Santa Cruz, Floreana, and Bartolome

Around every corner there are spectacular sights of animals co-existing right before our eyes. Our last two days have been primarily spent snorkeling around two different islands fairly close to the one we have been staying on. Around one rock formation, called Corona del Diablo (the Devil's Crown), we snorkeled by a giant sea turtle, three white tipped sharks, many sea lions, a manta ray and thousands of fish, which the previously mentioned feed on. I could hardly keep from choking on my snorkel gear (especially when I realized I had just swam over a shark, who thankfully cared less about me, Phil, of course, was thrilled and turned back for a photo)!
These Islands, however, have presented us with much more then beautiful photo ops. I actually feel like I could write an essay on what we have experienced so far. It would include the contradictions this beautiful, extremely delicate, worldly unique archipelago has presented to us. The contradictions of being an animal filled natural sanctuary verses a vacation spot for thousands of tourists. How can these two co-exist? It is a tough one. But with only four short days left, I will put the essay on hold and enjoy my time here, while making a very conscious effort to live lightly, thank the animals and the land, and give back what I have taken. That being said, here are some photos from the last four days. We are off to Isabela today, a more remote Island, so we will be in touch in a couple days.

Galapagos Islands, Ecuador

We touched-down on Santa Cruz Island this morning around 11AM. We went through security, retrieved our luggage, and caught a ride to the small village of Puerto Ayora (the hub of the Galapagos Islands). We checked into Hotel Flamingo at 12AM and wandered down to the waterfront. It didn't take long to see our first marine iguanas, sally lightfoot crabs, and lava gulls. After a lunch, we strolled along the shoreline towards the Charles Darwin Research Station. We watched brown pelicans, great friggatebirds, and two galapagos sea lions. At the Research Station, we saw Lonesome George, the last survivor of the distinct Pinta Giant Tortoise subspecies. We spent time with many other giant tortoises and iguanas. It was absolutely incredible. The Charles Darwin Foundation website (www.darwinfoundation.org) features news, updates, and background information, and tells you how you can make donations or join the foundation.

Adventures in Baños

We just spent three days in one of Ecuador´s top tourist spots, for both locals and foreigners, called Baños. We arrived just as Carnaval was starting and were able to join in on the fun of this very exciting fiesta, as well as take part in some outdoor activity. Early in the morning on our first day we enjoyed a hot springs bath (hence the name of the town), and then headed just outside of town to catch a glimpse of the active volcano, which actually erupted a couple years ago. It is an amazing sight to see the smoke puff out of a volcano, something prehistoric about it.
Next we rented bikes to ride and glide 60 km down to the jungle, along a beautiful route, with waterfalls around every corner. This was a wonderful day, which included a cable car ride, hikes, and the freshest trout meal you can ask for with our two new bike amigos, Wendy and Bill.
That night we met up with our friend Beth from Cuenca and headed up a mountain to see the volcano at night, which turned out to be not so interesting but a fun bus ride all the same.
The next day we went white water rafting on Class 4 and 5 rapids, it was thrilling. We even managed to flip the boat, which resulted in an incredible rescue effort of people and paddles! That evening with our paddle friends and hostel amigos, we headed out on the town to partake in Carnaval festivities and parades. To back track a bit, for the past month water balloons have been thrown at us, as a warm up to Carnival and then for the actual days of carnival the water balloons continue and foam spray, flour, eggs get added to the list. So day and night you are pretty much guaranteed to get wet or sprayed while walking on the streets. It can’t be avoided, so you have no choice but to join in, and join in we did. And let’s just say Phil really likes Carnaval.

Guayaquil, Ecuador

We arrived safely in Guayquil after a very interesting and extremely crowded 7 hour bus ride. We managed to accomodate a snoring man - sprawled out on the floor at our feet, we had mud sprayed all over our heads, and the girl behind us vomitted on our backpack. It was great. We are currently staying at the Dreamkapture Hostal and very much looking forward to flying to the Galapagos Islands tomorrow morning at 10AM.

Dreamkapture Hostal

Alborada Doceava Etapa

Manzana 02, Villa 21

Guayaquil, Ecuador

Tel: 593-4-2242909

Fax: 593-4-2242926

www.dreamkapture.com/hostal

Baños, Ecuador

We are currently staying at the following hostal in Baños, Ecuador. We will be here until the morning of January 4th. We will then be heading to the city of Guayaquil for one night before flying to the Galapagos Islands on January 5th.

Hostal Plantas y Blanco

Luis A. Martínez y 12 de Noviembre

Baños, Ecuador

03-274 0044 / 03 274 1043

option3@hotmail.com

Chimborazo, Ecuador

The last time we wrote we were wrapping up our activities in Cuenca, saying goodbye to friends and trying to take advantage of every last minute there. Which included an over night trip in the National Park close to the city. This was, well, an interesting experience. One full of rain and cold, and not many birds (which is why we went), but the experience was a good reminder of not trying to do everything and now we laugh every time one of us mentions the word Cajas. I am sure it is nice there, sometimes….I think.
That being said we have really had a crazy week. We moved out of our lovely apartment Thursday morning and landed in a new town by 7 that night. Riobamba was the place we were hoping to meet up with Wiliber, a Just Us!/Jambi Kiwa friends when I worked there a couple summers ago, but because of carnival (which needs to be a whole other blog post) and schedules we ended up on our own on Friday. So we decided to take a chance and see if we could stand at 5000 metres on Ecuador’s largest mountain (the top also being the furthest point from the centre of the Earth), Chimborazo. We decided not to go the usually tourist route, which is a $35 taxi ride to the first refugee camp. So we hopped on a very busy public bus for $4 and headed to the hill. We were dropped off at the entrence of the park, although it felt more like another planet, as clouds brushed the barren ground. We eventually found the path to the park and meet the park wardens in their car, probably wondering what we were doing on our own. Anyway, to make a long story short, these two fellows decided to drive us up to the first refugee camp, pick us up an an houre and a half later and then drive us back to Riobamba, since that would be the time there shift was over. Needless to say we took them out for dinner and were completely thankful for their generosity. Wonderful people.
So a day of unknown turned into a wonderful day of snow (which we both loved, and really appreciated, I guess we are four season folks deep down), new friends and once again another adventure!

Riobamba, Ecuador

We stayed at the following hotel while visiting Riobamba during the night of January 31. It was painted bright green and pink on the outside (as you can see) and was very hard to miss. The hotel is located one block from the Riobamba Train Station, where the infamous trainride for El Nariz del Diablo (the Devil's Nose) departs.

Hotel Tren Dorado

Carabobo 22-35 and 10 de Agosto.

Riobamba, Ecuador

tel. 593.3.296.4890

fax. 593.3.296.4890

htrendorado@hotmail.com