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!
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
The End of the World: Isla Floreana
Our tour group all piled into a boat with an inner cabin and then seats at the back with dual 200hp twin engines for the trip to Isla Floreana. It took about two hours to get there from Isla Santa Cruz. Floreana was one of the first islands to be inhabited by colonists from the mainland, although now only 150 people live there. It truly feels like the end of the world, like a land that time forgot. The houses are smaller and less prosperous looking than Isla Santa Cruz, although the villages are still well-maintained and not slovenly looking at all. The residents are also similarly friendly and helpful like on Santa Cruz. We arrived in the late afternoon, around 4pm, and it was unfortunately a bit cloudy. We were greeted at the dock by some lazy sea lions lounging around and some marine iguanas basking on the lava rocks by the pier. Our tour group got onto an open-sided truck not unlike those used on safari in Africa and drove to a perfect black sand beach for some snorkeling and relaxing.
The beach is also a nesting area for sea turtles, so we saw some depressions in the sand with some empty egg shells inside. We had to be careful not to disturb the nesting site as apparently the turtles return again and again to the same spots. Some people went in the water to snorkel, but as it was cloudy and a bit cool (maybe only 70 degrees) I opted to lie on the gorgeous black lava sand and take a bit of a nap. Additionally, since Floreana is further west than Santa Cruz, the water was a bit cooler and felt chilly to me. Without the sun I definitely would have been cold! Some people in the water did see a sea turtle and swam with it a bit, but since I had done that in Hawaii before I didn't feel too left out. We enjoyed seeing pelicans and frigatebirds dive bomb the water, and we even saw one frigatebird catch a fish!
After the relaxing time on the beach we drove to the Red Mangrove lodge on the island. It consists of 14 small cabins all with ocean view. There is electricity only until midnight, when it turns off for the whole island, and then turns on again at 6am. The cabins are small, but nice, and reminded me of camping in Kruger National Park in South Africa. Lee and I did have a bit of excitement as we found a HUGE spider in the bathroom, about 2 inches in diameter with thick legs. There was a lot of jumping around, hooting and hollering while we tried to squish it with our sandals. Eventually Lee did get the spider, which disgustingly broke into several pieces rather than smash juicily. Lee then ran out of the cabin and I had to clean up the parts and flush them. I wished I had some thick, arm length gloves for the process! I really detest spiders!
After the spider incident, our group sat on the landing overlooking the ocean and watched the sunset with some nice white wine. We saw the stars come out one by one (starting with Jupiter, I believe, as we were in the Southern Hemisphere) and then were treated to one of the best stellar displays I have seen in my life. The stars were so bright and clear that recognizable constellations were hard to identify, as there were so many stars in the sky. We had an excellent view of the milky way as well.
Around 7:30pm we drove to a local restaurant for dinner. The proprietress is the descendent of one of the first families to move to Isla Floreana. We were served some delicious potatoes with a cream sauce, fried wahoo, grilled chicken, steamed veggies and these yucca cheese fritters that I could have eaten a whole basketful of. Yummy! The group was famished and snarfed everything.
The night in the cabin was interesting as I fell asleep before the air conditioning turned off due to the electricity shutoff at midnight, but woke up feeling overheated and sweaty. Even with the land breeze, the cabin was quite warm. Eventually I fell back asleep again, but I wished for a fan or something to circulate more air inside.
For breakfast we went back to the same restaurant where we had a big breakfast spread with cereals, fresh fruits, passion fruit juice, toast and eggs. One thing that I really like about breakfast in Ecuador is that they give you hot milk to put in your coffee, so the taste is less bitter. Adding cold milk to hot coffee scorches the milk, so the flavor of the mixture is ruined somewhat. I always add milk first if it is cold because then the milk changes temperature slowly as you add the hot coffee. The more you know!!
We had another highlands tour of Isla Floreana where we walked with more giant tortoises. This time it was not muddy and the walk was up on the slopes of the volcano on the island so it was very pleasant. We saw two males ¨fighting¨ and I put it in quotations because the way that giant tortoises fight is that they extend their long necks and whichever tortoise has the longer neck is the winner! We saw at least 8 tortoises during our walk and it was a lot of fun to just sit around on rocks and see these guys in action. We even saw a smaller one, about a foot long, who was just too cute as he was chomping on some greens.
We then walked higher up the volcano slope to see a natural spring, which is the only source of potable water on the islands as well as some unique rock formations and caves which were reportedly used by pirates who originally came to the island to hide out from their pursuers on the mainland. We also heard the mysterious story of some of the first Westerners to live on Floreana, mainly there was a German doctor, an Austrian baroness with two lovers and another german woman. The doctor and two lovers met unfortunate ends and the only two suspects left were the women on the island. Each accused the other of the murders and the culprit has never been found. Historical drama!
After the highlands tour we piled back in the same boat for the two hour journey to Isla Isabella, which is the largest island in the archapelago and made famous by the movie Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.
The beach is also a nesting area for sea turtles, so we saw some depressions in the sand with some empty egg shells inside. We had to be careful not to disturb the nesting site as apparently the turtles return again and again to the same spots. Some people went in the water to snorkel, but as it was cloudy and a bit cool (maybe only 70 degrees) I opted to lie on the gorgeous black lava sand and take a bit of a nap. Additionally, since Floreana is further west than Santa Cruz, the water was a bit cooler and felt chilly to me. Without the sun I definitely would have been cold! Some people in the water did see a sea turtle and swam with it a bit, but since I had done that in Hawaii before I didn't feel too left out. We enjoyed seeing pelicans and frigatebirds dive bomb the water, and we even saw one frigatebird catch a fish!
After the relaxing time on the beach we drove to the Red Mangrove lodge on the island. It consists of 14 small cabins all with ocean view. There is electricity only until midnight, when it turns off for the whole island, and then turns on again at 6am. The cabins are small, but nice, and reminded me of camping in Kruger National Park in South Africa. Lee and I did have a bit of excitement as we found a HUGE spider in the bathroom, about 2 inches in diameter with thick legs. There was a lot of jumping around, hooting and hollering while we tried to squish it with our sandals. Eventually Lee did get the spider, which disgustingly broke into several pieces rather than smash juicily. Lee then ran out of the cabin and I had to clean up the parts and flush them. I wished I had some thick, arm length gloves for the process! I really detest spiders!
After the spider incident, our group sat on the landing overlooking the ocean and watched the sunset with some nice white wine. We saw the stars come out one by one (starting with Jupiter, I believe, as we were in the Southern Hemisphere) and then were treated to one of the best stellar displays I have seen in my life. The stars were so bright and clear that recognizable constellations were hard to identify, as there were so many stars in the sky. We had an excellent view of the milky way as well.
Around 7:30pm we drove to a local restaurant for dinner. The proprietress is the descendent of one of the first families to move to Isla Floreana. We were served some delicious potatoes with a cream sauce, fried wahoo, grilled chicken, steamed veggies and these yucca cheese fritters that I could have eaten a whole basketful of. Yummy! The group was famished and snarfed everything.
The night in the cabin was interesting as I fell asleep before the air conditioning turned off due to the electricity shutoff at midnight, but woke up feeling overheated and sweaty. Even with the land breeze, the cabin was quite warm. Eventually I fell back asleep again, but I wished for a fan or something to circulate more air inside.
For breakfast we went back to the same restaurant where we had a big breakfast spread with cereals, fresh fruits, passion fruit juice, toast and eggs. One thing that I really like about breakfast in Ecuador is that they give you hot milk to put in your coffee, so the taste is less bitter. Adding cold milk to hot coffee scorches the milk, so the flavor of the mixture is ruined somewhat. I always add milk first if it is cold because then the milk changes temperature slowly as you add the hot coffee. The more you know!!
We had another highlands tour of Isla Floreana where we walked with more giant tortoises. This time it was not muddy and the walk was up on the slopes of the volcano on the island so it was very pleasant. We saw two males ¨fighting¨ and I put it in quotations because the way that giant tortoises fight is that they extend their long necks and whichever tortoise has the longer neck is the winner! We saw at least 8 tortoises during our walk and it was a lot of fun to just sit around on rocks and see these guys in action. We even saw a smaller one, about a foot long, who was just too cute as he was chomping on some greens.
We then walked higher up the volcano slope to see a natural spring, which is the only source of potable water on the islands as well as some unique rock formations and caves which were reportedly used by pirates who originally came to the island to hide out from their pursuers on the mainland. We also heard the mysterious story of some of the first Westerners to live on Floreana, mainly there was a German doctor, an Austrian baroness with two lovers and another german woman. The doctor and two lovers met unfortunate ends and the only two suspects left were the women on the island. Each accused the other of the murders and the culprit has never been found. Historical drama!
After the highlands tour we piled back in the same boat for the two hour journey to Isla Isabella, which is the largest island in the archapelago and made famous by the movie Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Twins, Tortoises and Tunnels
This morning our little tour group (same as yesterday, looks like we are all on the same itinerary) piled into our minibus for a tour of the highlands of Isla Santa Cruz. The drive up is about 30 minutes and we were in the clouds for the whole time. It was much cooler up there, about elevation 700 meters. It was misty as well so I made sure to keep my camera wrapped up in my scarf to protect it from condensation.
First we stopped to see two false craters known as The Twins. They were formed when a gas bubble was trapped beneath the ground and later collapsed. They were filled with vegetation with tall cliffs surrounding them. We saw plenty of bird life at the lip of the crater with small, medium and large ground finches. The males are black and the females are brown. They have small beaks like parrots. The finches were very cute, hopping around and looking inquisitively at us.
We then drove to a farm where people raise and rehabilitate giant tortoises. The ground was quite muddy so we all were given rubber wellingtons. I´m glad we had them as it was quite a messy slog through the jungle to see the tortoises! They are large, slow and very odd looking. The tortoises have long claws on their stumpy legs but subside only on plants and fruits. When we got too close to them, they would hiss and withdraw into their shells. Some tortoises were sitting in big muddy pools of water. We joked it was a tortoise spa.
The first three we saw were relatively small, about three feet long. Large, but not enormous. Finally near the end of our walk we saw a huge male, maybe 5 feet long! He was so impressive.
Our guides also gave us some fruits to try, as we passed many varieties of trees. We tried a ¨large guava¨ which is so odd--it looks like a giant bean maybe 2 or 3 feet long, and when opened reveals fuzzy white pods that look like milkweed pods. The fuzzy stuff is sweet and inside each pod there is a large shiny purple seed the color of an eggplant. Our guide told us these guavas were introduced. We also tried passion fruit, which was tart and not very sweet. I also found a ripe coffee bean, which is covered in a shiny red outer layer similar to a guava, and then the bean itself is slimy and green. When it dries it is then roasted to form the brown bean that is so familiar to us.
After the tortoise farm we went to a lava tube to walk inside for a bit. The lava tube was formed during an eruption when the flowing lava cooled and hardened on the outside, then the lava kept flowing on the inside. The tube looks just like a subway tunnel, complete with dim florescant lighting. There are small stalactite and mineral formations that are slowing growing inside, as the inside of the tube is damp with water dripping from the ceiling. The tube was about 10m tall.
Now we are back at the hotel for lunch and afterward we will take a boat to Isla Floreana. I´m quite excited to stay there because it is not inhabited and the lodge where we will sleep is an eco lodge. The boat takes about 2 hours. Then, on Monday we go to Isla Isabella, where they filmed Master and Commander. I´m not sure when my next update will be as there is no internet on Isla Floreana.
First we stopped to see two false craters known as The Twins. They were formed when a gas bubble was trapped beneath the ground and later collapsed. They were filled with vegetation with tall cliffs surrounding them. We saw plenty of bird life at the lip of the crater with small, medium and large ground finches. The males are black and the females are brown. They have small beaks like parrots. The finches were very cute, hopping around and looking inquisitively at us.
We then drove to a farm where people raise and rehabilitate giant tortoises. The ground was quite muddy so we all were given rubber wellingtons. I´m glad we had them as it was quite a messy slog through the jungle to see the tortoises! They are large, slow and very odd looking. The tortoises have long claws on their stumpy legs but subside only on plants and fruits. When we got too close to them, they would hiss and withdraw into their shells. Some tortoises were sitting in big muddy pools of water. We joked it was a tortoise spa.
The first three we saw were relatively small, about three feet long. Large, but not enormous. Finally near the end of our walk we saw a huge male, maybe 5 feet long! He was so impressive.
Our guides also gave us some fruits to try, as we passed many varieties of trees. We tried a ¨large guava¨ which is so odd--it looks like a giant bean maybe 2 or 3 feet long, and when opened reveals fuzzy white pods that look like milkweed pods. The fuzzy stuff is sweet and inside each pod there is a large shiny purple seed the color of an eggplant. Our guide told us these guavas were introduced. We also tried passion fruit, which was tart and not very sweet. I also found a ripe coffee bean, which is covered in a shiny red outer layer similar to a guava, and then the bean itself is slimy and green. When it dries it is then roasted to form the brown bean that is so familiar to us.
After the tortoise farm we went to a lava tube to walk inside for a bit. The lava tube was formed during an eruption when the flowing lava cooled and hardened on the outside, then the lava kept flowing on the inside. The tube looks just like a subway tunnel, complete with dim florescant lighting. There are small stalactite and mineral formations that are slowing growing inside, as the inside of the tube is damp with water dripping from the ceiling. The tube was about 10m tall.
Now we are back at the hotel for lunch and afterward we will take a boat to Isla Floreana. I´m quite excited to stay there because it is not inhabited and the lodge where we will sleep is an eco lodge. The boat takes about 2 hours. Then, on Monday we go to Isla Isabella, where they filmed Master and Commander. I´m not sure when my next update will be as there is no internet on Isla Floreana.
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!
The Middle of the World
Since we arrived so late on Thursday night to Quito I didn´t get to see much of the city. It is at quite a high elevation, 9500 ft., and surrounded on all sides by mountains. At this time of year they are green and treeless. Some of the tallest active volcanoes in the world, Cotopaxie and Pichincha flank the city on either side. One of our cabbies told us that Cotopaxie erupts every 100 years, and is currently overdue. If it were to erupt, almost 250,000 people could potentially be affected. Cotopaxie has snow year round, but we couldn´t see either volcano as both were wreathed in clouds.
We hitched a cab to the monument at the equator, which is about a 40 minute drive north out of the city. The monument is known as El Mitad del Mundo. It was built before GPS systems, so when the location was officially calibrated, it turns out that they were 250 meters off! Still, it´s an interesting place to visit with small tourist shops, a monument tower that one can climb for a good view, and plenty of funny photo ops featuring one straddling the equator. You can also get a souvenier passport stamp showing you´ve been to the middle of the world.
After jumping across the equator several times, we headed back to Quito´s historical quarter, which was built in the 1600´s when the Spanish ruled the area. The historical area is absolutely charming, with slightly run down but obviously well-loved European style buildings that made me feel as if I were in Slovakia or Croatia! The only difference, of course, was that everyone here is Ecuadorian. About 20% of the population is local indigenous people and the rest are mestizo, although they seem to trend smaller and browner than in Mexico.
Our cabbie was very chatty, so we engaged him to take us to a hill above the city where there stands a statue of the Virgin Mary standing on top of a serpent, symbolizing the evil in the world. After grabbing a good view, we got dropped off at the central square where we saw the Presidential Palace and several churches. We wandered through the city until we ended up at the city Basilica, which is Gothic in style although was completed in the 1920´s. Instead of saints, its outer walls are adorned with exotic animals including iguanas and tortoises!
We then stopped by a travel agency to try to arrange our hotel and tours in the Galapagos. We went to Happy Gringo, which I had been emailing with prior to our departure as well as came highly recommended by Lonely Planet. As it turned out, we were quite unhappy gringos by the end. We walked in and explained that we wanted to see if there were any last minute deals on Galapagos boat tours. We were told that there were two tours leaving that matched our schedules and that one was a midrange boat for $850 per person and the other was a luxury boat for $990 per person. We chatted a bit about the options, and were ready to go for the luxury boat, but then were told that the boat was now full. Then we were told that we had to pay cash, immediately. Since it was past 5pm and the banks were closed, there was no way we could get that much cash. It was also ridiculous that they would expect us to carry around that much money in US$, which is the currency here in Ecuador. We tried to get them to accept credit card, but they said they would charge us 6%, which was egregious as well. After a lot of arguing and back and forth, we decided to just walk and try to arrange something on the islands themselves.
We had received a dinner recommendation from a gingo in the immigration line (an expat) who said that if we wanted steaks we should go to Restaurante El Sur. We had the hotel make us reservations at 10pm (like many other parts of Latin America, people dine fashionably late in Ecuador). After a quick nap and shower, we headed over to the restaurant and enjoyed a delicious meal of Lomo steak, which is an Argentinean style tenderized and marinated very thin steak. It was fabulous! We also had a fine Chilean wine with it which complimented the meal perfectly. It was so tasty!!
Our flights were early, 8:30, so we had to get up early to make it to the airport. I was so full from dinner, I went right to bed. I was excited, however, as I knew we would be in the Galapagos the next day!
We hitched a cab to the monument at the equator, which is about a 40 minute drive north out of the city. The monument is known as El Mitad del Mundo. It was built before GPS systems, so when the location was officially calibrated, it turns out that they were 250 meters off! Still, it´s an interesting place to visit with small tourist shops, a monument tower that one can climb for a good view, and plenty of funny photo ops featuring one straddling the equator. You can also get a souvenier passport stamp showing you´ve been to the middle of the world.
After jumping across the equator several times, we headed back to Quito´s historical quarter, which was built in the 1600´s when the Spanish ruled the area. The historical area is absolutely charming, with slightly run down but obviously well-loved European style buildings that made me feel as if I were in Slovakia or Croatia! The only difference, of course, was that everyone here is Ecuadorian. About 20% of the population is local indigenous people and the rest are mestizo, although they seem to trend smaller and browner than in Mexico.
Our cabbie was very chatty, so we engaged him to take us to a hill above the city where there stands a statue of the Virgin Mary standing on top of a serpent, symbolizing the evil in the world. After grabbing a good view, we got dropped off at the central square where we saw the Presidential Palace and several churches. We wandered through the city until we ended up at the city Basilica, which is Gothic in style although was completed in the 1920´s. Instead of saints, its outer walls are adorned with exotic animals including iguanas and tortoises!
We then stopped by a travel agency to try to arrange our hotel and tours in the Galapagos. We went to Happy Gringo, which I had been emailing with prior to our departure as well as came highly recommended by Lonely Planet. As it turned out, we were quite unhappy gringos by the end. We walked in and explained that we wanted to see if there were any last minute deals on Galapagos boat tours. We were told that there were two tours leaving that matched our schedules and that one was a midrange boat for $850 per person and the other was a luxury boat for $990 per person. We chatted a bit about the options, and were ready to go for the luxury boat, but then were told that the boat was now full. Then we were told that we had to pay cash, immediately. Since it was past 5pm and the banks were closed, there was no way we could get that much cash. It was also ridiculous that they would expect us to carry around that much money in US$, which is the currency here in Ecuador. We tried to get them to accept credit card, but they said they would charge us 6%, which was egregious as well. After a lot of arguing and back and forth, we decided to just walk and try to arrange something on the islands themselves.
We had received a dinner recommendation from a gingo in the immigration line (an expat) who said that if we wanted steaks we should go to Restaurante El Sur. We had the hotel make us reservations at 10pm (like many other parts of Latin America, people dine fashionably late in Ecuador). After a quick nap and shower, we headed over to the restaurant and enjoyed a delicious meal of Lomo steak, which is an Argentinean style tenderized and marinated very thin steak. It was fabulous! We also had a fine Chilean wine with it which complimented the meal perfectly. It was so tasty!!
Our flights were early, 8:30, so we had to get up early to make it to the airport. I was so full from dinner, I went right to bed. I was excited, however, as I knew we would be in the Galapagos the next day!
South America, Here I Come!
Just a few days ago I was invited to join a friend on a whirlwind, last minute trip to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. Since I have never been to South America and have always wanted to go (it is the last continent besides Antarctica that I had not yet visited) I jumped at the chance to join.
We flew from Phoenix to Miami, where we ate at a delicious Cuban restaurant in the airport. I was told that the restaurant is the only good thing about the Miami airport and I have to agree--it's pretty pathetic otherwise. I had the yuca frita (fries) and the sweet plantains and they were amazing.
Our layover was pretty long, 4 hours, and then our aircraft landed late coming in from Tegucigalpa, Honduras, so we took off late as well. The flight to Quito was only 3 hours and 45 minutes long, but we got to fly over Cuba just as the sun was setting! It looked dark and ominous. I waved hola to Fidel, even though I expect he is muerte.
We landed in Quito at 10:30pm and were met by the kind folks from the Sheraton, which is a great hotel. We were starving, so we headed out via cab to the Plaza Foch, which is full of fun restaurants and bars. We had tapas style dishes at Azuca Beach with the most delicious mojitos I've ever had in my life. It was almost 2am by the time we made it back to the hotel but I was glad we made it out before hitting the sack.
We flew from Phoenix to Miami, where we ate at a delicious Cuban restaurant in the airport. I was told that the restaurant is the only good thing about the Miami airport and I have to agree--it's pretty pathetic otherwise. I had the yuca frita (fries) and the sweet plantains and they were amazing.
Our layover was pretty long, 4 hours, and then our aircraft landed late coming in from Tegucigalpa, Honduras, so we took off late as well. The flight to Quito was only 3 hours and 45 minutes long, but we got to fly over Cuba just as the sun was setting! It looked dark and ominous. I waved hola to Fidel, even though I expect he is muerte.
We landed in Quito at 10:30pm and were met by the kind folks from the Sheraton, which is a great hotel. We were starving, so we headed out via cab to the Plaza Foch, which is full of fun restaurants and bars. We had tapas style dishes at Azuca Beach with the most delicious mojitos I've ever had in my life. It was almost 2am by the time we made it back to the hotel but I was glad we made it out before hitting the sack.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Back to Bejing
Jessica and I wanted to sleep in on Saturday morning, but we had many errands to run. We wanted to go to Yashow to complete souvenir/gift shopping, as well as visit the bag man one more time, I wanted to go to Beijing Glasses City again to get new glasses for cheap, and we needed to get a refund on Jess' top-up card from China Mobile. We also planned to have dinner at Morel's one last time.
I got up at 9am and ordered room service--how decadent! The Mariott makes a mean dish of lemon ricotta pancakes! I wanted to get a jin bim for breakfast, but I just didn't have time to run across the street to the hutong. We were on a schedule!
We headed to Yashow first, where I picked up some pretty pearl necklaces for Cheri, who's been watching my cat, as well as a fun coral necklace for her daughter. Jess got a bunch of necklaces for friends of hers as well, in addition to one more pretty translucent blue one that matches her eyes. We used the necklace stall that we always do, and got a good price as per usual. I got one pair of trendy jeans for my brother from my jeans girl (100 RMB per pair). Both the jeans girl and the necklace girl are so funny; they have us pay round the corner because they know they can get higher prices from their other clueless customers. We don't mind because they are just so clever--when we're bargaining they always have very clever counter arguments.
We also visited the bag man one last time. I got a gray leather Louis Vuitton handbag that is absolutely cavernous. It fits my laptop in its case in addition to all manner of things. Jess got a bunch of nice gifts for people, in addition to a gorgeous Hermes wallet. The bag man had gotten a huge new shipment of Hermes Kelly bags as well as a bunch of Ferragamo bags and the Stephen Sprouse graffiti for Louis Vuitton bags too. I was tempted by a pink graffiti bag but figured it was too seasonally dated. While we were in the secret room, there was a commanding sounding knock on the door. Jess and I were worried that the cops were doing a sweep, and that we'd never leave China, but it turned out that it was people looking for the secret room next door (I always wonder what else is up on the 6th floor of Yashow). Regardless, it was a sign for us to finish up our business and get out of there. Better to not tempt fate, you know?
Afterwards we picked up our purchases from the necklace girl and headed south on the 10 subway line to Beijing Glasses City. This is basically a huge market similar to Yashow but the only thing they sell is glasses. You can bargain and try on the millions of frames available, and then have prescription lenses made up in about an hour (much better than Lenscrafters!). The shops can read your existing lenses, so no written prescription or eye exam necessary (although most purchases come with free eye exam should you need it).
The market is a little overwhelming, with 4 floors of all little eyeglass stalls. There's even a 2nd Beijing Glasses City across the street! The first place we tried on glasses refused to bargain, and quoted ridiculously high prices (600RMB for each frame, which is near to US prices). The second shop was much more reasonable, posted 180RMB prices for the kind of frames I wanted (like Buddy Holly) plus 100RMB for the lenses. After some bargaining involving me waving a wad of 400 cash around saying that was all I had, I had my order in for 2 pairs of classes. They told me to come back in one hour.
Jess and I walked around looking for a China Mobile service center, and we found one. After explaining the story, they sent us down the road to another service center a couple of blocks away. They called ahead to warn the service center that we were coming, and I distinctly heard the woman tell them that we wanted a refund, not an exchange, because we were going to the US the next day. Of course, when we got to the 2nd service center, they refused to refund. They said there literally "wasn't a method" to do so. Typical. Jess and I were so sick of fighting that we just took the card. I think she is going to try to sell it at the airport.
The exchange took just the perfect amount of time so we went back to Glasses City (and yes, that's the actual translation of the sign out front) and got my new glasses. I wanted to make sure they were OK before I left, so I asked for a place to remove my contacts. They sent me across the alleyway to the lab where all the lenses were being ground. It was madness in there, people grinding away in the back (and probably plastic dust in the air, too), a hoard of people picking up glasses at the counter, and a tiny sink in the back for hand washing. I couldn't find a contact lens container, so I went back to the shop and had the girl come with me. She had to ask for one from one of the people working at the lens shaping. I removed my contacts and made my way back to the shop, attempting to not appear like I could barely see. Both glasses were great, my vision was clear and now I don't have to look super dorky in 9 year old frames (seriously, I got my old frames my freshman year in college!). Plus, who can complain about $25 glasses?
We took the subway back to the hotel just for kicks. We did some packing and then took a cab to our favorite restaurant in Beijing, Morel's. Monsieur Morel is a Belgian who opened a restaurant that happens to serve the best cheese fondue I've ever had (better than La Fondue Bourginone in LA). Monsieur Morel also likes Jessica and I, probably because he is a mildly lecherous old man who enjoys it when pretty young things come into his restaurant and praise his fondue vigorously. He also caught Jessica scraping the fondue pot last time, and told her that it's the best part of the fondue and sometimes he does it himself in the back, which explains his rotund stature.
The fondue was delicious, as expected, and we cabbed it back to the hotel to finish packing. Luckily we were mostly packed from before our little trip around China, so it wasn't a massive operation.
We woke up later than intended so there was a little bit of crazy running around in the morning. We got a cab to the airport, which of course tried to take the long way (I set him straight) and tried to charge us 50 extra yuan for the bags, which is complete horse$hit illegal and he knew it because he backed off when I laid into him in Chinese. We gave him 10 yuan for the return toll and I told him not to let the door hit his a$$ on the way out. Good times.
My Priority Pass card let me into the Air China 1st class lounge, where I finally watched Slumdog Millionaire, which was really great. I boarded my flight (emergency exit row, woohoo!) and am now in San Francisco waiting for my connection to Phoenix. Stay tuned for entries from Africa this summer!
I got up at 9am and ordered room service--how decadent! The Mariott makes a mean dish of lemon ricotta pancakes! I wanted to get a jin bim for breakfast, but I just didn't have time to run across the street to the hutong. We were on a schedule!
We headed to Yashow first, where I picked up some pretty pearl necklaces for Cheri, who's been watching my cat, as well as a fun coral necklace for her daughter. Jess got a bunch of necklaces for friends of hers as well, in addition to one more pretty translucent blue one that matches her eyes. We used the necklace stall that we always do, and got a good price as per usual. I got one pair of trendy jeans for my brother from my jeans girl (100 RMB per pair). Both the jeans girl and the necklace girl are so funny; they have us pay round the corner because they know they can get higher prices from their other clueless customers. We don't mind because they are just so clever--when we're bargaining they always have very clever counter arguments.
We also visited the bag man one last time. I got a gray leather Louis Vuitton handbag that is absolutely cavernous. It fits my laptop in its case in addition to all manner of things. Jess got a bunch of nice gifts for people, in addition to a gorgeous Hermes wallet. The bag man had gotten a huge new shipment of Hermes Kelly bags as well as a bunch of Ferragamo bags and the Stephen Sprouse graffiti for Louis Vuitton bags too. I was tempted by a pink graffiti bag but figured it was too seasonally dated. While we were in the secret room, there was a commanding sounding knock on the door. Jess and I were worried that the cops were doing a sweep, and that we'd never leave China, but it turned out that it was people looking for the secret room next door (I always wonder what else is up on the 6th floor of Yashow). Regardless, it was a sign for us to finish up our business and get out of there. Better to not tempt fate, you know?
Afterwards we picked up our purchases from the necklace girl and headed south on the 10 subway line to Beijing Glasses City. This is basically a huge market similar to Yashow but the only thing they sell is glasses. You can bargain and try on the millions of frames available, and then have prescription lenses made up in about an hour (much better than Lenscrafters!). The shops can read your existing lenses, so no written prescription or eye exam necessary (although most purchases come with free eye exam should you need it).
The market is a little overwhelming, with 4 floors of all little eyeglass stalls. There's even a 2nd Beijing Glasses City across the street! The first place we tried on glasses refused to bargain, and quoted ridiculously high prices (600RMB for each frame, which is near to US prices). The second shop was much more reasonable, posted 180RMB prices for the kind of frames I wanted (like Buddy Holly) plus 100RMB for the lenses. After some bargaining involving me waving a wad of 400 cash around saying that was all I had, I had my order in for 2 pairs of classes. They told me to come back in one hour.
Jess and I walked around looking for a China Mobile service center, and we found one. After explaining the story, they sent us down the road to another service center a couple of blocks away. They called ahead to warn the service center that we were coming, and I distinctly heard the woman tell them that we wanted a refund, not an exchange, because we were going to the US the next day. Of course, when we got to the 2nd service center, they refused to refund. They said there literally "wasn't a method" to do so. Typical. Jess and I were so sick of fighting that we just took the card. I think she is going to try to sell it at the airport.
The exchange took just the perfect amount of time so we went back to Glasses City (and yes, that's the actual translation of the sign out front) and got my new glasses. I wanted to make sure they were OK before I left, so I asked for a place to remove my contacts. They sent me across the alleyway to the lab where all the lenses were being ground. It was madness in there, people grinding away in the back (and probably plastic dust in the air, too), a hoard of people picking up glasses at the counter, and a tiny sink in the back for hand washing. I couldn't find a contact lens container, so I went back to the shop and had the girl come with me. She had to ask for one from one of the people working at the lens shaping. I removed my contacts and made my way back to the shop, attempting to not appear like I could barely see. Both glasses were great, my vision was clear and now I don't have to look super dorky in 9 year old frames (seriously, I got my old frames my freshman year in college!). Plus, who can complain about $25 glasses?
We took the subway back to the hotel just for kicks. We did some packing and then took a cab to our favorite restaurant in Beijing, Morel's. Monsieur Morel is a Belgian who opened a restaurant that happens to serve the best cheese fondue I've ever had (better than La Fondue Bourginone in LA). Monsieur Morel also likes Jessica and I, probably because he is a mildly lecherous old man who enjoys it when pretty young things come into his restaurant and praise his fondue vigorously. He also caught Jessica scraping the fondue pot last time, and told her that it's the best part of the fondue and sometimes he does it himself in the back, which explains his rotund stature.
The fondue was delicious, as expected, and we cabbed it back to the hotel to finish packing. Luckily we were mostly packed from before our little trip around China, so it wasn't a massive operation.
We woke up later than intended so there was a little bit of crazy running around in the morning. We got a cab to the airport, which of course tried to take the long way (I set him straight) and tried to charge us 50 extra yuan for the bags, which is complete horse$hit illegal and he knew it because he backed off when I laid into him in Chinese. We gave him 10 yuan for the return toll and I told him not to let the door hit his a$$ on the way out. Good times.
My Priority Pass card let me into the Air China 1st class lounge, where I finally watched Slumdog Millionaire, which was really great. I boarded my flight (emergency exit row, woohoo!) and am now in San Francisco waiting for my connection to Phoenix. Stay tuned for entries from Africa this summer!
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