Jen and Rebecca Reflect on Their Galapagos Voyage

R: Frankly, because we’re lazy, we finally finished updating this blog 7 months later, on the eve of our next trip. We’ll try to do better with this next trip! So in a nutshell, here is a list of things I actually still remember about the Galapagos trip, and things I learned:

1. Taking photos with a silly finger puppet is fun and must be repeated on future trips.
2. Sleeping a lot on vacation should not make you feel guilty, especially when you don't feel well. It is what vacation is all about.
3. Snorkeling is pretty fun!
4. Make sure to schedule your travel clinic appointment well before you leave for your trip to far-flung areas so that you don’t miss it in the mad dash to leave town for Christmas in a snowstorm and then aren’t paranoid about eating something that might make you sick.
5. For every group of 13 new people you meet, there are probably going to be at least 4 you like.
6. Looking at wild life is pretty fun!
7. Seasickness eventually goes away, but next time pack higher dosage drugs.
8. Despite the fact that in our circle of acquaintance we are some of the most-traveled people, Jen and I were probably the least-traveled people on our boat. Which just made us feel like we have a lot more of the world to see.

Jen: I agree with all of Rebecca’s vacation take-away items (especially number #4 – no fear of undercooked food here! I planned ahead). A few additional things I learned:

1. It’s okay to let someone else plan your schedule every day. It’s actually pretty relaxing.

2. Swimming with rays is fun – but they’ll beat you every time.

3. It takes a lot of practice to take a decent underwater photo. Hovering over fish without spooking them is not as easy as it sounds.

4. You can make fruit juice out of anything – who needs apples and oranges when you have watermelon and cantaloupe? Hmm…I miss my morning mystery juice…

5. We have a lot more of the world to see!!

Jen and Rebecca Take Far Too Many Pictures of Orchids (1/8/10)

Today is our last day in Quito! We really didn’t have any activities planned, so when we wandered by Ecuador’s Government Palace and realized that we could take a tour, naturally we decided we must do it! We took our places in line and filed in for the 1pm tour. It was the first time I’ve ever been on a tour when I couldn’t understand a single word. The artifacts were impressive, however. And actually, it was nice to be able to just take in the scenery without feeling like you had to pay attention. Who needs to ALWAYS be learning things? (Yeah, yeah, I know you're all thinking, "Rebecca.")

After the tour, we decided to head to the botanical gardens to see the orchids (a major export of Ecuador, by the way). We took this opportunity to learn more about the macro feature on cameras – it resulted in some interesting orchid shots – and improved Jen’s mood immensely! We also made a new friend in the gardens. A little stray cat followed us on our tour and only left our sides when we returned to the greenhouse (its home, or at least that was our assumption).

We learned, however, that we didn’t need another full day in Quito. We were pretty well exhausted and ready to go home, yet had to fill the entire day—plus our flight was delayed. What a joy! But finally, it was time to head to the airport and catch our flight back to the States. Airport security was pretty tight – we were x-rayed at security and then patted down before going to the gate. If a passenger left the gate area to use the rest room, he was patted down again upon his return to the gate. But security was a little lax when it came to checking through all of a bag’s pockets. Rebecca saw someone’s knitting needles get confiscated, but fortunately the dizzying array of zippers on her bags was too much for the security officer, and she didn’t have to leave hers in Ecuador. Granted, we were so tired from our long day in Quito that there was no airplane-knitting. Only sleeping. And movie watching.

Yeah, we did.

Jen and Rebecca Face the Equator's Challenges (1/7/10)

For today’s adventure, we arranged for a ride to view a village built in the crater of an extinct volcano and then to take us on to the Equator museum. The village site was pretty, but there wasn’t very much to see or do there unless we wanted to take the time to hike down to it. So, we took a few photos and then headed off to the Equator museum. In addition to information on the equator, the museum also had exhibits on Ecuadoran culture and history. It was in one of these exhibits that we learned that in addition to being a national delicacy, guinea pigs were also used to sense bad spirits (since they were calm when we entered the hut, we’re assuming that means we’re good spirits).

There are multiple “official” equator sites, but based on the tests we were put thru, we decided that we were indeed at the official one. The first test our guide completed involved water going down the drain. Just a few feet to the north or south of the equator, the water spun as it went down the drain. After he moved the sink over the equator line, the water flowed straight down! Our second demonstration was one of human strength. Jen was the volunteer for this one. A few feet north of the equator, and she was able to resist the guide as he attempted to pull her arms down. On the line, no matter how hard she tried, her arms failed her and came down when the guide pulled. The most fun (and frustrating) test was balancing an egg on the head of a nail. After 3 tries, Jen finally got hers to stand up! (Rebecca, not so much, which frustrated her to no end because as we all know, she hates losing. Or not being good at something!)

Once we arrived back in Quito, we went to the Teleferico (our last Quito must-do). The Teleferico is a cable car ride 2500 meters high into the Andes. Rebecca was glad Jen was a good sport about it, as Jen is not a fan of heights. (And therefore Rebecca has made it her personal goal to find all things involving heights to make Jen participate in!) We spent several hours wandering about the mountain top (where it was chilly!), enjoying the city views and trying to identify the various mountains (we know we saw Cotopaxi – just not sure exactly which one it was).

Jen and Rebecca Say Goodbye to Their Cachalote Family (1/6/10)

Morning came early on Wednesday. Our excursion today consisted entirely of a panga ride thru Black Turtle Cove. The water in the cove was incredibly smooth, so we could see down into the water for several feet. The cove is known for being a nursery for many sharks and rays. It’s also a mating site for sea turtles. Sadly, we didn’t see any sharks, but several rays swam under our pangas.

Based on the level of activity that we witnessed, we were obviously visiting during turtle mating season. How many people can boast that they’ve seen a turtle-three-way?

(This is just one turtle, not the three-way. The turtles shouldn't have to be like Paris Hilton exposing their private time on the web!)

Our ride thru the Cove was a perfect end to our eight days on the islands.

After we finished our panga ride, we headed back to the Cachalote one last time to sail the short distance to the airport on Baltra. We said good bye to Juan, Maria Flora, and her daughter at the airport. Oddly, we were a little jealous of Juan’s new passengers. It was almost like he was cheating on us! The airport itself was barely a building – it was more of an open-air shelter with a tin roof – but what more do you need on the equator?

Once we arrived back in Quito we said goodbye to the rest of our group and then headed back to the Hotel San Francisco for our last two nights in Ecuador. When we checked in, the clerk was going to give us room number 4 (the same room we had before we went to the islands). Somehow, thru our limited Spanish, he realized what we were saying and switched us to a bigger, more awesome room at the other end of the hotel.

We spent the rest of our day wandering aimlessly about Quito and exploring the markets. We were both suffering through odd bouts of dizziness, so neither of us felt like being too active and we cut the night relatively short. But not before we did some fun market shopping and a very friendly man bought us some cafe con leche and chatted us up for an hour or two! Ecuadorians are friendly. Or at least this one was. I think he wanted to practice his English on pretty American girls...

Jen and Rebecca Walk on the Moon(scape) (1/5/10)

R: Pancakes for breakfast! While the food has generally been pretty good on board (that is when sea sickness doesn’t get in the way of enjoying food) I found myself particularly excited about pancakes. And they didn’t disappoint. This morning we headed off in the pangas to James Island (and we were well-stocked with Kleenex for the duration. Jen and I both thought we’d brought excessive amounts of Kleenex on this trip, but turns out we may actually run out…) This is one of the islands Darwin spent a lot of time, Juan told us. So it was only appropriate that he be photographed here, with more marine iguanas.

J: We also got to see some fur seals up close this morning. Although, it turns out that fur seals really aren’t seals, just another species of sea lion. Who knew? They’re still pretty cute though. In addition, we saw some cool lava formations, the American flycatcher (a bird with a red beak and yellow feet), and several wimbrels (yet another bird). Then it was time for another snorkeling adventure. We set off from the beach again - still not that easy to put fins on while sitting on the sand. Most of the fish were the same as we’d seen before, but Juan became very excited by the school of barracudas. And, rumor has it, a shark was nearby. So, naturally, we went on a shark hunt with Daniel (our bartender/waiter), but came up empty.

Not barracudas.

R: It’s probably good we didn’t find the shark, or get too close to the barracudas. But it would have made for a better story if we had? After lunch, we had some napping time out on deck before arriving at our afternoon hike to Pinnacle Rock (one of the most famous Galapagos sites).

Once we got passed the sea lion guarding the boat dock, it was a fairly easy climb up several hundred steps to the top of the island. The landscape itself was dramatic – almost like being on the moon. Juan called parts of the island a moonscape, and part a Mars-scape, but I’m not versed enough with the planets to tell you what the difference is. Everyone wandered aimlessly about at the top for awhile, glorying in the fact that we’d actually made it to the top, and enjoying the scenery before we all gathered together for one last group shot.

(oops. Couldn't find the one where you could see Jen and Rebecca!)

J: Tonight was our last night onboard the Cachalote. To commemorate the occasion, the chef prepared another fabulous meal and Daniel once again mixed an original cocktail. Juan and the crew also joined us in the dining room so that we could thank all of them for everything they had done for us the past week.

After much talking, laughing and exchanging of emails, we all split off to our cabins to pack our bags and prepare for our early morning wake-up call. The only thing that disappointed me about our time onboard was that we never had salsa night. Since on any given night, half the boat was either sea-sick or sick-sick, everyone was in bed by 8:30 every night.

R: Hm, salsa dancing would have been fun, but the partner options may have left a little something to be desired!

Jen and Rebecca See an Orgy... of Iguanas (1-4-10)

R: We made our last landing on Isabela Island this morning on a beach in Urvina Bay. We saw some swimming flightless cormorants and penguins from a distance, and several hermit crabs greeted us on the beach.

J: Juan told us a story about the feral goats that had previously inhabited Isabela Island. Because the goats were an introduced species, the park service wanted to rid the islands of them. To accomplish this goal, they released a “Judas Goat” (particularly cruel to the male goats as it was a female in heat) into the wild to track down the various herds of goats. Once they were located, the rangers would eliminate them and relocate the Judas Goat so that it could track down another herd. The mission was successful as Isabela Island is now free of feral goats.

Scary tree-goat.

R: We saw a few remaining goat skulls as well as telltale patches of ground with absolutely zero vegetation to show that the goats were once there. This area of the island was also different because an earthquake in the ‘50s elevated the beach, so we saw an inland beach complete with some sand dollar pieces further inland along our walk. We also saw some more land iguanas, but as this island is less visited and more remote, they were much more skittish than those we first saw on South Plazas. Boy can skittish land iguanas move fast.

Next, more snorkeling! Though today’s left a little to be desired as the water was pretty murky. The highlight was before we even got in the water, we saw a California tiger eel swim by the panga, and on the way back to the boat, we saw swimming, mating sea turtles.

This is the eel, not the mating turtles.

J: After lunch, we headed of to Fernandina Island to see the promised orgy of iguanas. And, it was true. There were more marine iguanas than we could count. We even had to watch where we were walking to avoid accidentally stepping on one. I went a little nuts with the photos. I’m not sure I really needed 30 iguana pictures, but that’s the beauty of digital. We also got to see a mink whale skeleton, some living flightless cormorants (those would be birds with tiny useless wings), sally lightfoot crabs and the ever present sea lions. Back on the boat, we began another long sail (11 hours again). Once more, we were promised whales and dolphins. But this time we weren’t disappointed as we got to see some spinner dolphins playing a few hundred yards in front of our boat. Another exciting event of the evening is that we crossed the equator! We’re back the northern hemisphere - at least for a few hours - we cross it again some time in the middle of the night.

R: I actually remembered to take Dramamine an hour before the boat departed and while I was still on dry land, which apparently cured the sea sickness finally. It did provoke a nap on deck, but I was fully awake by the time the dolphins made their appearance as well as to get our free cold cocktail to celebrate crossing the equator. Everyone even made it through dinner, which fortunately took place before the journey got too rough. And since we’re all now getting colds, most of us are heading off for a nice Benedryl-induced nighttime coma. Ah, the power of drugs.

Jen and Rebecca Walk on Lava (1/3/10)

R: Around 2:00 am the boat calmed down as we anchored off of Isabela Island at Pta. Moreno. sabela is the largest of the islands of the Galapagos archipelago and has 5 active volcanoes on it. In the morning, we had a dry landing on a hardened lava flow between the two southern most volcanoes and much of the day’s hike was across lava. I got a little carried away with the cactus photos, I think, because there wasn’t a lot of other wildlife to look at.

A mangrove tree grows in the lava rock.

J: I wasn’t as inspired by the cactus as Rebecca, but I think I got a couple of good photos. The lava made for an interesting walk though. It almost felt as though we were on another planet. The path was a bit precarious in places, but yet still oddly beautiful. There were several lagoons scattered about our walk. The first one had some duck-like birds-morehens- the second had flamingos and the 3^rd was filled with sea life. We perched ourselves several feet above the lagoon for a bird’s eye view of the underwater action. We spied several porcupine puffer fish, a sea turtle and a shark. It almost made up for missing the whales the night before, but not quite.

Morehen butts.

Darwin amongst the desolate lava rock.

R: More snorkeling ensued after the morning’s hike. We saw a sting ray and a huge school of really small fish being picked off by the larger fish. Plus we got to swim with at least one (possibly more) sea turtles again and Jen swam with a diamond ray.

Tiny fishies.

R, continued: During and after lunch, the boat moved up the west coast of Isabela Island to Elizabeth Bay. We had plenty of time for a siesta (I took mine on the deck in a shady patch) before loading the pangas again at 4:00. This time we didn’t land on the island, just turned off the motors and were paddled through inlets in the bay. It was very peaceful, but we didn’t see quite as many animals as we’d hoped, despite Juan’s best efforts to make the Galapagos penguin mating call to round them up. We did see some sea turtles swimming, a blue heron, and a sea lion asleep in a red mangrove tree, though.

Heron

Juan leads the charge.