.

The woman who checked us in had major attitude. We asked about the departure tax and if it was included in the airline tickets she said no and it would be $24 each. We clarified if it was USD and she said it was Pesos so I gave her 50 Peso which she looked at in disgust like what are you giving me that worthless currency for and said it was USD. So she was either less of a morning person than I am or just a bitch.

We are now waiting outside Starbucks like pathetic caffeine junkies waiting for our fix. Another 25minutes until they open.

Sarah is reading up on Quito in the Lonely Planet deciding which suburb we are less likely to get mugged in. We have put away the out of date second-hand Central American travel books (well, swapped them for trashy paperback fiction) and broken out the brand new, up-to-date Lonely Planet - South America on a Shoestring, which will be our Bible for the next few months.


20 minutes to Coffee time..... oh, and boarding.

Arrived in Mexico city at 7.30am only a little over time after 17 hours on the road. We got some sleep but were woken a few times at stops during the night. The last stop before Mexico City I got out to stretch the legs and realised we were back up in the mountains. Quite a lot colder than the Caribbean coast.

First view of Mexico City was as we came over a mountain ridge around 6am and the city was a carpet of lights on the valley floor going as far as the eye could see with the occasional dark islands of hills. As the sun rose and we continued through the endless suburbs with the morning rush hour it looked somewhat less pretty.

Arrived at the massive long-distance bus depot at 7.30am and walked a short distance to the Subway/Metro station. Purchased tickets to the station we needed to get off at for our accomodation (7 stops on one line, then change to another line for another couple of stations..)
and went down to the platforms.

Now I've seen footage of people in Japan being pushed onto crowded rush hour trains with poles. This was a bit like that but without the poles or attendants or any kind of cultural politeness. There were mobs of people waiting in groups along the platform and every few minutes a train would pull up already packed to overflowing and a few people would force their way onto the train. We waited in one of the groups thinking perhaps a less crowded train would come by but after being pushed and shoved and jostled for a while we walked back to the street and took a taxi.

We booked into the Hostel Moneda near the city centre. Quite a nice bar/terrace on the roof with a good view of the city skyline. We were lucky that we were able to book in as soon as we arrived at 8.15am and even had time to have breakfast (included with the room) on the terrace. At 10am we met a guide called Alejandro in the lobby and he took a group of us for a walking tour around the city.



First stop was next to the Massive Cathedral where we saw the ruins of what was the main temple/pyramid in the ancient city of the Aztecs. These had only been discovered in the '70s when some electrical cables were being buiried for one of the buildings built on top of it! Seems incredible that the Spanish simply destroyed all these Aztec buildings and the new city was built over them.

Next was the Plaza de la Constitucion which we were told is the third largest public square in the world after Tianamen in Beijing and Red in Moscow.

Next was a visit to the national Museum which was the old palace and quite a grand building. We walked around the courtyards and our guide explained the meanings of some amazing murals painted along the second story.




We then went inside the Cathedral which is one of the biggest I have seen. It was build over a period of 300 years so is an odd mix of styles but quite massive inside. Large enough that it has a front and back altar. Two pipe organs and a dozen worship altars of the sides to different saints.

The tour then took us through the restaurant district and we visited a bakery which had the most over-the-top cakes for sale as well as lots of yummy pastries and things which we purchased some of.

We ended nearby outside the Opera House which was made from Italian Marble and looked amazing. Across the road from it was the Post Office which was built to be the most beautiful post office in the world. The person running Mexico when these were built is the reason for the Mexican Revolution as the masses weren't too happy he was spending so much public money while they were living in poverty.



Post Office exterior and interior.