February 28th ACROSS THE HIGHLANDS OF PERU

We left our Hostel Pirwa at 7 a.m. to catch our 10 hour tour bus to Puno. It made 5 stops with an English guide, a buffet lunch that was actually good this time, and then to Puno. We are at another Pirwa hostel after a short taxi ride from the bus station - it was daylight and very safe! We cross a high point of 14,000+ feet today and made a quick stop to use the banos and take photos of some snow/glacier mountain tops in the Andes. Another stop was a little town with a church Manuel called the "Sistine Chapel" of South America. It really was lovely with 16th century frescoes on the walls, two 1600 German pump organs still working (we didn´t hear them) and then additional art work added in 1640s with cedar ceilings and trim work with 28 carat gold leaf. I guess the Incas did have gold hidden somewhere. Manuel pointed out how the Catholics tried to convert the "pagans" by incorporating some of their symbols like a huge sun high above the altar, mermaids in the frescoes and serpents. This helped smooth the transition, I guess. All the locals have certainly bought into the conversion and the churches are filled and seemingly well supported!. Also on the ceiling was an 8 pointed star similar to Jewish star, and ceilings with a lot of Moorish influence. So it was a real mix. Another stop was a pre-Inca ruins with all kinds of statuary that was different and interesting, from around the time of Christ. Another Inca ruins had some high walls remaining, unusual because the Spanish tried to tear down or build over everything. This was the central point in the highlands for the rulers of one of the 4 provinces of Incaland. They had over 180 round stone granary storage buildings where they kept grain in case of eruptions or wars. The nobles and higher ups lived in the 14 or so buildings with spacious courtyards. This all was discovered in 1940s and partially reconstructed and then the little town of Paro grew up around it. We passed through Juliaca, largest town around, near Lago Titicaca and Manuel said the main industry is smuggling from Bolivia. The women do the smuggling, then resell stuff in Peru and don´t pay taxes of course. Houses there are left unfinished so they don´t have to pay taxes on them. Consequently the town was a mess with little infrastructure. Puno´s main industry is also smuggling as it´s closer to the border, maybe 2 hrs. away, but it´s on a hillside overlooking the lake so is a bit prettier. Tomorrow we go out on the lake to 3 islands and stay over one night with an indigenous family. And of course the shower here just spits so we´ll smell wonderful after 2 days!! :)

MAGICAL DAY AT MACCHU PICCHU

Feb. 27. from Agua Caliente (Hot Springs although haven't seen them yet) We spent a restful night here at Pirwa (it's a chain of hostelB and Bs here in Peru) and woke for breakfast at 4 30 am to catch the 5 30 bus for the 30 minute switchback road trip up to Machu Picchu. We wanted to be up there to see the sunrise, even though we weren't meeting our guide Pedro until 8. I had to shut my eyes for much of the trip as it looked like a straight shot down to the Uribomba roaring river (it's the rainy season). Several people here were hiking up: they said 2 hours but it would have taken me more like 4! A young French girl we met last night when our tour group met with Pedro, and she's studying in Buenos Aires, said her friends when on ahead of the climb. She was exhausted!! If I was 50 years younger and poor we probably would have done it! But we took the bus and arrived to be some of the first group in at 6 a.m. We wandered and climbed away from any people and had it all to ourselves. It was magical!!! The clouds would cover the mountains and then disappear. We saw the sun come up. We sat on a wall and meditated!! We stood in places that later the guards would blow a whistle and tell you not to do that! I wrenched my knee on one huge step so it made the rest of the morning a bit painful. The steps are varying heights and some very high! But it was SOOOO cool and I would have been disappointed in the rest of the day if we hadn't done this first. I can't upload any pictures from this computer at Pirwa's (while we are waiting for the train back down at 6:30 pm). Our group met back at the gate at 8 am and they divided us into Spanish and English, which was good because I hate to waste time having the guide repeat stuff. I'm getting cranky!! Eddie our guide today took the English group. He was very good and knowledgeable. He took us to many spots B and I hadn't been in the morning. Info about MP: It reminds me of Anghor Wat in Cambodia. It was build in 1430 or so and was sort of a school for the nobles to study the sun and it's movement. There's no record of a calendar like the Mayans (I asked!) because the Spanish tried to destroy everything Inca when they took over. There was a language (he showed us some characters on a hat) but no one knows what they are because there wasn't enough left to decifer, like hieroglyphics. No Rosetta Stone! On the mountains around two peaks form a V and on summer solstice the sun rises between them. then each month for 6 months it moves to the right until it reaches another peak. Then reverses. So they knew when to plan. A large section of MP are terraces for growing crops. They were made of rocks and the soil was carried by llamas, the beast of burden at the time, and now, I think, up to fill them in. Now they have the llamas grazing there so no one has to mow! Alpaca they use the fur and eat; but not the llama. BTW, I bought little llamas in Cuzco for Jackson and Sarah so they can hold them when they read Kerry's favorite book, Llama, Llama, Missing Mama! I think it's called! Cute! At one time Inca world was 15 million or so. I think he said about 800/1000 lived in MP, nobles on top, commoners down lower. BTW, they determined nobles when a baby was born. If he/she didn't have any moles, they were noble. Otherwise, commoner! :) Capital of the empire was Cuzco (which means dog if you pronounce it that way; it's supposed to be pronounced Cosco, which means navel or middle of the earth!)  They communicate by messenger from the capital with runners going about 12 KM and then another runner was ready. A message could come from Cosco in 5 hours! It took us all day to get here!! Lots of 3s in their world: up above, the condor; in the middle, the puma, below the snake. Three laws: don't kill, don't lie, don't be lazy!  Three works:  You help me; I help you; we all work together as a community to work.  There are 3 worlds: upper, middle and lower but I can't remember their names. I'll edit later if I find them. Nobles were buried in the fetal position so they would be ready to be reborn in the upper world. They were mummified somehow and when the Spanish came here, they assumed the mummies were buried with gold so they dragged the mummies out of their burial chambers and threw them around. No gold! They used gold for mirrors to signal distances. It wasn't a currency. If there was a cave or dark chamber, they put gold to catch the sunlight to lighten the area. Many years were spent by the Spanish hunting for the Lost City of the Incas, or the City of Gold, or El Dorado! To no avail! Actually MP was abandoned (but never found or destroyed by the Spanish) and was refound by a Peruvian around 1901. But Hiram Bingham is given credit for the discover of the Lost city of the Incas in 1911. He was looking and a small 8 year old boy in Agua Caliente took him to the overgrown city that was hardly recognizable. He came back with money from Yale and National Geographic and they burned away the growth, leaving the buildings exposed. Many of the ceramics and artifacts were moved to Yale, I'm assuming the Peobody Museum, but have since, in the 1990s, been returned to the Archeological museum in Cuzco. Bingham and other groups did a lot of rebuilding until in the 1980s the UN declared it a heritage site and told them to stop rebuilding as they were ruining it. A few buildings had a new thatch roof put on so you could see what they looked like completed. Machu Picchu means "Old Mountain' and opposite is Wayna Picchu meaning New Mountain. Apparently this NM is a quite dangerous narrow trail to the top that you have to book 2 or 3 months in advance to climb. A couple of years ago 2 people fell off, Pedro said, so now it's become a real challenge for hikers. We could see people up there in the distance. No interest here! This was challenging enough for me! There's an ornament they call the Inca cross with a hole in the center, and 3 steps on four sides that each symbolize the 3s of the Incas.(see the paragraph above about the 3s)  I want to shop and try to find one in a necklace.  The roaring Uribamba river circles around the base of MP and a serious rafter or kayaker would DROOL to run it. Again, no thanks!! It merges miles down with another river, and then empties into the Amazon in Peru and then of course flows through Brazil to the ocean. The whole experience was really cool and we had a beautiful sunny day to see it. Apparently yesterday it was rainy, this is the rainy season after all. Still haven't done that last day in the rainforest where we visited the village and the parrot lick. I'll get to it! S.

Feb. 26 (I think!) Heading to Machu Picchu

Our room at Pirwa in Cusco had some kind of a store above it and B and I were awakened at 4 a.m. by someone dragging things and banging around up there! Ugh!! Anyway, at 7 we did breakfast at PLUS around the corner and I was extra hungry so had to order a huevo con queso y jamon (how's my Spanish). Then we met with Nadia at the travel agency to book our one night two day stay on 3 islands on Lago Titikaka next to Bolivia. We will take a tour bus for 6 hours down to Puna day after tomorrow. There are indigenous groups that live on these islands and we will do a family stay with one of them|! I can take anything for one night, right?

We also booked two nights at Pirwa hostel in Puno and then a late afternoon 4 hour bus ride down to Arequipa. Then it will be an adventure getting buses and van rides over the border into Chile to Arica before we fly to Puerta Montt in southern Chile. Chile is really getting short shrift as we just don't have much time left before our March 8 cruise sails from Puna Arena in Chile to Ushuaia, Argentina.


Today we rode a bus tour to a market where I bought a few trinkets, then stopped at 3 different Inca ruins. I would like to read more about them. They became very powerful in a very short period of time. The indigenous natives around here didn't have much use for them as their royalty lived in Cusco and they didn't treat the locals very well. So when the Spanish came in, they didn't care much if they overthrew the Incas. The Incas (as well as the Aztecs in Mexico, I was told) believe that a god would come, white skinned, with a moustache and hairy! So when Cortez and down here Pisarro showed up, Atahualpa, the reigning monarch willingly met with him and was promptly tricked, captured and executed! It was almost too easy!


I'm finished a great book for the history of this area by Isabel Allende that I think I mentioned. I guess human nature doesn't change much no matter who the conquering people are! They are all ruthless, whether in the name of Christianity or not! Ugly!


Met interesting couple, Mark and Lorraine, from Quebec, two teachers= her a French as Second Language to immigrants teacher and him a phys. Ed. teacher. on the backpackers train from Olly something or other to Aguas Caliente, the little town just before you reach MP. They go to Nickerson State Park on the cape for frequent vacations. Teachers in Canada work for 5 years, at 90% salary and then take off 6 months and continue to get paid! That's what they are doing here in SA. Seemed to be having a wonderful time, although both were sick for 3 days.

Hike tomorrow!

2/25 Highest Point - 3800 meters!!! Pant! Pant!

We had a leisurely morning walking to the Cathedral and wandering around while mass was going on. Breakfast was included here so we went to the same restaurant where we had dinner the night before for papaya juice, tea and two rolls. Then we went to a museum nearby that is an old cloister of the Mercedarios, a religious order founded in 1200s in Barcelona and arrived here right after Pisarro and favored by him and given a huge chunk of land here. Now it has rooms of religious paintings, a room with lots of gold and silver church stuff including a huge silver menorah and a gigantic chalice/monstrance with large pearls, diamonds and rubies. Also there was a beautiful courtyard with many flowers. This is where Pisarro’s brother and another conquistador were buried but now have been removed. We really enjoyed it and was well worth the 10 soles.
We also went to a bank to get change as money came out of ATM in 100 and 200 soles bills. No one will take them, they want only small change. That took about an hour.
We came back here to eat lunch (I had my leftover chicken and rice from last night) and waited for pickup for our 5 hour bus tour.
It didn’t start out very well, they were 40 minutes late picking us up and then said we had to pay extra to go into the Cathedral for a tour. Since we’d already been in today, we waited by the exit sitting on the steps watching the crowds. We obviously missed them and they didn’t look very hard for us and went off to the next museum 2 blocks away. We tried to get the guard to let one of us go in the exit to see if the lady from Arizona with the 2 year old in the stroller was still in there. He refused. A nice Peruvian guy sent a little girl around the other way to check for us and they were gone!
So we raced over to the next museum but were afraid to pay and go in, in case we missed them coming out. Betty snuck in the exit and tried to look around. We waited almost an hour and finally they came out. It was Inca ruins that the Spanish built a big building on top of. No one knew the ruins were there until 1950 when an earthquake collapsed much of the building and these ruins appeared. Now both are rebuilt and on display. We would have been very interested!
}But we got on the bus and headed up and out of town to 4 stops of Inca ruins in the area. Betty talked to Kelly and her daughter from Perth, Australia. I walked with the three Swedes. The woman is a banker/financial person, and the guy who helped me with some steps and said I must work out!! turned out to be an opera singer with the Swedish Opera company. His last name I think is Edholm and I didn’t catch his first name! There were also 4 Japanese women, one of whom didn’t go in anywhere as I think she was sick from the altitude and she mostly stayed on the bus.
Rodrigo turned out to be a pretty good guide, explaining how the Inca’s split and moved these gigantic rocks, without wheels, dynamite, metal tools! They are all fitted so closely together. He said they made copper models of their structures before.
The first place was Saqaywoman (pronounced sexy woman!) a big ceremonial party place. Another stop was a waterfall sort of hotel for the kings up at the highest point. We could see a gorgeous glacier covered Andean peak in the distance. We stopped at an authentic alpaca market for sweaters, hats, jewelry and I resisted buying the $200 gorgeous silver necklace!
After being dropped off back at the plaza, Betty and I went looking for a Peruvian football shirt success! for Jackson! and then to a pub with a balcony again overlooking the square for cerveza!!
Off tomorrow for the Sacred Valley and then spend the night actually DOWN near Macchu Picchu for a very early visit to MP the following day after a train ride up. We will return the next day here and then take a bus for 6 hours with some interesting stops down to Puno on Lake Titicaca near Bolivia.  All are scheduled and paid for tours so not to worry! Nadia is even calling a friend taxi driver to take us to the bus station Thursday.

Ciao!

2/24 Day of Travel

It’s 5 a.m. and I guess I’m used to getting up in the rain forest so early that I just wake up. So here I type! We were ready at 3: 30 yesterday morning when Pablo came to take us to our early 7 a.m. flight to Cuzco, Peru. Brune had met us the evening before when we returned from the rain forest to help out with Betty shopping for things to replace some of the stolen stuff from her backpack which never showed up She is now using one of my net shopping bags as a substitute bag. Brune walked us over to a mall, looking like any shopping mall anywhere She treated us to coffee/juice and some delicious chocolate ice cream before we shopped. She helped us get money from ATM and food for dinner /they had a food court) and walked us back out to a taxi home.


Elena had collected our laundry when we arrived and it was now neatly folded in a basket I took a picture of her, her daughter (maybe in her 20s) and her granddaughter Stephanie, maybe 8 or 9. The daughter understood the most English but they all are delightful and certainly a treasure to Brune and Miye who run this business out of Miye’s house. Miye is in the Gal. Is. leading a boat tour (her home is on the middle floor, we were on the upper, and Elena in the lower level.) Elena had packed us a box breakfast to take, and woke up to let Pablo in at 3Ñ30. She got the biggest tip from us!
Absolutely no traffic got us to the airport in a bit over 1/2 an hour, we checked in and our flight took off at 7. We haven’t seen great views of the Andes when flying because it’s always so cloudy. We switched planes in Lima, after claiming our luggage and rechecking in. We’re running out of time so decided to skip over Lima and go right on to Cuzco and M.P.


Arriving in Cuzco turned out to be a hassle. Taxi hawkers crowded and yelled at us and we tried to ignore them. We had no soles (Peruvian money - about 3 to the dollar). People seemed very rude but we finally found a lovely woman at the information desk to actually call our B & B as we had reserved for the right day but the wrong date to see if they had a bed for us. Finally we got some money with 3 taxi hawkers hovering (next time I will firmly tell them to back away - people are very careful here at ATM machines to have no one watching) and one taxi guy said 10 soles to take us to Suecia street downtown Of course, when we got in the car, he said oh, he meant $10 plus another 10 for paying his parking! We had an argument all the way to the Plaza in downtown, I was angry and even yelling, which I can’t remember the last time that happened! -we ended up paying him the 15 soles plus I gave him 4 extra because he carried our bags to the top of our street. I arrived with a very unpleasant taste about Peru in my mouth.


We settled in our room at Pirwa B & B - cramped and it was cold during the night as the heater wouldn’t work so I put on some long underwear. We walked out and around the beautiful square less than a block away - this is a great location! We found a restaurant/ bar upstairs overlooking the action on Sunday in the square in Cuzco and had a beer and a HUGE piece of delicious chocolate cake! We tried to peek into two cathedrals on the square but you have to pay a fee at both. And mass was going on. I needed a lay down for awhile so we did that. At 5:30 we met with Cesar at the adjoining travel agency to schedule out our 3 days here and tours. Today will be more sites around Cuzco and tomorrow a 2 day 1 night in Agus Caliente up by MP on another tour through the Sacred Valley.


We had a lovely dinner at the restaurant where we get our free breakfast in the morning (they give a 15% discount off all meals when you stay here) and walked into the center of the plaza to see whose statue was there. I had been right, it was Atahualpa, the last king of the Incas who was murdered and tricked by the Spanish - Pizarro in the 1500s. I’m reading Isabel Allende’s book Inez of my Soul which gives a great fictionalized history of the period. The Spanish were real bastards, enslaving the blacks and indigenous people here. Of course, Columbus and his crew weren’t any better up north!
We were followed by all kinds of hawkers in the plaza and two girls stood next to us while we looked at the statue. One asked us where we were from and when I said MA she started reciting Boston, who was president now, who had been presidents before in this litany of facts I guess to impress me to buy something! I cut her off asking if the statue was Atahualpa. I did end up buying two Peruvian hats and from the other girl some small key chain things of llamas. Oh, I forgot! at one of the churches was a mother with two toddlers all colorfully dressed holding a baby alpaca! We did end up paying them for pictures with us! We didn’t find all this hassling for purchases in Ecuador and it’s not very comfortable. I know they are poorer and have to make a living but it’s a pain! You can’t stop to look at anyone’s wares because you feel guilty if you don’t buy. And we don’t have room to carry stuff!!


More later!
I did wake up around 2 am, actually shivering! I’m never cold! and put on another fleece vest! But it’s fine!
I still have to catch up on another day in the rain forest another time.
Ciao!

February 20 and 21, DAY ONE AMAZON ADVENTURE

We are on a lake tributary off the Napo River, one of the 17 major tributaries of the Amazon River. This is the largest water system in the world and pours more fresh water into the Atlantic Ocean than the Nile, Mississippi and one other I can´t remember combined! Apparently where it is actually called the Amazon in Peru or Brazil, it is over 10 miles wide and you can´t see across! It can rise as much as a foot in just an hour, as we saw when we returned to Coco yesterday. It was a lovely, albeit cloudy day as we set out and I thought we´d have a much more pleasant trip than coming down. But shortly after we reached the parrot claybank, it started to POUR! I was further back this time, next to a lovely Berlin girl (she´s working on her doctorate in psychology - her dad´s a psychologist, mom a teacher, and her boyfriend, a doctoral student in IT security systems, I think she said. She had been an exchange student in Guayaquil for a year during high school and learned Spanish. They were in another group so I hadn´t gotten to talk with her before and I´m afraid I talked her ear off, with her encouragement and questions, most of the way to Coca!! She has an older sister and will become an aunt to a new nephew soon. I think they were traveling for 3 weeks or so.


Anyway, I was warmly tucked under my tarp this time, so kept my face out in the rain. It was warm but heavy and felt like a facial, until almost the end when it fell sideways and more like sleet in my face, but not cold. But the others up front were miserably huddled completely under their tarps like turtles! The river was so swollen we kept having to slow down and swerve to avoid hitting logs or to let the propeller recover. I thought sure we were going to blow a prop and be paddling!


So back to first day! Breakfasts each morning were at 5:30 or 6 a.m. to see the birds wake up. We all had been given ¨"boots", this clunky rubber almost to the knees lifesaving boots that we tromped down to the dining room in, and then removed because they were usually muddy. We had a different juice each morning, one day watermelon, another cantaloupe and I think the last day was tea - Ocean didn´t care for that! Delfin always gave us information about conservation and ecological issues and efforts in the area. We had passed one of the propane gas flames from one of the working oil companies on our way downriver. He lives now, with his wife and 17 month old daughter, in the town of "Shell!, you guessed it! Named after Shell oil in the 60s. He was raised until 14 in a different indigenous community where his 80 year old mom still lives aways from Shell. He was helped with his education by his older brother and a man who was doing NGO type work (non-governmental office) in his community. He said he had recently returned from southern Illinois where he had spent 6 months studying ESL. He knew so much about his environment but had to learn the English names for things to be a guide.





We also had choice every day of omelette, scrambled eggs, or oatmeal. I ttried once to order over-easy, and they came in scrambled, which was fine. Also a plate of fresh fruit, bread or rolls, butter (mantequilla - not sure on spelling, one of my few Spanish words!) and marmalade. Of course, coffee or tea for those who wanted it. After 1/2 hour of breakfast and washing up, we were off in a canoe with Delfin paddling in the front and another Sani guy in the back, always prepared with our rain ponchos.





We paddled stopping to site birds - it was amazing to watch Delfin´s hunting eyes from the side and he spotted things I would NEVER spot in the greenery. Bob and Joan were pretty experienced birders so they threw names back and forth and species were spotted. Leslie is really into the jungle and plants so was more interested when we were out of the boat. And Omar had this camera with a terrific lens to get some great pictures (we will all share).

After a 15 minute boat ride, we disembarked and walked on a muddy path for maybe 15 minutes, again stopping to look at bright orange roots from a regular looking tree, and once in awhile monkeys up in trees hopping around. We saw, and heard, reddish howler monkeys yelling across the jungle, staking their territory and warning others. From the canopy later we spotted them in a faraway tree. I gave my camera to Delfin who was able to put my small lens against the scope to get some amazing pictures (posted later!).

T`he canopy was in a HUGE kapok tree, with a platform maybe 20 meters up the side, like climbing the Eiffel tower! Green metal see-through steps and kind of wiggled. ¨Judy, I don´t think you would have made this one!! Once at the top, of course, I was last!, was a wooden treehouse platform looking out in all directions in the canopy. These large trees form the top layer of the rainforest, then lower down trees usually where the animals were, and by the time you reached the ground, it wasn´t thick like you would expect but fairly clear walking, as the sun rarely reaches here. And all the plants are fighting for the sunlight!

We spent maybe a couple of hours spotting various things - mostly birds and monkeys - before heading back for lunch around 1. Soups every day for lunch or dinner were outstanding! I loved every one, and each was different - mostly broths and vegetables. One day was jungle pork, lots of yuca, some rice, and some kind of small salad - one day a delicious radish with nuts and raisin salad - would have never put those together but I loved it.





Siesta time and dry off time was in the afternoon. But we really NEVER got dry the whole time and the clothes and our hiking boots never dried out! That afternoon around 4 we did another boat ride through the sunset - although it was just darkening as I never saw the sun the whole time! 

On the way back Delfin had a flashlight through the reeds trying to spot cayman - alligators! He spotted a couple but I only saw the eyes. They come to the edge and reflect in his light. And the frogs put up a huge ruckus, but the only one I saw one partly sticking out of a snake´s mouth back at the lodge one of the guys caught and later they either took it away from him or he spit it out. It was lying flattened and dead on the walkway!

After dinner there was a night walk to see insects with flashlights that I passed on! I showered and read my Isabel Allende book Inez about 1500 century in SA and this Spanish woman´s adventure. It covers around the time of Pizarro and conquering Peru and Chile. Betty saw a few insects. She also yelped the first night and wanted me to come in the bathroom. I refused! Then finally peeked at the millipede, which is ugly but we didn´t know, completely harmless! 

Good Buddhist that I am, she picked it up on a paper and I opened the door to our cabin for her to throw it out! Later Delfin held one and let us touch it and watch it curl up into a ball. The centipede, which we didn´t see, is not harmless! We also saw later a hairy tarantula that one of the guys brought down to crawl on the dock post to get pictures. Eeeuw!!! I tucked the top of my boots under my mattress each night, just in case!!



That was day one! We nestled in our cozy mosquito netting tented bed and listened to the animals in the forest when the electricity went out at 10 pm. Betty´s alarm clock was in her backpack so I used my cell phone alarm from now on to wake up. They also blow what sounds like a big conch shell quietly to announce meals!



Another day, another blog! It´s 2:45 and time to get ready for long flight to Lima, a layover of a couple of hours and on to Cusco, high in the Andes and Macchu Picchu. Think we will rest a day an acclimate to the altitude. Have my coco leaf tea!

THE NEW AIRPORT

We met Wilmer and Pablo at 6:45 a.m. for a ride out to the new airport - first day opening! They had no idea how it was going to go. Wilmer was going to stay with us until we met the guide from Sani Lodge to get us our tickets and help us board. We had quite a wait.    There wasn´t a single plane there yet. First flight was to be at 9 a.m. but of course was delayed. Our 10 a.m. flight didn´t leave until 11:30. There were tons of TV cameras and news reporters around shooting all kinds of scenes. A group of important looking dignitaries were walking around looking very pleased. Later they all gather out back on one platform so we knew something was arriving. Two fire trucks headed out to the tarmac facing each other. All the crews were gathered outside. Finally a TAME plane landed, turned around and the firehoses made a water arch and the plane passed through. It did the same when our AeroGal plane landed.


By this time our Sani lodge person had showed up and Wilmer handed us off to her, we got tickets and went through security. She gave us each a badge to put on our shirts (nothing on our luggage - that becomes important later!) and we went down to the gate to wait. There we met Bob and Joan, more Sani Lodge trippers from Portland, OR (he´s an electrician, originally from NY; she´s a surgical nurse, originally from ND) This also was their first time in Ecuador and they were headed to the Gal. Isl. after the jungle (if I had to do it again, I would skip Guayaquil, come to Quito and do jungle tour first, and then dry out in the Gal. Is.). Their son recently graduated and is working in southern Ecuador with a river trekker. They had shipped his kayak over for him when they came. We had a great time the whole trip with them; they were in our group with Delfin, our local indigenous guide, who spoke great English and was incredibly knowledgeable and great at spotting birds (LOTS of birders on this trip!) and other animals. We also met Adrian from Wales, who works in food systems, and he was in a different group. But a lovely man who at the end really helped Betty out at the airport when she was trying to communicate about her lost backpack! (since he spoke some Spanish; had had a Spanish speaking girlfriend).



Finally we loaded and took off for Coca. We met Steve and Janet, couple from Chicago via Detroit - she is an art designer for a Nat. Geo book publisher, and he is a musician who travels around the midwest, especially to college campuses with a live karaoke show - I think he´s the piano player! And Janet´s brother traveling with them, Frank. They were with Freddy, the guide from the Sani community, during the day.

We were met in Coca by Delfin and taxied to the port. We were told to put our bags down on the platform and use the toilet as it would be a 2.5 hr. boat trip to our next stop. Betty was in first and put her backpack (we had left other bags in Quito at Brune´s) and went to the bathroom. When she came back out, the guys were loading the bags into the boat and we were told to get in. I had asked if we should have raingear in case but was told there was an awning on top of the boat. We ended up kind of in the front of this long motorized canoe. We headed downstream and soon it began to pour! Somehow other people had been given rain parkas but not us! Betty and huddled for about an hour and finally someone said for us to ask if they had more parkas. We were soaked but I was getting chilled (IN THE JUNGLE!) but the parkas helped!

We arrived after maybe 2 hours to a platform on the riverbank and walked for maybe 10 minutes on a boardwalk through a swamp to another small canoe. The locals paddled us another 15 minutes to the lodge. Someone had cut a bunch of sawgrass from the sides and it had created a huge grass jam that we had to pull our boat through!! Betty cut her hand on the sawgrass!

Arriving at the thatch covered lodges, we were greeted by a waiter with DELICIOUS martinis, I guess, and some snacks. Well appreciated! We were shown to our hut - 2 beds each with great mosquito netting, own bathroom and little porch. One family took another small canoe and were paddled to their camping" lodge - an open A-frame with a tent and mats inside - for much cheaper. No bathroom, Leslie (the mom) said they used a cup during the night!! a former doctor from LA, her husband Omar from Mexico City, and their 6.5 year old son Ocean. Another Danish birder was also camping. He had hired his own private guides but ate dinner with our group. He said birding was an obsession!!



Getting to our room is when Betty realized they had NOT loaded her backpack with the luggage. It had toiletries, binoculars, long underwear and her outer nice jacket that she will need in southern Chile boat trip when it´s cold!! Searching brought no results, and many calls and inquiries later, no luck! People loaned her t-shirts, some pants, toothpaste, flashlight (the electricity goes off at 10 pm and we needed to see to get to the bathroom at night!). She was VERY upset needless to say. Oh, I forgot her medications were also missing: malaria tablets, blood pressure meds, cancer medication, Phosomax! Someone supplied her with the malaria tablets but others she went without. Others loaned her underwear and socks. Bob bought her a beer. We had a delicious dinner (the food here was outstanding!!) we had hot showers and went to bed, Betty very annoyed at herself for not checking on her backpack. I didn´t check if mine was loaded either (I had a rolling suitcase/backpack plus my daypack that I kept with me). Bad night for sleeping for her.

Up at 5:30 am for breakfast and the start of our jungle adventures!

At the actual Equator!

We had the most fantastic breakfast this a.m. prepared by Elena including quail eggs (tiny and delicious, apparently no cholesterol!), brown bread, juice, tea and coffee, cheese - not the tasteless white kind we´ve had but real tasty hard cheese, fruit - papaya and mango cut up, granola, yogurt. We were stuffed! We gave her our laundry and headed out for the day with William, our guide.

He has been doing this 18 years, works as an independent, but through various travel agencies. He was $130 for the day, in his car, and was worth every penny. First we went to a high point - a former hacienda but now a municipal park with a crystal palace designed by Eiffel, made from recycled materials for the structure. There was a great view overlooking Old and part of New Quito. He talked about all the efforts Ecuador is making to be the greenest country in SA. Everything is recycled. Much of the country is being preserved, like the Galapagos, from exploitation. The current president, Rafael Correa, was just re-elected for a second term. He served 2 years, then ran for re-election for another term, and they changed the constitution so it would be 4 years with an additional 4 he could serve. So he won with 56% of the vote, on Sunday, with 7 other opponents. He seems pretty popular. William said he has taxed the upper classes and given lots of benefits to the lower classes. But he seems to think it´´s mostly a good thing. Schools are much better - mandatory 4 years old to 16. All students wear uniforms. Now only the best and brightest students can become teachers and doctors. Those are the two most stringent to get into professions, he said. Catholic private schools exist but they can no longer teach religion. About 85% of the country is Catholic but only about 15% attend regularly. People still celebrate the feasts and have their kids baptized, first communion, etc. His wife runs a nursery school. He has an 11 year old son and a soon to be 6 year old daughter.

Interesting story: His son was born in New York City 3 days before Sept. 11. At the time they were living in Queens and he was working for a company that ran mountain climbing treks. He had a meeting on 9/11 at 9 with his boss and 2 clients in the Twin Towers. His boss called after he´d left for work and told him he wasn´t feeling well and cancelled the meeting. The two clients were in the towers and died. He didn´t make it home until later that night, was unable to call as no cell service. His wife with a newborn thought he had died in the towers until he got home! So he´s very grateful for every day, he said!

We parked in an underground garage near the Old City and walked around narrow picturesque streets. This part of town was declared in 1978 a UNESCO World Heritage Site, one of the first. People cannot make changes to inside or outside the buildings without permission. Several places had been damage by earthquakes so repairs were going on especially on old churches.

One of the most famous is the Gold Church - actually the Jesuit church of St. Ignatius. Spanish invaders taught the indigenous people how to carve the stone and wood to make beautiful carvings. Then the carvings were covered with 7 tons of gold leaf. So the whole inside (no pictures allowed) glows!! It was to help inspire and convert the locals to Christianity. He showed us 2 earlier churches less decorative. One had only 1 entrance as only the Spanish were allowed in, the locals went to churches outside of Quito! The other church had a main door for the Spanish, and 2 side doors for the indigenous population who weren´t allowed to sit in the same pews as Spanish. Real Christian!

One of the churches that wasn´t open was San Francisco - that was also a convent for Carmelite cloistered nuns. He didn´t know how many, if any, nuns lived there. Very difficult to get new priests and nuns now!

We visited an area where they are renovating and many artisans were opening shops. His friend Hernando showed us several very old pianos and organs that he restores, along with his wife. His father was a famous pianist and restorer and he does concerts as well. He gave us a CD and we gave a donation. He played one of them for us, an old Inca song. He gave us each a beautiful red rose (one of Ecuador´s exports! along with bananas, chocolate, coffee, and oil) He was very charming! We have found Ecuadorian men to be very charming, polite and gracious! Our hostess Brune came to Ecuador and married one, Wilmer, the guy who picked us up at the airport. They have a son and a daughter. Lovely couple!

We left the Old Town and headed out to the Equator, about a 45 minute ride. He took us not to the monument that is actually the incorrect spot (until some scientists came and determined the real exact line). He took us to a museum where a guide showed us a lot of information, had us try to balance an egg on a nail, walk a white line with our eyes closed (can´t remember the explanation for that), took our pictures with one foot in each hemisphere, showed us how right on the equator, water would drain straight down the hole. Moving the sink to the north, it would swirl I think clockwise. Moving it a few feet to the south, it would swirl counterclockwise! Fascinating! That´s why hurricanes and tornadoes (in north) twirl one direction and typhoons and cyclones are named differently because they swirl the opposite! New learning for today!

We had a lovely lunch-dinner at a local restaurant with unusual fruit drinks, a local Ecuadorian soup of potatoes, avocado, cheese and tomato, and 2 empanadas - one with shrimp and the other meat. Lovely!

Back home to pack a small backpack for our 4 days/three nights in the jungle at the Sani Lodge that Brune arranged. We will leave our stuff here and come back Saturday to do laundry (I think we´ll be pretty soggy schlepping through the jungle on foot and in dugout canoes!) and leave for Peru on Sunday.
Ciao!

Hello from Quito

Yesterday we said good bye to the amazing Galapagos Islands. Some further information (thanks to scientist/friend Pat) and thoughts:

Darwin would be amazed at his influence here. He had no idea when he was here in his 20s what ideas would develop from his visit. But it´s pretty impressive!

Foreigners and outsiders (non-Galapagos people) who lived here over 25 years ago were grandfathered in and were allowed to remain living here. Now you can ONLY move here and live and work if you marry someone from here. Too many Ecuadorians and others were crowding in so they changed the rules.

Many people we met, like Rafael and his wife, were born there and lived their lives here. People here lived a much longer life than the average Ecuadorian, they say because of the climate.

The waters here: ¨¨The Humboldt (cold) current from the south, the Panama (warm) current from the north, and the Equatorial (cold) current from the west all meet in the Galapagos which provides a wide variety of food for vast numbers of species.

Weather seasons: ¨The rainy season is January to June, which coincides with the Panama current and they 50 - 1000 mm of rain. During the rainy season, the air temperature is warm and moist, and there are more insects, therefore, that is good for all land animals and birds. It is NOT good for the marine species because that means fewer nutrients, plankton, small fish, and food. The food chain is directly affected, therefore. In fact, during the worst El Nino years (1997 to 1998) 30% of the marine iguanas died off because of the warmth of the water. There was increased reproduction of non-marine species, however.

Dry Season: From July to ¨December and it´s called the Garua. The Garua produces colder,  murkier water with more plankton. Misty rather than really dry conditions exist, as the Cromwell and Humboldt currents dominate. At this time, the air temperature is cooler and drier, and the water temperature is colder: therefore the food chain in the water is richer and the marine life is benefited.

Volcanic geology: The Galapagos Islands are one of the few volcanic ¨hot spots¨in the world - Hawaii and Yellowstone National Park being two others. Those hot spots are areas where the earth´s magma is closest to a think earth´s crust. On the other hand, most volcanoes (99%) are due to plates colliding with one another. In addition to being on a hot spot, the Galapagos Islands are located near where the Nasca Plate slides under the Continental Plate which is under South America. Altogether there are 26 active volcanoes in Ecuador. New volcanic islands form here and move with the plate SW toward the continent (I heard 7 cm-year) It is believed that as one disappears at one end, other islands form at the other end. One theory guesses that the animals transfer to another island as theirs disappears.¨

Brief History of Galapagos: 1535, Tomas de Berlanga discovered the islands (a cleric who got offtrack on a trip from Peru). Claimed them for Spain.

1600s, periods of exploration and conquest.
1700-1800s, mainly a place for pirates and whalers. We visited a cave where they left markings. Alas, NO GOLD!
1832, Ecuador took possession of the islands with Jose Villamil as first Governor.
1835, Darwin´s Voyage on the HMS BEAGLE began, with Fitzroy as captain. This voyage gave Darwin his ideas and evidence for his theories of evolution by natural selection.
Mid-1800s, periods of colonial decadence of resources and people. A penal colony was established there and much corruption took place.
1869, economic exploitation began with orchulla and lidrin were used for dyes.
1879, Manuel Cobos, a businessman and dictator, came to the islands. He cleaned things up and got rid of criminals, but he was extremely cruel and ruthless, and eventually a dictator. His way or the highway! Although he established sugar plantations, raised cattle, and produced sulfur, and was not well liked, he was assassinated in 1904 by one of his workers.

1959 established as a national park. 1960s developed for tourism. Today over 180,000 visitors per year (with a mandatory $100 a pop as you enter the airport!). No wonder Ecuador didn´t want to sell to the US when they were offered $15 million after WWII. France and UK also made an offer. Baltra Island was an essential Allies airbase during the war protecting the Panama Canal.

Animals: some we saw, some not.
The animals stand out here because of their lack of fear of humans. They act like we are just annoying paparazzi. They are VERY strict about no touching and not letting them touch you! We complied!

Frigate birds: we saw some but NOT the big red-breasted ones.
Yellow warbler - the only warbler found here
Marine iguanas - saw TONS of these of all sizes, black like the lava rocks they love.
Pencil sea urchins - with blunt, very thick spines. Saw these on Isabella
Sally Lightfoot Crabs - larged, red, very interesting looking hanging on the sides of rocks next to the surf. Saw lots of these on the pier in Puerto Ayore.
Galapagos penguins - NOT see these cute, funny birds.
Sea lions - There are two species. Both are diurnal, one being awake during the day, the other at night. The day ones had smaller eyes and ears that were less long and pointed than the night ones. One of them is derived from the Humboldt current, so that it has a thick coat and is called the fur seal (almost decimated in earlier centuries). The other, the California seal, is the same as the one found in California, only smaller. I remember them in La Jolla being MUCH more aggressive! These seals were laying all over the piers, up on the benches, steps, and on boats moored in the harbor. We didn´t see it but they apparently can jump completely up over the gunwales of the boats and just sun themselves! People are very tolerant and give them wide berth. They are also very noisy!!

Blue and red footed boobies - They court for several weeks before mating. When they are ready, the male presents the female with a twig. Sometimes she accepts it, indicating her willingness to mate, but often she refuses - up to about 10 times for some. This behavior is a holdover from times when boobies actually made nests. Now they just lay eggs on the ground in a depression. The masked booby does the same thing. Only the red footed ones still have a real nest in a tree. I saw only the blue footed ones.

We had our last breakfast, this time cooked by Germani, Rafael´s wife, of omelet this time with veggies in it and an unusual berry juice. We also met Rafael, his son who is studying online to be a lawyer. Rafael drove and escorted us all the way to the ferry, over to Baltra and on the bus to the terminal where we said goodbye. We promised to recommend his place to our friends - Casa de Hermandaje Germania - for $50-night for both of us including breakfast and only a couple of blocks from the pier - great location for taking our day trips.


Interesting people we met: at breakfast Kirstin and friend (didn´t get his name) who are traveling from California for 6 months with no particular schedule around South America. We met so many young people doing long extended trips, making our 6 weeks look puny! But I reminded Betty of our year long sojourn in Europe in 1965, with $600 and a one way ticket (for me). We saw 28 countries in that year, including working in Munich for 4 months! Anyway, their facebook site is Our Next Adventure. They did a 7 day diving tour out to Wolf another island far out to the NW. They said the currents were terrifying and they had to hold on to barnacle covered rocks to not get swept away! Many sharks of all kinds! The guy got the bends (air bubble) and had to not dive for 2 of the days. Not my cup of tea but good for them!

Carol and Sheila - two travelers on the Legend boat tour of Gal. while we were waiting for our long delayed plane to Guayaquil, from Portland and Bend, OR. They were then flying from Quito to Santiago for a 10 day Insight Cruise sponsored by Scientific American where there are lectures of all kinds of scientific topics on board, as they cruise around, stopping, in Buenos Aires. Nice ladies!

Wilmer was at the Quito airport with a sign for us, and drove us through town to Bruna´s B & B. It was the last day flights will come in to the airport that is right downtown. Today the NEW one opens and they guess it will be an hour and a half to get there, instead of 25 minutes, and no public transportation except taxis. We just booked a 7 am flight to Lima and Cuzco, Peru, for the 24th, and we figure we have to leave here about 3: 30 am to make it!!

We have a complete apartment here (no other visitors although there are 2 other bedrooms), with kitchen, dining-living area with this computer (it´s much easier to do my blog on a regular keyboard than my iPad. I apologize for all the previous typos but it´s hard!). We even have Elena, who will do our laundry today while we sight-see, cook us breakfast and wouldn't let us clean up our dishes last night! The beds have lovely duvets, as Bruna and Miya, her business partner who´s away on Galapagos tours now, are both Swiss. Bruna said they came here and stayed  for LOVE!  Miya´s handsome son Samuel took us to a local shop to buy stuff for our take-in dinner last night. Bruna has an 18 and 22 year old son and daughter. They live elsewhere so we had the place to ourselves and had a lovely evening.

We´ve hired William as our driver (to save time, costs a bit more) for our one day tour of Old City Quito and out to the Middle of the Earth Equator line. Usually it takes 2 days but we leave tomorrow for Coca and our 4 day/3 night river adventure in the rain forest that Bruna arranged at the SaniLodge for us (check out their website). We´ll come back here from Coca and spend one night and again have Elena do our soggy laundry after 4 days in the rain forest!! Will start the malaria pills today. I think Betty opted out of them. Been sucking on coca candy for the altitude. Doesn´t seem to bother Betty. Have coca tea for breakfast this a.m.

Sorry this is so long! Read in segments if at all! This is basically for me! :) Miss you JACKSON and SARAH!! and Kerry! Trying to connect on Skype here with Doug before he leaves for Thailand. No success yet!

Last day was the Best!

Another fishing boat ride with about 20 people crowded to Isabella Island the largest here made up of 6 volcanoes. Lots of black cooled magma. On one of our walks our guide, Milton, explained the magma sits for a few thousand years.Now this white lichen is growing on top and breaking t down over thousands of years to soil. On some of the older magma mangrove trees are one of the first things to grow along the shore.
Great explanation by Milton regarding the black marine iguana here. The land iguana are yellow with rounded tails. But when they came here there was no plants or berries for them to eat. So over thousands of years they adapted, turned black to blend in with the magma, took to the water, and live on a kind of krill from the ocean. they are ONLY found here on the Galapagos. This is part of what got Darwin thinking when he was here in 1830s and later developed his evolution theory and survival of the fittest and adaptation. I also read he would grab the marine iguanas bathe tail and chuck them in the sea!! Not a very good environmentalist!

We visited a terrific land tortoise breeding center where we saw eggs (round about baseball size) and four different stages of turtle embryos..Also many babies being raised protected. And a pen of juveniles (not sexually mature for about 20 years). Then some gigantic males and smaller females in a pen, waiting to mate. interesting, the male mounts the female and if she objects, he can bite her head! But she can cover her privates with her tail to foil him! Milton said so me times they give up and mount other males or rocks!! To no end!
If successful, female will lay 5 to 14 eggs on a nest she has dug, urinate and defecate around it and then abandon it.  After about 2 months I think, the baby pecks his way out of the egg, lives for another month on the nutrients from the egg, and then dig, with help from siblings , his way out of the nest. Because of non-indigenous animals like rats, cats, dogs, etc. being introduced by man, babies hardly ever survive in the wild. Tortoises live for maybe 150 years. Unlike trees, the rings on their carapace do NOT indicate their age. As they age, the rings disappear.

Saw flamingos in a salinic lagoon that are only found here with. Peculiar adaptation ions.
Also saw close the famous blue-footed boobie. Spaniards bragged that this bird was dumb like a "bobo" because they could catch and kill a bunch in a few minutes. Because they had no knowledge or fear of humans, they didn't run away. So they called them blue footed bobos changed to boobies!
So many colorful and unusual birds here.











And then leaves we snorkeled in a sheltered tidal pool where we saw close up sea turtles sleeping on the bottom. Lucia, a lovely Czech woman traveling on her own for 3 months since she quit her job at the Tate Gallery in London and will move back to Prague, took great underwater shots that she said she would email me. We saw a manta ray swimming, many colorful fish and spiny sea urchins, two different kinds.

Our 90 minute ride back got us here about 4 . Lucia had gone the previous evening to Las Griestas, a beautiful swimming area by cliffs. So SUSAN had the brilliant idea and we took a water taxi across the harbor  to what I thought was a nice walk.

Instead it was a dripping sweat walk over ankle-breaking chunks of lava rock and uphill to a cliff where even I balked at going down and trying to swim. Although on a Sunday and Election day to boot, many Ecuadorians were there swimming. And then some brave ones were leaping, one guy did a back flip! Into this deep pool between the gorge. We had a slow, hot walk back and I treated Betty to two drinks at Happy Hour with onion rings (that was dinner tonight!) before we crossed in the water taxi! She won't listen to MY suggestions any time soon!

Rafael will take us to Balta to the airport tomorrow as we say good bye to the Galapagos. If done again, we would have stayed Lanigan on each of the islands. Isabella especially seemed really undeveloped but with a few cool places to stay, I think.

Cristobel

Rafael met us at 6 a.m. To walk us Down to the pier to get on the right boat tour. About 15 people showed up. One Spanish speaking group seemed to be on some kind of a university at our as the students seemed 20 something. Our guide Dario was enthusiastic and new at this particular tour. Another English speaking pair were from Berlin. Turns out he's been traveling around the world for 7months and is headed home after this. she traveling in South America with her sister. And they just hooked up for this Gal. Tour. Cute couple! And Laura. Is traveling by herself. She's from Tokyo but originally Paris -mom is French and dad German. she looks very Germanic - tall and blonde. She's a model/actress/director with her own business s in Tokyo. We checked out her website: Adetyo which is the single name she goes by professionally. she introduced herself as Laura. She took hundreds of photos including many in the water. We ended up meeting her after dinner for a drink and chat.

We rode for 2 hours past a couple of islands to San Cristobel, a smaller city. Than PUerta Ayora but it's the governmental headquarters here. We stopped at Kicker Rock, this huge outcropping with a channel that we swam through, seeing many colorful fish and some turtles. After snorkeling for 45 min. Or so we went on to a smaller rock where any red and blue-footed boobies, sea lions and a frigate bird were resting. we just saileD around that.

In the small town of Baquerizo Moreno,named after the first Ecudorians president to visit, in 1916, we hopped a bus to go out to a beach near the airport where some baby sea lions frolicked. It was pouring rain and some people snorkeler and apparently saw more sea turtles. We ate a delicious fish (tuna, we think) lunch and walked back to our cabin cruiser to head back. We stopped at the deserted Santa Fe island to again snorkel, seeing schools of colorful fish. Our guide on the boat who helped me twice get in the boat,or I'd still be out there - no ladder! - cut up watermelon for us for the ride back. This tour cost us $85 as compared to yesterday's closer island tour of $60. Seems the other people onthetour paid $100. I think Rafael got a last minute deal for us.
Off to Isabella tomorrow, by far the largest island with  6 major volcanoes - the last eruption in 1959.

Valentine's Day in Puerto Ayora

I didn't finish my entry for yesterday. On the tour Rafael stopped at two collapsed volcanic craters that were pretty impressive. This amazing tree called scalesia grows on the sides and down in. It collects rainwater for birds and plants underneath the canopy and provides homes for the many finches here. Then we went into the subterranean lava tunnel. It went down a few hundred yards with a few lights along the way. It was dripping and slippery. Apparently the lava shoots through the tunnel and then leaves the hollow tunnel.
Back at our hotel we changed and walked around town, having shrimp with garlic for me and another fish for Betty.
The next morning Rafael walked us down to the boat tour he had arranged for us to Floreana, about a 90 minute ride. About 20 of us ferried out in a rocky launch to the larger boat. Milton  was our English speaking guide and Betty alerted him early on that she was a very nervous snorkeler. When it came time, he never left her side. Of course, that could have been because of the death grip she had on his arm.  This island has a rather notorious history from the pirates who hid here and raided passing ships (didn't find any buried treasure!) to the German woman who came here in the 1930s with a couple of lovers and apparently murdered them and they disappeared.Then the Wittmer family from Cologne arrived about the same time and colonized here until the last family member died just recently. There was a plaque in the little port to one of the Wittmer's giving him credit for starting the tourist industry in Floreana (also called Charles, or Santa Maria). We rode open bus shuttles up to see more Land tortoises.

We wandered along a trail and they were all over. There were square slabs of cement where workers would hose them down to cool and clean them off. They then brought out a huge bag of greens and spread them around and the tortoises lumbered over to get to them. On poor guy got stuck and I tried to put some greens in front of him as he just couldn't climb up in the spot he picked. He finally gave up and wandered away.

Then we hiked up to the only natural fresh water spring that supplies fresh water for the couple of hundred people who live (and for the pirates way. Back when as they had caves nearby). At the very top, with a great lookout for the pirates was a huge rock carved sort of like the Easter Island pictures, with plants growing out of the top making him look like he had a Mohawk. The tortoises were carried aboard ships where they could last for weeks without water or grass and provide fresh meat. They were completely wiped out on this island and at the park service is now bringing them back. Most of the G. I. are controlled by the park slice.  Everyone who comes here pays immediately. At the airport a $100 entrance fee.
We had lunch back down by the pier - lovely fresh fish, potatoes and coleslaw. We chatted with Catherine, a doctor from Montreal and with Ben an emergency room doctor. Catherine is finishing up her studies in public health. She has done stints in Mali and other places. Really delightful couple!
Another family Betty talked to on the boat ride were from Cuenca. Dad runs a glass and aluminum business. Mom was there with maybe a 9year old son. Also along was a 19 year old son and a very shy 18 year old daughter. He was complaining about the upcoming election for Ecuador's President. He is a socialist and takes money from business people to pay the poor. Sounds familiar! when we had traveled dinner tonight we were informed that no alcohol can resold in restaurants for the next three days up to the election!  As if that would ever go over in America!
Rafael booked our trip tomorrow to Santa Cristobel leaving at 6a.m. and took us to the office to get our snorkeling gear.

Buenas Noches!

An Amazing Place!

Our 2 hour flight to Balta island on the Galapagos went smoothly. One thing I would have changed about this trip would have been skipping Guayaquil.  I would fly directly to Quito and to Cuenca and Galapagos directly from there.  Guayaquil.is a dirty Industrial city with nothing charming at all. The Dreamkapture hostel was fine,however.

Rafael was outside the airport as promised and was very helpful getting us on the bus to the ferry to cross to Santa Cruz. They piled the suitcases on the roof of the boat and we got inside, maybe 25 people. It reminded Betty and I of the trip in Cambodia down the Tonle Sap river to Phnom Phen when we thought we had lost Virginia overboard and people were riding on the roof in the rain! We drove with Rafael across Santa Cruz to Puerto Aroya, the largest town in the Gal. Most of the 16,000 people who live and work here are indigenous to the Gal. I think the people here have a better income and standard of living than any place in Ecuador. Rafael said his wife, Germania, hence the name of our lodge Casa Hospedaje Germania is also indigenous. And our charming flirty handsome waiter at dinner last night where we had 2 for 1 drinks for Valentine,s Day. I think it,s such a peaceful place why would they want to leave?
Our room is on the second floor of their home,with AC and private bath. $50 a night for the 2 of us is the most we've paid but everything here is more expensive since it's an island. We walked through town about 30 minutes in the midday sun (big mistake) to the Darwin Research Station. This is where they bring turtle eggs from all the islands to hatch and grow for 4 or 5 years before releasing them back to their own birth place. It was disappointing as no guides we around to explain anything (obviously siesta time, better idea!) By the time we walked back, I told Betty I wasn't going with our scheduled afternoon tour with Rafael as I was just too overheated. The equator runs through the neighboring isla d of Isabella! I took a cold shower and lay down half an hour until 3. She made me comedown and talk to Rafael about our trip. He said it would be in the highlands and cooler and not much walking. he was right. With the wind blowing through the truck windows I felt better when we arrived at the turtle reserve farm. We passed a couple of GInormous (I coined a new word for them, they deserve it!) tortoises ambling along the dirt path.We stopped and Betty stood behind one to get a picture as he was chomping grass. He didn't seem to mind!

Ash Wednesday in Cuenca

Yesterday we took a cab to a van company and rode with 3 girls from Cuenca for 3 hours up into the mountains 2530m high to this beautiful colonial World heritage site. I noticed the altitude right away. I bought some coca candy which seemed to help and some tea bags which I didn't try yet. I'll save it for Quito which is 2850 m.


The Casa des Barrancowas a lovely hostal that backed on the rushing river wi th a gorgeous view of the new town. we stayed in the old town. Today was Ash Wednesday and the locals were now back home after partying during Carnival. We decided to participate with all the devout Ecudorians to go up for ashes after the mass. the priest patted my head.

Betty said he patted her cheek.

We visited the flower market nearby and some kind of a shrine. we bought some wooden rosaries outside for gifts for a couple of people we thought would appreciate them. We stopped in the Simon Bolivar language school to get a flyer about what they offer. Sounds neat!

At the huge produce market we found a juice bar and indulged in a grande jus de harangue orange juice fresh squeezed.  We remembered all the juice we drank when we had traveled in Mexico several years ago. Delicious!

Betty walked through the meat market but they gross me out so I had a coconut drink at the juice bar. We just walked around and people watched before taking a cab to the bus station for our 4 hour bus trip back to Guayaquil. It was a bit hairy on a big bus with the fog and rain coming back down all those switchback turns. We were in the very back seat by the bathroom which had to be unlocked every time someone had to use it!

Now we are well fed with a chicken dinner and beer and tomorrow fly off to see the amazing animals of the Galapagos.

From Miami to Guayaquil

I arrived in Miami (a first for me) on American. Met another interesting young man on the plane. Darren was going to a 2 day conference there. We chatted, me about traveling and mentioning visiting Doug who was a Buddhist monk living in Plum Village in the south of France. Later he was reading his business book (I can´t remember the title) and he leaned over to show me a line in his book that mentioned PLUM VILLAGE!! He said it was such a small world! He´d never heard of PV until a few minutes before!! More coincidences! He said he´d been to Miami before because his parents live in Ft. Lauderdale but now were home in CT for taxes. I said where in CT did they live? He said Middlebury! He went to Pomperaug High School and Memorial Middle School (for those who don´t know, this is Region 15 where I taught for 15 years! But I was at P Elementary School in Southbury) Small World!!! He gave me his card and asked me to send him this blog site so he could follow my trip!!

Anyway met up with Betty who´d flown in from St. Paul in spite of the storm there (she had to wait for de-icing as did I). We were to fly on LANEcuador which was about a 20 minute walk for me after collecting my luggage around the horseshoe terminal! When we went to check in, they informed us their partner American Airlines was doing our flight and we had to go ALL THE WAY BACK around to AA where I´d just come from! Oh, well! We were going to be sitting on a plane for a long time!

The flight was crowded but uneventful and we left at 4 pm and arrived at 8:30 pm. After getting luggage and going through customs, we were happy to see a guy there with a Susan Bachman sign held up! He taxied us to Dreamkapture hostel who had our twin bed room with AC!!!! Because it was 89 degrees when we arrived from the snow!! We had a beer (they had actually fed us a meal on the plane!!) and went to bed.

Guayaquil is a port, industrial city that is mostly a jumping off place for Galapagos visitors. In the reading I´d done, there wasn´t much at all to see so we had Monica in the a.m. arrange a van to drive us 3 hours up into the mountains to Cuenca - 3rd largest city here and a UN historic site! There were 3 young Ecuadorian women from Cuenca returning home with us. Today is Maundy Tuesday so is a holiday at the end of 2 weeks of Carnival!! The city was pretty closed up when we arrived. The drive was breathtaking with many switchbacks up higher and higher into the Andes. Pretty soon is was all in the clouds and we didn´t get too many views. Hopefully tomorrow when we head down we´ll see better views.

The owner at Dreamkapture stored our luggage and recommended this Casa del Barranco. We have a lovely twin room with private bath for $44 (they use American currency in Ecuador). We headed down to the Plaza by the beautiful 3 blue domed cathedral to find the around-the-city tour bus.

We ran into many Westerners (we had heard many ex-pats live here). We stopped two women for information - one was from Haddamm CT and the other a Canadian. They were studying at Simon Bolivar language school for a month of immersion and doing a homestay. They loved it and highly recommended the program! To think about for next year! As Cuenca is lovely, cool, looks very much like Puebla in Mexico - wrought iron railings, picturesque old city!

That´s all for tonight! Buenos noches! Lent begins tomorrow! I´m giving up NOTHING!! :)