Technically we're only traveling half-a-world (a hemisphere), but from Great Falls to Quito it is a world away in perception, and it's a little bit shocking that we can be transported from the high plains of Montana to the foothills of the Andes in a matter of a few hours. We had woken up in our own beds; three flights later we bed down in a cozy and intimate hotel (Hostal de la Rabida) in Ecuador's capital.
Quito adventures
Mar 31, 2011
Our gracious hostess Gloria gave us recommendations for some of the nearby attractions and we set out to sample the flavor of la Mariscal and the historic district. We wandered through a crowded, covered marketplace full of local crafts, run mainly by colorfully dressed women, almost all of whom seemed to be tending small children.
The streets were teeming with pedestrians and motorists (who seemed to be operating under traffic protocols that I never fully decoded; I learned to look to all points of the compass before crossing a street).
Persons in police and military uniforms seemed to make up an unusually high percentage of the visible population. It may have been because of a labor protest by taxi drivers that was underway that day.
I was amazed at the entrepreneurial spirit of the Quitoans; snack kiosks on every corner, most selling the same candy bars and chips. Tiny shops selling shoes or handbags. Small children carrying handfuls of apples or pears or guavas for sale. One woman had a small army of 4-inch windup skateboard riders which she set loose on the crowded sidewalk of Plaza Grande. Amazingly, not a one was crushed underfoot while we watched. Another woman carried an enormous plastic bag of toilet paper which she seemed to be peddling door-to-door along the row of shops.
By mid-morning we had climbed the Panecillo (a Quito prominence named for its resemblance to a small loaf of bread) and enjoyed great views of the city, which lies below the volcano Pinchincha, squished into a valley 22 miles long and two miles wide.
Having received several warnings about the unsavory neighborhoods below the hill from solicitous residents we agreed to take a taxi back downtown; within a few seconds one appeared. Taxis are everywhere. Though we enjoy walking, cabs are a great way to cover a lot of ground inexpensively (they appear not to be equipped with meters; it's best to agree on the fare as soon as you hop in).
We treated ourselves to lunch at an elegant second story restaurant overlooking Plaza Grande called Mia Culpa and had the dining room almost to ourselves for most of the meal (an excellent seafood salad).
After a quick look at the neo-Gothic Basilica we took a cab to the Quito Botanical Gardens to sample the gorgeous and (to us) exotic tropical flora.
To Sacha Lodge
Apr 01, 2011
After breakfast at the hotel, and with the assistance of staff from the hotel, Adventure Life, and Sacha Lodge, we made the quick flight to Coca, where we had lunch in the Lodge office while staff transferred luggage. It's a very short walk from there to the dock on the Napo River where we climbed aboard a 60-foot motorized ''canoe''.
The Napo, we learned, is a major tributary of the Amazon, though from where we were the Amazon was 400 miles downstream. Yet even this far upstream the Napo is a spectacular river. I tried to calculate how many Missouris would fit in its banks (three?...four?). Wide as it is, it can also be very shallow (as we were to learn the next day). It's the color of coffee heavily doctored with cream as it carries a huge volume of sandy silt down from the Andes. Heavily braided with islands and sand bars, which change with every storm, and thick with floating logs and snags, it presents a serious challenge to boatsmen. Nevertheless our pilot guided us unerringly for nearly two hours, back and forth from bank to bank as he kept to the main channel. I don't know what our speed was in knots, but the wave of spray we kicked up went four feet above the gunwales.
At a clearing in the jungle we disembarked and as squirrel monkeys played in the trees above us, we walked about a kilometer on a plank path to the shore of Lago Pilchicocha (Squash Lake). Our guides paddled us across to the lodge dock in an eight-person canoe.
Sacha, we quickly discovered, is an enchanting and hospitable outpost of civilization and a great spot for our introduction to the Amazon jungle. Over hors d'oeuvres and ''jungle juice'' cocktails Marco, our guide, filled us in on how the lodge operates: meal schedule, exploratory activities and recreational opportunities.
After an hour to settle in our party of six set out to begin unlocking the secrets of the jungle, with the help of Marco and Macaco, our indigenous guide. We saw cacao fruit growing above our heads, and an endless train of leaf-cutter ants at our feet. They would have been all but invisible except for the bright green, postage-stamp sized leaf fragments they bore relentlessly homeward.
We learned about adaptive strategies among jungle plants: the battle is won by the tall since only one per cent of the sun's light reaches the jungle floor. Several types of root structure have developed to support the tall trees. Some send down dozens of roots in a teepee shape; others, like the kapok, have great flat flanges like the fins on a rocket ship. These flanges are remarkably resonant. When struck, the noise carries far into the jungle and the indigenous people have taken advantage of that to devise a communication system.
After a sumptuous buffet in the lodge we assembled for an unworldly canoe ride through the jungle night. Our flashlights caught the red eyes of a large caiman across the lake but it slipped below the surface as we approached. Paddling quietly up Anaconda Creek we passed directly under a pair of magnificent snail kites 20 feet above our heads. Around a bend a striated heron perched on a branch six feet over the water.
Back in our little thatched cabin suspended on pilings 10 feet above the swamp, a chorus of frogs sang us to sleep.
A full day in the forest
Apr 02, 2011
A full day in the Amazon means we use every last ray of daylight. Because we're so close to the equator the sun comes up at 6 a.m. (plus or minus a couple of minutes) and sets at 6 p.m. Today we got a wake-up knock at 5:30 and we were in the canoe by 6:30. Our first destination was the parrot clay lick a couple of miles downstream in the Yasuni National Park. As we were crossing to the lick we learned just how shallow the Napo River is. Our boatsman turned a little too soon and we ran aground. The guides tried to wiggle us off the bar for a few minutes. Finally the rest of the men in the boat eased over the side (the water was up to mid-calf on me) and together we rocked it loose.\\
As we approached the lick there were no parrots, but a lot of screeching in the trees on the bluff above. In a few minutes a couple of brave pioneers flew down to the lick, followed by a few more, then a few more until there were 60-70 parrots - four different species - chipping off chunks of clay with their beaks. We learned that the parrots' normal diet contains a particular toxin, and something in the clay acts as an antidote to the toxin. Somehow the parrots evolved this behavior and they come from miles around like an over-eater looking for a Tums.
As we watched the parrots our indigenous guide, Macaco, spotted a pair of ladder-backed nightjars just downstream. We were maneuvered into position just a few feet away from where they perched at the water's edge. They are tiny birds, perfectly matched to the dull gray-brown of the reeds where they sat. It was an uncanny demonstration of how in tune with the natural world the indigenous folk are, to be able to see a creature that was effectively invisible to the rest of us.
We then visited the Kichwa village of Anangu, where a shaman performed a purification ceremony over our fellow tourist Denise and we bought souvenirs benefiting a fund that promotes gender equality.
Back upriver I cooled off with a quick dip in the black water of Lake Pilchicocha before lunch. It's called a blackwater lake because decaying vegetation turns the water dark. The experience is like swimming in a vat of very strong tea. We were told that the lake is home to piranha, electric eels, and we had seen the caimans, but we were assured that they didn't bother swimmers, and I emerged with not even a nibbled toe.
We had a sumptuous lunch at the lodge and then paid a visit to Sacha's butterfly house. They raise at least a dozen varieties of butterfly as well as the specific plants that make up the diet of each variety. Photo ops are endless among the hundreds of red, orange, yellow, and blue insects and I shot until my camera battery ran low.
Our last activity of the day started with a hike to Sacha's canopy walk. Built over several years, it rises 150 feet and stretches 275 yards above the jungle canopy. We were able to see a family of howler monkeys in the treetops far off as well as a three-toed sloth; there were parrots flying below us, and a toucan. We stayed to watch the sunset then descended into the darkening jungle as the rumble of thunder moved closer. Hiking by flashlight we saw a toad, a giant cockroach, and a tarantula. As we walked, the approaching thunder raised the question: not ''if'' but ''when'' would the rain let loose.
Fortunately it held off until we were hosing our boots off at the edge of the lodge compound and we avoided a drenching.
monkeys, lizards and stinkin' turkeys
Apr 03, 2011
After another early wake-up and breakfast we canoed and hiked to Sacha's other above-the-canopy lookout, this one built like a tree house 150 feet up in a 700-year-old kapok tree. In an hour-and-a-half we saw 22 species of birds, most of which I had been at best only dimly aware existed, including toucans, oropendulas, euphonias, caciques, and my favorite name: purple-throated fruitcrow.
Canoeing back we encountered three species of woodpecker and a couple of caiman lizards (they're not caimans; they're lizards that look like caimans), including one sunning himself on a horizontal branch 20 feet overhead.
Shortly after we docked there was a great whooshing wind and we just had time to duck for cover before the torrential rain let loose. Conveniently, it rained through lunch and stopped in time for us to try our hand at piranha fishing from the dock. A couple of the guides managed to land a few small ones; the rest of us provided a free raw meat lunch to the pint-sized carnivores. It was fun to lower a hook baited with a scrap of meat and watch a dozen or so jaws-with-fins clean the hook in a matter of seconds.
Another canoe ride and hike took us to the base of a tall tree from which a pair of owl monkeys peered down at us with their huge, night-vision eyes. Approaching the dock again a couple of hoatzin were silhouetted against the sky in the twilight. These large exotic birds that make a noise like a panting dog need a PR makeover; they are generally despised and are known locally as ''stinkin' turkeys.''
Above our heads as we docked a colony of squirrel monkeys was on the move to their bedding-down spot. We watched fascinated as they leaped 20 or 30 feet from treetop to treetop. Parents with more than one offspring would ferry one baby across and then return for another, and the young ones hung on for dear life.
We celebrated our last night at the lodge with a romantic barbecue on the dock, prepared by Sacha's amazing kitchen crew.
Transition
Apr 04, 2011
We heard heavy rain in the night and awoke to continued rain. As we departed we were issued ponchos for the lake and river legs. Halfway back to Coca we left the rain and stopped to pick up about 20 Ecuadorians who were also on their way upstream. There were 30 of us in the canoe, but the load presented no problem. We were warmly greeted by Gloria back at La Rabida after our short flight to Quito.
We paid a visit to Libra Mundi and were impressed with their selection of classics in English; we then treated ourselves to excellent mochas at a tourist-oriented coffee house and compared travel notes with other Americans.
The Galapagos: our first glimpse
Apr 05, 2011
Our plane was a little late boarding in Quito so we had a chance to start getting to know the other three couples who would be our companions on the Hike Galapagos tour, and Andres, our guide, who lives in Quito and happens to be a doppelganger for a former colleague of mine.
We saw a little more of the diversity of Ecuador's geography as we flew south from the 9,200-foot elevation of Quito to Guayaquil, which from the air reminded me of New Orleans because of it's flatness and the abundance of water all around. It appears to be laid out only millimeters above the water table.
I spent a good part of the 90-minute flight to San Cristobal marveling at the incredible cloud formations that towered above the Pacific. Dramatic skyscapes continued to draw my attention throughout our stay in the islands. I'm sure my heart skipped a beat when I caught my first glimpse of the Galapagos - the coastline of San Cristobal - from the plane window.
The temperature was 86 and humidity near 100 per cent as we made our way through the airport's checkpoints (we had still been getting snow flurries a day or so before leaving Montana).
We checked into the idyllic Casa Opuntia with its view of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno's harbor right outside our window. We had a grand lunch (dinner is more like it) overlooking the harbor, several courses including fresh tropical fruit and soup flavored to taste with aji, a kind of local salsa that could easily become addictive.
Then for our Galapagos orientation we walked to the interpretive center where Andres outlined the volcanic origin of the archipelago. We were scheduled to walk up Frigatebird Hill but the path was closed for construction so we detoured to Darwin Bay, believed to be where Charles Darwin first landed on the islands in 1835, and where he is commemorated with an heroic bronze statue. We ended up on the beach where a female frigatebird perched on a snag just a few feet overhead.
We stayed on the beach for the sunset then strolled into town. In front of one cafe/bar about 25 men and boys were gathered in the middle of the street looking through the bar's picture window at a big screen TV that was showing a soccer match (Quito's popular team Liga was playing).
Sea lions were everywhere. At night they congregate on the beach by the score and bark themselves to sleep. On our way back to the hotel one male lumbered toward us in the middle of the street. Even though there was a lamppost between us he apparently resented my presence because he made an aggressive lunge in my direction and I yielded the right of way. Hey, I thought, it's his town.
Tortoises and snorkeling
Apr 06, 2011
Not about to waste any daylight, I got up just before sunrise for a little pre-breakfast scouting on the waterfront. A couple of ruddy turnstones foraged among the sleeping sea lions. A great blue heron hunted in a little cove before flying off to light incongruously on a streetlamp.
A bus ride into the highlands brought us to one of the remaining patches of the miconia zone, once one of the islands' principal ecological niches. We walked around Lake Junco, a rain-filled volcanic caldera, and the islands' only body of fresh surface water. There were several frigatebirds skimming the surface; they have learned to come here to rinse off the salt they have collected in their feathers.
Near the easternmost point in the archipelago we visited La Galapaguera, San Cristobal's giant tortoise breeding center. And there, just inside the gate, as if to ratify the purpose of the center, were two tortoises mating. We observed as respectfully as one can such a spectacle and the tortoises appeared not to notice (much less mind) yet another busload of visitors.
We were told that the eggs of the free-roaming tortoises are collected and brought to the center for incubation to reduce mortality. We observed the babies in their age-grouped enclosures where they are kept until they are big enough to defend themselves against predators.
Poison apple trees are common in the compound. The shiny-leaved trees produce apples that appear like ordinary green apples, but which are fatal if consumed by humans. Tortoises, on the other hand, eat them without ill effect and are the reason the trees are so widely dispersed.
The tortoises here are Chatham tortoises (named for the island's English name), and the mockingbirds here are Chatham mockingbirds. They live only on this small island; other islands have their own distinct species.
After lunch were had our first snorkeling experience at Isla Lobos, off the west coast of San Cristobal. We were immediately joined by several inquisitive sea lions that performed aquabatic rolls and dives. We saw lots of colorful fish, and a sea turtle drifted by.
Another short boat ride took us to Kicker Rock where we saw lots of frigatebirds overhead, as well as Nazca boobies, and a swallow-tailed gull.
Snorkeling our way between the cliffs of Kicker Rock I was admiring the barnacles and sea anemones when I noticed a couple of four-foot Galapagos sharks swimming below me, and then a couple more sea turtles.
On to Santa Cruz
Apr 07, 2011
After breakfast we transferred to Santa Cruz via a three hour ride in a small boat. We stopped briefly off shore from Santa Fe island to admire the Opuntia forest.
We had lunch at a restaurant called La Garrapata, which Andres told us means ''the tick.'' It struck us as an unfortunate name for an eating establishment, but the food was great.
We hiked around El Chato tortoise reserve for a look at tortoises in a more natural setting, photographing a particularly venerable old male as he grazed in a wooded setting. On the way back to town we visited Los Gemelos, a pair of giant craters caused by lava subsidence. They lie in the Scalesia zone - 30-foot trees that are related to sunflowers. Our stop was cut short by a brief rain shower.
We enjoyed a fine seafood dinner at Il Giardino in downtown Puerto Ayora. Both of us are nursing a little sunburn from the morning boat ride, despite liberal use of sunscreen.
Darwin Station, kayaking, Tortuga Bay
Apr 08, 2011
A visit to the Charles Darwin Research Station was first on our agenda. We looked in on the tortoise nursery and were introduced to ''Super Diego'' a male of the Santa Cruz tortoise species that had been repatriated from the San Diego Zoo to help perpetuate his breed. It is said that he has sired most of the 1,500 offspring produced at the station.
We got our first look at a land iguana, a fine golden-colored specimen about four feet long.
Our first attempt to find the Pinta Island tortoise ''Lonesome George'' ( the world's most famous reptile) was unsuccessful. The last surviving individual of his species, he was brought to the Darwin Station in hopes he would mate with a related species and avoid extinction, but to date he has been uninterested. We did see one of the females he shares his compound with.
A washed out road prevented our planned mid-morning activity (hiking to a volcano) so we switched to kayaking mode. We paddled around a quiet lagoon that serves as a cattle egret nesting area and explored ''the cracks'' a narrow passage between lava cliffs where we saw brown noddies, striated herons, a great blue heron, and blue-footed boobies. A short hike took us to Playa Los Perros, a boulder-strewn beach covered with marine iguanas and Sally Lightfoot crabs. These brilliant crustaceans are irresistible to a photographer, their scarlet color striking against the wet, black lava rock they often haunt. Named for their nimble scurrying, they scuttle on the very tips of their eight legs, like a ballet dancer ''en pointe''.
After lunch at La Garrapata we hiked the three miles to Tortuga Bay, which offers white coral sand, red mangroves, and a tidal flat with lots of shore birds. Just as we started back to town the rain started and we walked 45 minutes in the rain back to the hotel. Since I was already wet I took a dip in the Hotel Fernandina pool before supper.
Isabela
Apr 09, 2011
We rose at dawn for a quick return visit to the Darwin Station and a glimpse of Lonesome George. This time he was snoozing at the back of his compound.
A two-hour small boat ride took us to Isabela, the largest of the Galapagos Islands.
After visiting the tortoise breeding center we strolled a boardwalk through the mangrove and poison apples, past a brackish lagoon where there were pintails, moorhens and black-necked stilts. Puerto Villamil offers a seemingly endless beach and we passed waterfront bars, hotels and homes on the way to Cesar's, our lunch spot (Cesar's salad, anyone?)
We caught our first glimpse of Galapagos penguins hobnobbing with the blue-footed boobies on the rocks as we approached our afternoon snorkeling spot The underwater highlight was a pair of sting rays that glided along the sea bed below us. Afterward we toured Islote Tintoreras, walking among the sea lions and marine iguanas through the fierce volcanic landscape.
Puerto Villamil is the smallest of the islands' three settlements and has a decidedly bucolic atmosphere, palm trees lining the unpaved streets. We took a short sunset walk into town before supper, admiring the Opuntia cactus silhouetted against the fading colors in the western sky.
Sierra Negra; Volcan Chico
Apr 10, 2011
Our van driver had to bob and weave all over the heavily rutted road that took us 3,000 feet up into the highlands to the trailhead for the Sierra Negra volcano. We hiked for a mile or so as the trail climbed about 300 feet until we reached a short side trail that lead to a breath-taking viewpoint on the rim of the crater. The pit is shockingly immense (roughly six miles by four miles) and thanks to recent rains on the thin crust of solidified lava, the floor hundreds of feet below us was a sea of steam.
Our hike continued into the surreal lava fields of Volcan Chico, where islands of older, reddish rock rose between streams of black, more recent, lava (Chico's last lava flow was about 40 years ago). An occasional cactus or tuft of grass struggled to survive in the volcanic moonscape.
We peered down into deep, fern-lined fumaroles and saw where, prior to the establishment of the national park, efforts were made to mine the area's sulfur.
The rain began, as Murphy's Law might have predicted, just about when were were farthest from the trailhead. We were rained upon for about 90 minutes. Sometimes it poured, other times it eased off. When it poured, the trail became a great, ankle-deep linear mud puddle. Though we all had varying degrees of rain protection we all ended up thoroughly soaked. Our park guide, Nelly, knowing my interest in the local flora, pointed out a Galapagos orchid during one of the rain lulls. We also caught a glimpse of the brilliant vermilion flycatcher.
On the way down the mountain we stopped for lunch at a family farm/campground where we watched hummingbird moths gathering nectar and listened to the sounds of giant tortoises mating in the brush nearby.
With a couple of hours free before dinner I checked out Concha de Perla, a secluded bay just a couple hundred yards from the hotel. It is reached by a boardwalk through a stand of mangrove. On the way I watched a striated heron for 15 minutes as it stalked its prey just a few feet below where I stood.
The crystal-clear bay is a popular spot for local families. Young swimmers rested, clinging to the exposed roots of the red mangrove.
Going back through town, I strolled along the beach into the sunset. Along the way I had a close encounter with an American oystercatcher. I've tried before to get a good picture of this colorful shore bird, but they have always been unwilling subjects. This one was way more interested in the bugs it was digging out of the sand than worrying about an excited photographer.
Back to Santa Cruz
Apr 11, 2011
Our hiking companions needed to leave early to make their flight from Baltra so we left Isabela in a speed boat at 6:45. It was a remarkably bumpy 90-minute ride; a few times we smacked the water so hard I was surprised the hull didn't split.
Back in Puerto Ayora the bus dropped Helen and me off at our new hotel, The Divers Lodge, and took our friends across the island to the airport. Our accommodations were changed because we had been booked at the Red Mangrove, but it had been damaged in the tsunami that followed the earthquake in Japan.
As the staff prepped our room we had a second breakfast in the dining area. Our room turned out to be a suite, complete with kitchenette, sitting room, two bedrooms and bathroom, and we wallowed shamelessly in the luxury of it all.
We waited out a rain shower then headed into town for a little sight-seeing. At the public fish-cleaning station on the harbor I was captivated by the assortment of wildlife drawn to this source of free food. There must have been two dozen pelicans hanging around with their beaks half open. Also a couple of gray lava doves. I was amazed by a frigatebird that demonstrated its aerobatic skills by flying under the shelter's roof, snatching a tidbit on the fly, and exiting out to sea. Incongruously, a marine iguana waddled along the edge of the action and, despite being a vegetarian, gave a long look at a fish tail lying on the pavement before one of the pelicans slurped it up. My favorite, though, was the great blue heron that made a dramatic entrance flying right onto the cleaning table. The heron, with his dagger beak, clearly ruled the gathering. Whenever a pelican crowded too close he would give a mock charge and the flock would scatter.
Our wanderings took us to the beach by the Darwin Station and another quick visit to Lonesome George, who continued to merit the nickname Lethargic George.
We dined on pulpo (octopus) and spaghetti at La Garrapata.
On our own
Apr 12, 2011
I continued my practice of getting up before dawn, this time to go for a run. I had known that on this trip my running opportunities would be limited, but today we were on our own with no scheduled activities so I seized the chance. A run three miles out to Tortuga Bay was an ideal distance and after one or two wrong turns I found the street that lead to the entrance station and, trying not to drip sweat all over the book I signed in and continued along the paved path to the beach. It was a beautiful morning, with hints of sunrise color in the eastern clouds. At the far end of the beach a great blue heron hid in the mangrove roots looking for his breakfast.
I ran back to the hotel in time for my own breakfast and then we walked back to Tortuga Bay to spend some time with the shorebirds in the lagoon. It threatened rain all the way back to town, but it held off. I cooled off in the hotel pool.
With the luxury of an unscheduled day we took care of laundry, confirmed our ride to Baltra for the next day, wrote postcards and checked email on the hotel computer.
Aboard the Coral I
Apr 13, 2011
A morning of varied transportation. We took a cab ride to the north end of Santa Cruz, a ferry across the strait to Baltra, a bus to the airport. We met up with our guide and fellow cruisers, then another bus ride to the harbor, a Zodiak ride out to the Coral I, anchored in the bay.
There was a grand buffet in the dining room shortly after we boarded. The crew mustered us early for our hike up Cerro Dragon in hopes of beating a rain squall that was bearing down on us. We landed on slippery lava boulders and saw a flamingo, white-cheeked pintails, black-necked stilts and a fine land iguana before the rain hit.
The ship-issued ponchos were very welcome as we hiked 45 minutes through the rain and very slick mud on the trail. The rain gradually let up and stopped as we got back to the beach.
From the ship we watched the sun set over Islas Guy Fawkes.
Rabida; Santiago
Apr 14, 2011
After an opulent breakfast we Zodiaked along the shore of Rabida island, where we (nearly) rubbed elbows with blue-footed boobies, brown noddies, a striated heron and fur sea lions for an hour or so. Then we landed on Rabida's red sand beach and watched a pair of flamingos dozing in a lagoon and hiked the low hills among the specialized, soft-spined Opuntia that grow here.
During lunch the Coral cruised to the west side of Santiago and we put ashore at Puerto Egas, the site of an ill-fated salt mine. A short hike along the shore took us past fur sea lions, lots of marine iguanas and striated heron. As I photographed an iguana an inquisitive Galapagos flycatcher landed for a second on my lens. I don't know if I was more startled or delighted; anyway, I felt honored.
Later we snorkeled with lots of surgeonfish, clownfish and many others. Just down the beach from me as I emerged from the water a great blue heron posed in the afternoon sun against the dark volcanic rock.
Treasures of Fernandina and a mishap
Apr 15, 2011
Having crossed the equator twice in the night (first, northbound, then southbound toward Fernandina) we piled into the Zodiaks right after breakfast. We were greeted by a welcoming committee that consisted of a flightless cormorant, a basking sea lion, crabs, a striated heron, marine iguanas and a Galapagos hawk that eyed us nonchalantly from a snag - and we had barely set foot on land. Fernandina is said to be the island least altered by human contact and that helps explain the abundance and variety of the wildlife.
As Jose, our barefoot guide, pointed out the difference between ''pahoehoe'' (ropy) and ''aa'' (sharp, jagged) lava I stopped to admire a Galapagos snake stretched out along the folds of pahoeohoe.
We watched a bit of the flightless cormorants' mating ritual: strutting with necks arched, twisting and twining. I guess you could say they were necking. The cormorants are one of the Galapagos' iconic species. So isolated from predators they have lost the ability to fly. What's left of their wings is effective for undersea fishing.
We were nearly back to the Zodiak landing when Helen took a spill on the lava and scuffed her toes, knees and hands and injured her elbow. Our guides and other members of the party provided first aid and we were whisked back to the Coral. A doctor was ferried over from our sister ship the Legend and he gave further treatment and comfort. Since she could still move the arm he assumed there was nothing broken, though when we got home four days later that proved incorrect.
As Helen rested aboard ship I continued with the group deep water snorkeling in Tagus Cove, on the west coast of Isabela. There were plenty of sea stars, barnacles, a couple of sea turtles. I even caught a glimpse of a penguin fishing below me.
We made a quick hike uphill past 175 years of nautical graffiti (sailors from the British ship Phoenix were the first to carve their vessel's name and date in the rock). We got a view of hyper-saline Lake Darwin - three times saltier than the ocean.
Back on the Coral we were treated to an ice cream social. We spent an hour on the upper deck looking for whales and admiring the sunset.
Cruising through the night, we again crossed the equator twice. For our northbound transit the captain invited passengers up to the bridge to watch the GPS monitor as it displayed our latitude at O degrees, 0' 0'' Then we retired to the lounge for celebratory cocktails and the presentation of certificates designating each of us as veterans of the equator crossing.
Bartolome and Black Turtle Cove
Apr 16, 2011
We awoke to sunrise over Bartolome and soon were hiking the boardwalk across its barren landscape. Vegetation is sparse, mostly the scraggly gray Tiquilia scattered thinly over brown volcanic gravel. Animal life is even sparser: a lizard here and there. The rest is a tuff and pumice rock pile punctuated by an occasional spatter cone.
Where the boardwalk ends at Bartolome's highest point we got the classic Galapagos postcard view of Pinnacle Rock and Santiago in the distance.
Helen had to sit it out, but I had some of my best snorkeling in the shadow of Pinnacle Rock later in the morning. I swam among great schools of colorful fish, often against the background of bright orange-red algae on the reefs.
In the afternoon we rode the Zodiaks through the bays and inlets of Black Turtle Cove spotting several sea turtles, rays and sharks.
Leaving the Enchanted Islands
Apr 17, 2011
Those of us leaving the Coral went with Jose to the Principio tortoise reserve where we borrowed Wellingtons to slog through the mud in search of the lumbering giants. It brought to mind my personal stake in the survival of an animal closely tied to the Galapagos Islands in the world's perception. A branch of my family came from Nantucket, where, about the time Darwin was exploring the archipelago, some of my ancestors were certainly among the whalers that preyed on the tortoise population for fresh meat, driving some species to the edge of extinction. It is reassuring several generations later that vigorous efforts to restore tortoise populations have reversed the decline.
Before we knew it we were back at the Baltra airport, and under cover of umbrellas provided by AeroGal we boarded our flight back to the mainland in the rain.
It felt almost like home to be back at Hostal de la Rabida.
Leaving Ecuador
Apr 18, 2011
It's hard to believe we're spending our last day in Ecuador, the conclusion of a spectacular adventure.
At breakfast Gloria gave us directions to a sporting goods store, where we bought Liga (Quito's first division soccer team) jerseys for our grandsons. We spent a little time in the mall after our purchase; it's surprising how similar it is to any mall we are familiar with in the United States - same stores, same restaurant chains, even a lot of the same merchandise and paying with US dollars as well.
We paid a visit to the Confederate Bookstore, not far from La Rabida, to replenish our reading material for the trip home. Aside from the novelty of an English language bookstore in downtown Quito, it has an amazing diversity of titles - better than some I've shopped in at home. It was established years ago by an American ex-pat from New Orleans (hence the name) and has become an institution.
We bought a few items at an Ecuadorian products shop we stumbled onto and ate supper at Mama Clarinda's, a restaurant specializing in Ecuadorian fare that Gloria had recommended. I finally got to sample the Ecuadorian delicacy ''cuy'' that I had read about. In English, it's Guinea pig. I ordered the half portion so it appeared on the platter sort of flat; it is roasted complete with the head, making it look unfortunately like road kill. I found it pretty greasy and salty. It tasted a bit like - are you ready for this? - chicken.
We got to the airport well in advance of our flight time and everything turned bizarre. We passed through a fairly perfunctory security check and were immediately accosted by a young woman in some sort of official looking uniform telling us we needed to have our checked luggage shrink-wrapped for security. Beside her was a burly young man ready to do just that. After grappling with this unheard-of ''requirement'' for a few minutes I decided that there were too many scam-like elements involved and I declined. Then, shortly after we had checked in with the airline we were told everyone had to vacate the gate area while they performed a security sweep, which they did, and pretty thoroughly, too. Then one by one we were readmitted after a hand search of all of our carry-on luggage, even though it had already been scanned in the first security check. Helen had to surrender a bottle of water she had bought after the first check. All the while we were in the terminal the reader boards were scrolling a message to the effect that the airport was closed due to weather conditions.
Despite all the distractions they boarded our plane and we took off for Atlanta more or less on time for our 10:30 p. m. flight.
Home
Apr 19, 2011
Groggily we deplaned at dawn in Atlanta. Connections after this point were pretty routine,
As we flew homeward I reflected a bit on our travels. It occurred to me that had we made the same trip a decade or so ago, before I had adapted to the digital age, I would have had to shoot the equivalent of 125 36-exposure rolls of film to shoot as many frames as I had over the last three weeks.
We had debated in planning our trip whether to take the hiking tour or a boat cruise and we elected to do a combination and I'm glad we did because we were able to see a greater variety of sights and creatures than we would have with either trip alone. And the Sacha Lodge side trip was a delightful bonus that provided a striking contrast to what we found in the islands.
I had wanted to see the Galapagos for more than 35 years - ever since I read an Annie Dillard essay in which she rhapsodized over the Palo Santo trees. Now I had my own memories and images of the flora, fauna, geology, history, and people - enough to last a lifetime.
Thinking about the fragile ecology of this truly unique spot on our earth I was reassured by something that our guide Andres had said. Granted, there is a danger of loving the Galapagos to death by the tens of thousands of tourists visiting every year, he said. But with the establishment of the Galapagos National Park and enforcement of protective regulations, it is actually the interest and concern of the tourists that keeps the islands in the international spotlight and ensures the preservation of this treasure.
Arriving home in Great Falls we stepped out of the airport into - what else? - a Montana snow squall.
The staff at Adventure Life made planning my family's trip to the Galapagos Islands as easy as possible. They listened to what we were hoping to experience and made thoughtful suggestions about how to accomplish our vacation goals while meeting the needs of travelers ages 17-76! They patiently answered questions and follow up questions in the months leading up to the trip. They helped us trouble shoot and customize the trip in every way possible. The logistics involved in traveling from Boston to the Galapagos are innumerable. The Adventure Life staff helped us arrange every detail and the team they assembled in the Galapagos was tremendous. I have never done a trip this big before and after working with Adventure Life this time--would not hesitate one second in working with them again.
Jennifer Howard Schroeder
2 months ago
My travel consultant went out of her way to make sure everything went smoothly, everything from the flight reservations to the final booking.
johnw
5 months ago
We have told everyone we know about Adventure Life. What a great company to work with and no detail is missed. Call them for your next adventure!!
Paul Rupert
6 months ago
Clara was great to work with. She presented lots of options and always responded promptly. And she found excellent options within our price range.
Colorado Traveler
9 months ago
Erin C. was incredibly helpful and thorough. I had answers immediately or within the same day.
Marilyn Snook
9 months ago
The staff at Adventure Life made planning my family's trip to the Galapagos Islands as easy as possible. They listened to what we were hoping to experience and made thoughtful suggestions about how to accomplish our vacation goals while meeting the needs of travelers ages 17-76! They patiently answered questions and follow up questions in the months leading up to the trip. They helped us trouble shoot and customize the trip in every way possible. The logistics involved in traveling from Boston to the Galapagos are innumerable. The Adventure Life staff helped us arrange every detail and the team they assembled in the Galapagos was tremendous. I have never done a trip this big before and after working with Adventure Life this time--would not hesitate one second in working with them again.
Jennifer Howard Schroeder
2 months ago
My travel consultant went out of her way to make sure everything went smoothly, everything from the flight reservations to the final booking.
johnw
5 months ago
We have told everyone we know about Adventure Life. What a great company to work with and no detail is missed. Call them for your next adventure!!
Paul Rupert
6 months ago
Clara was great to work with. She presented lots of options and always responded promptly. And she found excellent options within our price range.
Colorado Traveler
9 months ago
Erin C. was incredibly helpful and thorough. I had answers immediately or within the same day.
Marilyn Snook
9 months ago
The staff at Adventure Life made planning my family's trip to the Galapagos Islands as easy as possible. They listened to what we were hoping to experience and made thoughtful suggestions about how to accomplish our vacation goals while meeting the needs of travelers ages 17-76! They patiently answered questions and follow up questions in the months leading up to the trip. They helped us trouble shoot and customize the trip in every way possible. The logistics involved in traveling from Boston to the Galapagos are innumerable. The Adventure Life staff helped us arrange every detail and the team they assembled in the Galapagos was tremendous. I have never done a trip this big before and after working with Adventure Life this time--would not hesitate one second in working with them again.
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