Category: Hikes

After our time in Quito, we moved next stop … the islands made famous by Charles Darwin in the 19th century when he spent 5 weeks surveying the islands and shaped his understanding of evolution through natural selection.  Now for context, the Galapagos Islands are a group of 18 islands (plus over 50 islets less than 1 km²) with just under 30,000 people living on 5 of them.  The easternmost island, San Cristobal (also where we arrived) is 950 km (590 mi) west of the continent.

Here it is courtesy of Google:

It was a very pleasant journey from our hotel to the airport and out to the islands.  The joys of being on an organized tour.  🙂

 

Once through the thorough customs process (understandably so, they are constantly battling invasive species … including humans).  Since the land is not terribly fertile, it’s a difficult balance.  Ecuador wants tourism in the Galapagos and the wealth that accompanies the hoards.  Therefore, development is necessary, but it’s a delicate balance with a terribly fragile ecosystem that is unique in the world.  The number of inhabitants has spiked over the last couple decades and it remains to be seen if the development can be ecologically sustainable.  Sadly, the fear that it may be lost in the near future motivated us to visit now.  We will hope that the balance can be struck and many future generations can experience the immeasurable beauty of the islands.

We met our naturalist guide, Billy, outside the airport.  One of the ways to limit the environmental impact of tourists it to limit the size of groups (16 people per naturalist guide), restrict the sites visited (~54), the length of time on shore (2-4 hours) and the size of ships (max 100 passengers).

We began and ended on San Cristobal (the star on the map below).  The first day included a bus trip up to the northeast corner to tour a tortoise breeding center.    But first, as an orientation, here is a map with the places we visited in the Galapagos (again, thanks Google, although I have annotated the locations and some names).  Also, since I have about 250 images to share, I will order the posts roughly chronologically and by island.  Since each island is unique and therefore slightly different, it’s interesting to see the differences.

 

SAN CRISTOBAL

Here are a few images of the village of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno.  There are about 6,000 residents and it feels like a sleepy fishing village.

 

I made the image of a police dirt bike for Alex, who still loves all vehicles.

 

M/Y MAJESTIC

Now, here is our boat … as you can see, the Motor Yacht Majestic lives up to her name.  She is 35 m (115′) long with a beam of 7 m (23′), cruises at 10 knots and carries 16 passengers with 10 crew.

 

Although not overly large, there was plenty of space to spread out.  The top deck had tables, lounge space and a Jacuzzi.  The main deck had the dining room, more lounge space  and 4 cabins.  The lower deck had 4 cabins for passengers and the crew spaces.

 

Here is our cabin … after we had lived in it a few days.  It was very comfortable and we really enjoyed the large windows.  Fortunately, on this boat, every cabin comes with air conditioning and a private bathroom.

 

OK, now that everyone has bit of background and I know I’ve taken a long time to get to it (thank you for your patience), here are the stars of the Galapagos … the animals!  Trust me, it was worth the wait.  They are spectacular.

SANTA FE 

At nearly every beach, we were met by furry mammals, these friendly sea lions, cousins of the California variety.

 

Another familiar visitor, the large Galapagos Land Iguana.

 

The other sight on Santa Fé was the immense Opuntia cactus.  These cacti are more like trees!

 

Two permanent residents of Santa Fé with our floating home in the background.

 

A Galapagos hawk, which is about the same size as a red-tailed hawk in North America.

 

The iguanas did lots of chillin.  Charles Darwin wasn’t a fan … in his book chronicling the voyage of the Beagle he remarked the Galapagos Land Iguana were  “ugly animals, of a yellowish orange beneath, and of a brownish-red colour above: from their low facial angle they have a singularly stupid appearance.”  I don’t know, I think they look a little smug.

 

SOUTH PLAZA ISLAND

A barren landscape, it’s easy to see how fragile it is and why animals had to evolve and adapt, if they couldn’t leave the island to go to another.

 

There are likely only 5,000-10,000 land iguanas left on the islands.  In the 19th century, they were all over, but introduced species that became feral (pigs, rats, dogs and cats) nearly wiped them out.

 

The Red-billed tropicbird:

 

and the top and back view of this majestic flier.

 

The red rock crab (or Sally Lightfoot Crab) was a common site on most all the islands.  A spectacular red on the black volcanic rock.

 

We hiked up to this beautiful cliffline and found this pelican.

 

He was doing a little pouch stretching.

 

Another guest had worked his way all the way to the top of the cliff.  An impressive feat while effectively sliding over sharp lava / coral.

 

 

He seemed very proud to have made it up.

 

Mmm, I love the sun…

 

Oh yes, I’d like a drink over here, please!

 

Since the sea lions had been coming up the cliff so long, the sharp coral and lava had been worn smooth like marble.

 

Another yellow iguana enjoying the sun too.

 

Here is one of the many types of species of Darwin’s Finches.

 

Sauntering across the trail.

 

An image to give you an idea of the relative size of the land iguana.

 

And now … into the water!  We chose this itinerary because we wanted to focus on the endemic land-based animals in the Galapagos.  However, we love being in the water, so it was a treat to be able to snorkel.  Sadly, none of the boats that do land tours also offer SCUBA (from what we found, at least).  So we contented ourselves with staying a few meters from the surface.  Here is Anna all kitted up (as they say in the UK).

 

I love diving with seals and sea lions as they are very curious and willing to play with divers (or snorkelers).

 

Billy explained that if I dive down and do loops underwater, the sea lions might follow suit and sure enough!

 

Looping away!

 

The guides were kind enough to point out this giant bait ball which I got to go swim through.  It’s a bit surreal swimming through a cloud of fish.

 

Anna took the camera and got an image of me parting the fish.

 

 

As we South Plaza island, we were greeted by a coupe whales.  This was as close as we got, but they are always fun to see.

 

As we sailed around Isabela Island, we had some tag alongs.  These Greater Frigate birds came one at a time…

At first, sitting on the boat.

 

Then, cruising overhead.  We would see many more on our voyage, but they are fun to watch cruising and matching our speed seemingly effortlessly.

 

And with that, the sun rapidly slipped over the horizon.

Many more islands to visit…  But dinner was first.

Until the next island.

–Jim

 

 

Next stop was Isla Bartolomé with its panoramic summit that sits at 114 m (375 ft) above the sea.

This is the view from Pinnacle Point (aptly at the summit) and has been seen in several movies, notably with Russel Crowe in the film adaptation, “Master and Commander: the Far Side of the World” Movie Clip

 

The lava field is martian, but there are a few hardy plants that are starting to make it green … slowly.

 

You can clearly see the basalt lava flow from a recent(ish) eruption on Santiago Island.

 

 

 

This dingy or zodiac or panga (our guides’ preferred term) was how we got from the boat to shore and often our vessel to tour close to shore.

 

This is the Galapagos penguin endemic to the islands (meaning found nowhere else).  It is also the only penguin that lives north of the equator in the wild.  Its able to do that because the Galapagos islands have the Humboldt current with is cold water running to the islands.  Also, this is the second smallest penguin in the world (after the Little Penguin in Australia/NZ).  These penguins only grow to 49 cm (19 in) and weigh 2.5 kg (~5.5 lbs).  Their small stature means they have lots of predators and the population was only about 1,500 animals in 2004, meaning they are an endangered species.

 

A marine iguana.

 

The famous Blue Footed Booby.

 

A great blue heron.

 

 

 

 

Now, back in the water to see the same rock from below the waterline.  Sure enough, we ran into some friends right away.

 

Another white tipped reef shark.

 

A Panamic Cushion Sea Star or knobby starfish.  This species is found in the east Pacific to Hawai’i.

 

A school of razor surgeonfish.

 

A stingray in the background with a porcupine puffer in the foreground.

After this we hopped out of the water, were welcomed back on the boat with a tasty drink.  We cleaned up, were served a delicious lunch, then a quick siesta and we were over on the other side of the island.  We got back in the panga to do a little more snorkeling.

First up was green sea turtle swimming through nutrient rich water.

 

A Guineafowl Puffer.

 

Red Spiny Lobster … yum!  In fact, there are enough of these guys that there is a lobster season and each year 30-40 tons are caught in the Galapagos.

 

Back on shore and we dried off as well as we could, threw on our hiking shoes and went exploring (in a group and on the trail…).  There were lots of the marine iguanas in Egas Port on Santiago Island.  There were also remnants of buildings, as people had previously lived on the island.

 

More Sally Lightfoot crabs that were nearly glowing in the afternoon sun.

 

More sun worshiping by the marine iguanas.  These lizards are also endemic to the Galapagos.  It is also the only lizard that can forage in the sea, which makes it a marine reptile (sea turtle, sea snakes and saltwater crocodiles are the others).  Apparently Mr. Darwin didn’t particularly like these iguanas either when he noted, “The black Lava rocks on the beach are frequented by large, disgusting clumsy Lizards. They are as black as the porous rocks over which they crawl & seek their prey from the Sea. I call them ‘imps of darkness’. They assuredly well become the land they inhabit.” Again, I disagree as we found them quite curious and entertaining to watch.

 

 

 

 

 

This guy needs a good meal of algae (their only food).

 

An American or Galapagos oystercatcher surveying his options with a Sally Lightfoot crab in the background.

 

 

 

Galapagos Heron looking sagely at the water.

 

A Galapagos Fur Seal (or Fur Sea Lion).  We didn’t see many of these guys, but this one was part of a small group lounging on the shore and enjoying the final rays of sunshine.

 

It’s amazing how the crabs stand out.

 

Perhaps my favorite sight of the day…

With that, we got back on board and made the nighttime trek over the top of the seahorse, Isabela Island en route to Tagus Cove the next morning.

Until then…

–Jim

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ISABELA ISLAND

We pulled into the beautiful Tagus Cove of Isabela Island.  Our hike for the day was to Darwin’s lake.  It’s the likely destination of Charles Darwin when he visited the area for 5 weeks.  However, since there are several inland lakes, it’s possible he visited another.  In any case, it was a fun hike.

This little guy is a lava lizard (even though he’s climbing a tree).  There were a lot of these little ones running around on the islands.

 

Here’s a panorama of Darwin’s Lake, with Tagus Cove in the background.

 

Once we finished the hike, we took a tour around the cove in the panga boats.

 

One of the great birds we saw was the flightless cormorant.  It’s native to the islands, but it still is part of the overall cormorant genus.  However, it’s unique in that it’s the only one to have lost the ability to fly.  In fact, their wings are so small that apparently, they would need to be 3 times larger in order to fly.  It is likely they evolved to be divers instead of swimmers since there were no predators until the arrival of man (and associated animals).

 

The blue eyes are really striking.

 

After a quick change, we headed back out to snorkel, then kayak the bay.  We were able to see more flightless cormorants … including watching them fish.

 

Another green sea turtle.

 

At this point, while we were out kayaking, tragedy struck our boat.  I’m sad to say, one of our shipmates died while snorkeling.  It was a shock to everyone, but most of all to his girlfriend, who was with us too.  We don’t know what caused it, but he was gone very quickly and there was nothing we could do for him.  We could only support her.  Everyone came together to offer whatever support we could, small comfort though it was.

As you can imagine, everything changed at that point.  Since the local authorities couldn’t come to us and they didn’t consider it an emergency at that point, we had to make our way 12 hours to reach the hospital in Baltra on Santa Cruz.  Once we got there, the authorities took over and interviewed the crew. Soon after, they determined that no one was at fault.  The woman (of the couple) was such a model of strength and held tough throughout.  She also selflessly wanted the rest of the passengers to enjoy the remainder of the cruise.  She gathered their affairs and decided to stay with his body on the return to the US.  We said a sad farewell to both as they left under the worst possible conditions.  Some of the passengers were able to stop by and see her before leaving at the end of the cruise.  To make an incredibly difficult situation more challenging, she had to stay for several days in Quito waiting for the paperwork with the embassy to go through (a certificate of death abroad needs to be accomplished), before flying home to the US.  Again, it was a horrible tragedy, but everyone was able find the strength to get through it.  I was proud of our fellow shipmates and crew, and our collective heart went out to the wonderful woman who had lost the love of her life … a young man in his 40s who, in our short time together, showed us what a kind, wonderful person he was.  They were very much missed when they left the boat.  Anna and I hope she is well and has been able to grieve.

Since we were now in a completely different location, our itinerary changed completely.  We had to keep moving.

On the way over to Baltra, we came across a super-pod of bottle nose dolphins.

 

A veritable wall of dolphins.  This image doesn’t even capture half of them.  There were hundreds of dolphins.

 

SANTA CRUZ

After arrival in Baltra, we hopped on a bus to the highlands of Santa Cruz (AKA Indefatigable) to see the Galapagos giant tortoises in their natural environment.

 

Although you could get very close to these huge/ancient creatures, we were told it was best to maintain at least 2 meters distance.

 

It is estimated that there were 250,000 giant tortoises on the Galapagos since there are no natural predators.  However, as humans arrived, they realized that the tortoises were easy to catch, huge and could live in captivity for up to a year with no food or water.  So, sailing crews would simply stack tortoises on their back in the hold of the ship so that they would have fresh meat on their journey.  This practice (among others) nearly wiped out the entire tortoise population.  10 of the original 15 subspecies still exist on the Galapagos.  The only other place giant tortoises exist is on Aldabra in the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean. Also, since they never stop growing, the Galapagos giant tortoise weighs up to 417 kg (919 lb).

 

You can see his head is starting to retreat back to the shell … that told me I was a little too close and making him uncomfortable.  I backed up.

 

The tortoises love the mud to stay cool and grass to each.  There was an abundance of both at this location.

 

Anna in the image for perspective … however, she’s 2 meters behind the tortoise.  Oh, and for clarity, a tortoise lives entirely on land, while a turtle lives on land and water.  Kinda like the difference between a frog and toad.  

 

 

 

You can approximate the age of a tortoise by the relative size and wear on its shell.  The smoother the rings are, the older the animal is.  They can live to be at least 170 years old.

 

Staying cool.

 

And comfortable.

 

Slightly different habitat.

 

In arid areas where the tortoises had to reach up for food, the shells developed into what looked like a saddle.  Therefore, they are called saddle backs.

 

This particular tortoise is very famous.  His name is Diego and is over 100 years old.  50 years ago, his sub-species from Espanola only had 2 males and 12 females.  Sadly, they were too spread out to mate in the wild and risked becoming extinct.  However, there was hope in the US.  Diego had likely been captured on Espanola sometime between 1900 and 1959 and put into captivity in the San Diego zoo (hence his name).  He and a few others were charged with repopulating the entire sub-species and brought back to the Charles Darwin breeding center in 1976.  When he arrived, the other tortoises in captivity weren’t breeding.  Diego showed them how to do it and became the dominant male.  So, Diego has done his part and then some. In the time since his repatriation, he has fathered 800 off-spring or 40% of the tortoises released into the wild on Espanola!  Quite a feat for the relatively slow breeding giant tortoise.  Effectively, he single handedly brought his species back from near extinction.

Well done, old boy!

 

The fish market in Puerto Ayora had a little of everything.  The star attraction wasn’t the delicious fish brought in straight off the boat.  It was the strap-hangers looking for a handout.

 

A few sea lions were waiting somewhat patiently for scraps to come their way.  They were surprisingly well behaved in my opinion.

 

Mmm, I love yellow-fin tuna.

 

Oh, that looks nice!

 

Even the normally vegetarian marine iguana is looking for a quick bite.

 

The pelicans were flocking.

 

 

 

Yes!  Got a bite.

 

Helping clean the fish…

 

 

 

Good thing that pouch is so big.

 

 

 

Bright red grouper, which will likely be going the local restaurants.

 

The frigatebirds hovered (impressive flying skill) for a moment to grab a bit too.

 

 

After a delicious dinner in town, the boat came down and picked us up to head to our next destination.

Until then…

–Jim

 

NORTH SEYMOUR ISLAND

After spending the night traveling back to the north side of Santa Cruz, we came to the impressive North Seymour Island, home to thousands of birds and the Magnificent and Great Frigate birds were in full mating form.

 

This display flying ability is again quite amazing … to maintain complete control with a giant sac in the middle of the body changing the aerodynamics.

 

Off to build the nest, such that it is for frigate birds.

 

There was some serious courtship and displays of aggression going on.  To give a little perspective on relative size, a full sized adult is about a meter long, with a wingspan of 2-2.3 m (6.5 – 7.5 ft).

 

I’m impressed, but the female seems more interested in cleaning herself … perhaps she just has a headache.

 

Our friends the land iguanas were quite yellow on this island.

 

A swallow tailed gull, also endemic to the Galapagos.  It’s nocturnal, so he is up late.

 

 

 

A blue-footed booby with her eggs

 

They slightly dirty the eggs to help hide them from predators.

 

 

 

 

 

A juvenile frigatebird.

 

The famous Booby Dance.

 

Get up for it!

 

 

 

Yeah, I’m all puffed up.

 

The Booby nest consists of defecating in a circle and digging a shallow hallow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I can’t tell, this guy seems either really tired or completely dejected.  He’s a Great frigatebird, but perhaps even the green iridescence wasn’t enough.  

 

A female magnificent frigatebird.

 

Our little group with Billy on the left.

 

Father and daughter.

 

A magnificent mother feeding her teenager a grouper.

 

The sibling rivalry goes all the way to fratricide. These two were really going at it.  The one on the left wasn’t happy he didn’t get fed.

 

He takes “getting your swell on” to a whole new level.

 

Yeah…

 

Good thing these birds are so light (for their size).  They only weigh 1-1.6 kg (2.2-3.5 lbs).  Also, the take part in the peculiar form of kleptoparasitism.  That is, the frigatebird will chase other birds to steal their food, or even force the other bird to regurgitate the food, then eat it. While this is relatively common in nature, it’s rare among birds.  It’s also thought that frigate birds get up to 40% of their food in this manner.

 

The iguana was not impressed.

 

All three.

 

He was just looking for lunch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Galapagos dove, endemic to the islands.

 

A blue footed booby in flight is much more graceful than on the ground.

 

Our rides coming to bring us back to the boat.

 

 

 

BACHAS BEACH, SANTA CRUZ ISLAND

Our next stop was fairly close, back to Santa Cruz Island for an afternoon snorkel and hike on Bachas Beach.

There was a group of three golden rays that were swimming in the bay.  I kept bumping into them.  The visibility wasn’t great (as you can see), so I hung back and swam behind them for a while.  I very much enjoy watching large rays swim.

 

 

 

The name Bachas Beach dates back to the second World War.  At the time, the US had lots of personnel and equipment in the area.  In this particular area there were floating barges.  At some point, a couple of the barges broke away and washed up on shore.  The word barges was likely mispronounced by the local population of Santa Cruz and morphed into Bachas.  Some of the metal from the original barges is still in the sand today.

 

 

The pelicans were all going after their dinner with gusto and speed.

 

 

A juvenile black tip reef shark.

 

Immature Galapagos brown pelican.

 

On the other side of the beach was a lagoon with three Greater flamingos.

 

A marine iguana thinking about swimming out to join the flamingo.

 

A black-necked stilt.

 

Yep, he decided to go check it out with the flamingo.

 

So, out he went.

 

 

 

 

A blue crab.

 

Another beautiful sunset in the Galapagos.

Two more days and our adventure had to come to a close.

Until the next day…

–Jim

SUAREZ POINT, ESPANOLA 

This marked our ninth island we would walk on in the Galapagos.  The ancestral home of Diego was also home to a number of animals we’d already seen.  The new arrivals today were the waved albatross and Nazca booby.

But first, we have to hike there…  the marine iguanas met us straight off the panga.

 

 

With an extreme close up, the lava lizard looks huge! I think he was trying to impress us by doing lots of push ups.

 

The color variations were pretty significant.

 

This gives the phrase, “hanging on to ones coattails,” a whole new meaning.

 

A Hood Mockingbird likely looking for food amongst the marine iguanas.

 

The other booby, a Nazca booby.

 

Suarez Point

 

We finally arrived at the albatross landing strip and got to see the birds themselves.  I’d heard about their ungainly takeoffs and landing, but to see it was something else.  It may not look like much, but the waved albatross has carefully chosen this location for a runway.

 

The waved albatross, is also geographically known, like many flora and fauna on the islands, as the Galapagos albatross.  They are medium-sized in the ginormous albatross family and the only ones to live in the tropics.  Their wingspan is still an impressive 2.2-2.5 m (7.2-8.2 ft).

 

I also didn’t know the side-to-side walking was so pronounced either.

 

This is the waved albatross’ resting position.

 

Waved albatross mating dance, as the island of Espanola is the primary breeding location for 99.9% of the species.

 

A blow hole, complete with flyby.

 

and rainbow.

 

Thar she blows (although no whale here).

 

 

Why hello, Mr. Nazca.

 

 

GARDNER BAY

Sea lion love.

 

A stoic marine iguana.

 

Idyllic.

 

Shipmates.

 

Black basalt lava with golden sand and turquoise water … a winning combination in my book.

 

The Sally Lightfoot crabs.

 

We loved watching this fella.  He was sprinting between rocks while trying not to get rocked by waves.

 

This one was just coming back in after a swim.

 

He made it!  Now to feast on algae.

 

Yum… this algae is sooo good.

 

Just gotta rub my face in it a little…

 

What??

 

A whale skeleton.

 

Anna – the artist.

 

x2.

 

After another spectacular day, we made our way back to the Majestic for one final night aboard.

 

KICKER ROCK

Our final stop on board was a snorkel around Kicker Rock, early on the final morning.  Our hope was to see hammerheads (a longtime dream of mine), but sadly, we just missed them.  Another group in the water at the same time saw them, but eluded us.

In any case, here it is:

 

Billy cruising underwater.

 

Our Australian friend checking out the world beneath.

 

Spotted eagle rays are in the shark family.  I did manage to see a Galapagos shark, but it was a long way off and the image didn’t work out. But, that was as close as I got to hammerheads this time.  Still the spotted eagle rays were cool and we got to follow them for a while.  

 

An east Pacific green turtle.  With its long tail, this is likely a male.

After our chilly, but enjoyable final snorkel, we got back on board, cleaned up, packed up and got ready to disembark.

Before we flew out, we did visit the San Cristobal Interpretation Center which offered a nice overview of the history of the islands.

We came away from the trip with a sense of awe for all that we witnessed, sadness for the loss we all experienced, an appreciation for the preciousness of life, the incredible natural beauty and wonder of the Galapagos and finally, gratitude for a great trip.  We reconnected in a way that isn’t possible elsewhere, which was especially important before our new adventure in London.

Until the next adventure.

–Jim

In May, Anna and I were able to hop a flight down for our first South American holiday… we began in the capital city, Quito.  The capital is second highest capital city in the world at 2,850 meters (9,350 ft), after La  Paz in Bolivia.  Suffice it to say, walking around took a little getting used to after many years living at sea level.  With a population of over 2.2 million people, it’s a large city.  As you probably know, Ecuador was once a part of the Incan Empire, but there were several periods of development in Quito, from the end of the first millennium the Incas conquered the area in the 15th century.  The Incas were subsequently defeated by the Spanish in 1534 which began nearly 300 years of colonial rule.  Eventually in 1822, Antonio José de Sucre and Simon Bolivar’s troops won independence for Quito and the surrounding area.  This was the region of modern-day Columbia, Ecuador and Venezuela and became “Gran Columbia” as part of Simon Bolivar’s vision to unite the former Spanish Colonies in Central and South America. Unfortunately, due to civil unrest and a war in 1828-29 against Peru, the vision failed to become reality.  Adding further defeat, in 1830, Gran Columbia broke into the modern states of Columbia, Ecuador and Venezuela (and to a lesser extent parts of several other countries).  At which time, Quito became the capital of Ecuador.  The modern vestige of this brief unification is the similarity in flags in the former Gran Columbia (Columbia, Ecuador and Venezuela).  To start things off in images, here is the Ecuadorian flag with it’s double band of yellow to represent the crops and fertile soil, the blue for the ocean and clear skies, the red for the blood for the the Ecuadorian who died in creating the country and finally the Ecuador coat of arms in the center.

Although there has been a great deal of turmoil in Ecuador, we found it to be a wonderful country.  Her people and landscape were welcoming and diverse.  

 

 

Although this looks suspiciously like ice cream on a hot street, it’s actually Espumillas, a meringue cream made with fruit pulp, egg white and sugar.

 

The street music was very entertaining as well.

 

The banking situation in Ecuador is unusual.  I have to admit, until I began doing research for our trip, I was ignorant that Ecuador uses the US Dollar as its currency.  The reason for this stems from the effects of a strong El Nino weather pattern in 1998, combined with a poor oil market and a disease that devastated the shrimp export market.  The confluence of these difficulties led to a 60% inflation rate in 1999, the highest in Latin America.  The unsustainable inflation led the president to pursue dollarization, which has been used successfully elsewhere.  However, the people of Ecuador responded with civil unrest and forced the president to resign.  His vice president took over (after a brief interlude by a ruling triumvirate) and went ahead with the dollarization in September 2000.  Along with austerity measures, the government of Ecuador obtained $2B in aid from the International Monetary Fund.  Unfortunately for the people, the exchange rate was set at the inflated price of 2000, not the pre-crisis rate, thereby causing significant individual loss.  Today, every dollar Ecuador uses from the United States comes with a small tariff.  In practice, the dollar bills are usable in both countries, but coins less than one dollar are not transferable.  Therefore, an Ecuadorian quarter is not legal tender in the US … but a cool souvenir.

 

The colonial architecture (including that of the Catholic church) is impressive in Quito.  It is so impressive that in 1978 UNESCO declared the city center a World Heritage Site.

 

The Virgin of Quito tops a nearby hill built in 1975 and is apparently, the only (large) Madonna depicted with wings.

 

 

 

We joined a very informative free walking tour and highly recommend it, if you’re in Quito.  http://freewalkingtourecuador.com/

 

In fact, the tour was so good, we continued with a second tour to see the “Middle of the World,” AKA the Equator (or Ecuador).  http://freewalkingtourecuador.com/middle-world/

 

Our guide was kind enough to explain the particularities and peculiarities of being directly on the equator.

 

 

A demonstration was included to physically show us the Coriolis Effect on a water drain.  I’m not sure how accurate this experience was, but it was fun to watch in any case. Supposedly, in this drain, the water drains straight with no spin, because it’s directly on the equator.

 

And this drain spins one direction, south of the equator … a similar tub spins the opposite direction on the other side of the line.  Unfortunately, the science behind this isn’t there, but again, makes for a good story.

 

Another superstition exemplified for us was an “eternal” equinox.  You’ve probably done or heard of standing an egg on its end, which is only possible during equinox when the world is “vertical.”  The idea here was that since we’re on the equator, we would be “vertical” all the time and the only place where you can stand an egg on its end all the time.  While this was a fun exercise, it’s not scientifically accurate and it’s possible anytime, anywhere.

 

Nevertheless, we had fun trying.  Anna was one of the few to succeed in balancing the egg.

 

Here is the official monument to the equator, however, the argument is that it was incorrectly surveyed and consequently several hundred meters off the actual equator (where the previous images were made).

 

A panorama of Quito, ringed by mountains.

 

Cotopaxi is an active stratovolcano, the second highest summit in Ecuador reaching a height of 5,897 m (19,347 ft) and one of the highest volcanoes in the world.  Although we didn’t have the opportunity to climb it, it was very majestic.

 

The sun burning off the morning mist over Quito.

 

We decided to use another company for our next tour … heading out to Quilotoa.  This company was also very good and we highly recommend them as well.  http://www.carpedm.ca/quilotoa-1- day/

As we went on a Sunday, the market in Pujili was in full force.

 

 

Bananas come with a free rider.

 

The market was very typical and fortunately for us, very few tourists.  We had fun exploring.

 

Not the prettiest, but very tasty.

 

Some of our traveling partners … including a macro of the fruit.

 

My macro.

 

Yum.

 

Although it looks more like a bread, it’s actually a sugar/molasses-based hard candy that is wrapped in grass (on the right). I’m afraid I’ve forgotten its real name.  I bought several (much smaller) packets and they were a tasty burst of energy while hiking later.  Plus, it’s about as green as you can get for packaging.

 

 

Our little group also stopped at this family’s house/farm.  The grandparents have lived here for over 25 years and the rest of the family has come to visit on Sunday.

 

 

In addition to farming a few crops (and of course hosting tourists), the family makes money raising Guinea Pigs for their meat.  This family had over 200 running around and in the cage.  In addition to being cute, the animals are also quite tasty.  I tried them a couple times while in Ecuador.  Anna was slightly less enthused.

 

After what seemed like forever, we finally made it to Quilotoa.  It’s up at 3,800 meters (12,500 ft), so it was a bit brisk, but gorgeous emerald caldera that is about 3 km across (~2 mi).

 

 

There was also an option to ride to/from the lake on a donkey.  We choose human power.

 

Finally made it to the lake, but were told if we went swimming not to dive deep as the water is acidic/poison not too far below the surface.

 

 

 

After an exhilarating hike and tasty lunch, we hopped back in the van for a return journey to Quito.

 

This is physically a meat market … intended to allow people to shop for potential spouses.

 

The “Gorilla Mountain.”  Can you see it?

 

The journey wasn’t quite as comfortable for these guys.

 

 

 

 

This is the Pan-American Highway that totals 30,000 km (~19,000 miles) and as the name indicates, runs the length of North and South America.  As you can see, this stretch in Ecuador is in very good condition.

 

Well, that covers the beginning of our adventure in Ecuador.  Next up, we fly out to the Galapagos Islands for an 8-day cruise around the islands and some AMAZING wildlife.

Until then…

–Jim

 

Another post from our time in France.  This is a short trip/hike we took to a region just north of where we lived, the Colorado Provençal in the Luberon region.

We began with a stop at an ancient bridge, Pont Julien.  This one is from the Roman era and part of their first road through France.  In fact, as you might guess, the word Provençal or Provence comes from the time when this region was a province of Rome.  The bridge was a key part of the highway that went all the way out to modern day Spain and then back to Rome as part of the Via Domitia.  Via Domitia traced the fabled route of Hercules and Hannibal when he invaded with his elephants.  The road itself was built around 120 BCE.

The bridge has been surprisingly well preserved… It was built by the order of Julius Caesar and completed at the start of the modern era (27 BCE – 14 CE).  The usage was nearly continuous for 2,000 years.

 

The holes on the side have been something of an enigma for academics… the may have been used during construction of the bridge, or for irrigation dams/canals.

 

A couple images from Roussillon.  Remember, this is back in 2012, so X was just a little guy and Lily had yet to make her debut.

 

 

Eventually, we made it out to the ocher fields of the Colorado Provençal.  Our good friend, Tom, was visiting at the time and enjoyed the visit with us.

 

The region was under sea during the Cretaceous Period when a large layer of sand developed.  This sand evolved into sandstone and the iron-rich clay makes for the beautiful red color. This ocher color was used as a pigment for indelible color.  In fact, this region was the top producing site until the second world war.

 

Although artificial color pigments currently dominate the world market, the natural ones like this ocher are making a comeback.  The color is exclusively from the marine life millions of years ago, coupled with the clay and iron oxidization to make this material.

 

Officially, there are 24 different colors of ocher.

 

Tom, or as he was know in college, Red Man.

 

There are lots of these formations, known as a “Fairy Chimney”

 

A less subtle fairy… more like an ogre.

 

The contrasting colors, with me and X in shadow.

 

 

 

 

The little man, looking very young.

 

 

Anna and Lily (or soon to be).

 

 

 

Tom and Anna down below.

 

 

It was a great day trip and, as always, we very much enjoyed Tom’s company.

 

Until the next adventure…

 

–Jim

 

So, we took a weekend trip to one of our favorite mountain villages, Mürren.  While there, we had the good fortune to coincide with the first real snow of the season.  That meant that we spend most of our time indoors.  However, we did venture our for one extended hike.  These first images are from that hike.

As you might be able to tell from the image … Alexander was tucked inside my jacket.

The Fam. Out for a walk in the snow.

Here’s the desolate trail/road we walked along.  Although it’s about the width of a nice trail, it’s actually the road.  They don’t worry too much about wear and tear on the road.  Officially, cars are not allowed in Mürren … except the snow plow and occasional truck.

It many ways, the area is a throw-back to the 19th century.

Still gorgeous, even during the snowstorm.

As are all the waterfalls.

We solved the problem of Alexander’s cold hands with Anna’s gloves.  A touch too big still, but we’re working on right sized snow gear.  As you can see, he was pretty chill in the snow.  The snowflakes were hitting him in the face, and he didn’t seem to mind.  In fact, he fell asleep on the hike home (he’s pretty tired in this picture).

After a couple days and a foot of snow, we got back in the gondola and headed down the mountain.

This is the view that met us at the bottom.  We were right at the line where the snow turned into rain.  It made for an interesting contrast.

It almost seemed like a surprise spring snowstorm … but instead, it was the other end of the seasons.

A little further down the valley toward Lauterbrunnen, the fall colors were shining through.

Everything seemed lush and heavy.

The visible snow line.

More of the fall color.

The banks of the river were ablaze with color.  It was simply beautiful.

That concludes our brief sojourn to Switzerland.  Most importantly, now Alexander has been in snow … and liked it!  (this time, at least).

Until the next trip…

–Jim

We’ve become believers in the Michelin guide.  With only one exception, it has steered us to some amazing restaurants in France.  The one we visited in Bandol was no exception.  Le Clocher was recommended as the good balance of price and quality … and it lived up to expectations.  One thing we’ve had to get used to in France.  Food is expensive, but you truly pay for what you get.  I read somewhere (I know I should cite my source, but I don’t recall at the moment) that the French pay more per person for food than anyone else in the world.  I believe it, but it’s worth the price!

After lunch, we also visited the famous wine appellation of Bandol. We stopped into the Château Pradeaux for a quick tasting.  After which, we strolled through the grounds to appreciate the ripening grapes, berries and olives.

In Bandol, the red wine is capable of aging for a long time.  In fact, the 2005 Château Pradeaux we bought won’t be ready to drink until 2013.  The main varietals Mourvèdre, Grenache, Cinsault, and Carignan.  However, it’s the Mourvèdre that permits the long aging process and gives red Bandol its character.

An aggregate berry, and you know how I feel about those … I haven’t met one I don’t like.  🙂

Getting ripe in the golden sun.

The ubiquitous olive trees.

And even more ubiquitous vines.

After the walking tour of the vineyard, we headed home via Marseilles.

Next up is our trip with Tom and Olga to Nîmes.

Until then…

–Jim