Galapagos tour, part 2

Our first night on the Samba was spent navigating to Floreana Island.  Dinghies took us to a lovely white sand beach, where we saw many iguanas, crabs, and the tracks left by turtles who had come ashore to lay their eggs.  When the eggs hatch, the newborns sprint to the water and then swim out to sea for 14 hours without a break.  As they mature, they continue to the South Pacific waters; they return as adults years later to the same beach where they'd hatched.

We walked to a nearby lagoon to observe flamingos, and also saw the mating dance of the boobies.

Later in the morning we dinghied over to the Devil's Crown, a prominent rock formation of the coast of Floreana.  We did three snorkeling excursions through the area.  Saw sharks, rays, turtles and one yellow puffer fish.

In the afternoon we kayaked around Baroness Bay.  Many sea lions and turtles.

Before dinner a pod of dolphins joined us and swam right alongside the Samba for a while.

After dinner, we shined flashlights into the water next to the boat.  Saw many sea lions, sharks and flying fish.

Aboard the Samba for our tour of the Galapagos, part 1

March 17th we flew from Quito to Baltra in the Galapagos.  After a bus ride from the airport and a ferry ride to adjacent Santa Cruz Island, our group (14 passengers plus our naturalist guide) was taken to a tortoise reserve for lunch and a hike to see the tortoises.  They are indeed large.  We saw them walking around, eating the vegetation, and even a pair mating.

Hard to see, but two tortoises mating

After our tortoise visit, we were driven to Puerto Ayora for transport to the Samba.  It's smaller than most of the other tour boats we saw, but with an excellent crew.  Our naturalist guide, Morris Garcia, was extremely knowledgeable.  The other crew members, in addition to running the boat, shuttled us back and forth to outings in the two dinghies and also took turns at the helm as we navigated from one location to another (frequently overnight).  The chef kept us well fed with three full meals each day plus fresh juice and snacks when we came back from excursions.  And our captain didn't hesitate to detour from our planned route if something interesting cropped up.

Sunset our first evening, in Puerto Ayora

Samba

Each evening we had a little briefing where Morris would outline our plans for the next day, and then leave the plan on a white board in the dining area.  Here's the plan for the first day.  All the others started at 6 am with either breakfast or an outing first and then breakfast after.

We were very fortunate with our group of fellow passengers on the Samba.  Ten of the fourteen were a family group from British Columbia: three siblings and various of their adult children.  All delightful people, several trained biologists, and all very fit for snorkeling and hiking.  The other two passengers were a late 20s couple from Chicago, also fun and engaging.

Because I was not able to blog as we went, I jotted quick notes on my phone each day during our outings.  Morris is such a fount of information about the flora and fauna that I struggled to catch even a fraction of what he imparted.  I will paste these notes into subsequent blog posts, and supplement with some pics.

Catching up on old news: Quito, March 15-16

I had a blog post drafted when we left Quito, but it wouldn't publish with the limited data connection we had after leaving there and was lost.  Darn.

March 16 we had a guide to show us around Quito.  Museums, churches (of course), a chocolate tasting, gondola ride to just under 13.000 feet for the view, lunch at a fancy restaurant.  It was an unusually clear day and we had great views of the nearby volcanos.  

Convento de San Francisco

El Panecillo

In the evening we went up to the hotel's rooftop bar to enjoy a drink and the view.  I told them it was Ellen's birthday tomorrow, and they brought her a fancy dessert.

Yes, we're still alive and still in Ecuador

A quick update, with more to follow...

We returned to Quito and had a great day touring with a guide there.  Early on the 17th (5 am) we were picked up for a ride to the airport and our flights to the Galapagos.  I had thought our boat would have a wifi connection, but that was not to be.  It was pleasant to be out of electronic communication for a week, but no blogging or email (except a couple of brief periods when we had a weak cell connection).

Our boat tour finished this morning.  We are in Puerto Ayora for two nights, then fly back to Quito for the next section of our trip.  I will try to get some updates posted this evening, but here's the short version: Fantastic!  Our boat had an excellent crew, and we were fortunate in the twelve others who shared the boat with us.

I have a zillion pics to download from the UW and long lens cameras.  Stay tuned.

Laguna Quilotoa postscript, on to Rio Verde, and back to Quito

Friday morning, before leaving Quilotoa, we walked around some more.  The sun was shining, it was cold, but I wanted to capture a few more pics of the village near the crater rim.  I hope they have more visitors in other seasons.  As things look now it has the feel of a tourist boomtown that hasn't launched.

The two peaks with snow in the distance are (I think) Iliniza Sur y Norte

And now some pics of the village.

Like many storefronts, this building appeared empty

Women in traditional Kichwa dress

We had planned to head north to Papallacta next for the hot springs.  But we met another traveler in Quilotoa (a climber from Joshua Tree, about our age) and he dissuaded us.  He said it was nice during the week, but on the weekends overcrowded and the springs were dirty.  Following his recommendation we instead drove south and east to Rio Verde, near Baños.  From what we've heard and read Baños is popular with visitors half our age, filled with bars, and very busy.  Rio Verde is just a few km away, and relatively quiet.  We booked a room in the Hotel and Spa Miramelindo.  Very colorful, super friendly and a great room.

The big attraction in Rio Verde is the Cascada El Pailon.  There are actually two places with access to the waterfall; we visited both.  The first one, on the left side of the waterfall has a trail down to about the midpoint, with many viewpoints.  The second, on the right side of the fall, has a longer trail which goes all the way down to the bottom (about 260'), and then steps rising up to about the midpoint.  Both were great.  In some of these pics you can see the trails and people on both sides of the waterfall.

No adventure walk is complete without a swinging bridge

The second walk, on the right side of the waterfall, had a path where one could get right next to the water or even sneak behind it (and get soaked in the process).  To get close I had to crawl through a tunnel carved in the rock (about a meter high) for some distance, and then squeeze and climb up a narrow passage.

These guys went behind the waterfall

In between the two waterfall hikes, we stopped for fruit shakes at one of the many stands along the path.  Also hanging out at the snack stand were a couple of neighbors.  Miguelito, 84 years old, pulled out a guitar and serenaded all of us.  Young Marjorie gifted us a couple of llama keychains she made.

In the evening we wandered down to the lobby for a drink.  We were sitting off to the side, but in the main dining area was a large group which we learned was a family reunion.  They had a guitarist entertaining them over a lively dinner.  As the evening went on, they invited us to join them.  We shared wine, tequila shots, and dancing.  

Sunday we drove back to Quito to return the rental car.  The small road from Rio Verde back to the main highway was crowded with cars, buses and trucks.  We passed through several tunnels: narrow, unlit, and while some drivers had their lights off others were using the opportunity to pass slower traffic.  Ellen snapped this pic of a cyclist braving one of the tunnels as we passed.

It was a beautiful and clear day, and as we drove up the Panamerican Highway we had nice views of Cotopaxi.  Ellen shot this from the car.

Back in Quito we are staying at the Mama Cuchara, at the edge of the historic center.  We spent a couple of hours walking around the city.