Galapagos - Isla Isabela

Dec 21, 22 and 23

We returned to Puerto Baquerizo Moreno and flew over to Isla Isabela in an eight-seater plane. The lone pilot fell asleep (seriously).

We checked into a lovely hotel in the small town of Villamil (pop. 1500) with a view of the beach and the setting sun from our balcony. Our first excursion was to the island’s giant tortoise breeding centre. The centre has a program of hatching and reintroducing tortoises into the wild. It’s a long process as they are not released until they can survive on their own at 12 to 15 years of age. The tiny tortoises were like toys – so small and incredibly cute. Isabela is the largest of the islands – 100 km long – and the only one with several different species of tortoise. The distance between the volcanoes and the different habitats allowed for five different species of tortoise to evolve. The centre houses all five species so it’s possible to see the physical differences between them. For example, tortoises from the area where the vegetation is lush and grows close to the ground have the shortest limbs as their food supply is within easy reach.

We walked back to the hotel along a boardwalk through a mangrove forest were we saw a number of flamingos. At the beach, black baby marine iguanas were huddled together on the rocks to catch the last warming rays of the setting sun.

The next morning we travelled by boat to a place called Los Tuneles. We wove our way through several kilometres of odd formations that were created when molten lava reached the cool waters of the ocean and “froze” into various shapes including the tunnels and bridges. We had a quick snorkel among tunnels and saw rays, turtles and white-tipped sharks. (I had to wear a full 3mm wetsuit that I brought from Whitehorse every time I snorkelled because the water was quite cold.)

Video of green sea turtle...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxLqZw4vF8I

Next we travelled to another island called Tintoreras where we saw Galapagos penguins and walked among a marvellous density of marine iguanas. Many of the larger iguanas had started to turn the bright colours that signal the approach of their mating season.

We spent our third day on Isabela climbing Volcan Sierra Negra and its ‘offspring” Volcan Chico. We drove part way and then hiked a further hour to the rim if the caldera. As we trekked further we crossed the distinctive flows from the volcano’s eruptions in 1963, 1979 and 2005. The landscape was dry and brittle. From the farthest point we could see the island’s other active volcanoes far to the north.

Photos from Isla Isabela...

Isla Isabela, Galapagos

Galapagos - Isla San Cristobal

Dec 19 and 20

We began our Galapagos tour on Isla San Cristobal – a two hour / 1000 km flight from the mainland of Ecuador. On arrival we wandered through the town of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno and we were delighted by the sea lions lounging randomly on the beachfront, seemingly oblivious to the passing pedestrians and playing children.

The company we were travelling with (ROW Adventures out of Idaho) is one of the few with permits to camp on the Galapagos. This is one of the main reasons we opted to do a ‘land-based’ tour instead of the far more common cruise boat-based tours. Another reason for our choice was the variety of activities included – kayaking, hiking, snorkelling, eating in local restaurants and staying in local hotels. Our group was small – a couple from Atlanta, another couple from San Francisco, our guide Eduardo and us. The Galapagos is 97% national park so we were also escorted by national park guides/ interpreters on all our excursions –a different one on each of the islands we visited.

Our first kayak adventure was a short excursion out of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno along the west coast of the island travelling toward our campsite for the next two days. We only kayaked for about an hour and a half before transferring to a catamaran for another hour’s travel. (Our kayaks were towed the rest of the way by another support boat.) Our camp was all set up and waiting for us on a lovely sandy beach at a place known as Puerto Grande. We watched a stunning sunset, glass of wine in hand and enjoyed a great dinner. I didn’t sleep very well that night. Every time I woke up just a little bit I was jolted awake by the knowledge that I was camped on the Galapagos. It was ridiculously exciting.

The next day we set out from camp in our kayaks and paddled for about 3 hours. The only sign of other people was a small cruise ship way off in the distance. We wound up at place called Isla Lobos where we saw marine iguanas for the first time. There was also a colony of sea lions. As we snorkelled the young sea lions circled us, swimming close to see if we were something to play with. It was hilarious!

Video of swimming with sea lions...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sg5CYWWJoI

After our swim we transferred to the catamaran and headed to our next stop - Kicker Rock. This island is a sheer-walled tuff cone (formed from volcanic ash) that has been eroded in half. The water around Kicker Rock is very deep and attracts many species not usually found in shallower water. We geared up for another snorkel and the catamaran left us to swim through the gap. Our guide Jorge recited the names of various shark species we might see just before we jumped overboard including “if we were REALLY lucky”, a hammerhead. Whew! Turns out we were extremely lucky because we saw three! As you can imagine, it was a little unsettling to see them pass about 15 feet below us. Jorge was thrilled. He hadn’t seen one there for several years and he’d never seen three at once. I was just bewildered.

We had another lovely evening back at our camp – more wine, another spectacular sunset and a full moon. The main activity of the evening was to make the underwater signal for hammerhead and laugh at our good fortune.

Photos from Isla San Cristobal

San Cristobal, Galapagos

Real time update from Panama

It's been tricky getting Internet access as well as time to write up our travels. We are currently in Cerra Punta in Panama not far from the border with Costa Rica. It's cool and wet up here but it's a lovely spot.

I hope to have a few days soon to catch up with our travel news and especially add some pictures from Galapagos. In the meantime here are some pictures from our time in Quito.....

Quito

Ecuadorian market days

December 15 and 16

No rest for the curious, I suppose. Up early once again to head south of Quito on a day trip to the town of Saquisili to take in its weekly market. Ecuador has many weekly markets but the one in Saquisili is supposed to be the “most authentic” of the Andean (indigenous) markets. We hired a guide in Quito (Enrique) to make it easier to navigate our way both to the town and around its 7 separate market areas.

The first market section we visited was for buying and selling animals – pigs, llamas, goats, sheep, and cattle. The animal market starts about 5 AM and as we didn’t arrive until 11 we missed most of the true chaos.

Enrique led us through the maze of streets and squares and through concentrations of potato sellers, fruit and vegetable sellers, and flower sellers. Other areas sold prepared food including roasted guinea pigs (which we declined) and the usual array of live fowl. The artisan section was small, a true indication that this market saw few tourists.

Throughout the whole market men and women were dressed in the traditional styles and colours of their indigenous communities, with unmistakable variations in the skirts, blouses, knee socks, shawls, ponchos, hats and pants. We found the people to be quite shy and always looked away when I smiled. Everyone was incredibly short. (Brodie would tower over most of the population.) There were many young women, looking no older than 16, with babies strapped to their backs.

On our way back to Quito we stopped for lunch at the Hacienda La Cienega. The main house was built in the early 1700’s. It offered quite an insight into the elegance and richness of Spanish colonial life – grand gardens, stables and a private chapel. It is still an operating ranch. The whole region is dominated by the volcano Cotopaxi but only the lower slopes were visible.

The next day we again headed out again with Enrique to the north. A 2.5 hour drive brought us to the town of Otavalo, the site of Ecuador’s most famous indigenous market. The area was obviously far more prosperous than Saquisili with better agricultural lands and more tourism. The market was great - full of colour and more very short people. It began to pour but we did our best to be good tourist shoppers under the plastic tarps.

Photos from the markets...

Ecuador markets

Up in the clouds

December 14 and 15

Less than six hours of sleep and we're off to the west of Quito - up into the cloud forest to Bellavista Cloud Forest Reserve. http://www.bellavistacloudforest.com/english/index.php

We spent wonderful two days (a lot of it in the pouring rain) watching birds and learning about the ecology of the cloud forest. We had a fabulous guide who added so much to our experience. Cozy bamboo hut to sleep in (it was quite cool at night) and great food. Bellavista is known for the variety of hummingbirds that live in the area and we saw a marvelous array. We certainly wished we had stayed longer.

Pictures from Bellavista....

Ecuador cloud forest

On the road again

Just do it.
Life’s too short.
Go big or go home.
It’s only money.
You only live once.
Freedom 55.

....Clichés have their place....

****

We left Vancouver yesterday at 7:45 AM - in the pouring rain. After about 45 minutes on the road, the driver requests the assistance of any passenger who knows the route to the border to please step forward. “I’m lost,” he adds. Nobody moves. Barney says it’s just a joke. Several minutes later the request is reasserted. Barney looks outside and says we’re in Abbotsford. We’ve been travelling east – not south. Two puppyish passengers finally intervene and direct us away from the route to Halifax and along back roads to the nearest border crossing. We arrive in Seattle 2 hours late but still in time to make it to the Picasso exhibit at the Art Museum.


****

This trip began when our friends Fran and Marty (who live in Wisconsin) suggested we meet them and their two university-aged daughters in Panama for three weeks. With no kids at home for Christmas and no pets to look after, we decided there was no reason to stick around Whitehorse for the coldest darkest months. After agreeing to meet up with them, we had a look at the map to see what else might be worth a visit in the area. We were surprised to discover that the distances between Panama City, Quito and the Galapagos form an equidistant triangle. So we are now en route to Quito (via Seattle). We will spend our first few days in and around Quito. Then on Dec 19th we fly out to the Galapagos for a week which includes Christmas. On Dec 28 we fly to Panama City to meet up with Fran and family to begin our adventure there. We're heading into 6 weeks of wildlife wonders, on land and in the ocean, so stay tuned.

Fran would say that our misdirected beginning was a sign. Maybe we should have gone to Ontario for Christmas instead of Ecuador. But I think it was more likely a sign to remind us of how unpredictable travel can be and how even the most straight forward route is not always a sure thing.

That's all for now...

Tomorrow I fly back to Whitehorse. Barney is staying in Vancouver for a few more days.

We're being asked what were the highlights of the last 20 weeks, what place did we like best? I can’t tell you yet. So much of what we saw and did was so great. Every county had its good points (like its food) and its challenges (like the public toilets). Time will tell which memories become the richest and which places call us back.

On August 22, I turn 60. Whew! So I’m going home to celebrate and start thinking about the next trips.