Ok, we are now in Lima Peru.
Sunday we spent getting back to Quito and pretty much the highlight of the day was dinner at the hotel. Monday, had yet another early 4:00 a.m. wake up call and headed off to the airport for our flight to Lima.
It was a pleasant 2 hour flight on an Airbus via Taca Airline. Arrived in Lima and were met by Sonia and the bus. Toured around the city starting with the main square Plaza de Armas. This square is home to a cathedral, the mayor's office, the Presidental Palace, and many many tanks and police officers. We got to see the changing of the Palace guards and the changing of the police into riot gear. Then it was on to the San Francisco Convento. Built over many hundreds of years starting in the 1500's, its exterior is home to thousands of pigeons. We got to see a really interesting library with books dating back to the 1400's and took a tour of the catacombs where we filed past loads and loads of bones. Estimated 30,000 people were buried under the church. Next stop was a visit to a private house to see one of the largest collection of nativity sceens in Peru. Sounds kinda odd but was really nice. The owner of the collection comes from an well known family in Peru and his great grandfather was President of Peru.
Lunch was at the Malabar, a fairly high end restaurant. It was here we were introduced to pisco, a distilled beverage made from grapes. We sampled a pisco punch and a pisco sour. We were told of a pisco sour drinking contest where 16 pisco sours were consumed in one minute - the winner was given a free cab ride home. The sours were a favorite of Ernest Hemingway.
Tomorrow another airplane ride to the high Andes city of Cusco.
Over and out...
Monday, April 28, 2008
Sunday, April 27, 2008
We're off the boat but the land is still moving....
We are in Quito right now and on the way to Lima. But while we were in the Galapagos, here's what happened....
Wednesday 4-23. We crossed the equator 4 times. Twice on purpose, once by accident and once as a "course correction". First time was at 2:22:54 a.m. We asked the captain if we could come to the bridge and watch the GPS count down to 0 deg S. He said fine but wouldn't it be better to see it the 2nd time when we crossed at 9:30 a.m??? No, we said, we wanted to be "there" when we crossed the first time. Ok, said the capt, we should cross at 1:00 a.m. We'll call you. So, being the trusting folks we are, we set the alarm, got dressed, and went up to the bridge at 12:45 a.m. We surprised Byron, the 1st mate a bit, he said we still had 14 seconds of latitude left. Come back in about an hour, we'll call you. So, being the trusting folks we are, we went to bed with our clothes on and reset the alarm and went back to see Byron at 1:55 a.m. Byron was surprised to see us so soon again. He set us up in front of the GPS, showed us the maps, gave John a tour of the bridge and was really very nice to two odd tourists who seemed to be fixated on being on the bridge at the exact moment they crossed the equator. Count down began and we got to video the GPS as it counted down to 0 deg S and changed over to North. IT WAS WAY COOL!!!!! Then we went back to bed. We had the Official Crossing of the Equator (north to south) - 2nd time at 9:30 a.m. When you round Isabela you cross the EQ coming and then going back down. Everyone was jammed on to the bridge, pretty much doing what we had done at 2:00 in the morning. We all counted down again, John and Janna and I had a glass of champagne to celebrate the 2nd crossing, and then we all got special certificates showing that we were no longer pollywogs but real shellbacks. It wasn't until much later and after much wine that one of the guides said that the captain crossed the EQ "early" and had to circle around so to speak so he could be in the right spot at the right time.
Island activities included snorkling with sea lions, sea turtles, sightings of flightless cormorants and penguins. Then we cruised off to Fenandina we we did a lava walk and saw lots of marine iguanas and got rained on.
Thursday 4-24. Southern part of Isabela Island. Was very cool as the captain moved the ship around as required to see Bryde whales. Amazing. First there is a big (like really big) air bubble that surfaces, then the whale comes up to breath 3 times. So we got to see this guy about 6 times. Estimate it was 25 to 30 feet long. Island activities highlight included flamingo sightings, a giant tortoise walking down the tourist path, a poison apple tree that bumped off a lot of English and Spanish people before they figured out you can't eat "street food". At one lookout point we called review rock, we saw just about everyone, sea lions, crabs, blue footed boobies, marine iguanas and 3 beautiful rainbows.
Friday 4-25. Floreana Island. This was fun. We landed at Post Office Bay, named because that is where the whalers used to drop off mail. Tourist do it now. You go to the post office, which is a barrel covered with a small roof, open the door and take out the mail. No stamps are required. If there is a post card going to an area near you, you take it and deliver it. We took cards for Lima, Brier WA, Poulsbo WA, and a couple for CT that we are going to send to John's sister.
Island sightings included more rainbows, penguins, a shark nursery, stingrays and our friends the sea lions and marine iguanas. Evening ended with a BBQ dinner and salsa dancing that was viewed by many surrounding ship. It was a very good time indeed.
Saturday 4-26. Espanola Island. More snorkling with turtles, sea lions, sharks, stingrays and trumpet fish. Later in the afternoon we hiked up dried riverbed to see waved albatross. Way Cool. Wing span of 11 ft and for the first 5 years of there lives they live totally at sea. Don't come back to the island until they are ready to mate. Got to see their mating rituals but didn't get to see any bird landings. They are quite comical from what we hear. We also got to see a larger flock of flamingo's and marine iguanas that were colored red and green. It was as pretty as a marine iguanas get. Dinner back on the ship with baked alaska and more salsa dancing. This ship has a really fun crew.
There is more to tell but we are running out of internet time. So we will continue the adventures later..
Over and out.
Wednesday 4-23. We crossed the equator 4 times. Twice on purpose, once by accident and once as a "course correction". First time was at 2:22:54 a.m. We asked the captain if we could come to the bridge and watch the GPS count down to 0 deg S. He said fine but wouldn't it be better to see it the 2nd time when we crossed at 9:30 a.m??? No, we said, we wanted to be "there" when we crossed the first time. Ok, said the capt, we should cross at 1:00 a.m. We'll call you. So, being the trusting folks we are, we set the alarm, got dressed, and went up to the bridge at 12:45 a.m. We surprised Byron, the 1st mate a bit, he said we still had 14 seconds of latitude left. Come back in about an hour, we'll call you. So, being the trusting folks we are, we went to bed with our clothes on and reset the alarm and went back to see Byron at 1:55 a.m. Byron was surprised to see us so soon again. He set us up in front of the GPS, showed us the maps, gave John a tour of the bridge and was really very nice to two odd tourists who seemed to be fixated on being on the bridge at the exact moment they crossed the equator. Count down began and we got to video the GPS as it counted down to 0 deg S and changed over to North. IT WAS WAY COOL!!!!! Then we went back to bed. We had the Official Crossing of the Equator (north to south) - 2nd time at 9:30 a.m. When you round Isabela you cross the EQ coming and then going back down. Everyone was jammed on to the bridge, pretty much doing what we had done at 2:00 in the morning. We all counted down again, John and Janna and I had a glass of champagne to celebrate the 2nd crossing, and then we all got special certificates showing that we were no longer pollywogs but real shellbacks. It wasn't until much later and after much wine that one of the guides said that the captain crossed the EQ "early" and had to circle around so to speak so he could be in the right spot at the right time.
Island activities included snorkling with sea lions, sea turtles, sightings of flightless cormorants and penguins. Then we cruised off to Fenandina we we did a lava walk and saw lots of marine iguanas and got rained on.
Thursday 4-24. Southern part of Isabela Island. Was very cool as the captain moved the ship around as required to see Bryde whales. Amazing. First there is a big (like really big) air bubble that surfaces, then the whale comes up to breath 3 times. So we got to see this guy about 6 times. Estimate it was 25 to 30 feet long. Island activities highlight included flamingo sightings, a giant tortoise walking down the tourist path, a poison apple tree that bumped off a lot of English and Spanish people before they figured out you can't eat "street food". At one lookout point we called review rock, we saw just about everyone, sea lions, crabs, blue footed boobies, marine iguanas and 3 beautiful rainbows.
Friday 4-25. Floreana Island. This was fun. We landed at Post Office Bay, named because that is where the whalers used to drop off mail. Tourist do it now. You go to the post office, which is a barrel covered with a small roof, open the door and take out the mail. No stamps are required. If there is a post card going to an area near you, you take it and deliver it. We took cards for Lima, Brier WA, Poulsbo WA, and a couple for CT that we are going to send to John's sister.
Island sightings included more rainbows, penguins, a shark nursery, stingrays and our friends the sea lions and marine iguanas. Evening ended with a BBQ dinner and salsa dancing that was viewed by many surrounding ship. It was a very good time indeed.
Saturday 4-26. Espanola Island. More snorkling with turtles, sea lions, sharks, stingrays and trumpet fish. Later in the afternoon we hiked up dried riverbed to see waved albatross. Way Cool. Wing span of 11 ft and for the first 5 years of there lives they live totally at sea. Don't come back to the island until they are ready to mate. Got to see their mating rituals but didn't get to see any bird landings. They are quite comical from what we hear. We also got to see a larger flock of flamingo's and marine iguanas that were colored red and green. It was as pretty as a marine iguanas get. Dinner back on the ship with baked alaska and more salsa dancing. This ship has a really fun crew.
There is more to tell but we are running out of internet time. So we will continue the adventures later..
Over and out.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Earth Day on Santa Cruz Island
We made it to the Galapagos. Flew from Quito to Baltra Airport. Interesting landing, short runway but then you drive around awhile before you get to the right side of the island which has the terminal. After we cleared customs, got on to a small bus that took us to the MS Islander. Very nice boat. Started off with a lunch, then swinning around the boat (80 degree water), and an afternoon landing at N. Seymore Island. Little did we know what we would see....
Got off the boat and right away we see, a sea lion pup, marine iquana, and bright orange sally light foot crabs. These animals have no fear, you can walk right up to them. Laws do not allow you to touch them but you sure could if no one was looking. Walked down the beach past the more sea lion pups and their mothers. The low scrub trees were filled with frigget birds. The male frigget bird is the one with the big red inflated neck pouch, wing span of 7 ft. The male builds the nest and then courts the female. There must have been 50 of these birds all in full inflated red glory. We keep walking and now we are seeing blue footed boobie birds. Like big seagulls that have bright blue feet. The male and female court each other by stamping feet and making honking noises. On first trip of 2 hours, we got a really good sense of the amazing things we would see and how unique these islands are.
That night we sailed to Bartolome island. Started out at 6:30 am for the optional Master and Commander Walk (well, actually an uphill boardwalk hike). Part of the film where the doctor sees the French ship in a secluded harbour was filmed on this spot. Our day started with a sea lion blocking the landing, so we cleared that guy off to enable our zodiac to land. Off the boat on to a volcanic island, very little plant life, we walked on a boardwalk up to the top of the hill and it was very very hot. Amazing views.
Got back to the boat for breakfast and then had a snorkeling safety lesson. After that John and Janna got their snorkeling gear and I got an umbrella so I could sit on the beach. They saw some amazing things, sea turtles, hammer head sharks, swam with sea lions and just lots and lots of big and small fish. John is now sporting a pretty good sunburn on the back of his legs. Again it was very very hot. Back to the boat for a shower and lunch, which was traditioal Equadorian foods. Got to take a break for a bit then set sail for the other side of Santiago island. Off the boat for a wet landing, where you jump off the zodiac and your shoes get very wet. Walked inland and saw lots of lava lizards and assorted finches. Turned toward the sea and got to view marine iguanas by the ton..... they like to pile up on each other. The shore had a whole lot of sea lions and pups, and you just walk right up to these critters. We were on a search to find the Galapagos Fur Sea lion which is almost extinct. We have a very good guide named Walter and he did manage to find one for us. Also got to see a seaturtle floating in a gratto before it swam out to sea. We counted 22 sea turtle tracks left by female turtles heading into lay their eggs. Back to the boat for gin and tonics and dinner. We are sleeping really well at the end of the day.
It rained all night as our boat motored to Santa Cruz island. Left our ship at 8:00 am and should be back by 6:00 pm. Internet is very expensive on board so we are at an internet cafe in the town of Puerto Ayora. Today we did the Charles Darwin Research Institute and got to see how they are reintroducing the giant land turtle back to the islands. After that we loaded in to a bus and headed upland for lunch. Before lunch we got to go through a lava tube that started about a quarter mile away from the restaurant and magically ended right by the bar. Beer was pretty good by that time. After lunch we got back in the bus and went on a quest for giant land turtles in the wild. We got very lucky and saw about 8 of them!!! So now we blog and then we catch a zodiac home to the boat for gin and tonics, a shower and dinner. I for one am pooped.
Over and out.
Got off the boat and right away we see, a sea lion pup, marine iquana, and bright orange sally light foot crabs. These animals have no fear, you can walk right up to them. Laws do not allow you to touch them but you sure could if no one was looking. Walked down the beach past the more sea lion pups and their mothers. The low scrub trees were filled with frigget birds. The male frigget bird is the one with the big red inflated neck pouch, wing span of 7 ft. The male builds the nest and then courts the female. There must have been 50 of these birds all in full inflated red glory. We keep walking and now we are seeing blue footed boobie birds. Like big seagulls that have bright blue feet. The male and female court each other by stamping feet and making honking noises. On first trip of 2 hours, we got a really good sense of the amazing things we would see and how unique these islands are.
That night we sailed to Bartolome island. Started out at 6:30 am for the optional Master and Commander Walk (well, actually an uphill boardwalk hike). Part of the film where the doctor sees the French ship in a secluded harbour was filmed on this spot. Our day started with a sea lion blocking the landing, so we cleared that guy off to enable our zodiac to land. Off the boat on to a volcanic island, very little plant life, we walked on a boardwalk up to the top of the hill and it was very very hot. Amazing views.
Got back to the boat for breakfast and then had a snorkeling safety lesson. After that John and Janna got their snorkeling gear and I got an umbrella so I could sit on the beach. They saw some amazing things, sea turtles, hammer head sharks, swam with sea lions and just lots and lots of big and small fish. John is now sporting a pretty good sunburn on the back of his legs. Again it was very very hot. Back to the boat for a shower and lunch, which was traditioal Equadorian foods. Got to take a break for a bit then set sail for the other side of Santiago island. Off the boat for a wet landing, where you jump off the zodiac and your shoes get very wet. Walked inland and saw lots of lava lizards and assorted finches. Turned toward the sea and got to view marine iguanas by the ton..... they like to pile up on each other. The shore had a whole lot of sea lions and pups, and you just walk right up to these critters. We were on a search to find the Galapagos Fur Sea lion which is almost extinct. We have a very good guide named Walter and he did manage to find one for us. Also got to see a seaturtle floating in a gratto before it swam out to sea. We counted 22 sea turtle tracks left by female turtles heading into lay their eggs. Back to the boat for gin and tonics and dinner. We are sleeping really well at the end of the day.
It rained all night as our boat motored to Santa Cruz island. Left our ship at 8:00 am and should be back by 6:00 pm. Internet is very expensive on board so we are at an internet cafe in the town of Puerto Ayora. Today we did the Charles Darwin Research Institute and got to see how they are reintroducing the giant land turtle back to the islands. After that we loaded in to a bus and headed upland for lunch. Before lunch we got to go through a lava tube that started about a quarter mile away from the restaurant and magically ended right by the bar. Beer was pretty good by that time. After lunch we got back in the bus and went on a quest for giant land turtles in the wild. We got very lucky and saw about 8 of them!!! So now we blog and then we catch a zodiac home to the boat for gin and tonics, a shower and dinner. I for one am pooped.
Over and out.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
On the way to the Galapagos
Hola!!
It is Sunday and we are at the airport in Quito on the way to the islands. Got into town 3 hours late as our flight from Miami had a problem with the toilet and we had to get a new airplane..... all other flights went fine. So we got to the hotel at 11 pm, had to be up at 5 am and out the door at 6am. Kinda looks like Shaun of the Dead this morning in the airport lounge.
Beer is $2.00. Ecuador uses the US$$ as local currency.
Everyone is fine but tired. More from the Boat
Over and out
It is Sunday and we are at the airport in Quito on the way to the islands. Got into town 3 hours late as our flight from Miami had a problem with the toilet and we had to get a new airplane..... all other flights went fine. So we got to the hotel at 11 pm, had to be up at 5 am and out the door at 6am. Kinda looks like Shaun of the Dead this morning in the airport lounge.
Beer is $2.00. Ecuador uses the US$$ as local currency.
Everyone is fine but tired. More from the Boat
Over and out
Friday, April 18, 2008
On the road to Ecuador
Never test the depth of the water with both feet - Anon.
Getting ready to take a red-eye flight to Ecuador tonight. Leaving Seattle at about 11:30 p.m then it's a hop to Dallas, a skip to Miami followed by a modest jump to Quito. Will take about 24 hours to get from point S to point Q but we do have a pretty healthy layover in Miami. I don't know what is new and interesting in the Miami International Airport but we (John, his daughter Janna and myself) will check it out and report if we find anything good.
In theory, the Reader's Digest version of the trip is:
We 3 intrepid travelers and a whole bunch of people we don't know from a radio station travel club in Utah arrive in Ecuador.
Over night in Quito and catch another flight to San Cristobal in the Galapagos where we board our floating home the MV Islander. Much more posh than the Whidbey ferry we are used to riding. "They" say there is internet on the boat, so for a small fee of an arm or perhaps a leg, I should be able to update the blog. "They" said there was internet in India too...... so who knows.
For the next 6 days we putter around and visit quite a few of the islands where we will land and view some of the amazing and varied wildlife. Such as the famous giant tortoise, the marine iguanas, blue footed boobies , sea lions, and flamingos. All that and, I'm willing to bet, some pretty amazing tourist sightings.
At some point we will head back to San Cristobal, abandon ship and fly to Quito. At this point John's daughter Janna will break off and head to Bolivia. We 2 intrepid travelers will then catch a flight to Lima Peru where we will explore Manchu Picchu while gasping for air. Then we head in a round about way home. That's the plan anyway....
Over and out.
Getting ready to take a red-eye flight to Ecuador tonight. Leaving Seattle at about 11:30 p.m then it's a hop to Dallas, a skip to Miami followed by a modest jump to Quito. Will take about 24 hours to get from point S to point Q but we do have a pretty healthy layover in Miami. I don't know what is new and interesting in the Miami International Airport but we (John, his daughter Janna and myself) will check it out and report if we find anything good.
In theory, the Reader's Digest version of the trip is:
We 3 intrepid travelers and a whole bunch of people we don't know from a radio station travel club in Utah arrive in Ecuador.
Over night in Quito and catch another flight to San Cristobal in the Galapagos where we board our floating home the MV Islander. Much more posh than the Whidbey ferry we are used to riding. "They" say there is internet on the boat, so for a small fee of an arm or perhaps a leg, I should be able to update the blog. "They" said there was internet in India too...... so who knows.
For the next 6 days we putter around and visit quite a few of the islands where we will land and view some of the amazing and varied wildlife. Such as the famous giant tortoise, the marine iguanas, blue footed boobies , sea lions, and flamingos. All that and, I'm willing to bet, some pretty amazing tourist sightings.
At some point we will head back to San Cristobal, abandon ship and fly to Quito. At this point John's daughter Janna will break off and head to Bolivia. We 2 intrepid travelers will then catch a flight to Lima Peru where we will explore Manchu Picchu while gasping for air. Then we head in a round about way home. That's the plan anyway....
Over and out.
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