Month: March 2017

Day 335: Baños

We woke up early the next morning, and after loading up at the delicious breakfast buffet, we caught another private transfer out of town. The drive took another 2hrs. to get to the city of Baños, then another 20min to reach our hotel which was located high within the foothills of nearby Volcan Tungurahua. We arrived around 10AM – a tad early to check-in, so we dropped off our bags with the manager and asked for directions to the famous Casa de Árbol – a rustic treehouse with an “edge of the world” swing that is supposedly an Instagrammer’s wet dream. Our host told us the attraction was a 20min walk away, so we headed off to get our sightseeing of Baños started!

Lindsay napping on the early morning transfer to Baños

 

Our mountainside B&B – cute & cozy with hammocks and lots of farm animals running around

 

Goats and llamas grazing outside our room

 

Our spacious digs at the Las Orquídeas Hostel

 

Taking the steep, forest shortcut up to the Casa del Árbol

We’ve been very fortunate so far in our travels – with only a handful of disappointing exceptions (mostly in China), most places we have traveled so far to visit have been wonderful and totally worth the effort. Casa de Árbol, however, was NOT one of them. Touted by various, “Top 20 Wanderlust Locations you have to Visit,”-type articles as “picturesque,” and “thrill-seeking,” the place is anything but. At least that was our impression when we visited late in the morning on a holiday weekend. Either these “travel writers” have never been here, or they came here 10-15 years ago and the place has become a victim of its own success (I suspect the latter may be true as many of the pictures of the treehouse show different windows, meaning it’s been remodeled at some point).

Here are a couple of updates on the Casa de Árbol for any friends and family who may be contemplating a trip to Ecuador: first, the place is stupid popular with both foreign and local tourists – if possible arrive exactly when they open, on a non-holiday weekday; second, there are now *6 choices* of swings to choose from (four are free with your entrance to the Casa de Árbol, two are pay per swing outside the park; third, if swings aren’t entertaining enough for you there are also kiddie ziplines; and finally, there is nothing “dangerous” about these swings anymore – all of them have harnesses now so you can’t jump off the swing over the cliff (so plan a different suicide method).

 

What they told us we’d see vs What we saw – BUZZFEED LISTICLE YOU LIED TO ME!!!

 

The Casa de Árbol complex is an absolute zoo, with literally hundreds of tourists waiting in lines for 5 pushes on one of 4 swings. LAME.

 

Lindsay is super bummed that this place did not live up to the hype.

 

Cloudy view of Volcan Tungurahua and a cow hiding in the bushes

 

Just outside the Casa de Árbol complex there are an additional 2 swings (one which rotates 360⁰ for thrill seekers) – these are pay-per-ride, so the lines were much shorter

We walked back to our hotel, only happy that we were so close to the Casa de Árbol that we didn’t have to waste money on a taxi to visit that disappointment. We checked into our room, then mulled over our options for the rest of the day. It was already too late in the day to book an excursion like rafting or canyoning (most leave from Baños city around 7-8AM and return after lunch); we didn’t want to spend more time in taxis, trying to drive to the various waterfalls in the area; and finally, Igor was too much of a germaphobe to share the hot springs with what would probably have been hundreds of tourists (once again, we were here on a holiday weekend, so no doubt it was a madhouse).

We ended up simply taking a 2hr walk down the side of the mountain from our hotel into the city. It wasn’t particularly exciting, but it was quiet and scenic – not a bad way to spend an afternoon. But in hindsight, we didn’t give ourselves enough time to do Baños properly – we should have just stayed in Latacunga a second day. Oh well, live and learn!

 

Taking a scenic walk down the mountain into the town of Baños

 

The walk down the mountain is peaceful and beautiful, passing by several rural farms houses and corn fields

 

A quick stop at the touristy Café in the Sky to admire the view of the city below

 

More cows on the trail – MOOOOO!

 

Street art…in the mountains!

 

A mirador with a giant statue of Virgin Mary sits atop a giant staircase leading into town. We pass several exhausted tourists making the strenuous trek *up* to the viewpoint as we descend – poor souls

Once we got into Baños proper, we realized we may have made a mistake – the Carnival madness was in full swing. The kids of the town were gleefully patrolling the streets armed with water balloons and giant cans of foam spray. We proceeded cautiously, hiding behind parked cars and ducking into stores, but we knew sooner or later we would get creamed if we stayed out. We quickly picked up a USD $7 bottle of wine (Viña del Maipo Merlot!) and a giant bag of cheesy bread for USD $2 (we were only trying to ask the price, when the hurried woman shoved a bag of 12 rolls at us – guess we’re going to have plenty of snacks for the next few days!).

With our goods in hand, we searched the streets for a taxi. We finally found one, with streaks of pink residue on the windows – apparently this guy had been a target for foam sprayers! We drove out of the city with the windows rolled up, despite the heat. We let our guard down and rolled down the windows once we were on the mountain. As we were turning a bend in the road, a large car with kids in the back seat drove by and, “PPPPHHHHFT!” Foam spray shot into the car via the open windows! The driver was pretty annoyed, saying he expected this in the city, but, “en el campo?” Poor guy – Carnival is far from over. Luckily for us there were no revelers in our hotel, and we passed the rest of the evening in peace.

 

Relaxing in our room in front of OUR PRIVATE FIREPLACE. Nice.

Day 334: Cotopaxi & Quilota Laguna

We had 2 days to explore the areas outside of Quito before we had to leave for Peru. We really should have just picked one location and explored it thoroughly, but – in typical Igor & Lindsay fashion – we decided to do a fly-by of as many sights as possible. Our first stop was Latacunga – the jumping off point for both Volcan Cotopaxi and Quilota Laguna. Here is where we could have really used the two days, as both locations are worth visiting. We managed to book a day tour covering *both* a hike up the volcano and visit to the crater lake, but it was a looooooong day and did NOT run smoothly.

We started the day with a 1.5hr. private transfer from our hotel in Quito to our hotel in Latacunga for USD $60 (surprise, surprise! It’s our buddy Javier again!). We arrived in Latacunga nice and early, around 8AM and immediately asked the hotel if they could help us book a last minute day tour. Even though it was a holiday weekend (most Peruvians had Monday & Tuesday off for Carnival), we were able to secure a driver for the day (although at USD $150, we discovered the hotel was making a 25% commission, as the driver herself only charged USD $110 for the day package).

Normally a day tour including both Cotopaxi and Quilota Laguna would start at 9AM and run until 5-6PM. Since we were booking so last minute, it was understandable that the driver needed more time to prepare and didn’t show up until 10AM. That’s fine – let’s just jump into the car and get this party started! Or, at least let’s get the car started. Not sure what was wrong with this lady’s circa-1982 manual pickup, but she tried for about half an hour to get this stupid car started – every time she turned the key in the ignition, the clunker stalled and the *friggin’ security alarm started going off*. She called her husband on the phone and tried to talk the problem through with him, to no avail. Around 10:30AM, the hotel staff (who had probably been watching out the window this whole time) came out into the street to stare and offer supposedly helpful suggestions. We couldn’t figure out what she did differently, but eventually the engine came roaring to life. With a relived cheer of, “hurrah!” we were finally off!

Cotopaxi National Park was only a 45min drive away, so we started our day with a visit to the volcano. At 5,897M, Cotopaxi is one of the highest volcanos in the world, as well as one of the most active. The town of Latacunga has been destroyed by not one, not two, but by *three* separate eruptions (all in the 1700s – I guess they moved the town a bit further away each time until they found the sweet spot?). In 2015, seismic activity from the volcano caused over 2,000 earthquakes and emitted thousands of tons of sulfur dioxide, although no actual eruption occurred.

Nonetheless, climbing and summiting Cotopaxi remains a popular tourist activity! Although, during our visit, permits to summit the volcano and see into the snow-filled crater at the top had been suspended due to safety concerns. However, we and plenty others braved the cold and the SNOW to hike to the refugio at 4800M. It was wonderfully bizarre to think, just 2 days ago we were under the sea in tropical Ecuador, and now we were tramping through snow flurries and risking altitude sickness on the mainland!

Limpiopungo Laguna in Cotopaxi National Park – great spot for birding, but we were too cold to stand out for very long. Time to break out the thermals and puffer jackets!

 

Snow at the equator…say, what?!?

 

Hiking the last 2KM to the refugio on Volcan Cotopaxi

 

We can just make out the refugio through the snowy fog – we made it!

Successful day-hike on Cotopaxi, in Ecuador

 

He refugio has a selection of snacks for hungry trekkers (incuding a Volcano Empanada as big as your head), however, we are running behind schedule so we turn right around and descend before lunch

 

Going off-trail where the fresh snow is soft and sturdy until we finally reach the road

Snow-capped Cotopaxi

Below the snowline, you can make out trails of footprints that have been filled in with snow flurries

As we reached the parking area, our guide told us to take our time coming down as she ran ahead to try and start the car. And God bless her, she tried. And tried. And tried. She no longer had cell reception at the top of the mountain so she couldn’t call for help. Some of her fellow guides came over to hang out on the driver’s window to see if they could help. After what seemed like an eternity, the engine came to life again. Unfortunately, the late start and all the engine trouble set-backs had really taken a toll on our schedule today – it was mid-afternoon and we hadn’t even had lunch yet! Our guide sped down the mountain as quickly as possible and pulled into the park’s visitor’s center to order our included lunch (trout and French fries, with a side of rice and a salad – which took a good 20min to prepare). Not willing to risk another delay, this time when we stopped, our guide left the engine running in neutral and blocked off the tires with some large rocks!

 

It takes our guide another 30+min to get the truck started – it’s a 3PM by the time we stop for lunch

It was another 3hr drive from Cotopaxi National Park to get to the Quilota Laguna. When we were about halfway there, our guide unexpectedly pulled over and got out of the car to let a man get in the driver’s seat. Were we changing guides? “El es mi esposo,” she explained to Lindsay. We laughed – she had called her husband to come meet us to help her with the car! Hey – you do whatcha gotta do! Her husband must have mastered the technique for starting the pickup truck because we didn’t have any more car issues that day.

 

Carnival celebrations in the small town of Zumbahua, just outside the Cañón del Río Toachi

When we finally arrived at Quilota Laguna around 5:30PM, the place was covered in a thick layer of fog. Our guide walked us into the park, down the path to the first viewpoint and announced that we had arrived. “So, we’re supposed to be able to see the lake from here?” we asked, staring into the white nothingness. “Sí,” she replied. She pointed to the trail heading down into the mist and told us we were welcome to hike down if we wanted – it would take about 20min to get to the bottom, but she warned us that walking back up would be very steep. There were plenty of locals charging USD $10pp for a donkey-ride back up, so we could hire a lift if we felt too tired.

“Will we be able to see the lake if we hike down?” we asked. She shrugged, “Maybe.” Not terribly encouraging (she and her husband were probably hoping we’d forgo the hike and let them turn home early), but what the hell – we’re only here once, right? We joined the dozens of other tourists still heading down into the crater in the hopes of getting a glimpse of this silly lake.

 

We walk 4KM down the path into the Quilota crater to see the laguna, planning to take a donkey ride back up

Quilota Laguna

First of all, the hike down was a longer than 20min – more like 40min. The entire way we were dodging tourist-laden donkeys and their giant piles of poo. When we finally got about 2/3 of the way down, we found ourselves below the cloudbank and could see the lake – yay! Lindsay thought, ‘Mission Accomplished’, right? She was also starting to get a bit worried – not only had the walk down taken longer than expected, but she suddenly started to notice there weren’t many donkeys coming up the trail anymore and she couldn’t see a stable or anything down below where more might be waiting. “Maybe we should turn back – I don’t think there are anymore donkeys left!” she told Igor. A (stupid) tourist behind her overheard and said, “Oh, no – there are more! A lady told me so.”

So we kept going all the way to the end. Guess what? There were no more donkeys. Damn it – looks like we’re walking back up.

 

Admiring the view of Quilota Laguna. There is a swing set-up at the edge of the crater a la the Casa de Arbol, but we skip it as we plan to do the real thing tomorrow (big mistake!)

The cloud bank continues to lift, giving us a great view of Quilota Laguna

 

As we are taking artsy pictures of dewy grasses, we befriend a sweet chocolate puppy

Screw the horses – puppy, you are all we need to get out of this crater!

 

Daylight is fading fast and we have to make it up an 1+hr, 4KM steep crater before it gets dark!

Final view of Quilota Laguna

It took us a good hour and a half to climb back out of the crater, by which time it was so dark we were in desperate need of a flashlight. Luckily, we caught up to a group that was using their cellphone to guide themselves (and us) up the trail. We found our guide and her husband sitting cozy in their truck, playing on their cellphones in the dark. We hopped in the back and buckled up as the husband took off down the road towards Latacunga as fast as he could. It was a bit nausea-inducing as the road was very winding and he kept trying to pass slow-moving cars, but we made it to our hotel in one piece around 9:30PM. As we were both suffering a bit from car-sickness we didn’t even bother to inquire about dinner – we both took showers and passed out.

Day 332 – 333: Quito – Part I

After a wonderful 3 weeks in Darwin’s paradise, it was finally time for us to leave the Galápagos. However, even though we were departing from the *most populated city* in the archipelago and from the *main airport*, the journey out of the islands could not have been more absurd. First of all, the airport is nowhere near the city of Puerto Ayora (it’s not even on the same island! But I’ll get to that…), so we had to take a USD $20 taxi across the island to the Itabaca Channel (same place where we caught our dive boat the day before). Once we got to the Itabaca pier, we had to catch a short ferry ride across the channel to Baltra Island (this cost fifty cents each, but we didn’t know about the cost ahead of time so we forgot to get change the day before – since the water taxi couldn’t break a twenty we got a free ride!).

Baltra Island is a tiny off the northern coast of Santa Cruz, which used to host a US military base during WWII. After the war was over and there was no need for America to patrol the South Pacific for Japanese submarines, the island and base were “given back” to the Ecuadorian government (how generous). There is literally nothing on the island except the airport and a handful of iguanas. Once the ferry dropped us off at the pier, we had to sit and wait for about 20min until the (free) shuttle bus finally arrived to take us and all the airline employees to the airport. When we got to the airport, we discovered that the LAN counter wasn’t even open yet. We sat at the beginning of the line for an hour until we were finally allowed to check in.

 

Lindsay is baffled by the long, inefficient journey visitors must go on in order to reach the main airport for the Galápagos. Igor is happy once we can relax in the lounge.

Once we arrived in Quito, we had our hotel arrange a taxi pick-up at the airport. Our taxi driver, Javier, was really chatty, and gave us lots of recommendations for our upcoming daytrips outside of the city. Our hotel was located in the trendy Mariscal neighborhood, which is full of bars, restaurants, and foam-spraying youths enjoying Carnival. Our room was cozy and comfortable and had blazing fast Wifi. Even though we had an hour or two of daylight left, we decided to be hermits and just curl up in our soft twin beds and catch up on emails and writing. We needed to conserve our strength for tomorrow.

 

Muesli, coffee and fried eggs – perfect way to start a day of sight-seeing!

Unfortunately, the weather was cloudy and rainy for our first full day in Quito. Even so, we decided to try our luck at the TelefériQo – a high-altitude gondola that rises over 2,700ft and takes a good 20min to ride to the top. On a clear day, one can see an amazing panorama of the city as well as many of the surrounding mountains – including the snow-capped Volcan Cotopaxi. All guide books recommend going in the morning, as clouds and fog tend to roll in in the afternoons. Even though it was already very foggy, we had a small hope that we would either get “above the clouds” or the cloud cover would clear long enough for a picture. Wrong on both points – we saw squat. Oh well, at least we didn’t have to fight crowds!

 

There’s no line for tickets for the TelefériQo gondola up to the peak of Volcan Pichincha, as the mountain is covered in thick clouds

 

Even though the view is incredibly foggy, at least we get our own car!

 

Igor shrugs as we confirm there is NOTHING to see at the top of the mountain – just lots of mist

 

Dew-covered grasses at the top of a cloudy Volcan Pichincha

 

Going for a short nature walk on top of the volcano – we can’t stray too far from the vistor’s center fear of getting lost in the fog!

 

Apparently this is a mirador…

 

Church at the top of the mountain: what they told us we would see vs what we actually saw

 

The peak of Pichincha is neary 4,000m – enough to cause altitude sickness for some people, so the visitor’s center has an oxygen “bar” available with several flavors of air for patrons to sniff (Lindsay’s not buying it)

 

As we descend back down the mountain, we finally get below the cloud cover and get a decent view of Quito from the gondola

After the TelefériQo, we caught another taxi into the “Centro Histórico” of Quito (we had a moment of difficulty explaining where we wanted to go to the driver – apparently the literal translation of “Old City” AKA “Ciudad Vieja” didn’t ring a bell). The taxi dropped us off at the Plaza de la Independencia, from where we could stroll through the quaint alleyways and admire the many Gothic and Baroque-style churches in the area. The rain held off util the early afternoon, but once the drops started coming down, we decided to retreat to the hotel, only coming back out for dinner. We had one more day in Quito planned before we flew off to Peru, so we still had time to hit everything we missed.

 

El San Francisco and El Sagrario – two of the city’s many, many churches

 

The entrance and bell tower of the Cathedral of Quito

 

The façade and domes of La Compañía – considered by many to be Quito’s most beautiful and ornate church. Lindsay forked over the USD $5 entrance fee to check it out (Igor stayed outside surfing the web on his cellphone) – the interior is covered top to bottom with gold leaf, so there’s definitely a of bling. Of course, no pics allowed inside.

 

Lindsay startles a large flock of pidgeons in front of El San Francisco. No, that is not bird shit on her jacket – we are in Quito the weekend of Carnival and all the kids are running around with bottles of foam, spraying people. Mostly they target their friends and leave tourists alone, but one little boy took a shot at Lindsay before running off

 

Walking through the alleys of Quito’s historical center, where we get a glimpse of El Panecillo – the statue of the Virgin Mary

 

Street art in the Plaza de Arenas

 

Outside the Quito Basilica. You can climb to the top of the bell tower for USD $2pp, but we decide to save this for when we return to Quito in a few days – hopefully the weather will be better and we’ll get a good view of city

 

Peruvians LOVE avocados…almost as much as we do! Lindsay is loving the guac on her burger, and Igor has the audacity to suggest his guacamole-filled quesadilla is on par with Lindsay’s homemade version!

Day 331: Gordon’s Rock & The Lava Tunnels

We couldn’t leave the Galápagos without one last dive. One of our friends from the liveaboard dive trip had recommended Gordon’s Rock – a trio of rocks off the northern coast of Santa Cruz island known for strong currents and lots of Hammerhead Sharks. We seem to bring good (or bad) luck when it comes to currents, as the water was incredibly mild today. As a result, we didn’t see any Hammerheads, but there was more than enough sea life to leave us satisfied!

After a quick scrambled egg breakfast at the hospedaje, we grabbed a taxi into town and met up with our tour group at the dive shop at 7AM sharp. There were 7 divers and two guides, so we all hopped into 2 taxis and drove 45min across the island to the Itabaca Channel where we would catch our boat. Once we were all aboard, it was another 45min of navigation to reach the dive site.

Once we arrived, the two dive masters split us up into two groups, based on experience. Now that we had a whooping 40 dives under our belt (!), we were in the “experienced” group! The rest of the divers were even more of beginners than we were when we arrived in the islands – they all had gotten certified together a few weeks ago and only had 10 dives each! We were really happy we got to go off on our own – the tour included photos from the day and when we looked at their shots, it’s clear that we had the better dives!

 

After our briefing on the dive site, we back-roll into the water. After Darwin & Wolf this is child’s play!

 

We spot a HUGE 50+ school of Golden Rays

 

Oooooo, barra – Barracuda!

 

One dive down! We take an hour break before plunging into the water again, on the other side of Gordon’s Rock

 

This sea lion is convinced that fins are in fact chew toys

 

This bitey lobo gets upset when our instructor won’t let him eat his scuba gear, and zooms off in a huff

 

The sea lion makes a pass at another diver’s fins before finally leaving us alone. He seems to prefer colored fins, and as Igor and Lindsay were wearing black fins, the sea lion didn’t attack us (boo.)

 

We saw dozens of moray eels in Darwin & Wolf, but a ZEBRA Moray Eel is something new!

 

A slow-moving sea turtle seems to be getting a car-wash from a group of Angelfish

 

More rays: an Eagle Ray soars overhead while a Marbled Ray hides below in the rocks

 

A pretty starfish and a lobster

 

Big-ticket items: White-tipped Reef Shark and a giant Manta Ray

 

After drying off, our hosts serve us lunch: a delicious fish curry with lentils – yum!

Our tour ended around 1PM, and we were back in Puerto Ayora an hour later. We dropped off our rented dive computer at the agency and then started looking for a taxi to hire for the afternoon. We had heard about some lava tunnels in the island’s highland’s and wanted to check one of them out. A few taxis offered as a tour package for USD $50 to see the tunnel, some sinkholes and visit a giant tortoise farm, but we had already visited 3 giant tortoise centers by now and did not want to bother repeating. We finally found a taxi driver who told us he would take us to the lava tunnel for only USD $20 which seemed like a deal (of course, he neglected to clarify that he wanted USD $20 *each way*). Luckily for us, he drove us over to the sinkholes as well “for free” so we didn’t feel quite as ripped off at the end of the day.

Of the two natural formations, the lava tunnel was totally the coolest! The entire island of Santa Cruz is an extinct volcano, formed a little under 1 million years ago. The many lava tunnels on the island were formed when slow moving flows of magma started to cool and formed an outer crust. The crust insulted the lava inside allowing it to continue flowing down the island, draining the inside of the tunnel when the eruption ceased. The resulting tube-like cave was pretty spectacular – the majority of it was wide and high-ceilinged, with only one blocked off section that narrowed to a crawl-space (would have loved a tour guide to explain that part of the formation – where my Seabourn geologists at?).

The sinkholes were pretty, but unfortunately we’ve been spoiled by so many cool experiences this year it’s hard to “WOW” us. Though they look like calderas, these sinkholes are *not* volcanos – they were formed when underground lava flows ceased, leaving unstable caverns. When the caverns collapsed, the sinkholes were created. Yes, very nice, but do they have manicured gardens at the bottom like the Umpherston Sinkhole in Australia? No, indeed.

 

The Lava Tunnels in the village of Santa Rosa are located on private land, so no park guide necessary

 

Igor descends into the darkness

 

Inside the lava tunnel – the cave is lighted, so no flashlight necessary

 

The lava tunnel is one of the coolest caves we’ve visited on this year-long trip!

 

The mottled walls of the lava tunnel

 

While the majority of the tunnel has a high ceiling, there is one spot where the opening is so low, you have to crawl on your hands and knees to get out

 

As Igor climbs the stairwell out of the tunnel, he spots a little owl trying to sleep in the darkness! Poor girl did NOT appreciate the flash photography

 

Our taxi driver stops on the side of the road and lets us take an unauthorized self-guided walk by the Los Gemelos sinkholes

 

Sheer rock cliffs encircle each of the jungle-filled holes

 

Lindsay poses on the other side of the sinkhole, surrounded by the Scalesia forest

Los Gemelos Sinkholes, in Santa Cruz Island

We returned to our hospedaje in the early evening – plenty of time to pack up, cook our final self-catered meal of the trip, and kick back with our first (and last) bottle of Ecuadorian wine. Farewell, Galápagos!

 

Clever trickery, Ecuador! This bottle of wine has a label CLEARLY designed to mislead consumers into thinking it is from Argentina – the back label “story” even talks about tango. However, when Lindsay read the fine print, the winery is located in ECUADOR! How was it? Meh. Good enough for two backpackers in a hostel.

Day 330: Las Grietas & Tortuga Bay

There are quite a few free-ish swimming/snorkling activites around Puerto Ayora, so we decided to rent a snorkel from our host for USD $5 for the day and explore the Las Grietas swimming hole and the beach at Tortuga Bay.

To get to Las Grietas, you do have to pay for a water taxi to shuttle you across the marina, but it’s only USD $0.80 per person. A 20min walk along a path that is mostly well-marked will lead you to a narrow canyon filled with pristine, turquoise water. However, if you want to experience the natural beauty in peace and serenity you have to get there EARLY. We arrived around 9AM and we were the second couple to arrive, so not that bad. By the time we left around 10:30AM, the place was crowded with close to 30 people, including some who came with tour guides (why…?).

The water itself is amazingly clear, but don’t expect to see any cool fish – while the Las Grietas swimming holes are connected to the ocean, there are a series of rock piles that block the majority of sealife from coming in. The big draw for many tourists is the ability to jump from the platform or from the rocky sides into the deep water (easily 10+M).

 

Walking past a small area of salt flats on Santa Cruz – the local community gathers the salt after the tidewater evaporates and uses it for dry-salted fish

 

We spot a Giant Blue Heron hunting for fish as we walk along the trail

 

The trail to “Las Grietas” – a swimming hole located inside volcanic crevasses

 

We are (almost!) the only ones here this early in the morning

 

The visibility is absolutely perfect! The water here is brackish – a mixture of salty seawater and rain runoff from the highlands. Too bad there isn’t a single fish!

 

Igor takes his turn in the swimming hole and discovers that there are more swimming holes beyond the rocky end – you just have to get out of the water and walk (very carefully!) over the slippery stones

 

*There* are the fish! Igor finds several schools in the hidden pools at the back of the swimming hole

 

Lindsay tries to keep a cool head as we explore the cactus-covered trail and viewpoint near Las Grietas

 

We walk past the near-empty German Beach on our way back to the marina. It looks laid back and serene, but don’t let your guard down! We overheard a teary tourist the next day complaining that someone stole her cellphone out of her bag when she was swimming here. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!

 

CIGARETTE BUTTS. One of Lindsay’s pet peeves is when smokers toss their cigarette butts on the ground as if their trash it somehow not considered littering. Well, this artist shared her frustration and beautifully illustrated that all those tiny butts add up to a LOT of trash that is poisoning our oceans and cluttering up our landscapes. Well done!

Since we were still wet and had our swimsuits on, we decided to stay out and walk over to the beach at Tortuga Bay. The 2KM hike was pretty punishing in the hot mid-day sun, and neither the (mostly uphill) path nor the beach offered any shade. What made it worse, was that the water in the beach was strictly closed to swimmers – it’s another surfers beach! We each found a way to get into the water for a much needed dip regardless, but the beach itself was pretty disappointing. In hindsight, we should have returned to the Charles Darwin Center where the popular Playa de la Estacion is located. Sure, it’s overrun with tourists, but there are cool fish and sea lions to play with.

It’s a loooooong walk in the sun to reach Tortuga Bay

 

The white sand beach is big and pretty, but has zero shade. We find some sticks someone left in the sand and use them to build a little shelter. It helped a lot, until a douchebag park ranger tells us it’s “not allowed.” WTF? Is a little red wrap going to scare off a turtle or something?

 

The surf is really strong and signs warn that swimming is too dangerous. Lindsay walks all the way down the beach and finally finds a sheltered tidal pool where she can take a dip to cool off. Igor flat-out ignores the warning signs and jumps into the waves. He lived.

Day 331: Puerto Ayora

Our stay at Isabela Island has been a blast – our favorite island of the Galápagos! – but all good things must come to an end. It was time to return to Santa Cruz for our final few days in the archipelago. We booked the last two seats on one of the many ferry-shuttles the night before for the excruciatingly early 6AM departure time. Since our new hotel was all the way on the other side of town, we booked a 5:30AM taxi to take us to the pier. We were pretty annoyed when the guy showed up and started honking 10min early – turns out he was planning to pick up multiple passengers on the way. We were even more ticked off when we realized that the cool weather in the morning meant it would have been an easy 20-30min walk – we didn’t even need the taxi! As a result, we were a bit grumpy when we arrived at the pier and once again had to stand around like chumps as the typical ferry chaos ensued: everyone jammed onto the tiny pier, waiting for their boat to be called. Oh well, at least the bio-security inspectors didn’t confiscate our to-go breakfast, which included both fruit juice and fresh fruit!

 

Waiting in the pre-dawn darkness for our 6AM ferry

So, on our last two ferry experiences, we tried to sit on the upper deck seats. Both times we were told *we* were not allowed (even though other tourists were – not sure if there was a bribe thing goin’ on, or what). This time, however, Igor didn’t bother to ask and just climbed up, motioning Lindsay to follow. There were already 3 people up top, but the five of us just fit on the bench. This was definitely the best seat in the house: instead of sitting along the edge of the boat’s interior, we actually got to face forward, and of course the view was awesome!

 

We finally get a top-deck seat! It’s far more comfortable and we have a refreshing breeze

 

We get a killer view of the sunrise! It would be perfect if condensation from the roof didn’t keep dripping on us – after a good 20min of wiping down the boat, the dripping finally stops

Even though this was by far and away our best ferry experience in the Galápagoes, it was also our weirdest. About halfway to Santa Cruz, our boat slowed down and met up with another speed boat just sitting in the middle of the ocean. The captain started instructing anyone who had a flight to catch to transfer to the other boat…so while the two boats were bouncing up in down in the waves, people had to crawl across the railing from one ferry to the other. The sailors then started transferring bags – good thing we were watching from above as we had to yell at them to leave our luggage alone! Once the correct bags were taken, the second ferry took off and sped away ahead of us, while we plodded along.

We guessed that our boat must have been having engine problems, as we were significantly slower than than all the others, which were soon out of sight. Igor watched as the captain and his first mate spent the rest of the ride tinkering with the boat’s wiring (he thinks they must have fried one of the wires, as the radio stopped turning on about an hour from port). Whatever – we weren’t in a hurry. All the other passengers that were sharing our top-deck seat had left by this time, so we had plenty of space to stretch out and even take a nap. We arrived in Puerto Ayora after 9AM – well over an hour after everyone else, but the comfort was totally worth it.

Sadly, the Captain Max Hostel didn’t have any rooms left for our second stay in Puerto Ayora, so Igor found us a “hostería” or guesthouse on the outskirts of town called Patty’s House. It was far (a 20min walk – downhill going into town, but uphill coming back) but since taxis were only USD $1.50 anywhere within Puerto Ayora, it wasn’t a big deal. We checked in and checked out the apartment – it was bare bones, but the kitchen did have a hotplate and a few cooking utensils, so we planned to self-cater for the next three nights, especially once we caught a glimpse of the amazing spread of fresh tuna at the fish market!

 

The Puerto Ayora fish market is in full swing when we walk by in the late morning – check out that fresh Yellowfin Tuna!

 

The fish market is surrounded by hungry pelicans, waiting for scraps

 

Birds aren’t the only beggars – a sly sea lion hides behind the counter. Whenever the fishmonger turns his head, the lobo hoists himself onto the counter trying to steal a snack!

In the afternoon, we finally made our way to the Charles Darwin Research Center – a scientific compound at the edge of town that houses an educational walking path, museum, Giant Tortoise Breeding Center, as well as facilities for the 200+ team of scientists, educators and interns that work to conserve the islands’ unique ecosystem. It may be a bit nerdy, but we couldn’t *not* go. And while we were sweating bullets at times, the place was pretty interesting.

The most notable figure within the education materials (besides Darwin himself) was Lonesome George, and the sad tale of his species’ extinction. Thanks to the plundering habits of pirates (who would collect 100s of tortoises as they passed through the islands in the 1600s to store *upside down* for months at a time in order to have fresh meat on their long voyages) and the introduction of feral goats and pigs (who over-grazed the island’s vegetation leaving the tortoises nothing to eat), the population of Giant Tortoises was absolutely decimated. By the 1970s, 2 of the subspecies were extinct, and a third – the Pinta Island Giant Tortoise – was down to its *last surviving member.* Lonesome George – an 80-something y/o male was that very last of his kind. The scientific community searched far and wide, combing the zoos of the world to try and find out if a female was still around (there was even a USD $10,000 reward!) but none were ever located. In an effort to preserve some of his DNA, many attempts were made to mate Lonesome George with some females from Volcán Wolf – considered the closest biological match. Even though a handful of eggs were laid, none of them ever hatched. Lonesome George died in 2012.

 

Igor walks the “Tortoise Trail” at the Charles Darwin Research Station

 

Learning is fun! We read about the pirates that hunted many of the Galápagos Giant Tortoises into extinction, and the various modern efforts to rebuild the surviving populations

Luckily, George’s fate was not shared by all the Giant Tortoises – there was one really great success story! Around the same time as George’s discovery, the population of the Española Giant Tortoise was down to only 13. Breeding attempts between the last 2 males and the 11 females weren’t looking too good, until another world-wide search yielded a stud in the San Diego Zoo. No one knew exactly when this guy was acquired (sometime between 1900-1950?), but he was soon taken back to the Galápagoes where he got BUSY. This well-endowed reptile fathered over 800 babies over the decades and is credited with single-handedly saving his species. (Although, I’d like to point out how SEXIST that statement is – after all, the females who laid the fucking eggs should get a little recognition, no?)

 

Baby and adult tortoises live in pens in the Charles Darwin Breeding Center until they are old enough to return to the wild

Tortoises aren’t the only species endanger of extinction – the poor Mangrove Finch is down to under 100 individuals thanks to avian illness (which prevent adults from reaching sexual maturity) and the accidental introduction of a parasitic fly (who lays its eggs in the finches’ nests so that the larva can crawl into the baby birds’ ears and EAT THEIR BRAINS). In an attempt to save the Mangrove Finches from the zombie bugs, a team of scientists have been collecting the eggs from the wild for the past 2 years, and hand-rearing them in captivity until they are old enough to be released. So far, the project has seen moderate success: the number of surviving babies had doubled each year. Keeping our finger crossed for these little guys!

 

Visiting the Charles Darwin Research Station – Lindsay discovers a little too late that the tortoise photo-op was for kids. Her big adult butt won’t fit!

Of course, the real highlight of the day was the AMAZING dinner we had back at our hospedaje. Lindsay whipped up her black bean and corn salsa, while Master Chef Igor cooked a *perfectly* rare tuna steak. We even treated ourselves to a rare bottle of wine for USD $10 (booze is incredibly expensive to import into the islands, but the selection was slightly better in Santa Cruz) – salud!

 

The best and freshest USD $2.50 tuna we’ve ever had in our lives! That guy was swimming in the ocean this morning. Tonight – he’s in our bellies!

Day 328: Isabela Island – Day 4

The only activity we had yet to do on Isabela was to go snorkeling in the Concha de Perla cove – a site right next to the pier (thus within walking distance) that is known for penguin sightings. Seeing the only tropical penguin in the world was one of the main reasons we came to Isabela in the first place, so it was a must-do. We rented a set of snorkels and fins from an agency in town the night before so that we could walk over first thing in the morning and hopefully have the cove to ourselves. One other couple beat us by a few minutes, but the place was big enough that we all had plenty of space to enjoy the sea life.

 

Early morning snorkeling in Concha de Perla – jumping off the dock into the cool, clear water

 

Swimming through schools of fish, and passing over a huge Marbled Stingray

 

A school of a dozen stingrays flap by underneath us

 

PENGUINS!!! At last, we find a pair of Galápagos Penguins, hunting for small fish in Isabela Island

 

The penguins are not shy, but they are only interested in fish. Once the school scatters, they dart away into the blue

 

Sea lions rolling around in the water next to the dock

 

Lindsay and a sea lion check each other out below and above the surface

 

A marine iguana clings to the side of the dock

 

When Lindsay gets out of the water, she can’t find her sunglasses, which she left sitting on the bench. A pair of a lions are now sleeping directly below…maybe they are lying on top of her glasses? It takes a few minutes of carefully poking the lobos with our selfie stick to get them to move over enough to verify the sunglasses are gone

 

We finally have to conclude that someone came and took Lindsay’s sunglasses. Igor remembered seeing a sketchy guy show up all by himself without a snorkel (and without sunglasses!) – he even caught him on camera. Other than that guy, we were the first ones to leave the cove, so there was no one else to take the glasses. THIEF!!!! (Thus concludes Sherlock Lindsay. Igor suggested she report it to the police, but she felt a bit silly given it was a pair of USD $5 glasses. Whatever – they didn’t even have UV protection – I hope that guy goes blind.)

We technically didn’t need to stay on Isabela another night, as we had plenty of time to make the 2PM ferry to Santa Cruz. However, the ferry was unpleasant enough during the cool hours of the morning – we couldn’t imagine suffering through the crowded, bumpy ride in the heat of the afternoon. Our hotel didn’t have availability for another night, so we had to move our stuff across town to the Volcano Hotel. Totally worth the effort tho, we got a huge room with an amazing view of the beach. After check-in, we once again spent the hottest part of the day hiding indoors with the AC on full blast, then emerged to do something incredibly productive: build sandcastles on the beach!

 

Our new, oceanview hotel room – nice upgrade!

 

Igor the sand artist creates a giant iguana on the beach

 

Lindsay loves her handsome, talented baby!

 

We finish the iguana just as the sun sinks below the horizon. While there is still a little bit of light in the sky, our fellow tourists walk over to Igor’s iguana to take pictures

 

Lindsay orders with her stomach – a ridiculously big, extra large pizza. By the time she finished her last slice, she felt like her tummy would explode.

 

Our hotel room has two full-sized beds. Igor says, “Honey – I love you – but I am so happy I have my own bed tonight,” as he passes out. I love too, you. Sleep well.

Day 327: Isabela Island – Day 3

For our second day-trip in Isabela, we booked a snorkel excursion to Los Tuneles, AKA “The Tunnels.” An open-air bus picked us up from our hotel a little after 7:30AM and drove us to the pier where we directly boarded a speedboat (funny how the local tour operators are allowed to use the dock – when we arrived a few days ago, everyone had to pay an extra USD $1 for a water taxi, claiming the dock was not big enough for the ferry boats). The group size was pretty manageable: two families with two kids each plus a backpacking couple. Per usual we were asked to wear ridiculously oversized life jackets, at least until we were out of the harbor – once we were out of sight, we stuffed them under our seats for the rest of the day.

Los Tuneles are located in a protected bay full of shallow, clear pools of water, surrounded by a labyrinth of stone arches created by lava flows. The area is only accessible by small boats as there is a gnarly breaker to navigate around to reach the calm inlet. Before we had a chance to jump into the water, our boat pulled up to the rocky ledge and allowed us to disembark for a short walking tour. The stone bridges that make up the tunnels were incredibly beautiful, and the visibility of the water was so clear, it was like looking into an aquarium!

 

As our boat drives into the Los Tuneles area, we see dozens of male Blue-footed Boobies diving head-first into the water, trying to catch fish. Since the males have a slightly smaller beak they must gather more momentum and dive deeper – up to 3M! – whereas the females can snare larger fish at a shallower depth with their longer bills

 

Brown Pelican and Great Blue Heron sitting in the mangrove trees near shore

Our boat slowly meanders its way through the shallow maze of Los Tuneles, with the cloud-covered volcano in the background

 

Los Tuneles – naturally occurring stone tunnels formed by lava flows

The best part about the tunnels walk, however, was the ability to get up close to the Blue-footed Boobies. Sure, we’d gotten a chance to photograph these guys on Seymour Island as well, but the boobies on Isabela let you get *really* close! These guys also seemed to be gearing up for mating season – we found a lot of male/female pairs perched around the tunnels. Unfortunately, none had yet made it to the dancing stage yet (where the boobies will repeatedly lift their bright blue feet as high in the air as they can, showing off the healthy, attractive color to their prospective mate – a process that can last for hours) – instead we saw a lot of disinterested females trying to take a nap.

 

A male Blue-footed Boobies tries to show a female that he is interested in her, but she pretends to be asleep – poor guy!

 

Igor’s photoshoot with a male Blue-footed Booby

 

Igor getting close to a female booby – the male gives him an eye as if to say, “back off, buddy!”

After about 45min of walking, we returned to the boat and motored off to our first snorkel spot, within the tunnels area. The water was incredibly clear, but unfortunately we didn’t see anything more interesting than some schools of large Surgeonfish. The second location was much better: our guide took us to a warm, shallow mangrove forest that was just teeming with wildlife! Because the water here was so shallow and murky, the fish were much safer from predators, so it was like a nursery for just about everything! We saw sharks, a seahorse, plenty of fish, and more turtles than you could imagine! Best snorkel location of the trip! Well, at least so far…

 

Clear visibility for schools of fish at Los Tuneles

 

The mangrove forest is a bit murky, but full of life! Our guide finds a seahorse hiding near the mangrove roots

 

So many sea turtles, munching on sea grass

 

Igor swimming with sea turtles

 

A group of a dozen White-tipped Reef Sharks hide on the seafloor under a tunnel

We returned to our hotel around 1PM. We decided to lounge about in the shade for a few hours, waiting for the afternoon heat to break before venturing out again. In the afternoon, we headed back out to the island’s trail system, this time taking the route to the Giant Tortoise Breeding Center. We arrived a few minutes before closing time, but the ranger let us come in for a quick walk-through anyways. We’d already visited 2 other tortoise centers at this point, so we were pretty quick about it. The return walk took us through a pretty lagoon where a large population of birds were milling about in the late afternoon light.

 

Taking a mid-day siesta in the hotel common area to relax in their beachfront hammocks and use their fast Wifi

 

Late afternoon walk to the island’s Giant Tortoise Breeding Center (the logo says it all!)

 

We don’t see any amorous tortoises, but we see a pair of ducks violently doing the nasty during our walk back! Dude nearly drowns his lady in the process!

 

Pretty pink flamingos in the Golden Hour

Day 326: Isabela Island – Day 2

Today we booked a half-day tour to hike the rim of two volcanos: Volcán Sierra Negra and Volcán Chico. While the height of the volcanos is around 3,700ft, our shuttle bus brought us to 2,700ft, so we only had to huff it up a third of the mountain. We were bit disappointed when the agency picked us up in the morning and discovered that our group was sold out to the max: 16 people! We were even more bummed when our guide started the tour by warning the group to stay together: apparently his group the day before had a couple who dawdled behind taking hundreds of pictures and made the entire group so late that half the guests missed their afternoon ferry! Sounds like the delinquents were arrogant jerks about it too, saying, “We paid for the tour – we’ll stay as long as we like.” Our guide reminded all of us that this was NOT a private tour. Ugh, sounds like *so* much fun.

After his speech, the guide directed everyone to use the restrooms before we started, as there were no facilities on the trail. Igor and Lindsay were getting antsy – the cool morning weather was quickly heating up – we wanted to start climbing as quickly as possible before it became unbearable! Our guide seemed to notice our impatience and said, “You can start if you like.” Nice! Turns out, his rules about “staying together” only apply to those lingering behind he couldn’t care less if you rush ahead!

 

Our guide gives us a stern briefing to stay with the group and to finish the trek ON TIME

 

Gearing up for the punishing equatorial sun: Igor dons his safari hat and Lindsay douses her face with globs of sunscreen

 

Morning hike to the edge of Volcán Sierra Negra

The crater of Volcán Sierra Negra – the 2^nd largest caldera in the world

We beat the group to the first viewpoint, where we waited for the guide to catch up and give us info about the Sierra Negra crater. At 9.3KM x 7.2KM it is the second largest caldera in the world, after Ngorongoro in Tanzania (which is 20KM in diameter). Sierra Negra is the most active volcano in the Galápagos – it’s latest eruption was in 2005. There was no access to the barren interior of the caldera – we could only view the inside from the rim, 330ft above.

Once the group was ready to go, however, we suddenly found ourselves at the back of the herd – a foursome of Argentinean tourists in particular seemed desperate to be first! Even though they ran ahead, we soon caught up and passed them going at a steady pace. (Guess their mate boost wore off! Either that or the Argentinos got tired from carrying the heavy thermos in their backpacks. Seriously, we can only shake our heads at the ridiculousness.) At the next group break, we took off while everyone was still sipping water and didn’t stop until we reached the end of the trail. Sure we missed a bit of the guide’s commentary, but we got to enjoy the volcano on our own.

 

Stuck behind the group after a bottleneck at the mirador

 

With the permission of our park guide, we hike ahead of the group, soon leaving them far behind. Luckily, the volcano trail is well-marked with posts so we are able to enjoy the scenery in solitude

Unlike Sierra Negra, Volcán Chico didn’t have a well-defined caldera – it was just a huge, barren field of rocks, hardened lava flows and vents holes (some tiny, and some very big). The landscape was very otherworldly – the crunch of the volcanic rocks as we walked down the trail made it feel like walking on Mars or something. Whereas the trail on Sierra Negra had plenty of trees flanking each side, Chico was almost completely desolate – only a handful of Candelabra Cacti were able to survive in the arid environment.

 

Two lone hikers on the volcano trail

View of the Isabela coastline from Volcán Chico

 

The harsh volcanic landscape is slowly starting to soften: Candelabra Cactus manage to survive among the rocks and vent holes

The desolate view from Volcán Chico

 

We return down the trail with time to spare before our shuttle comes to fetch us. As we sit in the shade and prepare to eat our packed lunch, we are horrified when we see a starving stray dog. The poor guy was literally skin and bones. We instantly fed him our tuna sandwiches, and we suspect several of the other guests did the same. Poor thing – not sure if that will be enough to help him.

Day 325: Isabela Island – Day 1

Our day began with yet another harrowing, 2hr. “ferry” ride, from Santa Cruz to Isla Isabela. The boarding process at the pier was marginally better – since there are twice as many ferries heading toward both San Cristóbal and Isabela at the same time, better organization was a must. This time, each passenger was given a color-coded necklace corresponding to their boat, allowing each operator to find their group more quickly. But we still didn’t leave on time.

Once we reached Isabela, we walked a short 10min along the road to our hotel – Casa de Marita. It was a beautiful white stucco building, framed by tropical plants with a prime, oceanfront location. Lindsay was impressed Igor had found such an awesome hotel for such a cheap price of USD $80/night! We checked in and got our key to our room…which was in the annex…across the street. Well that’s a buzzkill. Don’t get me wrong, the room was fine: quiet, clean, good AC & shower. But no Wifi and no beach.

Whatever – it’s not like we planned to spend much time in our room anyways. Isabela had a lot of attractions to see, so we dropped off our stuff and headed into town to start exploring. We visited a few tour agencies to book day trips for the next few days, then picked up a couple of rental bikes for the afternoon. One of the most popular activities on the island was to visit El Muro de las Lagrimas, or “The Wall of Tears,” – a dark vestige of Ecuadorian history when the island hosted a brutal penitentiary. While the history may be ugly, the trail itself was beautiful and gave us a good work-out and entertainment for the afternoon.

 

Enjoying the neighborhood and beach in Puerto Villamil on Isabela Island

 

Marine iguanas crawl all over the sand and rocks on the beach

 

Igor and Lindsay rent some bikes for the afternoon and venture out of town

 

Riding 5km to visit the infamous “Wall of Tears”

 

The Wall of Tears was built by convicts back in the 1950s when Isabela Island was being used as a penal colony by the Ecuadorian government. The purpose of building the wall was simply to give the inmates punishing work to do. It’s no surprise that in the harsh environment, many perished during the hard labor – thus the name of the wall

 

Hmm…as far as walls go…we’ve seen bigger…

 

Lindsay huffing and puffing her way up to the viewpoint. From here you can see that the rest of Isabela is nearly uninhabited – nothing but trees as far as the eye can see

View of the coastline of Isabela Island, with Puerto Villamil far away in the distance

 

A Giant Tortoise slowly walks across our bike path as we head back to town, passing through a “poison apple” grove and some tall Prickly Pear Catrus Trees

 

The bike trail has many scenic spots to turn off: tranquil lagoons and a beachfront cemetary

 

Pelicans hide in the branches of mangrove trees growing along the beach

Candelabra Cactus frame a peaceful lagoon during the Golden Hour

 

So many marine iguanas! These guys are lying all over the trail and sneeze salty loogies at our feet as we walk by

Sunset over the lagoon on Isabela Island

 

Taking a moment to enjoy the sunset

In consideration of our fellow tourists, we returned to our annex hotel room to shower and change before dinner. We were a little apprehensive about the cost of food – up until now we’ve tried to cook all of our meals to save money (Galápagos is insanely expensive!), but we finally found ourselves in a hotel with no self-service kitchen option. The street fair from the night before was surprisingly well-priced, so we hoped we could keep to the same budget.

Guys, I don’t know why, but Isabela has really cheap dinner options! Almost every restaurant along the main street in town offered a 3-course dinner for USD $7pp! Granted, “dessert” was usually a small bowl of fruit or Jell-O, but at least we weren’t hungry!

 

Restaurant after restaurant offer the same exact menu – even though there isn’t much variety, a 3-course meal for USD $7 is a deal!

 

We are shocked when the waitress refuses to sell Igor a beer with his dinner – apparently all restaurants are required to go dry the weekend before the elections! We notice a few of the pricer places around town breaking this rule, but we decide to stick to juice for the time being

 

Walking by the church after dinner – looks like your average Catholic church at first glance…

 

…however, the inside of the Puerto Villamil Church has a very tropical personality!