Travel Diary: Ecuador and the amazing Galapagos Islands

Hola Omigos Here is the next chapter ... South America, the Ecuador section. 28 April Up at 4 am this morning to say goodbye to mum and dad and catch the shuttle to the airport for our flight to Quito (in Ecuador, South America) via Miami - of course mum cried again the big wetty (only joking mum I was only trying to be a big girl and not cry this time)! It’s been an amazing week in LA and Vegas even if it wasn’t really our ‘thing’ but it was great to see my parents! Thank you mum and dad – you’re the best! The airport is so confusing! After finally working out how to get our online check in boarding pass there was an error with it. Then we had to queue for ages in the one queue to check in the bags. Then onto some infamous American thorough security checks and we made it into the departure lounge with plenty of time to spare! The 5 hour flight to Miami was pretty horrible for me as I was next to the emergency exit so it was freezing and my chair wouldn’t recline! Shaun however was asleep before we even took off so it went rather swiftly for him. We had a four hour wait in Miami before our next 4 hour flight to Quito. We had emailed a hostel before we left hoping they would have space for us and pick us up from the airport when we arrived. Luckily when we walked through the doors there was a man there waiting for u – phew! We clamoured through the hoards of people trying to collect their luggage and all the taxi man waiting for in the arrivals hall and made it out to the mini van. Within the first 5 minutes of the journey we knew that this leg of the trip is going to be exactly like Asia in the fact that our lives are going to revolve around horrendous bus trips! The roads had huge pot holes everywhere and the cars were going through red traffic lights a break-neck speeds (our driver informed us they only did this in the dark though)! About 20 minutes later we arrived at the very shanty looking ‘Old Town’ in Quito. Thankfully our hostel, The Secret Garden, looked rustic but not run down painted in bright yellow and blue. Our driver told us to walk up 5 flights of stairs to the reception as they had no lift (to be expected but really who puts a reception of a 5th floor). We hiked up the narrow winding staircase with huge steps with our 16 and 18kg bags and with being at an altitude of 2850 meters above sea level we were pretty knackered when we reached the terrace but the view was breathe taking. The open terrace/bar looks out over the Old Town with views of the hills even with it being completely dark as it was 10.30pm it looked amazing! After we checked in we hiked back down 2 flights and eventually found our room tucked around the many corners of the 3rd floor. The room is ok – it has a bed, a chair and a blanket but it looked cosy enough although freezing with no heating and stone cold walls! It costs $26 a night (plus 12% extortionate tax) but it’s a really nice hostel with good vibes. Of course, the first thing we did was go get a local beer from the terrace – a Pilsener and a Brahma for $2.50 each for a huge bottle). 29 April The morning gave us a whole new perspective of the place. We sat and ate breakfast on the terrace still amazed by the view. The town looks old and rustic but that’s exactly how we imagined it so we are glad it’s lived up to our expectations and thankful that it did not fall short of them. In the afternoon after a few attempts of trying to catch a taxi and no one understanding us we managed to grab a taxi for $3 to the New Town to get a bite to eat. 30 April – Otovalo and the equator We got picked up very early this morning in a mini van to do a day trip to Otavalo which is famous for its weekend markets. On the way we stopped off at the ‘real’ equator! The Ecuadorian people worked out the equator hundreds and hundreds of years ago by using the suns positions on the mountains – pretty impressive. Turns out they were only 100 meters out! The new ‘real’ equator has now been marked out by GPS. We had a few snaps - Shaun on one hemisphere and me on the other, and left for Otovalo. The Otovalo market is a traditional market selling all sorts of textiles and fruits and meats. It was pretty impressive until we saw exactly the same stalls selling exactly the same things row after row! We had 2 hours walking around in the heat before meeting back up on the bus where it turns out nobody bought anything! On the way back to Quito we stopped off at a waterfall. Not comparable to Asian waterfalls but it was pretty nice with a dodgy looking viewing platform and bridge. In the evening we headed over the road to a nice little Italian and had some good pasta! 1 May As it’s Sunday and pretty much nothing is open today we are having a chilled out day catching up on the blog. We took a walk into the old town in the evening to go to the cash machine (the only one in town) and grab some tea only to find out literally everything is closed on Sunday! The only places open were a KFC and a chicken place so we opted for the chicken place as it looked like they had something at least a little Ecuadorian – lentils and rice! 2 May Another chilled out day today as we weren’t able to book in a Spanish lesson for today. Instead we took a walk to the cathedral which we could see from the hostel terrace. The architecture of this building is pretty spectacular! We continued walking around the city and decided to head for the statue on top of the hill. As we were nearing the bottom of the hill a local guy who spoke English stopped us and told us not to go that way as it was not safe. We kind of had that feeling anyway as the street was deserted so we took his advice and took a photo of the statue from where we were. Then another local woman who did not speak English stopped us and told us not to go there either, from what we could make out and the hand signals it was not good for Gringos and someone had been stabbed in the neck down there. We are not fools so swiftly got out of the area!! We also paid for our trip to Galapagos Islands (in cash as they add stupid bank charges) in which we are going on a 5 day cruise upon a boat called The Encantada. We got a pretty good deal for the trip at $750 each for the tour and $350 each for the flights. It is a huge chunk of our budget but this is somewhere I have wanted to go to forever and meet lonesome George who is a giant Galapagos tortoise, the only one left of his kind! This evening we ate at the hostel and watched some of our new supply of movies on the laptop (thanks Glenn). 3 May Spanish lesson today at last!! We have really been struggling the past few days here trying to order food, get taxis, paying money with everyone not speaking any English. It is surprising however how far hand signals can go! The 2 hour lesson went pretty good and think we just about have the basics now (well written on paper anyway)! We have just chilled out for the rest of the day and went for a walk around the old town. 4 May At 6 this morning Paul, the travel agent, was ready waiting to take us to the airport for our flight to the Galapagos Islands - woo hoo!!! When we got to his truck he said ‘o ok my car’s been broken into’. Someone had broken into his car and stolen his radio then kindly locked the door again!! Pretty weird and he was parked 100 meters from the police station! Anyway, with us in the car were Sheila (spelt in some weird Irish way but in Irish her name is actually Cecilia) and Jeanine from Ireland who are going to be on the same cruise as us. After our bags got scanned for seeds and plants, we paid the $10 engala (immigration) and checked in and we all went over the road for a continental breakfast for $2 each. Our flight left Quito and then landed in Guayaquil (Ecuador’s biggest city and where we will be heading after our cruise) and then to Baltra Island in the Galapagos. The scenery from the plane is really awesome with mountains and hills in Quito melting into flat expanses of land as we reached Guayaquil and flying over the Galapagos was even better. The islands look amazing from the sky all different sizes and covered in flora and fauna. As we landed in Galapagos the heat struck us – it’s so humid and hot, about 30 degrees! A bit of a shock coming from the cold mountains of Quito! We paid our $100 entrance fee and met out guide and also another couple from Brazil also on the cruise. We all jumped on a bus which took us to a ferry which took us to the big island of Santa Cruz – why the airport isn’t on this island in the first place I don’t know. 2 jeeps picked us up on Santa Cruz as we made the 45 minute journey across the island to the port where the Encantada sail boat is moored. What really surprised us on the journey is that so many people live here with proper roads and loads of cards when we were expecting nothing but wildlife and trees! Our guide took us to a restaurant for lunch where all 11 of us sat down to get acquainted. Some of the people on the cruise had already been in Galapagos for a few days exploring the other islands. After lunch we took an unbearably hot 1 km walk to the Charles Darwin Research Centre. Here we saw lots of marine iguanas, land iguanas, giant land tortoises from 3 months up to 100 years old and Lonesome George the last surviving of his species. I’ve wanted to meet George since forever so I’m so happy we got to! We also got to go and sit with and have photos with some giant tortoises! Hugo (Guernsey Ted) also got involved. Back in town we stocked up on suncream and mosquito repellent and finally sat down to have a beer and cocktail. At 6pm we met everyone at the pier and were loaded into the ‘zodiac’ (a small rib like Shaun’s old one) and taken to the Encantada. The Encantada is a medium sized (30-35ft) red sail boat. We were taken to our rooms first and had a huge shock! We had double (well bunk beds) cabin at least with ensuite toilet and shower but we only had about half a meter of space on the floor, and that was for our bags! Shortly after we all sat down for a huge dinner and got to know one another (9 of us are European and 2 Brazilians on holiday). 7 hours travelling overnight in rocky, very noisy conditions so needless to say nobody got any sleep. 5 May – Happy birthday Hollie! First off want to say happy 5th birthday to my gorgeous niece Hollie who seems to be growing up rapid amounts since i’ve been away! The sleeping arrangements were a bit of a shock to us last night but expecting us to sleep whilst we are moving rocking side to side and being thrown out of the bunk bed is a joke let alone being next to the engine which is ridiculously loud so goes to say nobody slept! Day 2 on Encantada Cruise – Floreana Island and Devils Crown After an amazing breakfast we hopped onto the zodiac and headed for Floreana Island. On the way over we could see all the marine life already including sharks (lots of), a turtle and a penguin! On the island is the famous post box. Originally the post box was for whalers and sailors able to collect and drop off post so they didn’t have to go to the main land. Now it has a very quirky use – there are hundreds of post cards in the box from visitors from all over the world. What you do is write out a post card to whoever you want, without a stamp, pop it in the post box and the next person that comes along from that place picks it up and drops it off! We wrote out a post card to ourselves so it will be interesting to see when the next Guern goes to Galapagos and brings it home! Then we walked into the island and found the Lava Cave - and no it was not spewing molten hot lava to our dismay! It’s just a cave underground that we had to climb down a ladder to get into then walk along with in the dark with our torches. About 5 minutes into the cave we came across water. Our guide told us to get in and it’s going to get deep! Deep indeed; we walked 5 meters through a tiny opening and the water level was suddenly up to our chests! It was really awesome and freezing but quite a relief to get out of the 30 degree humid air outside! We then had our first snorkel in the Galapagos Islands Marine Park. We popped on our masks, snorkels and fins and walked into the warm water. Within a minute of getting in the water we saw a shark! Infact throughout the 2 hours we were in the water we saw between 10 and 20 baby meter long black tip reef sharks (not so scary) and lots of fish and even blue footed boobies diving into the water. When we got out of the water we spotted a turtle coming up for air about 10 meters off shore so Shaun quickly popped his gear back on and went and found it. He also had an underwater camera so hopefully we have some good pics when we get them developed. Our first snorkelling experience on the islands was really awesome!! Once back on the boat we could see our next snorkel site The Devils Crown which is a circle of rocks just off of Floreana Island. The marine life out here was even better!! Within 60 sq ft we saw 5 turtles which we got to swim with for a while, a couple of huge sea lions who came within inches of us, 5 big white tip reef sharks at the bottom of the ocean, loads of fish and 5 eagle rays all swimming in a line. It was so amazing and definitely worth losing sleep to get here to see it!! In the afternoon we went off for another walk on Floreana Island to see Flamingo Lake where we saw a couple of flamingos. We also took a walk to the other side of the island to Punta Cormorant beach where we sat on the beach for a while. Just off the shore are a couple of islands, one of which translates into ‘Tit Island’! We watched the sunset over the lake which was beautiful and got back on the boat for an amazing dinner waiting for us. 6 May - Day 3 on Encantada Cruise – Espanola Isand Another sleepless night and we were up eating breakfast at 7.30. After this we all got into the zodiac and were taken to Espanola Island for a 2 hour walk on Gardener Bay. We landed on a pier on Esponola Island and had to walk around all the sea lions sun bathing on the pier. There were loads of sea lions and marine iguanas all dotted around on the rocks who were not bothered by our presence. We walked along a path to the blow hole. Along the way we saw loads of sea lions, marine iguanas, lava lizards, masked and blue footed boobies and their chicks and albatross (not as big as the king albatross in Kaikoura, New Zealand though). The blow hole spat out a huge cloud of water every time - we even saw a crab and a marine iguana go flying in the water cloud (hopefully can get the pictures of that off Jeanine). We sailed for 2 hours on the boat before having lunch and then sailed another 2 hours until early afternoon. Off we went for our second walk of the day on a white sand beach with huge sea lion colony. There were about 80 sea lions covering the entire beach. We took a walk along the beach and were able to get really close to them. I think people have been coming to the Galapagos Islands for so long that none of the wildlife is remotely bothered by people. There is a rock island about 50 meters off shore which we snorkelled to. The visibility however was not very good so we weren’t able to see a lot and the sea lions were too busy sleeping so there were none in the water. As we were swimming back to shore we spotted a turtle so Shaun and I followed it for about 5 minutes which was so cool! They look like they are flying using no effort to swim at all. Amazing experience. Another amazing dinner on board and just off the boat we could see the sea lions hunting flying fish in the night. We also spotted a huge meter wide turtle popping up for air right next to the boat. We only have 5 hours travelling tonight so hopefully will be able to get some sleep at 12.30 tonight. 7 May – Day 4 on Encantada Cruise – San Cristobal, Isla Lobos and Santa Fe Once we had stopped sailing last night it was really calm. When we were up at 6.30 we could see that we were anchored up in between two islands so it was perfectly calm. Before breakfast we took the zodiac to San Cristobal Island for a walk. We had a landing on the rocks and took a short walk to spot lots of blue footed boobies, land iguanas and seals. We continued sailing the rest of the morning before we anchored up in between Isla Lobos and Santa Fe where we stopped to have lunch. Shaun and I went for a snorkel off the boat after lunch to check out the sea lions hanging out on the rocks on the shore. When we got over there the three sea lions jumped straight into the water to come and check us out. They were swimming all around us really close it was really awesome. We tried to swim with them but could no way keep up! They came closer and closer to us until they came a bit too close which we took as a bit of a warning to back off. We swam back to the boat after this! As soon as we got back on board it was time to get back in the zodiac to go snorkelling again. I was pretty tired so stayed on board with a couple of the girls. Soon after Sheila came back on the zodiac as she had dislocation her shoulder, apparently this happens a lot but the crew did not seem to take any interest in the poor girl’s pain. It soon popped back in (which looked excruciating) but she was alright in the end. Shaun can tell you about his encounter with the sea lions ... swimming with sea lions is amazing, they are so interactive, they swim inches from you turning and swimming away at the last minute. Some swim slowly up to you with their head slightly sideways so they can have a better look at you. I got a little too close to the pups on the rocks and the Bull of the group came in and headed straight for me and give me a warning by swimming fast up to me and trying to bite my leg but luckily I moved it and swam away. The Bull of the group is the male who protects the group and is also the biggest, about 6ft long 1ft wide, not to be played with. The guide saw what had happened and told the group to stay away from the seals while he was around. As we were heading back to the Zodiac our guide spotted something 20ft away and dived back in the water to investigate, telling us that if it was safe to follow he would let us know. He soon came back and told us it was safe. It was hard to make out at first, it just looked like a huge circular shadow a few metres deep. You had to dive and see, it was what looked like a 1000 small fish swimming together in a circle. Apparently there were sharks hunting. We weren’t allowed to swim through the fish just in case of a shark attack. A short while after everyone was back from their snorkel we got in the zodiac once more and taken to the beach on Santa Fe where all the sea lions were hanging out. We all had to slowly load onto the beach as there were sea lions in the sea and on land – all don’t want to move out of our way! We also took a walk through the island through the cactus forest and spotted some more land iguanas. Another amazing meal in the evening and a few beers as it’s our last night on board. 8 May - Day 5 on Encantada Cruise – North Seymour Island and Balta to Guayaquil A very early start this morning as we headed straight onto the zodiac and to North Seymour Island for a walk. As it was a dry landing we arrived at the pier which was covered in sea lions. And since this is also the last day of every other boat in the bay there were at least 50 people all trying to get on the island at the same time! As we walked around the island we saw sea lions, marine iguanas, land iguanas, lava lizards, blue footed boobies, frigates and albatross. After breakfast we packed our bags and were taken to Baltra Island (most of us as Ana, Rafael and Mark are staying for 8 days, lucky things). We hopped on the bus and taken to the airport. As Shaun and I were minding our own business reading our books we nearly missed our flight! All of a sudden a guy comes up to us and told us to get on the plane! We were the last ones to get on when everyone had been waiting for at least 10 minutes! A short flight later and we landed at around 1pm in Guayaquil (pronounced y-a-kill) and said our final goodbyes to everyone! Shaun and I jumped in a taxi and headed to the hostel we had booked, Hostal Suites Madrid. And as always it’s nothing like the pictures! We just about managed to check in as nobody spoke English and they were trying to charge us ridiculous amounts for the room! Our room is on the top floor and is very ... old! The decor is very old fashioned, as is the bathroom but at least we have our own! The bed is as hard as concrete so are the pillows but on the plus side we have a tv but with no English channels! O well it’s only for 2 nights although we are not happy paying $30 a night for this! At about 5pm we headed down the main street 9 de Octobre (or 9 of October, yes they name their roads after dates apparently and also places) towards the ‘water front’. Hmmm ... not really a water front just a playground in front of a huge brown fast flowing river! O well there were lots of people out all enjoying themselves and it is a world of different from Quito. I wouldn’t call it modern but compared to Quito it is! Turns out Guayaquil isn’t really all that, luckily we are only here for a couple of nights before heading to Peru. We eventually found a restaurant that was open (still here nothing is open on a Sunday) on the waterfront and ordered a steak each, although when it came we wished we hadn’t! It wasn’t the best piece of meat and it was rare even though we managed to order it medium (which we were very proud of). We grabbed an ice cream on the way home as there are loads of tempting ice cream parlours along the main road. We settled into the most uncomfortable bed IN THE WORLD and found an English film on the tv! 9 May - Guayaquil For breakfast this morning we found a decent looking cafe serving almuerzo which is a set lunch. We asked for “dos almeurzo por favour” (2 set lunches please) and she read off a huge list of options and the only thing we understood was spaghetti so spaghetti it is! So in the end we had a vegetable soup (with some weird brown meat in the bottom we didn’t dare eat) and a plate of spaghetti, with meat and Bolognese sauce and a serving of rice? It was tasty any how! Then we decided to take a taxi to the bus station as selectivos (local buses) seem way too dangerous and complicated as you have to run onto them whilst they are still moving! We made it to the bus terminal found the correct bus terminal in a big shopping mall and after about half an hour of trying to communicate we ended up writing notes on paper and we bought a bus ticket to Mancora not so far over the border in Peru for tomorrow. We have decided on Mancora as we were looking to chill out on the beach for a bit and do some surfing whilst in Peru and Nina and Steve (from the Encantada) recommended this place. We made our way back to the hostel in a taxi and chilled out for a bit before heading out for some tea. 10 May – Guayaquil So the plans have changed. Shaun has come down with food poisoning or travellers diarrhoea again like he had in Krabi when it wrote him off for a week. Considering that these buses don’t have reasonable toilet breaks plus the fact that he feels like death we decided not to get the bus to Mancora today. We have lost the $24 booking plus a 10% deposit for our next hotel and we had to pay the taxi we had booked but still it’s not too much of a loss. So I have nothing to write about since we have been stuck indoors all day. 11 May – Happy Birthday Mummy! - Guayaquil Happy Birthday mum! We had a bit of a lie in today after neither of us got any sleep last night; now we both have the bug. Again chilled out at the hotel for most of the day and also went to the bus terminal to book a ticket out of here for tomorrow morning, thank god! In the evening we went for the safest bet and had pizza hut for dinner in case of any more stomach upsets. Whilst we were eating there was a homeless girl outside the window pulling faces at us and trying to sell us sweets and as soon as we got outside with our doggy bag she pleaded to have it so we gave the 3 slices of pizza to the skinny little girl! Our first leg of our time in South America has been ... interesting!! The Galapagos Islands have been a huge highlight of the entire trip and we had the most amazing week. As for the rest of Ecuador ... Quito was a nice quaint town and Guayaquil was trying to be modern but failing miserably! Now it’s time to conquer Peru! Lots of love Jodie & Shaun xxx