Huaraz, Peru
April 23, 2004
I'm really falling behind on my blogs, so I'm going to try to race through what I did in my last few weeks in Ecuador. Currently, I'm back in Peru and hanging out in a cool Andean town named Huaraz, from where you can do lots of trekking, mountain climbing, ice picking, ice cave dwelling and the like. I'll get fully updated in the next week or so. It looks as though I'm finally going to return to Cusco next week, after being gone for a total of 8 weeks. I'm tired of backpacking, for the moment, and I want to sleep in my own bed. As I no longer have an apartment or bed in NYC, my Cusco lodgings are the closest I have to a home.
QUITO/MINDO: FAREWELL AMIGOS, HELLO BHAVNA
The '5 Amigos' (that's what Lucy called Mike, Brooke, Kim, Lucy and I) set foot on the mainland from the Galapagos on March 31st. We bid each other adieu and then I had to race to a hotel to meet my friend Bhavna from London, with whom I would be spending the next week.
Bhavna and I settled into Quito and I showed her a bit of the beautiful colonial 'Old City' on the first day. We then decided to head off to the northwest of Quito, to a town called Mindo, so that she could see a bit of the Ecuadorian cloud forest. We arrived in Mindo a bit late in the day, around 7pm, which in a small town like Mindo means that the landscape and the streets are totally dark, except for a very occassional street lamp. We checked into a room that my book listed as 'basic' and boy was it!! This was the most basic room I've ever stayed in, consisting of 2x4s, plywood, a bed and a hanging light bulb. The next day we met up with a guide and a couple Europeans to take a hike through the cloudforest to a waterfall. I had to borrow waterproof boots from the guide, but as everyone in these countries are shorter than me, the boots were a little too small and that would prove to be painful. I had heard wonderful tales of swimming in the waterfall and such, but when we finally made it there, the morning torrential rain had swelled the river so much that you couldn't really jump in as the flow was now incredibly strong, not to mention, ICE COLD!!
BANOS: LAND OF VOLCANOS AND HOT SPRINGS
That afternoon, we decided to hightail it out of Mindo and returned to Quito just long enough to catch a bus south to Banos, well known for its hot springs and its geographical location, under an active volcano. In fact, this volcano had errupted in 1999, forcing the whole city to be evacuated. As we approached the valley where the town was situated, we could see the tall volcano venting hot steam from its cone into the clear night sky. Quite a scene!!
We arrived in Banos on Saturday night, April 3rd, to find the place packed to the rim with young Ecuadorians and families, in town to enjoy the one day that they get off from work, Sunday. So tired, we decided to check into our hotel and take it easy for the night. The next morning, we were awakened by the sound of the young ones racing around town on ATVs (small All Terrain Vehicles) and the general commotion of the weekend. It was a beautiful sunny day and we wandered around town, but decided to put off the main activities that are available in Banos - a tour of the Avenue of Waterfalls (a 27 km ride on bikes or ATVs), a climbing trek to see the volcano, or a trip to the hot water springs - until the next couple of days. Unfortunately for us, the next two days were incredibly overcast, not the best weather for a bicycle ride or a hiking trek. That monday we decided we had to do something while we were there, so we took a short hike just out of town to the El Salado baths. We would jump from the hot bath to the cold river bath and back again, along the way befriending some of the locals, until every last touch of stress had left our bodies. What a feeling!!
The next day we decided we had to take a bigger hike, no matter what the weather was like, so we took a taxi up the mountain, hoping we could see the volcano. As our luck would have it, the clouds covered the whole thing. But as we started the trek down to Banos, we were hailed by a local dairy farmer (if you could call him that, he had 3 cows) who wanted to talk to us for some reason. He invited us back to his house, a cement two-room structure with a thatch roof, and made us some tea from a plant in his garden. We sat and talked with him about all the people he had met from around the world and the effects of dollarization on the campesinos, the country people. As we left, he politely asked for a bit of money for the tea, which I obliged him with, and we were off.
As we walked back to town, we ran into a couple of newlyweds making the same trek, he's from Florida and she's Ecuadorian. They told us how they had met at the Vatican on his last day of a European vacation. He returned to the states and she to Ecuador and they emailed each other constantly. He couldn't get her out of his mind. He decided he didn't want to be 64 wondering what ever happened to that girl, so he decided to come visit her in Guayaquil for a month and in that month they decided to get married. He and his family returned a few months later and they just got married. He has to stay down here for a while to get her papers ready to return, with her, to Florida. They're both a bit nervous, but very much in love. A nice, romantic story.
Bhavna and I had lunch with the newlyweds and then jumped back on a bus for Quito, as Bhavna had to leave to return to London in a couple of days. Our last few days together we just relaxed in Quito: went and saw 'Big Fish' (which I highly recommend) and went shopping. Bhavna was very excited about shopping, as she noticed that the Ecuadorian women have the same body proportions as she does. As a matter of fact, many people mistook her for being Ecuadorian because of her skin coloring, even though her parents are from India.
THE CAMERA SAGA
I have had really bad luck with cameras on this trip. First, as you may know, my digital camera was stolen right before I went to the Galapagos. So, while we were in Guayaquil, I raced out to look for a new one. All the digital ones were rather expensive, so I decided to go old school and return to film and a 35mm camera. I found a used camera shop and thought it would be cool to get a totally manual SLR. I found a cheap one that was made in the USSR and decided that I was ready to go. The only problem was that this camera couldn't handle 400 ASA speed film very well, which was what I had purchased. The light meter really sucked and the ASA knob broke after a couple of days. Tired of trying to figure out how to use it, I decided, while I was in the Galapagos, that I would just rely on my companions for photos.
Well, when Bhavna and I returned to Quito, we were walking in a Centro Commercial (a market where vendors rent space and sell everything from electronics to clothing to pots and pans) and we saw a similar model of digital camera that I had, a Sony!! We asked how much it cost and were told $190. All other cameras of that type retailed at $310. Granted, this didn't have rechargeable batteries or a recharger and was probably a stolen camera, but it could use AA batteries and was cheap. With a little bit of coaching on how to bargain from Bhavna (who comes from a line of successful bargainers), I offered $150. He countered with $170, so I said that $160 was right inbetween and whallah! I have a new digital camera. Bhavna had a similar model camera, so she gave me her 128MB MemoryStick as a birthday gift and now I'm back in business (although I can't download my pictures until I get back to Cusco). So watch this space for new photos!!
QUITO: A FOND FAREWELL
With a few pairs of new pants, Bhavna took an early morning flight back to London and I spent the day trying to get caught up on email, before taking a night bus to Cuenca. Around midday, I went to a bookstore called 'Confederate Books' (the best English language bookstore I've found in South Amercia) to find something fun to read. The store owner, an American named Bill, was hanging out with another American friend. When the conversation turned to films, I introduced myself. It turns out that the other guy, Tom, is originally from Louisiana and moved down here and created the bookstore. Bill had just bought the store from him, as Tom was returning to the States with his Ecuadorian wife and children, after 10 years in Quito. After a steady stream of beers, I got to telling them how my father wants to open some sort of business in Cusco and that I have to help him figure out what that business will be. They both recommended opening a good English language used book store, since Cusco is crawling with tourists and has no English language bookstore. It's a good idea that I'll have to bounce off my parents. After a long alcohol-soaked day of talking politics and bookstores, I bid them farewell and made it to my bus just in time.
More to come . . .
Wednesday, April 14, 2004
Cuenca, Ecuador
April 14, 2004
Well, I guess it's time that I move on from my Galapagos adventure and get everyone caught up with what I've been doing the last couple of weeks. But before I do, let me just leave you with a few final anecdotes from my last days there.
My (last) Galapagos Blog, Part 3
SANTA CRUZ ISLAND: A FEW MORE DAYS OF PARADISE
We had been so enthralled by the scenery that we had seen so far in the Galapagos that, by half way through our cruise, we decided to extend our stay for a few days and return to the main town on Santa Cruz Island, Puerto Ayora, afterwards.
Puerto Ayora is a comfortable little tourist town, with a nice easy feel to it. The day after our arrival, Kim and I set out on our first excursion: to find a beach near town that had been recommended to us by our British shipmates (Tony and Rachel). It's name? Tortuga Bay. It's a 5km trek in all, first to a national park outpost just off to the side of the town and then several km on a well-constructed brick path, passing through cactus and bush-filled terrain. The climate was so hot, the path so straight, and the terrain so similar that it felt as though we were taking on a never-ending endeavor. Finally, though, we could hear the distant rumble of the waves grow stronger and the trail deposited us on the beach. Put simply, it was the most beautiful beach I had ever seen (although, I must admit, I am not too well acquainted with this world's beaches). It consisted of a long stretch of very fine, white sand, which gradually escaped to the sea, creating a beautiful spectrum of light turquoise water to the navy blue of the Pacific Ocean. However, there was no shade and we had been warned that the current was too strong to swim in. We walked the length of the beach and found a beautiful area where black lava rocks had cut off the sea and created a natural little swimming pool between the rocks, the beach and some mangroves. We settled in for a few hours of leisurely wading before taking the 'walk through the 4th circle of hell' back to town.
LONESOME GEORGE: THE LAST OF HIS KIND
The next couple of days consisted of lounging around town and visiting the Charles Darwin Research Center. We had visited the Darwin Center before on our cruise, but we had not been able to see the Center's most famous inhabitant, Lonesome George. George is lonesome because he was the last tourtoise of his species found alive on his island in the northern Galapagos, Isla Pinta, about 40 years ago. Now, tortoises live a long time, about 200 years, so George has quite a bit of life left in him.
I had mentioned before that the only animal to have the fear of humans in the Galapagos are the Great Tortoises. This is because over a course of 200 years, mainly the 18th and 19th centuries, humans massacred toroises by the thousands, using them for food on long sea voyages. See, tortoises live so long because their metabolisms are slow and they live life at a similar pace, which makes them easy to catch. So, when sailors visited the Galapagos, they would easily fill up their hull with Giant Tortoises, who could survive in a ship's hull for 100 days. Thus they would have plenty of tortoise flesh for food. Over the last three centuries, some estimate that we massacred three to four hundred thousand of this noble species.
Back to George, he's the last of his species. The scientist at the Darwin Center have been searching for over 30 years for a possible mate for George, a female of a tortoise species linked close enough genetically to him so that he could mate and continue his kind. Unfortunately, George has had no interest in any of these fair tortoise maidens. So, we have another 100 years of George's life to find a solution to his problem. That's 100 years of (possible) solitude. A sign near George's pen states that the absolute, last-ditch effort by the Darwin Center will be cloning, but it's costly and prone to failure. Let's hope that George takes a liking to one of his female companions in the next 100 years.
GREAT TORTOISES: CUTE LITTLE CRITTERS
One last thing about the Darwin Center. These scientist are working to undue the harm we've done to the ecosystems of the Galapagos over the past few centuries. The Great Tortoises are exceptionally vulnerable to the species we have introduced to the islands: rat, pig, goat, cow, horse, dog, cat. In their own way, each of these animals make it very difficult for the tortoises to reproduce. They trample or eat their eggs, compete with them for resources, or destroy the terrain they depend on. So, the scientists are in the process of eradicating these species from all the islands in the Galapagos, which they hope to do in the next 10 years.
In the meantime, the tortoises need help reproducing. So, scientists go into the wild, find tortoise eggs and bring them back to the center so that they can hatch safely, away from predators and adverse environments. It's quite a sight to see all these little guys in their pens, crawling over each other and struggling to get up on little structures. It's hard to believe that an organism that can grow so big starts off so small. A full grown tortoise can have a shell that's a 3-5 feet in diameter. When they hatch, however, they start off with a shell that's 2-3 inches. Quite a growth spurt (if you consider 50 years an adequate time to grow up). After 2 years, the tortoises are big enough to go into a special pen that approximates their natural terrain. After another year, they are released into the wild. So far, they have released 2000 back into the wild. Let's hope they're successful.
Well that's it for my Galapagos expedition. In my next episode we'll return to the mainland and more cityesque adventures. Thanks for reading!!
Tim
April 14, 2004
Well, I guess it's time that I move on from my Galapagos adventure and get everyone caught up with what I've been doing the last couple of weeks. But before I do, let me just leave you with a few final anecdotes from my last days there.
My (last) Galapagos Blog, Part 3
SANTA CRUZ ISLAND: A FEW MORE DAYS OF PARADISE
We had been so enthralled by the scenery that we had seen so far in the Galapagos that, by half way through our cruise, we decided to extend our stay for a few days and return to the main town on Santa Cruz Island, Puerto Ayora, afterwards.
Puerto Ayora is a comfortable little tourist town, with a nice easy feel to it. The day after our arrival, Kim and I set out on our first excursion: to find a beach near town that had been recommended to us by our British shipmates (Tony and Rachel). It's name? Tortuga Bay. It's a 5km trek in all, first to a national park outpost just off to the side of the town and then several km on a well-constructed brick path, passing through cactus and bush-filled terrain. The climate was so hot, the path so straight, and the terrain so similar that it felt as though we were taking on a never-ending endeavor. Finally, though, we could hear the distant rumble of the waves grow stronger and the trail deposited us on the beach. Put simply, it was the most beautiful beach I had ever seen (although, I must admit, I am not too well acquainted with this world's beaches). It consisted of a long stretch of very fine, white sand, which gradually escaped to the sea, creating a beautiful spectrum of light turquoise water to the navy blue of the Pacific Ocean. However, there was no shade and we had been warned that the current was too strong to swim in. We walked the length of the beach and found a beautiful area where black lava rocks had cut off the sea and created a natural little swimming pool between the rocks, the beach and some mangroves. We settled in for a few hours of leisurely wading before taking the 'walk through the 4th circle of hell' back to town.
LONESOME GEORGE: THE LAST OF HIS KIND
The next couple of days consisted of lounging around town and visiting the Charles Darwin Research Center. We had visited the Darwin Center before on our cruise, but we had not been able to see the Center's most famous inhabitant, Lonesome George. George is lonesome because he was the last tourtoise of his species found alive on his island in the northern Galapagos, Isla Pinta, about 40 years ago. Now, tortoises live a long time, about 200 years, so George has quite a bit of life left in him.
I had mentioned before that the only animal to have the fear of humans in the Galapagos are the Great Tortoises. This is because over a course of 200 years, mainly the 18th and 19th centuries, humans massacred toroises by the thousands, using them for food on long sea voyages. See, tortoises live so long because their metabolisms are slow and they live life at a similar pace, which makes them easy to catch. So, when sailors visited the Galapagos, they would easily fill up their hull with Giant Tortoises, who could survive in a ship's hull for 100 days. Thus they would have plenty of tortoise flesh for food. Over the last three centuries, some estimate that we massacred three to four hundred thousand of this noble species.
Back to George, he's the last of his species. The scientist at the Darwin Center have been searching for over 30 years for a possible mate for George, a female of a tortoise species linked close enough genetically to him so that he could mate and continue his kind. Unfortunately, George has had no interest in any of these fair tortoise maidens. So, we have another 100 years of George's life to find a solution to his problem. That's 100 years of (possible) solitude. A sign near George's pen states that the absolute, last-ditch effort by the Darwin Center will be cloning, but it's costly and prone to failure. Let's hope that George takes a liking to one of his female companions in the next 100 years.
GREAT TORTOISES: CUTE LITTLE CRITTERS
One last thing about the Darwin Center. These scientist are working to undue the harm we've done to the ecosystems of the Galapagos over the past few centuries. The Great Tortoises are exceptionally vulnerable to the species we have introduced to the islands: rat, pig, goat, cow, horse, dog, cat. In their own way, each of these animals make it very difficult for the tortoises to reproduce. They trample or eat their eggs, compete with them for resources, or destroy the terrain they depend on. So, the scientists are in the process of eradicating these species from all the islands in the Galapagos, which they hope to do in the next 10 years.
In the meantime, the tortoises need help reproducing. So, scientists go into the wild, find tortoise eggs and bring them back to the center so that they can hatch safely, away from predators and adverse environments. It's quite a sight to see all these little guys in their pens, crawling over each other and struggling to get up on little structures. It's hard to believe that an organism that can grow so big starts off so small. A full grown tortoise can have a shell that's a 3-5 feet in diameter. When they hatch, however, they start off with a shell that's 2-3 inches. Quite a growth spurt (if you consider 50 years an adequate time to grow up). After 2 years, the tortoises are big enough to go into a special pen that approximates their natural terrain. After another year, they are released into the wild. So far, they have released 2000 back into the wild. Let's hope they're successful.
Well that's it for my Galapagos expedition. In my next episode we'll return to the mainland and more cityesque adventures. Thanks for reading!!
Tim
Friday, April 09, 2004
Quito, Ecuador
April 9, 2004
Well, I'm on my own with just southern Ecuador and northern Peru to keep me company for the next few weeks. My friend Bhavna was visiting from London for the last week, but she left to home this morning. I've checked out of my hotel and have ther rest of the day to catch up on my blog, do my taxes online, and maybe catch a movie before my bus leaves tonight at 9:30pm for the city of Cuenca in the southern Andes of Ecuador. The streets are barren as today begins the 4-day holiday of Semana Santa (Easter). I'm looking worward to a few days of relaxing, reading and writing in Cuenca. So, before I leave Quito, here's . . .
My Galapagos Blog, part 2
ANIMALS, ANIMALS, EVERYWHERE!!
Well, as most know, the biggest attraction to a Galapagos holiday (which I highly recommend, by the way) are the animals. It's quite an incredible and humbling thing to get to know how an ecosystem works, up close and personal. It reminds you that we are just animals ourselves. It's the type of experience that really makes you feel in touch with your own humanity and your place among other living things. There really aren't many places (actually none that I can think of) besides the Galapagos where you can just walk around, on all the different islands that you visit, and watch animals just do their thing. Just incredible.
SEA LIONS: THOSE CURIOUS LITTLE STINK MONKEYS OF THE SEA
On almost every island that we visited, sea lions would swim out to welcome us. Well, not all sea lions. Adult sea lions seemed to have no interest at all in our presence. That is, except the male adult sea lions, who would bark just to let us know that we were near their harem. It seems that most of a sea lion's life consists of laying down on the beach (or on the volcanic rocks), sleeping, and occassionally going out to sea to eat a steady diet of fish. And oh, what would become of those fish! There's nothing quite like the delightful musk that eminates from our friend, the sea lion. It's the incredible odor of fish poo. Not quite Chanel number 5, but memorable none the less.
These creatures, so slow and lumbering on land, have such agility in the water. One of our favorite experiences, which happened on several occassions, would be to snorkel near the sea lions. While adult sea lions are indifferent, baby and especially juvenille sea lions are intensely curious. If we swam by they would many times com out and swim around us. We would play with them by diving down into the water, twisting and turning our bodies to mimic their movements. At times, it would seem as though they were going to swim straight into us, but then they would suddenly twist their bodies and be swimming 180 degrees from the direction they were swimming a second before.
Another fun experience took place when we weren't in the water. Our last day we were heading out on our dinghy for a dry landing on Lobos Island, just off the coast of San Cristobal. We skimmed across the light turqoise water, starting at one end of the small island, past the black volcanic rocks on the shore. Suddenly, out from these rocks came a few juvenille sea lions, attracted by our motor and its rotor. They would swim right behind the quickly turning motor, watching it spin, but not getting close enough to get hurt. Three sea lions bacame five, as if they were calling out to each other in kid voices, 'hey, guys, come check this out!' Five became nine, which became twelve . . . then sixteen. At last count we had 25 juvenille sea lions trailing our dinghy. They would squirm around while swimming, at times diving down to the sandy bottom of the turquoise lagoon and resurfacing. Sometimes, they seemed to be swimming on top of each other. We stopped and disembarked on the island, watching them follow our dinghy back to the boat.
BLUE-FOOTED BOOBIES: PERSONALITY WITH FEATHERS
I have to say, that my favorite animal that we encountered on the cruise was the one that made it's entrance the second we stepped aboard the Encantada. We stood on the deck, happy to have finally made it to our cruise ship, and suddenly heard a big clatter in the water. We didn't see anything. A second later a bird was floating in the same place as the clatter. We looked into the distance and saw other birds circling different parts of the water. One would climb in the air a bit and then suddenly point his beak downwards, diving quickly into the water. After about 7 seconds, they would appear back on the surface, apparently swallowing a fish that they had caught from below. This was our introduction to the blue-footed boobie.
Apparently, the boobie (there are also red-footed and masked boobies in the Galapagos) got its name from English sailors who would pass by these islands and found that these birds had no fear of humans. Thinking that they were dumb, they started calling them boobies. However, most of the animals on these islands ever had any reason to fear humans (except the Great Tortoise, but we'll get to that later), as we did not hunt them.
Blue-footed boobies can be found on most of the islands of the Galapagos. Their appearance is like looking at something from another planet. As you can imagine, their feet are covered with blue skin, which is actually meant to attract possible mates. During mating, male boobies build a nest of twigs, hoping to find a suitable female. Whenever a female passes overhead, they spread their wings and point their long beak to the sky with a whistle, like they're saying 'hey, doll, come over here and we'll dance'. And they do dance. When a female does linger, both lift up their little blue feet and do this little waddle dance every few minutes . The males whistle and stretch out their wings and the females sometimes snort, all while doing the waddle dance. The hope is that the female will be so impressed by the nest and the dance, that she'll stay and mate. If only it was that easy for humans! Actually, it's not that easy for boobies. These little critters do this same ritual for hours and hours and days and days. Occassionally, you'll find a sad little boobie who is exhausted and all alone. Maybe next year he'll get lucky.
LOOK MA!! I'M FLYING!! (ACTUALLY, I'M JUST SNORKELING)
I love snorkeling. I hadn't done it since I was 11 or so, and that was in the controlled environment of a Sea World snorkel pool. Going into this part of my trip I knew that I would have to confront, not really a fear, but rather a preference that I had developed not swim in water that had living things swimming in it. I just didn't like the idea of a fish butting up against me.
For our first snorkel, we were taken by dinghy off the rocky coast of North Seymore Island. We all sat there in the dinghy, looking to see who would go first. People started to jump out and I knew it was time to confront this . . . um . . . preference. I splashed down into the water and started to look at the world below the surface. It was just amazing. On that first snorkel, we played with sea lions, had a (thankfully) little shark swim straight at me, only 5 feet away, and started getting to know our ever present hosts, the tropical fish. Over the next week we would encounter King Angelfish, Rainbow Wrasse, and the Yellow-tail Surgeonfish. We would jump out of our dinghy, exhausted after snorkelling for an hour, just to trail a sea turtle, as it tried to avoid us. Being there, in the water, skimming the surface, is one of the most peaceful experiences I've had in my life. The closest I'll ever come to flying.
April 9, 2004
Well, I'm on my own with just southern Ecuador and northern Peru to keep me company for the next few weeks. My friend Bhavna was visiting from London for the last week, but she left to home this morning. I've checked out of my hotel and have ther rest of the day to catch up on my blog, do my taxes online, and maybe catch a movie before my bus leaves tonight at 9:30pm for the city of Cuenca in the southern Andes of Ecuador. The streets are barren as today begins the 4-day holiday of Semana Santa (Easter). I'm looking worward to a few days of relaxing, reading and writing in Cuenca. So, before I leave Quito, here's . . .
My Galapagos Blog, part 2
ANIMALS, ANIMALS, EVERYWHERE!!
Well, as most know, the biggest attraction to a Galapagos holiday (which I highly recommend, by the way) are the animals. It's quite an incredible and humbling thing to get to know how an ecosystem works, up close and personal. It reminds you that we are just animals ourselves. It's the type of experience that really makes you feel in touch with your own humanity and your place among other living things. There really aren't many places (actually none that I can think of) besides the Galapagos where you can just walk around, on all the different islands that you visit, and watch animals just do their thing. Just incredible.
SEA LIONS: THOSE CURIOUS LITTLE STINK MONKEYS OF THE SEA
On almost every island that we visited, sea lions would swim out to welcome us. Well, not all sea lions. Adult sea lions seemed to have no interest at all in our presence. That is, except the male adult sea lions, who would bark just to let us know that we were near their harem. It seems that most of a sea lion's life consists of laying down on the beach (or on the volcanic rocks), sleeping, and occassionally going out to sea to eat a steady diet of fish. And oh, what would become of those fish! There's nothing quite like the delightful musk that eminates from our friend, the sea lion. It's the incredible odor of fish poo. Not quite Chanel number 5, but memorable none the less.
These creatures, so slow and lumbering on land, have such agility in the water. One of our favorite experiences, which happened on several occassions, would be to snorkel near the sea lions. While adult sea lions are indifferent, baby and especially juvenille sea lions are intensely curious. If we swam by they would many times com out and swim around us. We would play with them by diving down into the water, twisting and turning our bodies to mimic their movements. At times, it would seem as though they were going to swim straight into us, but then they would suddenly twist their bodies and be swimming 180 degrees from the direction they were swimming a second before.
Another fun experience took place when we weren't in the water. Our last day we were heading out on our dinghy for a dry landing on Lobos Island, just off the coast of San Cristobal. We skimmed across the light turqoise water, starting at one end of the small island, past the black volcanic rocks on the shore. Suddenly, out from these rocks came a few juvenille sea lions, attracted by our motor and its rotor. They would swim right behind the quickly turning motor, watching it spin, but not getting close enough to get hurt. Three sea lions bacame five, as if they were calling out to each other in kid voices, 'hey, guys, come check this out!' Five became nine, which became twelve . . . then sixteen. At last count we had 25 juvenille sea lions trailing our dinghy. They would squirm around while swimming, at times diving down to the sandy bottom of the turquoise lagoon and resurfacing. Sometimes, they seemed to be swimming on top of each other. We stopped and disembarked on the island, watching them follow our dinghy back to the boat.
BLUE-FOOTED BOOBIES: PERSONALITY WITH FEATHERS
I have to say, that my favorite animal that we encountered on the cruise was the one that made it's entrance the second we stepped aboard the Encantada. We stood on the deck, happy to have finally made it to our cruise ship, and suddenly heard a big clatter in the water. We didn't see anything. A second later a bird was floating in the same place as the clatter. We looked into the distance and saw other birds circling different parts of the water. One would climb in the air a bit and then suddenly point his beak downwards, diving quickly into the water. After about 7 seconds, they would appear back on the surface, apparently swallowing a fish that they had caught from below. This was our introduction to the blue-footed boobie.
Apparently, the boobie (there are also red-footed and masked boobies in the Galapagos) got its name from English sailors who would pass by these islands and found that these birds had no fear of humans. Thinking that they were dumb, they started calling them boobies. However, most of the animals on these islands ever had any reason to fear humans (except the Great Tortoise, but we'll get to that later), as we did not hunt them.
Blue-footed boobies can be found on most of the islands of the Galapagos. Their appearance is like looking at something from another planet. As you can imagine, their feet are covered with blue skin, which is actually meant to attract possible mates. During mating, male boobies build a nest of twigs, hoping to find a suitable female. Whenever a female passes overhead, they spread their wings and point their long beak to the sky with a whistle, like they're saying 'hey, doll, come over here and we'll dance'. And they do dance. When a female does linger, both lift up their little blue feet and do this little waddle dance every few minutes . The males whistle and stretch out their wings and the females sometimes snort, all while doing the waddle dance. The hope is that the female will be so impressed by the nest and the dance, that she'll stay and mate. If only it was that easy for humans! Actually, it's not that easy for boobies. These little critters do this same ritual for hours and hours and days and days. Occassionally, you'll find a sad little boobie who is exhausted and all alone. Maybe next year he'll get lucky.
LOOK MA!! I'M FLYING!! (ACTUALLY, I'M JUST SNORKELING)
I love snorkeling. I hadn't done it since I was 11 or so, and that was in the controlled environment of a Sea World snorkel pool. Going into this part of my trip I knew that I would have to confront, not really a fear, but rather a preference that I had developed not swim in water that had living things swimming in it. I just didn't like the idea of a fish butting up against me.
For our first snorkel, we were taken by dinghy off the rocky coast of North Seymore Island. We all sat there in the dinghy, looking to see who would go first. People started to jump out and I knew it was time to confront this . . . um . . . preference. I splashed down into the water and started to look at the world below the surface. It was just amazing. On that first snorkel, we played with sea lions, had a (thankfully) little shark swim straight at me, only 5 feet away, and started getting to know our ever present hosts, the tropical fish. Over the next week we would encounter King Angelfish, Rainbow Wrasse, and the Yellow-tail Surgeonfish. We would jump out of our dinghy, exhausted after snorkelling for an hour, just to trail a sea turtle, as it tried to avoid us. Being there, in the water, skimming the surface, is one of the most peaceful experiences I've had in my life. The closest I'll ever come to flying.
Tuesday, April 06, 2004
Banos, Ecuador
April 6, 2004
I know this blog is a bit tardy considering that I finished my Galapagos cruise on the 28th of March, but when you have an experience that is so intense and wonderful, it is difficult to decide specifically what to write about. This was, simply put, the best trip I have ever taken.
The rumors about the Galapagos are all true: the animals on this island paradise are not at all afraid of humans. They just go about their lazing around, hunting, and mating rituals . . . all while you walk by a few feet away and observe.
The islands themselves vary quite a bit in their terrain, ranging from desert to tropical, depending on their age and which plants and animals have been able to take root. They all started as volcanic eruptions which spilled out as lava or, in some cases, lifted the ocean floor above the surface of the water. They are relatively young, the oldest being 2 million years old and the youngest being about 500,000 years old. Any animal life upon them had to travel from other islands or, more likely, the South American mainland on giant natural reed rafts that used to occur on a regular basis.
All the plants and animals that made it to the islands had to adapt quickly for survival. This is why Charles Darwin is the most famous visitor to the islands. He traveled to the Galapagos in 1825 and found much inspiration for his theory of evolution. He mentions them quite a bit in 'The Origin of the Species'.
ENCANTADA: THE DAILY ROUTINE
Life was peaceful abord our little home away from home on the sea, the Encantada - a 12-passenger, red-hulled yacht with valiant, yet unused, sailing masts. The day would begin with the captain's sea whistle, which would sound and wake us up at the appointed time established the night before by our guide, Juan. I, being a morning person, would usually rise before the high pitched wail sounded the others to wake up. I would already be up on deck, watching the sun eat the clouds away and give us another day of perfectly blue sky.
Around 7am, we'd all assemble in the galley for breakfast and watch each other try to wake up. Our group was quite an international affair: my 4 American friends from spanish school in Cusco (Kim, Lucy, Mike & Brooke), a British couple (Tony & Rachel), a Belgian couple (Tom & Els), a part-time Mexican resident and yoga instructor (BJ, an American from Maine), and my German roommate, Jan.
THE TROUBLE WITH AIR CONDITIONING
Unfortunately, Jan was only on the ship for half the cruise and was replaced by a French couple, Beatriz and Luik. This was unfortunate not because of the French, who were a perfectly cordial and interesting couple. No, it meant that I was condemned to share BJ's cabin which had an air-conditioning vent aimed right at the top bunk, where I slept. This meant that while BJ was getting a good night's rest below, I was struggling to stay warm . . . trying to cover the vent and finally resorting to putting on sweats and my fleece sweater. By the end of the trip I had caught a head cold, but at least I didn't get sick during the cruise.
A LIFE OF EXCURSIONS
After completing breakfast we would embark on our first excursion of the day. We had two basic types: a snorkel or an island visit. As we traveled to 10 islands in total, there was always new scenery and a new set of animals to discover. If we had an island visit we would have to prepare for either a dry landing (wear shoes) or a wet landing from our dinghy (carry your shoes and jump out of the boat into wet sand). Our dinghy was a worn, yet sturdy, inflatable with a gas motor on the back, which could just fit 12 passengers.
After completing one or two excursions in the morning we would usually sit down for lunch at around 12pm, while the boat set sail for another island. This made eating difficult for some in our group, as the boat was constantly pitching back and forth. Surprisingly I never had any trouble with sea sickness.
The afternoon would usually consist of another 1 or 2 snorkels or land adventures. Generally, we averaged 1 snorkel a day, which was quite wonderful. When we had to return to the boat from a land excursion, our guide Juan would pick up his radio and repeat what would become our war cry, 'Encantada, Encantada, Encantada'.
We would eat dinner at 7pm each night. Again, struggling with the movements of the ship would prove difficult for some. Afterwards, many would just go to sleep rather than dealing with the conscious to-and-frowing of our moving ship (we mostly travelled long-distances at night). Many had to take drastic measures to avoid being ejected from their top bunks at night. My friend Kim resorted to sleeping on the floor of the cabin she shared with Lucy.
THE NIGHT SKY, THE SEA BREEZE
After dinner, I usually liked to stay up a bit and soak in the night sky, which revealed itself with brightest stars I've seen. Without any city lights or clouds to obstruct the view, the stars were simply amazing. It was easy to make out the Milky Way spill down the night sky to the horizon. I liked to lay down and look straight up to watch our masts pitch back and forth while the stars slowly made their way across the night sky. I would also sit on one of the benches near the bow and observe the moon's light reflect off the waves and make silhouettes of distant islands, growing and shrinking. It was also enjoyable to stand at the bow and feel the wet sea air on my face, blowing my hair, as I waited for the dolphins to jump out of the water next to our bow, which would never happen, but was something I liked to imagine.
More to come . . . animals, animals, everywhere.
April 6, 2004
I know this blog is a bit tardy considering that I finished my Galapagos cruise on the 28th of March, but when you have an experience that is so intense and wonderful, it is difficult to decide specifically what to write about. This was, simply put, the best trip I have ever taken.
The rumors about the Galapagos are all true: the animals on this island paradise are not at all afraid of humans. They just go about their lazing around, hunting, and mating rituals . . . all while you walk by a few feet away and observe.
The islands themselves vary quite a bit in their terrain, ranging from desert to tropical, depending on their age and which plants and animals have been able to take root. They all started as volcanic eruptions which spilled out as lava or, in some cases, lifted the ocean floor above the surface of the water. They are relatively young, the oldest being 2 million years old and the youngest being about 500,000 years old. Any animal life upon them had to travel from other islands or, more likely, the South American mainland on giant natural reed rafts that used to occur on a regular basis.
All the plants and animals that made it to the islands had to adapt quickly for survival. This is why Charles Darwin is the most famous visitor to the islands. He traveled to the Galapagos in 1825 and found much inspiration for his theory of evolution. He mentions them quite a bit in 'The Origin of the Species'.
ENCANTADA: THE DAILY ROUTINE
Life was peaceful abord our little home away from home on the sea, the Encantada - a 12-passenger, red-hulled yacht with valiant, yet unused, sailing masts. The day would begin with the captain's sea whistle, which would sound and wake us up at the appointed time established the night before by our guide, Juan. I, being a morning person, would usually rise before the high pitched wail sounded the others to wake up. I would already be up on deck, watching the sun eat the clouds away and give us another day of perfectly blue sky.
Around 7am, we'd all assemble in the galley for breakfast and watch each other try to wake up. Our group was quite an international affair: my 4 American friends from spanish school in Cusco (Kim, Lucy, Mike & Brooke), a British couple (Tony & Rachel), a Belgian couple (Tom & Els), a part-time Mexican resident and yoga instructor (BJ, an American from Maine), and my German roommate, Jan.
THE TROUBLE WITH AIR CONDITIONING
Unfortunately, Jan was only on the ship for half the cruise and was replaced by a French couple, Beatriz and Luik. This was unfortunate not because of the French, who were a perfectly cordial and interesting couple. No, it meant that I was condemned to share BJ's cabin which had an air-conditioning vent aimed right at the top bunk, where I slept. This meant that while BJ was getting a good night's rest below, I was struggling to stay warm . . . trying to cover the vent and finally resorting to putting on sweats and my fleece sweater. By the end of the trip I had caught a head cold, but at least I didn't get sick during the cruise.
A LIFE OF EXCURSIONS
After completing breakfast we would embark on our first excursion of the day. We had two basic types: a snorkel or an island visit. As we traveled to 10 islands in total, there was always new scenery and a new set of animals to discover. If we had an island visit we would have to prepare for either a dry landing (wear shoes) or a wet landing from our dinghy (carry your shoes and jump out of the boat into wet sand). Our dinghy was a worn, yet sturdy, inflatable with a gas motor on the back, which could just fit 12 passengers.
After completing one or two excursions in the morning we would usually sit down for lunch at around 12pm, while the boat set sail for another island. This made eating difficult for some in our group, as the boat was constantly pitching back and forth. Surprisingly I never had any trouble with sea sickness.
The afternoon would usually consist of another 1 or 2 snorkels or land adventures. Generally, we averaged 1 snorkel a day, which was quite wonderful. When we had to return to the boat from a land excursion, our guide Juan would pick up his radio and repeat what would become our war cry, 'Encantada, Encantada, Encantada'.
We would eat dinner at 7pm each night. Again, struggling with the movements of the ship would prove difficult for some. Afterwards, many would just go to sleep rather than dealing with the conscious to-and-frowing of our moving ship (we mostly travelled long-distances at night). Many had to take drastic measures to avoid being ejected from their top bunks at night. My friend Kim resorted to sleeping on the floor of the cabin she shared with Lucy.
THE NIGHT SKY, THE SEA BREEZE
After dinner, I usually liked to stay up a bit and soak in the night sky, which revealed itself with brightest stars I've seen. Without any city lights or clouds to obstruct the view, the stars were simply amazing. It was easy to make out the Milky Way spill down the night sky to the horizon. I liked to lay down and look straight up to watch our masts pitch back and forth while the stars slowly made their way across the night sky. I would also sit on one of the benches near the bow and observe the moon's light reflect off the waves and make silhouettes of distant islands, growing and shrinking. It was also enjoyable to stand at the bow and feel the wet sea air on my face, blowing my hair, as I waited for the dolphins to jump out of the water next to our bow, which would never happen, but was something I liked to imagine.
More to come . . . animals, animals, everywhere.