I found my 5 year story (unfortunately)

A little history about my philosophy of traveling and the 5 year story.  One thing I've noticed when I travel,  is that usually something will go wrong.  It might be big or small, but there will be something.  Those moments make the best 5 year stories.  In 5 years, you may make a cursory comment about the other parts of your trip, but the ones that make entertaining stories, and you repeat often are the ones where something went wrong.  So when these moments occur, and they will, you can either let it ruin your trip, or view it as a great 5 year story.

So back to  my lady day in Ecuador.  Iga and I were picked up for our tour of  Mindo. Except we found we were not going to Mindo, but another nearby town called Tulipe.  The rest of the trip was as advertised, so I didn't care - I only picked Mindo because it had more outdoor activities and none of that boring shopping stuff.

So anyway, we stopped at CalaCali to see the first Mitad del Mundo tower (the place with the wrong equator line).  About 15 years ago it was replaced by a new, bigger,  walk-up tower.   (I find it humorous it was not far of from when they found out the equator line was wrong). Anyway, they needed to do something with the old tower, so gave it to the the city of Calacali, the oldest city in the Area.  It's a cute small town, but I probably spent more time in describing it than I did at the city. Next we drove another 1 1/2 hours to a small lodge in Tulipe.  The view was gorgeous, tons of mountains, small farms on a mountainside, odd looking trees, coffee fields, etc.

We get to the lodge, and out was great, if very remote.  They have 5 small cabins, great hiking talks,  and a couple of waterfalls you can see or swim in.  We took the hike to the closer falls, one hour walk away, mostly downhill, about 2000 feet down.  The whole way, I'm realizing that if were going down now, we have to go up to return. 

The view was gorgeous. Our hiking guide pointed out out several trees and flowers, but my favorite was the cows on the edge of hills.  In some cases there was barely room for them to sit, making it was hard to believe they got themselves up there,  Then we saw a cow come running down the side of the hill.  Boy they sure are nimble.   Wish I could say the same about me.

So here's where things go wrong.  The path wasn't bad (for downhill anyway), although as we neared the falls, we started having dirt cut-out steps,  which got bigger and muddier the closer we got to the falls (very difficult for my short legs; Iga is much taller).  So  2-3 steps from the water, I slip, fall forward, and smack my face into a rock. Let's just say, God was looking out for me.

To try to make this somewhat short, I pulled my towel out of my bag and wiped the blood from my face, the ever ready iga gave me a huge bandaid to put over the gash and Tylenol for the pain (after taking several pictures), then she turned to me and said,  well now you have your 5 year story.  I did get a picture of the falls, but really didn't have any interest in anything else.  The hiking guide made a walking stick for me, and after the worst of the shaking passed, we started back.  It took a bit longer, and I had to stop often, but we made it.  After a wonderful lunch, of which I ate the soup and potato pancakes (reminded me of when I was a kid), we headed back to Quito. 

I guess I was pretty pale, and our main guide asked if I wanted to stop at a hospital. Since I had a long way home tomorrow, I figured it best.  She stopped at a small town hospital and we went in to the emergency room.  They must not get much excitement, because tons of people kept coming in to see what was going on.  I was informed the bigger cut was superficial and would only need a few stitches.  On the plus side, the paramedic who stitched me was cute, if a little (okay lot) young.  Iga was hilarious around him.  Good news, the anesthetic for the stitches finally got rid of my headache for a while.

So finally back in Quito, a little bruised and lot sorer, and a permanent souvenir of my time on Ecuador.  We packed and headed to the airport. I'll be back in town for a late Thanksgiving dinner with the family.

Oh, and I think I found my next trip - Patagonia next November.

Note: for those of you who know my mom,  I fell hiking, hit my head and had to have stitches.  Nothing more.

Balancing an egg

We went looking for a travel agency or tourist bureau to purchase a tour to Mindo tomorrow.  I had no idea it would be so hard.  They sent us to the other end of town where there are supposedly several travel agencies.  We went in a couple - all of them will find you a driver for the day for a fixed amount, but that's all they do.  No tours.  Given there is only two of us now, this it's an expensive option.  In the end, we went into an internet cafe and found a tour online.  I'm just shocked they don't have traditional tours for sale.

After a much later start than we planned, we headed the Terifico.  Rufus is a cable car which takes you to the to of Pichincha volcano,  2700 feet above Quito, to about 13000 feet total elevation.  We walked a couple of the paths (but not the 5 hour one).  You could definitely tell we were in the clouds.  Once again the clouds cleared for us to get a great view of the city.  it's amazing how big this city is - 2 million people, crammed into the space between two mountain ranges.  Also at the top we saw Llamingos.  They are in the llama family.

Next we took a metro bus north of the city (their city buses are crowd!) to the mitad del mundo, aka  middle of the world.  When the early men came in 1736 to confirm the shape of the earth, they used triangulation, and ecuador had the higher peaks of the 11 countries that have the equator ruining through it, thus the claim, middle of the world.

This calculation for the equator was used until 15 years ago when GPS determined it was slightly off (almost 800 feet).  (We learned later that the line the Incas recognized is the same as the GPS.)  Unfortunately, the Mitad del Mundo was built before GPS found the mistake. So we have a huge tourist complex with equator line and sign and lots of hoopla, all built in the wrong place - which no one talks about.

Next we slipped back to a hard to find museum, which was the highlight of the day - Intinan Museum.  This is an outdoor museum built on the "real" equator.  Our guide gave us some history about a couple of indigenous tribes, including replicas of historical homes. She also showed us how they kept track of seasons and time (the clock was just a few minutes off because the earth doesn't really rotate every 24 hours (she said 23 hours 50 minutes), which is why we have leap year.  She also mentioned that there is little rain on the equator and no tornados, etc because the magnetic pull of the poles balance each other out. (I didn't realize hurricane, etc in northern hemisphere turn counter-clockwise and southern clockwise.)

She ran through various experiments on the equator versus either side.  For example, walking the drunk walk on the equator is very difficult - I couldn't keep my balance at all. We also watched water draining from a sink - one way in the south, another in the north, straight down on the equator.  The guide also balanced an egg on a nail on the equator line.  She said if any in our tour group could do it we'd get a certificate.  I was the only one able to do it.  Later, Iga went back and was able to do it too.

 On the way home,  we asked a bus worker to let us know when we got to our stop.  Our pan was to take another bus home from there.   Several people got involved in helping us.   One lady was hilarious.   She was very emotive.  In a combination of Spanish and English,  she informs me that walking home from where were getting out is not good.  When I said were taking a bus,  again, not good.She says,  you go with me,  I'll get you home.  We'll take Taxi. When I commented would cost $4, she said no, only $2. Just don't talk taxi so they think we are local.  in the taxi she proceeded to tell us all kinds of opinions in a combination of languages.  We had a hard time not laughing until we got out.

Tomorrow is Tulipe, near Mindo.

Cotopaxi didn't have a volcanic eruption!

Clemence and I moved to Iga's hostel in the morning.  Then the husband, Geraldo, took us to Cotopaxi, about an hour away.

Cotopaxi is the 2nd highest active volcano peak in the world at over 20,000 feet.  The last eruption occurred in 1904. The volcano erupts about every 100 years - luckily today was not the day to end the dry spell.  We entered the park (about 10,000 feet altitude) and got there required guide for all foreign visitors (gotta keep the tourist trade healthy).

We headed for Cotopaxi.  All along, we had been warned that it's possible we won't see the peak due to weather (November is their winter,  and the worst for weather).  We see the top trying to peek out on the way,  but the clouds stubbornly refuse to leave.

We drove through the caldera. for what seemed forever.  The scenery was pretty,  but got redundant after a while.  On the way, we saw an extinct volcano (there are actually several volcanoes in the area, just not quite as high).  The other volcano we saw the most was Ruminahu, the highest volcano i noticed without snow.   There was another volcano ( can't remember the name) with snow at the top - by snow, I really mean glaciers.

We stopped part way up the volcano for a short walk to a better vantage point.  It may not have been long in distance,  but it sure was in time.  Geraldo said 10 minutes, which Iga did,  but not me - I stopped a few times.  The walk started at 14,000 feet then I climbed to about 14,500 feet (walk started near to of picture). I haven't had a huge issue with climbing in Quito (over  9,000 feet elev.)- not as good at home,  but more than respectable.  But at 14k, I not only struggled with climbing, but was feeling dizzy (no comments please).

We got lucky - as we were walking,  the volcano top which had been under clouds midst of the morning completely cleared,  and stayed that way until we drove away.  On the road Dldown,  we saw a hawk and a falcon.  We stopped at a lagoon at the base of the Caldera for a few minutes, and I got a picture of an Andean gull.

After a quick lunch of potato soup, were headed our of the park and home. Although we did make Geraldo stop before were got on the highway to let us take a picture of an even tree with needles that are upside down (Iga called it a weeping fir).

We got back in tune to go check our a couple of more churches in Old Town.  We went to one church, which was okay.  Then went to the Compania de Jesus, a baroque style church,  which shadowed every other church.  The walls are covered with 700 tons of 24 craft gold leaf.  The whole church was a piece of art. (picture not mine)

Clemence and I then grabbed dinner and headed home.  Clemence leaves tomorrow to go to another city.  So that leaves Iga and I.  We are now going to visit the cake car to the top of Quito,  then take a bus to the equator.  We are also going top look go a tour company to find something to do on Wednesday before we leave in the evening.  Honestly,  I've seen all of Quito I wasn't to see,  and the one thing I'd short of like to do has issues.

That's it for now

Quito in a Nutshell

Did not go to Cotopaxi today. Instead we are going tomorrow.  Clemence delayed her trip one day.

Our original guide, once we realized all the extra costs he was asking to the trip, was charging too much.  We head specifically asked if he spoke English and was told yes - he meant the guides at Cotopaxi.  So we cancelled him, hired someone else for tomorrow, and went off to explore Quito.

We got a ticket for the hop on hop off bus.  It makes it convenient to see the city, since walking would have been difficult - it is very long and narrow due to the mountains.  Were walked to the first stop which wasn't far so not worth waiting for the bus - the botanical gardens.  We walked though a really long park, which was packed with sports players, children, families,  and food vendors.  It started raining at the greens, so we didn't stay long, but were saw everything.  It was okay, but the Tasmania gardens were more interesting in my opinion.  And they were free (this one cost $3).

Next we board the bus, headed to "old town, where, first up, was the Basilica.  Of course as soon as we got off it started drizzling again (although not for long).  Iga and I climbed to the top spire on the church.  First we head to pay the standard $1-$2 entrance fee to climb as high add we wanted.  All of us went to the 2nd floor where we saw the beautiful stain glass window from the inside and the city through glass windows.  Then we walked another flight of stairs where there was an outdoor lookout balcony and a gift shop.  The view from outside was wonderful.

At this point we had split up.  I noticed a wooden walkway over the ceiling of the sanctuary, and steps at the end leading up.  I asked a lady where it went and was informed "to the top of the spire". The steps looked a little steep, almost like a step ladder.  I figured, I might add well do it - Its not likely I'm coming back.  So I walked across and climbed the stairs. Nice view, but I wasn't done.  Two more sets similar steps and I finally arrived at the spire (note spire in picture above).  The view was magnificent.  The only problem was I couldn't stay there forever - although I thought about it.  If there had been WiFi up there I might have l considered it.  As it was, I did make it down, very slowly.

Then it was on to the next stop, Iglesia San Francisco.  The church is the oldest colonial building in Quito. The front of the sanctuary was one of the most ornate I've ever seen.

As we drove to and from the church, the buildings were cool.  Reminded me a little of the older Scandinavian buildings.  Natalie would have loved the buildings and gone crazy taking pictures of doors and such.  I took a picture of a window I thought she might like.

Last were went to El Panecilla, a 100 foot statute of the virgin of Quito which overlooks the city and can be seen from almost everywhere. Again, Iga and I went up in the statute as high add we could go much easier this time - normal steps).  Then we bought some fruit for dinner and headed toward home.

The bus let us out a few blocks from the metro bus, which were took top a corner near our hostels.  By now, were are exhausted and just wanted to be home.  We missed our stop, but quickly got another bus going the other way, for one stop.  Both buses were packed to the gills. I almost didn't make it in the second bus. Instead my backpack just got squished and no one could move.  If it hadn't been a Sunday, I would have thought it was work traffic.  Clemence thought it might have to do with an early event related to the Quito celebration that officially starts Dec 4.

In any case,  tomorrow night I move in with Iga for the couple of remaining nights.  Clemence is coming for one night before she leaves for another town.  As I mentioned earlier, tomorrow is the Cotopaxi volcano. Then on Tuesday, Iga and I are doing a day trip to the equator and the nearby town of Mindo.  On Wednesday, our last day, Iga wants to walk around the city.  There is one thing we didn't get to on my list, but overall, I am cityed out. Will see how I feel on Wednesday.

We flew out of Galapagos this afternoon.  Spent the morning at the Darwin Institute hearing about the preservation of the tortoises.  Four of the species are already gone.  Many of the remaining 10 in the Galapagos were close to extinction until this organization got involved.  They had one lucky male tortoise there, "Super" Diego.  He's from originally from Espanola Island, but resided at the San Diego zoo for a number of years.  When they realized the tortoises from were nearing extinction, they brought him back to Galapagos and set him up with 5 ladies.  Now he has over 1000 children and grandchildren.  As each reaches 5 years old,  they are put onto Espanola to repopulate the island

The rest of the day was spent getting to Quito. I meet a couple of ladies in Galapagos, and both have offered to check on rooms at the hostels where they are staying.  I ended up staying with one for the next two nights, when she will go to another town.  I'm thinking about going north to Mindo on Monday,  so that works for me.

Tomorrow, the three of us will be doing a day trip together.  I mentioned Cotopaxi to the ladies and they seem interested.  I'd like to go south of Quito, since I expect to go north later this week. Cotopaxi is a volcano that, while not the largest, has an almost perfect cone shape.  Several people have mentioned going there.  We are sharing the price of a private a guide.

some quick thoughts on Galapagos: The only disappointment was missing the blue-footed booby mating dance,  but nature does not always accommodate our vacation schedule). I had a great time and saw many animals that not everyone who visits gets to experience (which is amazing given, again, with wildlife there are no guarantees).  I saw most of the various iguanas, lots of sea lions, a plethora of the interesting Sally Lighthouse crab, two of the the type of boobies (the red booby is only on a remote island), lots of other birds including the bizarre frigate,  many fish, several Galapagos sharks (all underwater while I was above water,  thank God), swam with both a turtle and a sea lion, and got to watch flamingos dance (their feet do a cute dance when they are digging for food).  I'm sure I missed something,  but the point is,  it was a great trip.  Will worth doing.  And I may have found my next trip.  I just found out the company I traveled with is offering a trip to Patagonia in Chile next November!  Anyone want to go with me?

More tomorrow.

Stalking a Giant Turtle

Arrived after 2 hours on a speed boat. There were lots of waves and it was hard to move around - not that there was much room on this boat. Last 2 days we were on a nice boat with lots of inside and outside areas for all 20 of us.  Not so this boat. The first 12 on the boat squashed into the outdoor seats. The last 8 of us got stuck inside. The outside had fresh air and less bouncing, but we had more room.  On the way home, I'm not sure if I'll try for the front, or take the benefit of stretching out all my stuff.

I got a great welcoming committee too the island - a big red iguana and a baby sea lion crying for his mom.

After disembarking, we took off for a 20 minute drive up the volcano with  an open air bus on a dirt road.   While the port and lower lands were dry and scruffy,  the highlands were humid and lush.  Most of the approx. 160 people on the island live in the highlands because it has the only source of fresh water.

Floreana was the first of the islands to be settled (Santa Cruz,  where we are staying was the last).  The first person on the island in the 16th century was an Irish troublemaker who got left with a machete, rope, and very few other items.  Fouz years later someone picked him up.  Later visitors included pirates who refreshed provisions from the fresh water shooting and edible foods on the island.  Others came,  but never for long until around 1930. First Friedrich Ritter and his girlfriend, then the Wittmer family.  Their son was the first child born on the island.  Then an interesting character showed up - the self-centered Baroness Eloise Wagner von Bosquet, along with her lover and husband.  Or was she a baroness? After she dumped the boyfriend, he reported she was actually a club dancer and spy.

Of the original settlers, only the Wittmers survived.   The natives and her husband said they were going to Tahiti, but no boat ever left, there was no record of her in Tahiti, and she was never heard from again. A little later,  her boyfriend tried to leave the island on a ship, but his body washed up on shore four months later. Finally, Ritter died of food poisoning under suspicious circumstances.  The Wittmer family still lives on the island today.

After lunch,  were went to the beach for snorkeling or enjoying the wildlife.  I decided to snorkel and was glad I did.  I found a giant green sea turtle almost as soon add I went out. after 5-10 minutes I lost him and started looking at the fish and seaweed.  After a while, I ran across him in the long seaweed.  I started snapping pictures,  but he didn't really like being found and started swimming away.  So I followed.  I probably swam beside him for another 10 minutes until he passed the rope over which I was not allowed to go.  I tried to take a picture with me and the turtle in the background - really hard to do while snorkeling, holding on to the camera for dear life, and keeping track of the turtle.  Mostly I got pictures of my life preserver.  I tried to do a video of him swimming, but had the camera on the picture setting by accident.   In the end, however, I did get some pictures and had a great experience.  So yesterday I swam with a sea lion and today a sea turtle!  What a great way to end my time in the Galapagos.

Edward's New animals:  red marine iguana (really same animal, but looks different so I'm counting), big green sea turtle, lots of fish.

Dancing with a sea lion

Today was a great day.

We started out with a drive-by of Daphne Island, where we saw more blue-footed boobies, and for the first time, the Nazca booby.

Next we visited tiny Bartholomew Island (less than 1 mile wide). It had the prettiest scenery - just gorgeous.  We climbed 365 steps to the top of the highest point.  Because there is a step for every day of the calendar, the guide made a point of pointing out his birthday step. Which of course meant the rest of us did as well.  I noticed they had married the step that was the first it's each month, making it easier to identify birthdays that were later in the year.

As we were leaving in the dingy to go back to the boat, we saw or first galapagos penguin.  This is the furthest north (24 miles from equator) that you will ever see a penguin.

We got in the boat and went to another part of island to snorkel.  As we were taking the dingy to the beach, we saw another penguin, and this one was nice enough to be standing for our pictures.

There were two snorkeling areas - right on the beach fire beginners, and around the point in deeper water for the experienced.  I decided to go to the experienced sure, thinking ribeye would be more to see (hey, I've been snorkeling twice now, if you count Monday).  I was glad I did.  I wore a life preserver (again, I've only been twice).

Three view was amazing - starfish everywhere (my favorite was electric blue, although the brown with orange spot ones were pretty too), lots if pretty fish, a stingray, and the best of all, a sea lion.  The sea lion zipped by me early on, so I knew it was in the area. About 10 minutes later, he was back, and this time swam straight up from the bottom less than 2 feet from me.  As up see him coming, I'm not sure whether to be completely freaked, our totally excited.  I chose to be both.

He swam under an underwater rock, formation, and I soon saw him swimming in and out of the rocks, totally disturbing the fish.   Then he came near me again, and this time, I'm saying, "come on over, swim with me".  I'm sure if he'd gotten right beside me I would have freaked again, but he went by me about the same distance, then proceeded to do acrobatics under water just for me!

I watched him for a while, but then I got called out of the water.  Back on the boat, we had another fabulous meal.  Unfortunately, a short time later we went through horrible waves and many people were seasick.  We ended the cruise with popcorn made in the stove (I needed to do that again - better than any microwave popcorn).

We get back just in time for a quick shower, drinks with some people I've met, and dinner.  More tomorrow.

Edward's new animals: nasca booby, galapagos hawk, galapagos penguin

A visit to North Seymour

A-ent off on our first official tour of the tour (Monday's trip was an add-on).  We got off to a good start.

After a 45 minute bus trip, we reached North Seymour island, where we saw several blue-footed boobies and frigates.  The blue-footed booby is a mostly white bird with bright blue feet and nose.  We had hoped to see the mating dance,  but as with any animals,  there is no guarantee you'll see anything.   Our guide decided to help us along - he came up behind him and caused him to flap his wings and do a little dance.   In addition, we did see several adorable babies with their mom.

Another set of birds on the island was the greater and magnificent frigates.  They are also called a "pirate bird" because they rob other birds of their food, rather than catching their own.    When the male frigate is ready to mate,  he grows a huge red gular pouch.  Three to for days after he mates, he starts losing his pouch (guess he doesn't feel the need to keep up appearances once he's married).

The last animal we saw on the island was a land iguana.  Instead of the dark colors of the marine iguana, the land iguana is bright yellow (likely to match the colour of the dirt), rather than dark like the marine iguana that hands out on the black lava rocks).  And he was so nice to stop in a somewhat open area and wait for ours all to get pictures!  When we got back to the boat, there were three sharks and a stingray swimming around the back of the boat.  I watched for a while,  and although I could see the shadow below the water,  they never got up above the water.

After North Seymour, we sent to Santa Fe island to watch flamingos and snorkel.  Unfortunately, the wildlife followed the shark's example and did not accommodate our interest in them.  Instead they never showed up.  We walked all the way to the lake (at least a 10 minute walk!),  and it was empty.  Oh well, we have been very lucky to have wildlife that aren't afraid of humans, and are willing to stay srill and pose for the camera.  Also, unlike the others in my group,  I got to see flamingos on my pre-trip at Isabela.

I walked back slower - me being easily distracted.  This time it worked to my advantage.  One of the guys in our group noticed a giant green sea turtle swimming in the ocean.  Every once in a while the turtle would lift his head out of the water (to breathe, I assume).  I tried to get a picture,  but between the distance and unknown as to when he would come up, it was impossible.  So I just stopped trying to get a picture and enjoyed watching him.

I also had to stop at a group of rocks that had tons of Sally Lighthouse crabs.  I love these guys.  When we passed the rocks the first time, we saw a female go up to a make and sort of lightly tap him with one of her legs (okay,  that sounds weird, but what else do you call what they walk on but legs).  Anyway,  she taps him. Nothing happens. Taps again.  Nothing.  Again. Nothing. Once more, and he runs away.  Leaving poor Sadly all alone.

So anyway, on the way back, I looked at the rock and there were several turf wars going on.  Not sure the crab dynamics, but one would bully another one or two,  and chase them of the rock to another.  Which would have been interesting,  But this was happening on two or three rocks at a time.  And the crabs who left just coming back for more. Tenacious guys. Fondly had to supp watching since the tide was coming in and I was getting soaked.  Side note - I love the way they walk!

On the way home, I wanted to get a picture of the collapsed lava tube we passed on the way to the boat. It looked like a huge crater from the bus.  With Paul's help, we talked our guide into stopping for 3 minutes, 28 seconds (Paul's warped negotiation humor that I'm not sure the guide got). I was surprised at the amount of vegetation in the hole, but then our guide told us it sank over a million years ago.   For some reason when he originally told us,  I assumed it happened in our lifetime.  In either case, it was cool and very prehistoric.

Edward's New Animals (renaming after nephew, Travis Edward, who has had an album on my tablet for years called "Edward's animals". Everytime I visit, he and his sister, Molly, beg me to look at the animals, and every new animal picture ends up in his album):  land iguana, Galapagos shark, swallow tail gull, great blue heron

Quiet day on the island

Here I am to save the day! Mighty Heron

Had a quiet morning.  Due to rain and knowing we'll have more opportunities for snorkeling later, we decided to walk around town.  We stopped in some shops and walked along the waterfront.  I got my first look at the blue-footed booby.  I expect I'll get better pictures later in the week; and hopefully video of their mating dance!

I finally got to see the black crabs.  Found out there really just the younger version of the Sadly Lighthouse crabs that are bright yellow.  Their black when their born so the blend in with the lava rock,  providing camouflage from predators.  As they grow up turn red and/or yellow.  I guess if you bother them they squirt water at you.  Although I know better then to do that,  I hope I get to are some predator get in their way so I can see it.

Walked around town for a couple of hours.  There was a fresh fish stand we went by - the birds were out en masse hoping for food,  and one sea lion was begging for any scrap he could get.  I was impressed that no one was getting annoyed - they just kept on working.  It provided us a great opportunity to see more birds.

After lunch we met some of the others for our first official tour.  I didn't know that 7 more had shown up yesterday.  So the 10 of us headed our to a farm that's next to the state park and so is filled with giant tortoises.  There we saw the other 20 on the tour from a distance - we were kept i three smaller groups for a better experience.  The rest of the tour will be two groups,  each going to a different one of the three island each day.  I love this about Paul's tours - if it gets too large,  he just splits the group up rather than having us feel like herded cattle.

Our guide told us a bit about the tortoises, some of which was a repeat of the day before.  Then we went tortoise searching for a couple of hours.  There was a pond filled with a pink plant (thus the name,  Pink Lake).  A tortoise was at the edge of it,  and several ducks throughout - the ducks provided a nice break from the tortoise search - I especially liked their dinner dance.  After the walk,  a couple odd the people tried on am old tortoise shell.  I thought it was a fake because of the odd color,  but found our that this is the natural color of the skeletal shell.  What we so on the tortoise is the outer she'll,  which is the same material add or fingernails (think horses hooves).

After the tortoises,  we went to a lava tube.  It had collapsed so you could go in the 60 feet or so that was left,  bit honestly,  was not really worth it.   I'm spoiled from the lava tubes I saw in Australia that were much more extensive and interesting.

I meet my roommate.  I can already tell were going to get along great.

Tomorrow I'm off to Seymour Island to see blue-footed Boobies, frigates, and hopefully more.

New animals saw today:  blue-footed booby

A visit to Isabela Island

Got an early start to go to Isabella island today (although maybe every morning will start with a 6 am breakfast and 7 am walk to the pier). They said it would be a 2 hour boat ride - it was at least that! 

The boat was not what I expected. No yacht for us (ok I want expecting that either), but a fully enclosed boat with 15 double seats, and cloudy plexiglas windows, some of which open (ie. mine). Of course as we get going I understand the enclosure.  We're bouncing around on the waves, water's splashing up high on the windows and front of the boat, and we're quickly in the middle of the ocean with little land in sight - just small piles of rocks in the distance (these must be the islets).  really nothing to see except for the occasional albatross flying nearby.  I heard I might see whales or dolphins, but no luck (or maybe just didn't pay attention enough).

We finally arrived at Isabela Island and met our guide for the day, Carlos.  Isabela is the largest island, mainly because out is really five volcanoes that merged into 1 big island over time.  We stayed around the two southernmost volcanoes.

We started at a viewpoint.  In the distance one of the islets across the way seemed to disappear and reappear over time due to cloud cover, this the reason the islands were originally called the "enchanted islands" (wonder if that's where they got the idea for Bali Hai).

I got some great pictures of a couple  of mockingbirds (you can sing the song now...to yourself, so people don't think you're strange.)  We learned there are two types of cacti on the island - candelabra and lava.  The trunk of the older lava cactus looks like the bark of a tree and no longer had needles there.

Stopped at an inlet.  They had tons of marine iguanas, and the males were not the dark black we have been seeing.  They have more colors because of the coral and sea urchins they eat.  Carlos mentioned they recently found a new type of iguana near one of the volcanos - it's pink!

We also got a surprise visit from a peligan, and Rosie saw black crabs.  They are black for camoflage against the black rocks.

I found ET. What do you think?

Back on the road again to visit the Giant Tortoise Breeding Center, which had two is the five types of tortoises on the island (one for each volcano, ie previously separate islands).  The shells for the tortoises are different as they adapted to their environment.  One in a rainier area has a more rounded shell; another evolved with what looks like a half circle taken out of the front of their shell because they lived in an area where they had to reach up to eat.  Quick note, 10 of the world's 12 giant tortoises are in the galapogos, half of those on Isabela. 

We ended the day with a quick stop to see flamingos, and then snorkeling.  I saw a sargeant major fish (black and white striped with yellow on top), as well as several I didn't recognize. 

Then back on the boat for the 2 hour ride home.  At least I have me time to write this. 

Everyone else shows up tomorrow afternoon.  Not sure yet what we're going to do in the morning, maybe some snorkeling.

New animals seen:  albatross, lizards, black crabs, flamingos, mockingbirds, giant tortoises, peligan

Galapogos, here I come...

Arrived at the Galapagos after a long set of flights and waiting. My layovers to Quito weren't bad. The problem was at Quito. Three flight arrived at midnight, and by the time we cleared customers, it was after 1 am. Since I needed to be back at the airport at 6:30 am for the Galapogos flight, I decided to stay at the airport. 

I found a couple of restaurants open, one of which was a coffee shop. Buy a cup of coffee and you get a seat (in this case loveseat) for as long as you want along with access to free WiFi. There were lots of people asleep on chairs and the floor in the waiting area before ticketing.  The big thing seems to be to bring a big blanket? open sleeping bag? not sure what, and then pack 4-5 people on it to sleep.  I did get some sleep on the flights, but needless to say, tonight is going to be an early night.

There is a couple who came early like me (everyone else shows up Tuesday).  They went through a different airport than Quito,  and did the same thing I did with skipping the hotel (although with no restaurant or WiFi option).  They too saw groups of people sleeping on a "blanket" on the floor.  Must be the thing down here.

So we arrived at the island of Baltra.  After a bus ride, ferryboat ride, and car ride, ( the Galapagos' version of planes,  trains,  and automobiles), we arrived at Santa Cruz island and our hotel, the Hotel Red Booby.  I have heard of Nasca booby and blue-footed booby, but not a red footed booby.  I will have to see if it's real or made up.

The other couple here early is Matt and Rosie from Milwaukee.  They are really super nice.  We walked around town for a while and then grabbed dinner. If we had not stopped on our walk to take pictures, the walk would have lasted 10-15 minutes.  As it was, we got intrigued by the sea lions on the piers, iguanas on the sidewalk and piers, and my favorite, the red crabs on the black rocks and sides of the piers.  I didn't have my good camera with me on the walk, so didn't get a great picture of the crabs.  As I got closer,  they just kept backing away, and finally I had to give up on getting close.  Some were really strong shades of red (I liked those best), and most had a yellow head and really pretty sky blue color under its head - although a few were only white (boring!).  After the walk we grabbed dinner at a streetside restaurant.  i had the best lightly bread fish I've had in a long time.

So a little about the Galapagos, then I'll go since I have to be dorm to breakfast at 6 am tomorrow to be on time for our boat ride to Isabella Island.

So the islands...first I was surprised how many islands are inhabited (5 of the 19) and how meant people live on the islands (30,000 combined). The current inhabitants' relatives only arrived in the last 90 years.

Along with the islands, there are more than 40 islets.  The oldest islands are 4-5 million years old.  All were formed by underground volcanoes, and the land mass hidden under the Pacific ocean are much greater than above water.

After observing how animals on the islands adapted uniquely, not just from the mainland, but between the islands, Darwin came up with his theory of evolution.  (I can't wait to see some of these animals.)    In the 1950's, the Galapagos Islands became a national park. Now more than two times the population will show up each year as tourists (including me).

Animals saw today: sea lions, marine iguanas, Sally Lightfoot crabs.