Wednesday, August 4th
Yesterday Paul had convinced me to stay another day in Quito. I told him that I would stay only if he promised to take the day off of work and give me a tour around the city. So he said he would. I stayed for one more full day and he had to work the first half of the day. While he was plugging away at work, I went on a walking tour with some other tourists and it was guided by Paul's staff. I learned all about the old city section of Quito. I was so absolutely beautiful. Apparently Quito is the oldest city in South America. I was surprised to learn that because I would have thought for sure that Cuzco, in Peru (old Mayan city near Machu Picchu) was the oldest city. After my walking tour, Paul took me around the city and we did a supermarket sweep tour of the other districts of the city. The old city and new city are like night and day. The old city has the beautiful old Spanish colonial architecture and the new city is more like an modern American city with touristy shops, cafes, restaurants, and discotecas (dance clubs). I preferred the old city. At the end of our day, Paul took me to a great restaurant at the top of one of the tallest buildings in Quito. We sat on the rooftop deck and could see the whole city below. It was truly beautiful. Quito is very hilly, like San Francisco, and when you sit overlooking it you can really get a sense of the topography of the land. The different parts of the city are also shine differently in the dark. The light in the old city had a more yellowish afternoon-sun glow while the new city was bright, florescent, and somewhat sterile. The sight of the city from above was romantic and I was moved by it's aesthetic beauty. Paul and I had a tasty dinner and just relaxed for the rest of the evening. I was feeling slightly sad about leaving Ecuador because I was so pleasantly surprised by it's life and culture. I had a looooonnnngg day of travel ahead of me tomorrow. I had to cross the border into Colombia and arrive in a town called Popoyan.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
goodbye yellow brick road...
Tuesday, August 3rd
Today (sadly) I would say goodbye to the Galapagos. Wah wah wah! I took it all in for one last time - smelt the salty sea-air, stared at the color of the water, noticed all the plant life around me, and hoped in a cab to go to the airport. I traveled with a few buddies that I met on the island to the airport. It was a sad ride for me. I could have stayed soooooo much longer. I would have liked to gone diving at least a few more times (although the water temp was unbearable). I was slightly nervous about the plane ride since I had a scuba "incident" the day before. I still very much so felt the pressure in my sinuses. I ha bought some meds the night before but I wasn't completely relieved of the pressure. When I got to the airport, I asked every person who looked like an "American" (and there were loads of them) if they had sudafed on them. Luckily I found a table of middle-aged white American women who happened to be a walking talking pharmacy. Oh goodie for me!!! A took the sudafed and prayed that it would kick in instantly; my flight was leaving in 30 min. The flight was fine and dandy...no head explosion...no eyes popping out of my head...no "total recall" moments. Phew! I arrived into Quito and checked into my hostel, the same one I stayed at before, and went to see my buddy Paul. Paul and I hung out for the rest of the evening. Matt (the not so happy British guy from the 1st taxi ride in Quito) also came out with us. Lets just say...he grew on me. We went out to dinner at a place called the Devils inferno. It was a famous jazz club and restaurant. Anthony Bordain filmed it on his show "No reservations." It was fantabulous! I had a piece of seabass that was as big and thick as a porterhouse steak. It was delishioso!!! After dinner Matt went on his way and Paul and I we just relaxed and chatted till we fell sleep.
Today (sadly) I would say goodbye to the Galapagos. Wah wah wah! I took it all in for one last time - smelt the salty sea-air, stared at the color of the water, noticed all the plant life around me, and hoped in a cab to go to the airport. I traveled with a few buddies that I met on the island to the airport. It was a sad ride for me. I could have stayed soooooo much longer. I would have liked to gone diving at least a few more times (although the water temp was unbearable). I was slightly nervous about the plane ride since I had a scuba "incident" the day before. I still very much so felt the pressure in my sinuses. I ha bought some meds the night before but I wasn't completely relieved of the pressure. When I got to the airport, I asked every person who looked like an "American" (and there were loads of them) if they had sudafed on them. Luckily I found a table of middle-aged white American women who happened to be a walking talking pharmacy. Oh goodie for me!!! A took the sudafed and prayed that it would kick in instantly; my flight was leaving in 30 min. The flight was fine and dandy...no head explosion...no eyes popping out of my head...no "total recall" moments. Phew! I arrived into Quito and checked into my hostel, the same one I stayed at before, and went to see my buddy Paul. Paul and I hung out for the rest of the evening. Matt (the not so happy British guy from the 1st taxi ride in Quito) also came out with us. Lets just say...he grew on me. We went out to dinner at a place called the Devils inferno. It was a famous jazz club and restaurant. Anthony Bordain filmed it on his show "No reservations." It was fantabulous! I had a piece of seabass that was as big and thick as a porterhouse steak. It was delishioso!!! After dinner Matt went on his way and Paul and I we just relaxed and chatted till we fell sleep.
Monday, October 4, 2010
scuba...or bust!
Monday, August 2nd
I woke up early, bright eyed and bushy tailed, so excited to dive. I was a lil nervous about how absolutely cold the water was (around 55 degrees) and if it would negatively affect my dive. I was gonna suck it up and dive in head first. John was so excited to dive you would have thought it was his first dive down here. We got all our gear on board and hopped on the boat. The ride out to the dive site was a lil rocky to say the least. One of the kids on the boat was seasick within the first half-hour of the ride. I felt so bad for the poor thing especially since the ride didn't get any smoother and we still had about an hour to get there. When we arrived to the dive site the divemasters gave a thorough refresher lesson. We got our gear on and jumped in backs first. At first, the water temperature didn't seem to bother me and the thickness of the wetsuit was doing it's job. The visiblity was decent at about 10 meters. We saw all the same species of fish as we had seen during all the previous snorkeling trips. "So..." you ask ...."why dive then, if you see all the same things?" "GOOD question!" I reply. Diving offers to be immersed in a world unfamiliar to man and be a part of something much bigger than ourselves. When you dive versus snorkeling you can see the underwater world up close and personal. On the dive I was able to see seastars, coral life, and anemones that you can only see from a distance while snorkeling.
During the first dive (we did two 60 min dives at 60-70ft) I had issues with one of my flippers. The flipper kept unbuckling and would slide off my right foot. It happened 3 times. The third time it happened, I was trying to fix it and all of a sudden (I think my breathing must had started to rapidly increase because I was struggling with the flipper) I started to float up to the surface. I shot up 60 feet in a matter of seconds. Because of this, dramatic pressure increase I got (what they call in scuba) a sinus squeeze. Its when you feel loads of pressure in your sinuses, kinda like a migraine, and your eyes feel like they are gonna pop out of your head. It sucks and it's painful. And the bad news is that I'm gonna fly tomorrow. Not so good for me!
A minute after I surfaced, the dive master surfaced checked in with me, asked me what went wrong and if I was ok. I told him that I was fine and that the ascend was a complete accident. He said "no worries...you ready to go back down?" I replied "let's do it!" the rest of the dive was fantastic and oh so chilly!!! The second dive was crazy! We dove in a spot where the current just ripped through. The current was so strong that we actually had to hold onto the rocks and coral in order to stay together and from floating away into outer(ocean)space. I preferred the first dive to the second because the current was so strong it made the visibility worse and cloudier. the diving wasn't as easy as I had thought it would be nor was it as clear as I had hoped. Nonetheless, the experience was one I will never forget (that's why I keep a blog...so I won't forget it).
I woke up early, bright eyed and bushy tailed, so excited to dive. I was a lil nervous about how absolutely cold the water was (around 55 degrees) and if it would negatively affect my dive. I was gonna suck it up and dive in head first. John was so excited to dive you would have thought it was his first dive down here. We got all our gear on board and hopped on the boat. The ride out to the dive site was a lil rocky to say the least. One of the kids on the boat was seasick within the first half-hour of the ride. I felt so bad for the poor thing especially since the ride didn't get any smoother and we still had about an hour to get there. When we arrived to the dive site the divemasters gave a thorough refresher lesson. We got our gear on and jumped in backs first. At first, the water temperature didn't seem to bother me and the thickness of the wetsuit was doing it's job. The visiblity was decent at about 10 meters. We saw all the same species of fish as we had seen during all the previous snorkeling trips. "So..." you ask ...."why dive then, if you see all the same things?" "GOOD question!" I reply. Diving offers to be immersed in a world unfamiliar to man and be a part of something much bigger than ourselves. When you dive versus snorkeling you can see the underwater world up close and personal. On the dive I was able to see seastars, coral life, and anemones that you can only see from a distance while snorkeling.
During the first dive (we did two 60 min dives at 60-70ft) I had issues with one of my flippers. The flipper kept unbuckling and would slide off my right foot. It happened 3 times. The third time it happened, I was trying to fix it and all of a sudden (I think my breathing must had started to rapidly increase because I was struggling with the flipper) I started to float up to the surface. I shot up 60 feet in a matter of seconds. Because of this, dramatic pressure increase I got (what they call in scuba) a sinus squeeze. Its when you feel loads of pressure in your sinuses, kinda like a migraine, and your eyes feel like they are gonna pop out of your head. It sucks and it's painful. And the bad news is that I'm gonna fly tomorrow. Not so good for me!
A minute after I surfaced, the dive master surfaced checked in with me, asked me what went wrong and if I was ok. I told him that I was fine and that the ascend was a complete accident. He said "no worries...you ready to go back down?" I replied "let's do it!" the rest of the dive was fantastic and oh so chilly!!! The second dive was crazy! We dove in a spot where the current just ripped through. The current was so strong that we actually had to hold onto the rocks and coral in order to stay together and from floating away into outer(ocean)space. I preferred the first dive to the second because the current was so strong it made the visibility worse and cloudier. the diving wasn't as easy as I had thought it would be nor was it as clear as I had hoped. Nonetheless, the experience was one I will never forget (that's why I keep a blog...so I won't forget it).
you're a leader!
Sunday, August 1st
Today I woke up at 5am to hop off the boat hours earlier than expected becuse I had to catch a 7:00am boat back to Santa Cruz in order to go diving tomorrow. I was willing to miss out on the last stop on the boat in order to have the opportunity to dive. When John, the guide, dropped me off on the mainland he hugged me goodbye and left me with 8 sincere and wise words "Erin...you're a nice person and a leader." I smiled and thanked him. The 2 hour boat taxi ride back to Santa Cruz from San Cristobal was rough but nowhere as bad as the original trip out there. Once I arrived on the island, I went to the dive shop and got fitted for my wetsuit and scuba gear. I was soooooo excited about the dive tomorrow. While I was in the shop, I learned that my snorkeling buddy, John, would be my diving buddy. I couldn't be any happier to see that since he was a certified dive master. Since John had hopped off the boat after the 4th day, I has no idea where he was or if he was gonna dive with me. So, you can imagine my excitement when I learned that he was gonna be my diving buddy. After, giving the dive shop my credentials it was time to try on the wetsuit. It took me a ridiculously long period of time to get that sucker up on my body. You could probably hear me outside the bathroom moaning and grunting when trying to pull that sucker up onto my body. The full gear consisted of a "farmer John" overall wetsuit, plus a shorty with long sleeves wetsuit, a hood, booties, fins, mask and snorkel. It all fit as planned and I was ready to rock tomorrow. The rest of the day was pretty mellow. I met up with John and Monica again and they told me all about their previous dives. John had been diving for the past three days and had seen all sorts of amazing things including hammerhead sharks. I was soooo jealous! The whole reason I wanted to dive galapagos was to see hammerhead sharks, whale sharks, and giant manta rays (the Galapagos is famous for these animals). I made some more friends along my way on the Galapagos and we all went out to dinner that night. It was John, Monica, Matt, Felix (from Germany) Pablo (from Spain), and myself. We went out for a great dinner and shared/compared storied of our adventures on the islands. Tomorrow, the real "adventure" would begin!
Today I woke up at 5am to hop off the boat hours earlier than expected becuse I had to catch a 7:00am boat back to Santa Cruz in order to go diving tomorrow. I was willing to miss out on the last stop on the boat in order to have the opportunity to dive. When John, the guide, dropped me off on the mainland he hugged me goodbye and left me with 8 sincere and wise words "Erin...you're a nice person and a leader." I smiled and thanked him. The 2 hour boat taxi ride back to Santa Cruz from San Cristobal was rough but nowhere as bad as the original trip out there. Once I arrived on the island, I went to the dive shop and got fitted for my wetsuit and scuba gear. I was soooooo excited about the dive tomorrow. While I was in the shop, I learned that my snorkeling buddy, John, would be my diving buddy. I couldn't be any happier to see that since he was a certified dive master. Since John had hopped off the boat after the 4th day, I has no idea where he was or if he was gonna dive with me. So, you can imagine my excitement when I learned that he was gonna be my diving buddy. After, giving the dive shop my credentials it was time to try on the wetsuit. It took me a ridiculously long period of time to get that sucker up on my body. You could probably hear me outside the bathroom moaning and grunting when trying to pull that sucker up onto my body. The full gear consisted of a "farmer John" overall wetsuit, plus a shorty with long sleeves wetsuit, a hood, booties, fins, mask and snorkel. It all fit as planned and I was ready to rock tomorrow. The rest of the day was pretty mellow. I met up with John and Monica again and they told me all about their previous dives. John had been diving for the past three days and had seen all sorts of amazing things including hammerhead sharks. I was soooo jealous! The whole reason I wanted to dive galapagos was to see hammerhead sharks, whale sharks, and giant manta rays (the Galapagos is famous for these animals). I made some more friends along my way on the Galapagos and we all went out to dinner that night. It was John, Monica, Matt, Felix (from Germany) Pablo (from Spain), and myself. We went out for a great dinner and shared/compared storied of our adventures on the islands. Tomorrow, the real "adventure" would begin!
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Seal kisses and Mosquera
Saturday, July 31st
We started our day at 6am to ride the high tide onto shore. We started our day on a tiny little islet called Mosquera. The island was literally a long sand bank filled with numerous sea lions and calves, lava gulls and marine iguanas. The sea lions here rule the roast and rarely see people. Because of this, they have a healthy curiousity and quicky approach you when you deboard the boat. Within a few minutes of being on the beach, I had a 3 month old calf wobble up to me and touch my leg with it's nose and tickle me with it's whiskers. You should have seen my face. I so badly wanted to lay down and play wrestle with it. After Mosquera, we hopped back on the boat and sailed 5 hours to our next destination - Santa Fe. On route, I was told to look out for mating humpback whales, sperm whales or orcas. I refrained myself from taking a nap to use all my energy to find the whales. After an exhausting 5 hour ride, I sadly saw nothing. We arrived at Santa Fe and snorkeled straight away. The water was pretty murky today. We saw alot of the same fish that we've seen in all of our previous snorkels. However, this aquatic adventure was unique. There were 3 sea lions who were in the water with us swimming all around us. They would dodge in and out, between our legs, and right up to us and at the last minute would swim away. It was soooo cool! After flirting with the sea lions, we came across 3 huge green sea turtles and swam alongside them for a bit. These turtles were the most tranquil and chill turtles I've ever seen in the wild. They didn't even try to swim away. It was incredible! I desperately wished that I had an underwater camera to film it all. Then we went aboard changed into clothes to go on a quick hike around the island. We had a uniquely rare siting of 4 nocturnal rice rats (endemic to Galapagos and it's one of only two land mammals on the islands, the other is the Galapagos bat). We also saw some endemic land iguanas, lava lizards and more sea lions. From the beach we spotted a group of about 30 spotted eagle rays and white tip reef sharks in the water. The zodiac came to pick us up to get a better view of the rays. The rays were gorgeous. I've never seen so many of them in one group and so close to the surface of the water. We then headed back to the boat and set off to sail for another 5 hours to San Cristobal, which is where we began our trip. Less than 30 minutes into our voyage, we saw (possibly humpback) whales breaching in the distance. What a perfect last day on the boat!
We started our day at 6am to ride the high tide onto shore. We started our day on a tiny little islet called Mosquera. The island was literally a long sand bank filled with numerous sea lions and calves, lava gulls and marine iguanas. The sea lions here rule the roast and rarely see people. Because of this, they have a healthy curiousity and quicky approach you when you deboard the boat. Within a few minutes of being on the beach, I had a 3 month old calf wobble up to me and touch my leg with it's nose and tickle me with it's whiskers. You should have seen my face. I so badly wanted to lay down and play wrestle with it. After Mosquera, we hopped back on the boat and sailed 5 hours to our next destination - Santa Fe. On route, I was told to look out for mating humpback whales, sperm whales or orcas. I refrained myself from taking a nap to use all my energy to find the whales. After an exhausting 5 hour ride, I sadly saw nothing. We arrived at Santa Fe and snorkeled straight away. The water was pretty murky today. We saw alot of the same fish that we've seen in all of our previous snorkels. However, this aquatic adventure was unique. There were 3 sea lions who were in the water with us swimming all around us. They would dodge in and out, between our legs, and right up to us and at the last minute would swim away. It was soooo cool! After flirting with the sea lions, we came across 3 huge green sea turtles and swam alongside them for a bit. These turtles were the most tranquil and chill turtles I've ever seen in the wild. They didn't even try to swim away. It was incredible! I desperately wished that I had an underwater camera to film it all. Then we went aboard changed into clothes to go on a quick hike around the island. We had a uniquely rare siting of 4 nocturnal rice rats (endemic to Galapagos and it's one of only two land mammals on the islands, the other is the Galapagos bat). We also saw some endemic land iguanas, lava lizards and more sea lions. From the beach we spotted a group of about 30 spotted eagle rays and white tip reef sharks in the water. The zodiac came to pick us up to get a better view of the rays. The rays were gorgeous. I've never seen so many of them in one group and so close to the surface of the water. We then headed back to the boat and set off to sail for another 5 hours to San Cristobal, which is where we began our trip. Less than 30 minutes into our voyage, we saw (possibly humpback) whales breaching in the distance. What a perfect last day on the boat!
Bartolome And The moon
Friday, July 30th
Woke up on Isla Bartolome and hiked up numerous steps to the top of the island. This is the only island where they have built a wooden walkway. The reason for this is beause the entire island is made of ash and volcanic rock. Scientists say that this island is the closest thing to the surface of the moon. In order to preserve the island's surface and shape, they needed to built a walkway so people aren't destroying the natural environment. The view from the top was incredible and it really did look like something from another planet. After summiting, we hiked to another part of the island where there was beach known to house black-tip reef sharks. Sure enough we saw a few of them swimming very close to shore. Next, we jumped in the frigid water and snorkeled around a "famous" point called the pinnacle rock. It's famous because you see a picture of this rock in almost store that sells postcards in the galapagos. The rock is also very unusual looking. It's a tall, black, volcanic, cone-shaped, pointed rock with a spiral like formation from the base to the top. It really is quite unique and fascinating to look at. During the snorkel we swam with lots of fish and some galapagos penguins. The penguins were unbelieveably fast. They are like the cheetahs of the sea and you couldn't try to keep up with them if you tried. Following the exciting swim, we set sail for 4 hours to an island called North Seymour. There on the island, we hiked around for a few hours and saw much of the same species of animals that we have seen on all the other islands.
Woke up on Isla Bartolome and hiked up numerous steps to the top of the island. This is the only island where they have built a wooden walkway. The reason for this is beause the entire island is made of ash and volcanic rock. Scientists say that this island is the closest thing to the surface of the moon. In order to preserve the island's surface and shape, they needed to built a walkway so people aren't destroying the natural environment. The view from the top was incredible and it really did look like something from another planet. After summiting, we hiked to another part of the island where there was beach known to house black-tip reef sharks. Sure enough we saw a few of them swimming very close to shore. Next, we jumped in the frigid water and snorkeled around a "famous" point called the pinnacle rock. It's famous because you see a picture of this rock in almost store that sells postcards in the galapagos. The rock is also very unusual looking. It's a tall, black, volcanic, cone-shaped, pointed rock with a spiral like formation from the base to the top. It really is quite unique and fascinating to look at. During the snorkel we swam with lots of fish and some galapagos penguins. The penguins were unbelieveably fast. They are like the cheetahs of the sea and you couldn't try to keep up with them if you tried. Following the exciting swim, we set sail for 4 hours to an island called North Seymour. There on the island, we hiked around for a few hours and saw much of the same species of animals that we have seen on all the other islands.
Red san beach of Rabida
Thursday, July 29th
Rabida was an incredibly unusual looking island. It was one of the few islands in the world with a red sanded beach. The color of the sand was brick red and it was slightly more course that the other beaches. Here we saw some new animal species - the galapagos hawk, American oyster catchers, pelicans, and of course the usual sea lions laying abound. After hiking around the islan for a few hours, we snorkeled around the pennisula. During the snorkel we saw all the same species of fish as the other snorkels in addition to 2 white tip reef sharks. After the swim, we sailed a few hours to Santiago Island. On the island we would arrive on a black sand beach called James Bay. It was beautiful! Then we hiked around the to the other side of island to Puerto Egas. The earth here was very black, rocky and volcanic. The twists and weaves of the island floor kinda reminded me of the rocks in Zion national park. I was fascinated by the patterns of the earth under my toes. Here lived lava lizards, loads of marine iguanas, sea turtles, galapagos fur seals (which is really a different type of sea lion), striped herons, and mockingbirds. This side of the island where all the animals roamed was like a completely different topographic world from the beach side. I loved this island. It quickly became on of my favorites. After our hike, we sailed in the evening for 5 hours to an island named Bartolome.
Rabida was an incredibly unusual looking island. It was one of the few islands in the world with a red sanded beach. The color of the sand was brick red and it was slightly more course that the other beaches. Here we saw some new animal species - the galapagos hawk, American oyster catchers, pelicans, and of course the usual sea lions laying abound. After hiking around the islan for a few hours, we snorkeled around the pennisula. During the snorkel we saw all the same species of fish as the other snorkels in addition to 2 white tip reef sharks. After the swim, we sailed a few hours to Santiago Island. On the island we would arrive on a black sand beach called James Bay. It was beautiful! Then we hiked around the to the other side of island to Puerto Egas. The earth here was very black, rocky and volcanic. The twists and weaves of the island floor kinda reminded me of the rocks in Zion national park. I was fascinated by the patterns of the earth under my toes. Here lived lava lizards, loads of marine iguanas, sea turtles, galapagos fur seals (which is really a different type of sea lion), striped herons, and mockingbirds. This side of the island where all the animals roamed was like a completely different topographic world from the beach side. I loved this island. It quickly became on of my favorites. After our hike, we sailed in the evening for 5 hours to an island named Bartolome.
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