I left the Holiday Inn in Lafayette around 10am since I knew it wouldn't take me that long to get to New Orleans. I have to say the drive between Lafayette and NoLa is one of the most interesting that I have had so far on this trip. The countryside is true Louisana Bayou, with flat land, tall trees lining the road and multiple little bayous that you can see from the road. I wished for a small boat so I could explore. Just before reaching Baton Rouge, there is a stretch of causeway that runs through a swamp for about 5 miles. The water was perfectly still, reflecting the sky and clouds. The swamp was full of tree stumps and live trees, which made me wonder how they could survive submerged. It looked so mysterious! In addition, the causeway was perfectly straight, so you could see for miles. At one point I even saw a huge bird fly above me that was bright pink. At first I was confused, but I looked closer and realized it was a flamingo!
When you reach Baton Rouge you cross the mighty Mississippi, which is indeed large and fast-flowing. You get a quick glimpse of some barges for shipping, but not much else of Baton Rouge as the 10 splits off and heads southeast towards NoLa. As you get closer to the coast, the road passes Lake Pontchartrain, which is huge. The road passes along the southern coast of the lake and I couldn't see the other shore. There are also more swamps and bayous.
I am staying at the W in the French Quarter which is just too nice. I know it is more than I have been spending for other hotels, but their service is utterly top notch and they really make me feel welcome. Anytime I call for something they always call me Miss Mitchell and the staff are going overboard to keep me happy. I would just like to point out that the last time I stayed at the W in Scottsdale, I was not impressed with the service, but here they have so far been excellent.
I am off to lunch at Cafe Masperos and to walk around the French Quarter so as to enjoy this gorgeous day! I will update more later!
Showing posts with label BEST HOTEL EVER. Show all posts
Showing posts with label BEST HOTEL EVER. Show all posts
Monday, May 24, 2010
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Tiny Tortoises and Tortuga Bay
For our last full day in the islands, Lee and I joined the elderly Italian couple for a drive to see the Wall of Tears, Flamingo Lagoon and then we took the boat back to Isla Santa Cruz. The rest of our tour got a horseback ride up one of the 5 volcanos on Isla Isabella because their tour was for a full week instead of 5 days. Too bad, as that sounded fun, but it´s definitely something to keep in mind for next time!
The Wall of Tears dated from the mid-20th century when Isabella was used as a penal colony. As punishment, the inmates were forced to build their own prison out of the endemic lava rocks on the island. We drove to the wall for about 20 minutes out of town, passing another beach with lovely sand and waves and about 5 tortoises who were just hanging out on the road. We had to be careful not to run them over! These varieties were smaller than the ones we had seen the day before, maybe only 2 feet in length. They sure were cute, though!
Apparently the prison stopped being used after there was a mass breakout in the 60's when the inmates had enough and stole some boats to sail to the mainland and to Venezuela. But, as our guide pointed out, often news travels faster than boats, so when the inmates sailed into shore there were plenty of policemen waiting for them! Oops!
We then drove to see some flamingos that are native to the Galapagos, but they look exactly like flamingos everywhere else so it was pretty tamada. We did all get a laugh out of the fact that Lee was wearing some swim trunks that were the same color as the flamingos, however!
The boat ride back to Isla Santa Cruz was a bit miserable as I tried to nap but was bumped around a bit by the rough ocean. We were all given the chance to take seasickness medicine before each boat ride and I'm glad I did as nothing stinks more than seasickness!
After two hours we got back to the familiar Red Mangrove lodge in Puerto Ayora and were upgraded to a gorgeous room overlooking the ocean. Bonus! The last part of our tour itinerary included a trip to the Charles Darwin Reasearch Station, which is where tortoise breeding and genetic research is carried out and one can view its most famous inhabitant, Lonesome George, who is the last of his giant tortoise subspecies. George has been alone since 1975 and they have been trying to (unsuccessfully) get him to breed with other lady tortoises. In 2008 a member of his harem did lay eggs but they were, sadly, all unviable. Lee and I were mildly interested in seeing George, but after four full days of tortoises, we decided to skip it and do our own thing. We were also pretty sick of touring around and waiting for slow walkers. As tour groups go our group was pretty good, but sometimes it's nice to do your own thing, you know?
As it was a perfect, sunny day, we decided to revisit Tortuga Bay, which was the beach we boated to on the first day. However, since we didn't have access to a boat, we had to take a taxi to a paved trail entrace and then hike in for 2.5km to access the beach. The taxi was only $1 (love the cabs in Ecuador, they are just so cheap!) so we grabbed our suits and our sunscreen and hopped in. The walk was very pleasant, although hot as it was only partially shaded, and the path was fully paved and walled somewhat remeniscent of the Great Wall of China, although on a much smaller scale. We walked past plenty of small, green lizards who were doing pushups on the path in front of us. Visitors to the beach have to sign in with a guard and we smartly purchased several bottles of ice cold water for the 30 minute walk in.
Since the beach is so remote (you can't even take a bike in on the bath) it explains why the bay was so deserted when we arrived. When we sited the ocean after hoofing it past mangrove thickets and giant prickly pear trees, it was an incredibly welcome site. Even more welcome was the fact that we were the only two people on the beach except for 5 surfers in the water. We picked a spot by the edge and enjoyed the pure majesty of azure water, cloudless sunny sky and powdery white sand. I was so incredibly happy that we blew off the last part of the tour to come to the beach! The water was wonderfully clear and we saw some schools of large fish being pursued by some sea lions (who also surfed in on the waves) as well as some predatory birds scooping fish out of the water. I think Tortuga Bay is probably the nicest beach I have ever been to in my life!
Around 4pm it got cloudy, so the walk out was quite pleasant and cool. We made it back to the hotel and decided to have dinner at an Italian restaurant that looked good and was always crowded when we walked by. The food at Red Mangrove is very tasty, but menus are set so we wanted some variety. Boy, was I glad we ate at Il Giardino... Lee had a beef lasagna and I had Galapagos Lobster and it was AMAZING. The lobster was only $20, too, which is a great price. It was cooked in an orange coconut sauce which is as good as it sounds.
We also did our souvenier shopping so I got a teeshirt that says ¨I Love Boobies¨ on it and features two blue boobie feet on it. Pretty funny! We then got some gelato for dessert, so it was a really perfect day.
The Wall of Tears dated from the mid-20th century when Isabella was used as a penal colony. As punishment, the inmates were forced to build their own prison out of the endemic lava rocks on the island. We drove to the wall for about 20 minutes out of town, passing another beach with lovely sand and waves and about 5 tortoises who were just hanging out on the road. We had to be careful not to run them over! These varieties were smaller than the ones we had seen the day before, maybe only 2 feet in length. They sure were cute, though!
Apparently the prison stopped being used after there was a mass breakout in the 60's when the inmates had enough and stole some boats to sail to the mainland and to Venezuela. But, as our guide pointed out, often news travels faster than boats, so when the inmates sailed into shore there were plenty of policemen waiting for them! Oops!
We then drove to see some flamingos that are native to the Galapagos, but they look exactly like flamingos everywhere else so it was pretty tamada. We did all get a laugh out of the fact that Lee was wearing some swim trunks that were the same color as the flamingos, however!
The boat ride back to Isla Santa Cruz was a bit miserable as I tried to nap but was bumped around a bit by the rough ocean. We were all given the chance to take seasickness medicine before each boat ride and I'm glad I did as nothing stinks more than seasickness!
After two hours we got back to the familiar Red Mangrove lodge in Puerto Ayora and were upgraded to a gorgeous room overlooking the ocean. Bonus! The last part of our tour itinerary included a trip to the Charles Darwin Reasearch Station, which is where tortoise breeding and genetic research is carried out and one can view its most famous inhabitant, Lonesome George, who is the last of his giant tortoise subspecies. George has been alone since 1975 and they have been trying to (unsuccessfully) get him to breed with other lady tortoises. In 2008 a member of his harem did lay eggs but they were, sadly, all unviable. Lee and I were mildly interested in seeing George, but after four full days of tortoises, we decided to skip it and do our own thing. We were also pretty sick of touring around and waiting for slow walkers. As tour groups go our group was pretty good, but sometimes it's nice to do your own thing, you know?
As it was a perfect, sunny day, we decided to revisit Tortuga Bay, which was the beach we boated to on the first day. However, since we didn't have access to a boat, we had to take a taxi to a paved trail entrace and then hike in for 2.5km to access the beach. The taxi was only $1 (love the cabs in Ecuador, they are just so cheap!) so we grabbed our suits and our sunscreen and hopped in. The walk was very pleasant, although hot as it was only partially shaded, and the path was fully paved and walled somewhat remeniscent of the Great Wall of China, although on a much smaller scale. We walked past plenty of small, green lizards who were doing pushups on the path in front of us. Visitors to the beach have to sign in with a guard and we smartly purchased several bottles of ice cold water for the 30 minute walk in.
Since the beach is so remote (you can't even take a bike in on the bath) it explains why the bay was so deserted when we arrived. When we sited the ocean after hoofing it past mangrove thickets and giant prickly pear trees, it was an incredibly welcome site. Even more welcome was the fact that we were the only two people on the beach except for 5 surfers in the water. We picked a spot by the edge and enjoyed the pure majesty of azure water, cloudless sunny sky and powdery white sand. I was so incredibly happy that we blew off the last part of the tour to come to the beach! The water was wonderfully clear and we saw some schools of large fish being pursued by some sea lions (who also surfed in on the waves) as well as some predatory birds scooping fish out of the water. I think Tortuga Bay is probably the nicest beach I have ever been to in my life!
Around 4pm it got cloudy, so the walk out was quite pleasant and cool. We made it back to the hotel and decided to have dinner at an Italian restaurant that looked good and was always crowded when we walked by. The food at Red Mangrove is very tasty, but menus are set so we wanted some variety. Boy, was I glad we ate at Il Giardino... Lee had a beef lasagna and I had Galapagos Lobster and it was AMAZING. The lobster was only $20, too, which is a great price. It was cooked in an orange coconut sauce which is as good as it sounds.
We also did our souvenier shopping so I got a teeshirt that says ¨I Love Boobies¨ on it and features two blue boobie feet on it. Pretty funny! We then got some gelato for dessert, so it was a really perfect day.
Mistress and Commander: The Far Side of the World on Isla Isabella
The boat ride from Isla Floreana to Isla Isabella was about two hours long, but I slept through a lot of it as I snagged one of the good seats on the stern that was shaded, although got a nice breeze off the water. I woke up just as we were passing Isla de Tortuga, which is a small half-moon shaped island where blue-footed boobies, terns, pelicans and frigatebirds make their home.
The entrance to Puerto Villamil, the only town on Isla Isabella is through a narrow fissure in the lava rocks that surround the bay, forming a very pleasant, calm lagoon. The village is utterly idyllic, with white sandy roads, beautiful beaches, swaying palm trees and friendly locals. The Red Mangrove lodge is literally on the beach, with adorable little casitas arranged in rows with rooftop decks. The best part was that we knew the air conditioning would function all night!
For the afternoon's activities we piled into two smaller boats to cross the lagoon and saw a sea turtle and eagle ray just lazily swimming around. We then walked around a trail by the waves on the edge of the lagoon and saw a boatload of marine iguanas all basking in the sun. They were often piled on top of each other, or lying with one arm around another as if watching a drive in movie. When the boat arrived at the landing for the trail, we had to shoo a big, fat sea lion off the dock. After much clapping and shouting, he shot us all a dirty look and slid off into the clear, blue water. We got a good laugh out of that. We also saw some blue-footed boobies (finally!) and some Galapagos Penguins, which are the only tropical penguins in the world. They look much like the African Penguins that live near the Cape of Good Hope. They are short, chubby and adorable.
After the walk we were hot and sweaty so we were all excited to snorkel. The lagoon outside Puerto Villamil is well known for rocky fissures where sharks sometimes come to rest, so we were all hoping to see a shark. Keep this in mind for later...
The water was wonderfully clear and cool. We swam around the edges of the lagoon marveling at all the marine life. At one point I was innocently paddling around and Lee grabbed my arm to stop me as a giant, 5' diameter blue ray majestically glided about two feet in front of us! The ray was enormous and round, not diamond-shaped like a manta ray. In order to move, rather than flapping ¨wings¨ the ray wiggled its edges and almost looked like a skirt flowing. We also saw enormous parrot fish, angelfish, damselfish and plenty of sea cucumbers.
We then ventured into the rock fissures to look for sharks. Let me try to describe what we were dealing with so you can understand what happened. The rock fissures vary in width from 10 to 3 feet and in depth from perhaps 20 to 4 feet. When we first entered them, there were lots of sea life in the rock walls to observe, but the walls were wide and deep and there were no sharks. As we ventured further, the walls closed in and the floor got shallower. The walls were maybe 4 ft wide and the floor 7 ft deep when the guide stopped and shouted, ¨There's a shark up there, a white-tipped reef shark!¨ Lee was just behind the guide and I was just behind Lee. We followed slowly and I saw the very tip of the shark's tail fin. He was maybe 10 ft ahead of us. Suddenly he turned around and cruised just below all of us but very close to the ocean floor! I was maybe 6 feet away from him! That of course was a huge rush and everyone was quite excited. We continued on and the floor of the fissure began to get even shallower and shallower. Suddenly, the guide stopped again and said he saw another shark! This time I was incredibly nervous as it was so darn shallow! What if my flippers hit the shark? I had a minor panic attack and at one point had lifted most of my body out of the water, bracing myself on the rock walls. The shark glided right below my body, only two feet away. These two sharks were big, too, at least 6 to 7 feet long. As I´m sure you can imagine we were all terrified, exhilarated and amazed.
When we emerged on the other side of the crevasse we all couldn't stop exclaiming how amazing the experience was! The guide tried to tease us because we were all so scared (apparently he heard me repeating, ¨Oh God, oh God, please don't eat me, shark!¨ as the second shark swam beneath me) but jeez, it was scary!
After we got back to the hotel I lay on the beach in the sun and got my heartrate down. The beach was relaxing and pretty, with a nice view of the lagoon and the town pier. For dinner we had a really tasty turkey fillet with mushroom sauce and a really delicious raspberry flan.
Two of the other couples on the trip, an Irish couple and a Luxembourgian couple, walked into town with Lee and I to check out one of the bars in town. We ended up just chatting and drinking beers with them at a local restaurant but it was really fun to get to know each other in more detail. Everyone else had all been on multiple around the world trips, and the Luxembourgians were taking a year off from their jobs to just travel. Pretty good deal, eh?
After the beers we looked at the star some more, as they were almost as clear and perfect as they were on Isla Floreana. I wished we could stay longer on Isabella as Puerto Villamil is just a wonderfully relaxing and idyllic place!
The entrance to Puerto Villamil, the only town on Isla Isabella is through a narrow fissure in the lava rocks that surround the bay, forming a very pleasant, calm lagoon. The village is utterly idyllic, with white sandy roads, beautiful beaches, swaying palm trees and friendly locals. The Red Mangrove lodge is literally on the beach, with adorable little casitas arranged in rows with rooftop decks. The best part was that we knew the air conditioning would function all night!
For the afternoon's activities we piled into two smaller boats to cross the lagoon and saw a sea turtle and eagle ray just lazily swimming around. We then walked around a trail by the waves on the edge of the lagoon and saw a boatload of marine iguanas all basking in the sun. They were often piled on top of each other, or lying with one arm around another as if watching a drive in movie. When the boat arrived at the landing for the trail, we had to shoo a big, fat sea lion off the dock. After much clapping and shouting, he shot us all a dirty look and slid off into the clear, blue water. We got a good laugh out of that. We also saw some blue-footed boobies (finally!) and some Galapagos Penguins, which are the only tropical penguins in the world. They look much like the African Penguins that live near the Cape of Good Hope. They are short, chubby and adorable.
After the walk we were hot and sweaty so we were all excited to snorkel. The lagoon outside Puerto Villamil is well known for rocky fissures where sharks sometimes come to rest, so we were all hoping to see a shark. Keep this in mind for later...
The water was wonderfully clear and cool. We swam around the edges of the lagoon marveling at all the marine life. At one point I was innocently paddling around and Lee grabbed my arm to stop me as a giant, 5' diameter blue ray majestically glided about two feet in front of us! The ray was enormous and round, not diamond-shaped like a manta ray. In order to move, rather than flapping ¨wings¨ the ray wiggled its edges and almost looked like a skirt flowing. We also saw enormous parrot fish, angelfish, damselfish and plenty of sea cucumbers.
We then ventured into the rock fissures to look for sharks. Let me try to describe what we were dealing with so you can understand what happened. The rock fissures vary in width from 10 to 3 feet and in depth from perhaps 20 to 4 feet. When we first entered them, there were lots of sea life in the rock walls to observe, but the walls were wide and deep and there were no sharks. As we ventured further, the walls closed in and the floor got shallower. The walls were maybe 4 ft wide and the floor 7 ft deep when the guide stopped and shouted, ¨There's a shark up there, a white-tipped reef shark!¨ Lee was just behind the guide and I was just behind Lee. We followed slowly and I saw the very tip of the shark's tail fin. He was maybe 10 ft ahead of us. Suddenly he turned around and cruised just below all of us but very close to the ocean floor! I was maybe 6 feet away from him! That of course was a huge rush and everyone was quite excited. We continued on and the floor of the fissure began to get even shallower and shallower. Suddenly, the guide stopped again and said he saw another shark! This time I was incredibly nervous as it was so darn shallow! What if my flippers hit the shark? I had a minor panic attack and at one point had lifted most of my body out of the water, bracing myself on the rock walls. The shark glided right below my body, only two feet away. These two sharks were big, too, at least 6 to 7 feet long. As I´m sure you can imagine we were all terrified, exhilarated and amazed.
When we emerged on the other side of the crevasse we all couldn't stop exclaiming how amazing the experience was! The guide tried to tease us because we were all so scared (apparently he heard me repeating, ¨Oh God, oh God, please don't eat me, shark!¨ as the second shark swam beneath me) but jeez, it was scary!
After we got back to the hotel I lay on the beach in the sun and got my heartrate down. The beach was relaxing and pretty, with a nice view of the lagoon and the town pier. For dinner we had a really tasty turkey fillet with mushroom sauce and a really delicious raspberry flan.
Two of the other couples on the trip, an Irish couple and a Luxembourgian couple, walked into town with Lee and I to check out one of the bars in town. We ended up just chatting and drinking beers with them at a local restaurant but it was really fun to get to know each other in more detail. Everyone else had all been on multiple around the world trips, and the Luxembourgians were taking a year off from their jobs to just travel. Pretty good deal, eh?
After the beers we looked at the star some more, as they were almost as clear and perfect as they were on Isla Floreana. I wished we could stay longer on Isabella as Puerto Villamil is just a wonderfully relaxing and idyllic place!
Saturday, May 8, 2010
The Land of Darwin: Islas Galapagos
Our flight from Quito to Isla Baltra, Galapagos, departed at 8:30, but we stopped in Guayaquil for 40 minutes. Most of the Ecuadorians on the plane got off at Guyaquil, and the whities stayed on the plane. The majority of Ecuador´s population cannot afford the trip to the islands, so most of the visitors are foreign. Visitors must pay a $10 arrival tax, involving a long form that is officially stamped, as well as a $100 park fee. Ecuadorians only pay $50.
The flight from Guayaquil to Isla Baltra is about an hour and a half. I slept until our descent, where I got a view of some whales as well as an island that looked completely surrounded by cliffs. The airport is your typical open island affair with some hawkers but nothing ridiculous like I have seen in other places. Lee and I decided that we would try to stay at the Red Mangrove Adventure Lodge, which had a good recommendation in Lonely Planet as well as the highest ranking on TripAdvisor.com for the Galapagos Islands. When we deplaned, we saw that Red Mango had a little booth set up at the airport so we went over to talk to them. We were shown an ´Island Hopper´ tour itinerary that featured three islands as well as all inclusive stays on Red Mangrove lodges on all those islands. We were offered the price of a single person stay, but for both of us. The itinerary included airport transfer, snorkel equipment, all meals, guide service, etc. We did the math and it was $850 per person, a great deal. We decided to do it! Things worked out so well for us, since that was the place we wanted to stay anyway, and we´d get to see three different islands, but would not be stuck on a boat with people we might not get along with.
The Red Mangrove is a top class operation and I recommend it to anyone traveling to the Galapagos. Even if you are looking for a mid-range option, traveling in the off season such as we are yields some good deals!
Isla Baltra is uninhabited and is separated from Isla Cristobal by a narrow channel. When you exit the airport, a free bus takes you to the ferry that connects the two islands. The bus ride takes about 10 minutes and is utterly packed. The ferry seats about 50 people and luggage goes on top. The channel crosing takes another 10 minutes. We were then driven in a private truck to the town of Puerto Ayora, which is on the south side of the island. We crossed through the highlands, which were cloudy. The drive took about 30 minutes. We saw some small villages of people, which were tidy and well kept, with lots of banana plants. Our driver wanted to drive as fast as possible (muy macho!) but for most of the drive a police car was behind us so he stayed at a calmer rate of speed.
The town of Puerto Ayora is charming and relaxed. It´s the largest town in the Galapagos islands and has most of the hotels. All of the Red Mangrove staff we chatted with were all born on the islands. The girl who transferred us from the airport to the hotel said she learned English in high school and attended college in Cuerca, a town on the mainland.
The Red Mangrove is located in a stand of mangrove trees and is designed to blend in with the scenery. It´s quiet, secluded and completely relaxing. I never want to leave this place! We enjoyed a delicious buffet lunch while sitting on a dock overlooking the azure water in the bay. We were visted by some pelicans, marine iguanas and some seals! The food was very tasty.
Our itinerary kicked off at 2pm with a boat trip to Tortuga Beach with snorkeling and sunning on the beach. Tortuga Beach is about 20 minutes via boat from the harbor. The boat seated 12 people comfortably. It had benches down either side and a canvas sun cover with twin 85mph Yamaha engines (I checked). The other folks in our tour featured a Luxemborgian couple, an Irish couple and a Scottish couple who seem to be close to our age. There´s also an elderly Italian couple who don´t appear to speak any English. Our guide, George, speaks Italian as well so everything is repeated twice.
The seas were quite rough so those of us on the windward side got sprayed on the boat trip over. Tortuga beach is not accessible via road, only dirt track, so it was very pleasantly secluded. There are two parts, a windward and a leeward side that are separated by a rocky spit with giant cacti and mangroves. We got dropped off near the tip of the point and snorkeled all the way to the beach. We had flippers, masks and snorkels and I would say it was about a mile. I saw plenty of marine life, including tons of fish, an octopus and several varieties of rays. The octopus´ body was about the side of my fist, it had a big yellow eyeball and changed colors! The top of the body also had these feathery bits that let it blend in perfectly with the coral vegetation. I didn´t even realize it was an octopus until I saw some tentacles move. It also changed colors as I watched! We saw a blue ray, a spotted ray and some sort of GIANT ray that was at least 4´ in diameter. I´m not kidding. It was crazy! I wasn´t scared, though, as giant rays aren´t dangerous. They glide quickly, but flap their massive wings slowly. The water clarity was not amazing, and as we got closer to the beach it got a bit murky. Not dirty, just murky.
The leeward beach where we landed was perfect, powder white sand and nice warm sun. We walked over to the windward side which has large waves and swimming is not allowed due to rip tides. We saw some huge marine iguanas sunning themselves on the sand. The beach was almost completely deserted and I felt like I was in a dream. I took some pictures, but I don´t think they do the scene justice.
We spent a few pleasant hours whiling around on the two beaches, snacking, and then piled back in the boat for the trip back to the hotel. I cleverly sat on the leeward side this time and did not get soaked. Lee was not so lucky! Hah!
Our room is charming and is on the second floor, so it´s quiet and has plenty of light. We are off to dinner now, tomorrow we have a tour of the highlands to see giant tortoises and then we go to Isla Floreana, which does not have any official human inhabitants. I love this place and I never want to leave!
The flight from Guayaquil to Isla Baltra is about an hour and a half. I slept until our descent, where I got a view of some whales as well as an island that looked completely surrounded by cliffs. The airport is your typical open island affair with some hawkers but nothing ridiculous like I have seen in other places. Lee and I decided that we would try to stay at the Red Mangrove Adventure Lodge, which had a good recommendation in Lonely Planet as well as the highest ranking on TripAdvisor.com for the Galapagos Islands. When we deplaned, we saw that Red Mango had a little booth set up at the airport so we went over to talk to them. We were shown an ´Island Hopper´ tour itinerary that featured three islands as well as all inclusive stays on Red Mangrove lodges on all those islands. We were offered the price of a single person stay, but for both of us. The itinerary included airport transfer, snorkel equipment, all meals, guide service, etc. We did the math and it was $850 per person, a great deal. We decided to do it! Things worked out so well for us, since that was the place we wanted to stay anyway, and we´d get to see three different islands, but would not be stuck on a boat with people we might not get along with.
The Red Mangrove is a top class operation and I recommend it to anyone traveling to the Galapagos. Even if you are looking for a mid-range option, traveling in the off season such as we are yields some good deals!
Isla Baltra is uninhabited and is separated from Isla Cristobal by a narrow channel. When you exit the airport, a free bus takes you to the ferry that connects the two islands. The bus ride takes about 10 minutes and is utterly packed. The ferry seats about 50 people and luggage goes on top. The channel crosing takes another 10 minutes. We were then driven in a private truck to the town of Puerto Ayora, which is on the south side of the island. We crossed through the highlands, which were cloudy. The drive took about 30 minutes. We saw some small villages of people, which were tidy and well kept, with lots of banana plants. Our driver wanted to drive as fast as possible (muy macho!) but for most of the drive a police car was behind us so he stayed at a calmer rate of speed.
The town of Puerto Ayora is charming and relaxed. It´s the largest town in the Galapagos islands and has most of the hotels. All of the Red Mangrove staff we chatted with were all born on the islands. The girl who transferred us from the airport to the hotel said she learned English in high school and attended college in Cuerca, a town on the mainland.
The Red Mangrove is located in a stand of mangrove trees and is designed to blend in with the scenery. It´s quiet, secluded and completely relaxing. I never want to leave this place! We enjoyed a delicious buffet lunch while sitting on a dock overlooking the azure water in the bay. We were visted by some pelicans, marine iguanas and some seals! The food was very tasty.
Our itinerary kicked off at 2pm with a boat trip to Tortuga Beach with snorkeling and sunning on the beach. Tortuga Beach is about 20 minutes via boat from the harbor. The boat seated 12 people comfortably. It had benches down either side and a canvas sun cover with twin 85mph Yamaha engines (I checked). The other folks in our tour featured a Luxemborgian couple, an Irish couple and a Scottish couple who seem to be close to our age. There´s also an elderly Italian couple who don´t appear to speak any English. Our guide, George, speaks Italian as well so everything is repeated twice.
The seas were quite rough so those of us on the windward side got sprayed on the boat trip over. Tortuga beach is not accessible via road, only dirt track, so it was very pleasantly secluded. There are two parts, a windward and a leeward side that are separated by a rocky spit with giant cacti and mangroves. We got dropped off near the tip of the point and snorkeled all the way to the beach. We had flippers, masks and snorkels and I would say it was about a mile. I saw plenty of marine life, including tons of fish, an octopus and several varieties of rays. The octopus´ body was about the side of my fist, it had a big yellow eyeball and changed colors! The top of the body also had these feathery bits that let it blend in perfectly with the coral vegetation. I didn´t even realize it was an octopus until I saw some tentacles move. It also changed colors as I watched! We saw a blue ray, a spotted ray and some sort of GIANT ray that was at least 4´ in diameter. I´m not kidding. It was crazy! I wasn´t scared, though, as giant rays aren´t dangerous. They glide quickly, but flap their massive wings slowly. The water clarity was not amazing, and as we got closer to the beach it got a bit murky. Not dirty, just murky.
The leeward beach where we landed was perfect, powder white sand and nice warm sun. We walked over to the windward side which has large waves and swimming is not allowed due to rip tides. We saw some huge marine iguanas sunning themselves on the sand. The beach was almost completely deserted and I felt like I was in a dream. I took some pictures, but I don´t think they do the scene justice.
We spent a few pleasant hours whiling around on the two beaches, snacking, and then piled back in the boat for the trip back to the hotel. I cleverly sat on the leeward side this time and did not get soaked. Lee was not so lucky! Hah!
Our room is charming and is on the second floor, so it´s quiet and has plenty of light. We are off to dinner now, tomorrow we have a tour of the highlands to see giant tortoises and then we go to Isla Floreana, which does not have any official human inhabitants. I love this place and I never want to leave!
Saturday, May 2, 2009
天壇 - Most Auspicious Harvest Prayers at Temple of Heaven
Today dawned fair and sunny, so Jess and I decided to go to the Temple of Heaven with Ben Malki. Because of the Labor Day weekend, we were worried that it would be crazy packed with people, but it was pleasantly spacious inside the temple park.
Jess and I took the subway, because the temple was pretty close to our hotel and Ben was coming from Haidian (pretty far away). Jess and I saw that the pearl market was right next to the temple, so we went in to browse around while we were waiting for Ben. I had been wanting to get a big, long strand of black pearls for a long time, so I was able to find a stall with some pearls I liked. They sell them on these pre-strung strands, and then when you pick the ones you want they knot them for you. The girls are so fast at knotting, it's really impressive. Jessica makes her own jewelry, so she got the girl to teach her how to knot the pearls. Knotted pearl necklaces are preferred because if the strand breaks, you'll only lose one pearl instead of the whole lot.
I got what I consider to be a good deal on the necklace, 225 yuan. For a giant long strand of 11 mm baroque pearls that's a pretty good price (divide by 6.8). Jess and I will likely go back to get gifts for friends, and Jess wants to get some loose pearls for herself.
Ben arrived just when my necklace was finished, so we went into the temple. We thought it would be nutty crowded, but it was actually not. I guess everyone decided to leave Beijing for the weekend--the better for us!
There were lots of people just hanging out in the park doing all kinds of stuff, chess playing, singing songs, dancing, etc. It was really interesting to see what people were getting up to on their days off.
The temple is kind of interesting, not as spectacular as the Forbidden City I would say. I'm glad I went, as I didn't see it the last time I was in Beijing. It has an interesting style of architecture. We enjoyed just being outside in the park, which didn't feel polluted as the rest of Beijing, plus it was a nice clear day.
After wandering around the temple grounds, we exited from a different gate than where we entered. We saw a little hutong (a REALLY little one--only wide enough for bikes to pass) and Ben wanted to check it out. We found a niu rou mian dealer, who was making the noodles fresh and cooking them right there. I knew I wanted a bowl right away, I love niu rou mian! The noodles were predictably delicious. The cook would take the dough and swing it up and down like a jumprope, and then twist it up. He would keep doing that until the noodles were skinny enough (like spaghetti). The broth was really good, too, almost minty, with lots of fresh parsley on top along with dried beef on top. Delicious! Ben had a kind of meat sandwich thing that he enjoyed. Jessica tried these deep fried sweet potato balls that she loved, so everyone got something good.
We went back to the hotel and Jess and I went swimming in our FABULOUS 25m lap pool. It's very posh, of course. The pool is more like a fancy spa, with a gorgeous locker room, separate sex jacuzzi, sauna, etc. The pool was empty, like the rest of the hotel. The jacuzzi even has a big screen TV in it so you can surf channels while you soak. Over the top!
Jess and I took the subway, because the temple was pretty close to our hotel and Ben was coming from Haidian (pretty far away). Jess and I saw that the pearl market was right next to the temple, so we went in to browse around while we were waiting for Ben. I had been wanting to get a big, long strand of black pearls for a long time, so I was able to find a stall with some pearls I liked. They sell them on these pre-strung strands, and then when you pick the ones you want they knot them for you. The girls are so fast at knotting, it's really impressive. Jessica makes her own jewelry, so she got the girl to teach her how to knot the pearls. Knotted pearl necklaces are preferred because if the strand breaks, you'll only lose one pearl instead of the whole lot.
I got what I consider to be a good deal on the necklace, 225 yuan. For a giant long strand of 11 mm baroque pearls that's a pretty good price (divide by 6.8). Jess and I will likely go back to get gifts for friends, and Jess wants to get some loose pearls for herself.
Ben arrived just when my necklace was finished, so we went into the temple. We thought it would be nutty crowded, but it was actually not. I guess everyone decided to leave Beijing for the weekend--the better for us!
There were lots of people just hanging out in the park doing all kinds of stuff, chess playing, singing songs, dancing, etc. It was really interesting to see what people were getting up to on their days off.
The temple is kind of interesting, not as spectacular as the Forbidden City I would say. I'm glad I went, as I didn't see it the last time I was in Beijing. It has an interesting style of architecture. We enjoyed just being outside in the park, which didn't feel polluted as the rest of Beijing, plus it was a nice clear day.
After wandering around the temple grounds, we exited from a different gate than where we entered. We saw a little hutong (a REALLY little one--only wide enough for bikes to pass) and Ben wanted to check it out. We found a niu rou mian dealer, who was making the noodles fresh and cooking them right there. I knew I wanted a bowl right away, I love niu rou mian! The noodles were predictably delicious. The cook would take the dough and swing it up and down like a jumprope, and then twist it up. He would keep doing that until the noodles were skinny enough (like spaghetti). The broth was really good, too, almost minty, with lots of fresh parsley on top along with dried beef on top. Delicious! Ben had a kind of meat sandwich thing that he enjoyed. Jessica tried these deep fried sweet potato balls that she loved, so everyone got something good.
We went back to the hotel and Jess and I went swimming in our FABULOUS 25m lap pool. It's very posh, of course. The pool is more like a fancy spa, with a gorgeous locker room, separate sex jacuzzi, sauna, etc. The pool was empty, like the rest of the hotel. The jacuzzi even has a big screen TV in it so you can surf channels while you soak. Over the top!
Thursday, April 30, 2009
FX = Freaking Excrement; Jess & I Decamp to Greener Pastures
Jessica and I have been living in the FX Hotel in Haidian for the past 7 weeks and let me tell you, it is quite possibly the crappiest hotel in the world. I would rather stay in the one star place in Chiang Mai, Thailand that we stayed in when I was 8 years old that had geckos running around on the ceiling all night than the FX. If we had been staying there for a few days only, it would have been fine. The rooms were kind of interestingly designed (not your standard hotel room blah blah stuff) and we had enough places to put our stuff once we got an extra wardrobe... but the staff! The staff! They had ZERO concept of customer service. We had many fights with them, some of which I will describe below.
Upon my arrival, they wanted me to pay the entire stay (42 days) up front. Um, yeah, NO. What kind of hotel forces you to pay for a 42 night stay up front??? Ridiculous! I told them in no way shape or form. They put a deposit on my card, but forced my roommate, who got in late, to pay 5000RMB. Keep that in mind for later.
I broke my key accidentally when using the squat john (it was in my back pocket and was bent by my knee) and was told it was a 20RMB fee to get a new card. Since the card still opened the door, I just used it. About a week after this incident, the card stopped working. The front desk then tried to charge me again for a new key, we got into an argument about how it wasn't my problem that the broken key stopped working after a week, it was their problem. They alleged that my breaking the key is what stopped its functioning, but eventually I won out and got a new key.
Our original room was on the 7th floor with a bunch of T-birds and it was just too zooey with everyone there, the internet was slow and we had a loud guy living next to us. I asked them to switch us to a quieter floor and they tried to give us a smaller room on the 12th floor. I said no, same room. The front desk lady tried to lie to me and say no more rooms were available, but a different one said "Yes, there are rooms available" in Chinese, so I heard that and insisted they show me another one. We did eventually get our room, which was much quieter.
After 30 days of staying there, we came home at midnight one night after a long day of studying to find that the hotel had locked us out of our room because they claimed we owed them money. After another heated discussion at the front desk, in which I told them in no uncertain terms that I would pay for my stay on the last day when I left and not a minute earlier, and them insisting "No, you pay now!" the matter was settled by a larger deposit on my card. Fine. I wasn't giving them a penny of my money until the last day. I thought it was ridiculous that they locked us out with no warning. Then, the next day, someone else from the front desk called and said we had to pay again, requiring me to go downstairs and shoot dirty looks at the woman who made me pay the deposit the night before. She at least had the courtesy to set her coworker straight and they didn't hassle us about payment again.
On the last day they wouldn't give us extra check out time so we were running around like crazy people trying to get all our stuff packed before noon. When we went downstairs to check out, there was a huge cluster going on because the hotel had sent the wrong luggage to the airport for one of our classmates. Essentially this guy, Rabie, had suckered another classmate, Courtney, into taking back one of his bags to the US. She already had 2 bags to check (again, bringing up the question of why you would do this) but agreed to do it. Rabie had left his bags in the bag check at the hotel for Courtney to grab on the way out. Unfortunately, the FX gave her another classmate's bag and not Rabie's bag! So, when we came down, Hunter's bag was checked in to go back to Glendale, Rabie's bag was still in bag check and Hunter was, understandibly, furious. Some how the hotel got Hunter's stuff out of the airport and back to him and also paid for Rabie to go to the airport and ship his bag himself (and paid for the shipment as well). Amazingly when we checked out they didn't give us any hassle, probably because I was such a pain in the butt to them all the time I stayed there that they knew not to play with fire.
Jessica and I knew that we had to stay somewhere nice for our last few nights in Beijing to make up for the extreme crappiness of the FX, so we decided to stay at the Mariott City Wall, which is in the CBD, or Central Business District in on the Southeast side of town, the opposite from Haidian. Jess gets friends and family rate at the Mariott, so we snapped up the chance to get 50% off at the Mariott City Wall (it also is a cool looking building with big yellow turrets on top). For 530RMB a night we would be paying double the FX price, but would get about 1000 times the service.
As expected, the Mariott is FABULOUS. We get excellent service, English speaking staff (this is good for service related items and any issues that might arise with your bill), a NICE, CLEAN room (the cleaning ladies stopped emptying our trash and changing our sheets the last week) and a great view of the CBD. We're on the 15th floor and it's quiet as a tomb up here. The hotel does not appear to be full to capacity in the slightest, so we suspect that the staff are just sort of excited to have a chance to do their jobs. We have already booked our last night in Beijing to be here, so we are very excited to return after we go on our little junket around China.
Upon my arrival, they wanted me to pay the entire stay (42 days) up front. Um, yeah, NO. What kind of hotel forces you to pay for a 42 night stay up front??? Ridiculous! I told them in no way shape or form. They put a deposit on my card, but forced my roommate, who got in late, to pay 5000RMB. Keep that in mind for later.
I broke my key accidentally when using the squat john (it was in my back pocket and was bent by my knee) and was told it was a 20RMB fee to get a new card. Since the card still opened the door, I just used it. About a week after this incident, the card stopped working. The front desk then tried to charge me again for a new key, we got into an argument about how it wasn't my problem that the broken key stopped working after a week, it was their problem. They alleged that my breaking the key is what stopped its functioning, but eventually I won out and got a new key.
Our original room was on the 7th floor with a bunch of T-birds and it was just too zooey with everyone there, the internet was slow and we had a loud guy living next to us. I asked them to switch us to a quieter floor and they tried to give us a smaller room on the 12th floor. I said no, same room. The front desk lady tried to lie to me and say no more rooms were available, but a different one said "Yes, there are rooms available" in Chinese, so I heard that and insisted they show me another one. We did eventually get our room, which was much quieter.
After 30 days of staying there, we came home at midnight one night after a long day of studying to find that the hotel had locked us out of our room because they claimed we owed them money. After another heated discussion at the front desk, in which I told them in no uncertain terms that I would pay for my stay on the last day when I left and not a minute earlier, and them insisting "No, you pay now!" the matter was settled by a larger deposit on my card. Fine. I wasn't giving them a penny of my money until the last day. I thought it was ridiculous that they locked us out with no warning. Then, the next day, someone else from the front desk called and said we had to pay again, requiring me to go downstairs and shoot dirty looks at the woman who made me pay the deposit the night before. She at least had the courtesy to set her coworker straight and they didn't hassle us about payment again.
On the last day they wouldn't give us extra check out time so we were running around like crazy people trying to get all our stuff packed before noon. When we went downstairs to check out, there was a huge cluster going on because the hotel had sent the wrong luggage to the airport for one of our classmates. Essentially this guy, Rabie, had suckered another classmate, Courtney, into taking back one of his bags to the US. She already had 2 bags to check (again, bringing up the question of why you would do this) but agreed to do it. Rabie had left his bags in the bag check at the hotel for Courtney to grab on the way out. Unfortunately, the FX gave her another classmate's bag and not Rabie's bag! So, when we came down, Hunter's bag was checked in to go back to Glendale, Rabie's bag was still in bag check and Hunter was, understandibly, furious. Some how the hotel got Hunter's stuff out of the airport and back to him and also paid for Rabie to go to the airport and ship his bag himself (and paid for the shipment as well). Amazingly when we checked out they didn't give us any hassle, probably because I was such a pain in the butt to them all the time I stayed there that they knew not to play with fire.
Jessica and I knew that we had to stay somewhere nice for our last few nights in Beijing to make up for the extreme crappiness of the FX, so we decided to stay at the Mariott City Wall, which is in the CBD, or Central Business District in on the Southeast side of town, the opposite from Haidian. Jess gets friends and family rate at the Mariott, so we snapped up the chance to get 50% off at the Mariott City Wall (it also is a cool looking building with big yellow turrets on top). For 530RMB a night we would be paying double the FX price, but would get about 1000 times the service.
As expected, the Mariott is FABULOUS. We get excellent service, English speaking staff (this is good for service related items and any issues that might arise with your bill), a NICE, CLEAN room (the cleaning ladies stopped emptying our trash and changing our sheets the last week) and a great view of the CBD. We're on the 15th floor and it's quiet as a tomb up here. The hotel does not appear to be full to capacity in the slightest, so we suspect that the staff are just sort of excited to have a chance to do their jobs. We have already booked our last night in Beijing to be here, so we are very excited to return after we go on our little junket around China.
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