People have all kinds of traits - the things that make them unique. Some traits are good and some traits are bad. Today, I bring you one of my traits. I can't really decide if it's good or bad, it's just the way it is: I have to finish everything I start. I suppose it's commendable in some ways. After all, you can't really say that I'm a quitter. Although as I type that, I do remember a certain job that I left in the middle of a crisis so maybe I shouldn't say I finish everything I start OR that I'm not a quitter, but I digress. I'm speaking here of things in my PERSONAL life... I finish every book I start, even if I hate it. I watch every movie from start to finish, even if I hate it. And, I read every magazine I pick up, even if it's 10 years old. Which, FINALLY, brings me to my point.
I have worked at American Airlines for close to 16 years (with a short break in the early ott's). When I first started, I would pick up an American Way magazine when I was flying to read later. THEN, when I started working at HDQ1, where the American Way offices are, I started picking them up every time a new one was published. Twice a month, for 16 years adds up to a few magazines!!! Somewhere along the way, I kind of quit reading them. When I moved to or from Chicago, I had them in a packing box and there they stayed. A couple of years ago (I can't remember exactly how long ago), we painted the back bedrooms of our house and got new carpet and by then, the box was overflowing. So, I decided the time had come to work on that project. I read, read, read. Then I stop and gather. I read, read, read. Then I stop and gather. It's a vicious, vicious cycle and one that I know I should break, but I can't seem to bring myself to do it. How tragic would it be if I inadvertently recycled the one magazine that contained an article that might later become the idea for my favorite trip - EVER??? Tragic.
So that, my friends, is why I haven't caught up my blog. And why I'm behind on my book reading. And behind on my scrapbooking. And behind on everything else in my personal life. Because I have been deeply involved in magazine mania. I'm happy to report that I'm making progress, though!! My box has gone from overflowing, to half empty. The bad news is, I have added a couple of magazines to the collection that now need to be read. Still, progress is progress, is it not?
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Mid-November
We tried another new restaurant on the second weekend of November - Lizzano's Pizza. We found this place via Groupon, but we weren't overly impressed. It was okay and it wasn't that far from home, but I don't see us going out of our way to eat there again.
Before the pizza, we went to see, "The Ides of March" with George Clooney and Ryan Gosling. I thought it was a really good movie, although it did not receive great reviews. It's the story of a junior campaign manager that is contacted by the opposing campaign, but doesn't tell his boss. When the boss finds out, he fires him. There are lots of twists and turns, some expected and some unexpected. It was a nice 2-hour escape from reality.
The next day we took my dad to one of his favorite restaurants (Babe's) for an early birthday celebration, since we knew we would be visiting Joe's mom the weekend of his actual birthday, . As always, we got home full and miserable. But, it sure did taste good!!!
The next weekend we checked up on Joe's mom and found that she is doing pretty well.
Before the pizza, we went to see, "The Ides of March" with George Clooney and Ryan Gosling. I thought it was a really good movie, although it did not receive great reviews. It's the story of a junior campaign manager that is contacted by the opposing campaign, but doesn't tell his boss. When the boss finds out, he fires him. There are lots of twists and turns, some expected and some unexpected. It was a nice 2-hour escape from reality.
The next day we took my dad to one of his favorite restaurants (Babe's) for an early birthday celebration, since we knew we would be visiting Joe's mom the weekend of his actual birthday, . As always, we got home full and miserable. But, it sure did taste good!!!
The next weekend we checked up on Joe's mom and found that she is doing pretty well.
Taking Sammie to UT
For Samantha's birthday this year, we gave her tickets to a UT football game and took her to the game (her request). We had to make it a road trip down there, but that was okay. We went to the game, had dinner at the Hula Hut, saw the UT Tower, and stopped at the Inner Space Caverns on the way home. We had a really fun weekend, although I have no doubt that Sammie would have had more fun with her friends than with her old aunt and uncle!! (P.S. My pictures were all from my phone, so the quality isn't the greatest even though the iPhone is supposed to have such a great camera!)
At the game:
Sammie sporting her sparkly horns:
Sammie at the tower - the horns must have won!!
Inner Space Caverns:
At the game:
Sammie sporting her sparkly horns:
Sammie at the tower - the horns must have won!!
Inner Space Caverns:
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
The Rest of October...
The 4th weekend of October, Joe returned to Illinois to check on his mom and see his Aunt Rita before she went back to Florida. I stayed home and read a book that Samantha had loaned me while I was in Illinois. It turned out to be a wise choice for me to stay home as Joe got the last seat on the flight home.
The 5th weekend was Joe's MOD weekend. We also took the opportunity to try a new restaurant (one of our favorite things!). Al had given Joe a Groupon to Mike Anderson's BBQ for his birthday and we couldn't let it expire!!! And, as it turned out, we really liked the BBQ! We even took my parents. The last new restaurant we had tried was Cowboy Chow (also with my parents), but Mike Anderson's won hands down.
And that takes us to November...only 5 months behind!!!
The 5th weekend was Joe's MOD weekend. We also took the opportunity to try a new restaurant (one of our favorite things!). Al had given Joe a Groupon to Mike Anderson's BBQ for his birthday and we couldn't let it expire!!! And, as it turned out, we really liked the BBQ! We even took my parents. The last new restaurant we had tried was Cowboy Chow (also with my parents), but Mike Anderson's won hands down.
And that takes us to November...only 5 months behind!!!
Komen and the State Fair of Texas
October 15th was a pretty busy day for us. It started with our commitment to walk in the Komen Race for the Cure. We had two very personal reasons for walking this year - Joe's Aunt Rita and Joe's Mom. Both were diagnosed with breast cancer in 2011 and at the time of the race were still undergoing treatment. And so, we walked for them. The race has gotten HUGE and CRAZY!!! People dress up in costumes, carry signs, and have contests on the funniest tag line ("Old Men Like Healthy Ta-Ta's, too!). It's just crazy! I don't know how else to describe it!!
After the race we had breakfast at our favorite breakfast place - Breadwinners. YUM-MY!!! And from there, we headed to the State Fair of Texas. We have been to the fair a few times, the last two years because we had tickets to the Dallas Summer Musicals. This year's performance was West Side Story. I was pretty excited to see the production because I remember really liking the movie (of course, it was a play first). It did not disappoint, except that the actress who played Maria wasn't that great. Her voice was a little weak for the part (IMHO), but we still enjoyed the show.
Other highlights from the State Fair this year were Cirque Shanghai (which reminded me of the Chinese Opera I saw in Beijing), the Cowboys Exhibit on Super Bowl Victories, the Pig Races, and the Butter Sculpture. We tried to take in as much as possible and I think we did pretty well! The only new food we tried this year was a "Walking Taco" which was a bag of Doritos split along the side and taco fixin's added inside. It was pretty darn tasty. Other than that, we had our usual corn dogs and corn on the cob.
Big Tex - the same one since my childhood!:
The five Lombardi trophies:
The butter sculpture - too cool!:
One GINORMOUS pig:
After the race we had breakfast at our favorite breakfast place - Breadwinners. YUM-MY!!! And from there, we headed to the State Fair of Texas. We have been to the fair a few times, the last two years because we had tickets to the Dallas Summer Musicals. This year's performance was West Side Story. I was pretty excited to see the production because I remember really liking the movie (of course, it was a play first). It did not disappoint, except that the actress who played Maria wasn't that great. Her voice was a little weak for the part (IMHO), but we still enjoyed the show.
Other highlights from the State Fair this year were Cirque Shanghai (which reminded me of the Chinese Opera I saw in Beijing), the Cowboys Exhibit on Super Bowl Victories, the Pig Races, and the Butter Sculpture. We tried to take in as much as possible and I think we did pretty well! The only new food we tried this year was a "Walking Taco" which was a bag of Doritos split along the side and taco fixin's added inside. It was pretty darn tasty. Other than that, we had our usual corn dogs and corn on the cob.
Big Tex - the same one since my childhood!:
The five Lombardi trophies:
The butter sculpture - too cool!:
One GINORMOUS pig:
October 7, 2011
When we arrived back from South America, we got a call that Joe's dad was in the hospital. He had had a colonoscopy while we were gone and the doctor had removed some polyps. Because of the blood thinners that he took for his heart, his colon was having trouble healing. We didn't think too much about it because this had happened 3 years ago when he had his first colonoscopy. We called and were reassured that things were going well and he was scheduled to go home on Tuesday morning. Unfortunately, that was not meant to be. Overnight, while we were all sleeping, Paul started having chest pains.
On Tuesday morning, the doctors took Paul for a routine procedure to see if there was a blockage in his heart. But during the procedure, his heart stopped. They were able to revive him, but his heart suffered. In fact, it was operating at a very low percentage. In spite of that, by Thursday, he seemed to be out of the woods. He was awake and talking. He seemed to be getting stronger. But on Friday, October 7th, his heart stopped again and this time, the doctors could not revive him.
When Paul was 43 years old, he had his first open-heart surgery. At the time, the doctors had told the family that he would be lucky to live 10 years. At 53, he had his second open-heart surgery. He ended up living 25 years past that first surgery and I can't begin to express how grateful we all are to have had those extra years.
Of course, I only knew Paul for 10 years, but I sincerely loved him. He was the best father-in-law anyone could hope for. Although somewhat gruff on the outside at times, I know he was a big softie on the inside. He was such a warm person that always wanted the best for his family. And, boy, did he love his family! He made me feel welcome and I so appreciated that and appreciated being part of the family, too.
It's incredibly hard to lose a parent. Even if that parent is a parent-in-law. We're learning to live with the reality that he has gone on to a better place. Sometimes it seems completely surreal that he is really gone. I fully expect that I will see him each time we go visit Illinois. Only time will heal the pain in our hearts and knowing that God and the family that went before him are with him in heaven.
This was one of Joe's favorite pictures of his dad. It was at our wedding on July 19, 2003:
On Tuesday morning, the doctors took Paul for a routine procedure to see if there was a blockage in his heart. But during the procedure, his heart stopped. They were able to revive him, but his heart suffered. In fact, it was operating at a very low percentage. In spite of that, by Thursday, he seemed to be out of the woods. He was awake and talking. He seemed to be getting stronger. But on Friday, October 7th, his heart stopped again and this time, the doctors could not revive him.
When Paul was 43 years old, he had his first open-heart surgery. At the time, the doctors had told the family that he would be lucky to live 10 years. At 53, he had his second open-heart surgery. He ended up living 25 years past that first surgery and I can't begin to express how grateful we all are to have had those extra years.
Of course, I only knew Paul for 10 years, but I sincerely loved him. He was the best father-in-law anyone could hope for. Although somewhat gruff on the outside at times, I know he was a big softie on the inside. He was such a warm person that always wanted the best for his family. And, boy, did he love his family! He made me feel welcome and I so appreciated that and appreciated being part of the family, too.
It's incredibly hard to lose a parent. Even if that parent is a parent-in-law. We're learning to live with the reality that he has gone on to a better place. Sometimes it seems completely surreal that he is really gone. I fully expect that I will see him each time we go visit Illinois. Only time will heal the pain in our hearts and knowing that God and the family that went before him are with him in heaven.
This was one of Joe's favorite pictures of his dad. It was at our wedding on July 19, 2003:
Monday, March 5, 2012
Galapagos Islands
At the end of September, we headed south for our big adventure of the year - the Galapagos Islands. We first became interested in the islands when some friends of ours talked about a travel club trip there. Unfortunately, the travel club had only offered it one year and even though we requested a trip, they weren't able to price it where they thought people would actually go. Fearing they would further restrict - or even eliminate - visitation, we decided to make it our big adventure of 2011. After doing some research on the different trips and boats, we ended up booking with a company called Ecoventura, but through a travel company out of Montana called Adventure Life. It turned out to be a fantastic choice!!! We loved the boat, loved the crew, and loved the trip.
Before I give you my travel journal, I just wanted to add a few things - our tour included our accommodations, 3 meals a day and snacks, and all of our excursions. I don't mention breakfast very often (if ever), but we had a variety of things - eggs cooked different ways, cereal, pancakes, French Toast, etc.. Every time we got back on the boat, we were greeted with snacks and juice. Overall, the weather was pretty good. In the morning, we would have the gurua - cloudy, foggy - but afternoons were typically pretty sunny and warm. We were on the yacht with 16 other people. Although I don't talk about them much in the journal, or have pictures of them here, I'll tell you who they are...
Here's my travel journal and a few favorite pictures:
9/23/2011 – Heading to Quito
6:47 PM – I waited to write until I knew we were on our way – it was a little touch and go in Miami, but I’ll not get ahead of myself.
It’s not preferable to me to spend a whole day getting to our destination, but sometimes it can’t be helped. Our day started with a 10:45 AM flight to MIA (& if I back up even further then I would tell you that we’re traveling on AADV tickets). That gave us the opportunity to sleep in a bit and make our way to the airport, which was actually quite nice. Our flight backed up about 8 minutes late, but not too bad. We landed in MIA at 2:40 (5 minutes past our scheduled arrival), but a storm was moving through so we sat on the tarmac for about 30 minutes before parking. Of course, we came in at D4 and had to make our way to D40, but that was fine – we rode the new train and it was actually quite easy. Our connection was going to be a little tight, but then our Quito flight was slightly delayed and we had a “small” mechanical. I was about to get out the old journal when I looked out the window and saw more black clouds. I would say I was holding my breath, but since we sat there for an hour and a half, I don’t think you would believe me. Here was our view out the window as we waited:
Thoughts so far: I’ve decided that MIA is akin to a foreign country. Everyone is speaking another language and carrying a foreign passport. I’ve never been a big fan, but I am biased by my view that the airport is the non-rev black hole. In fairness to the city – I’ve never really been there except to travel through or on business. It is – surprisingly – on our list of places to visit, but maybe later.
We were supposed to land in Quito sometime around 7:00, but it was more like 9:00-something (I think). Fortunately, we had no problem clearing customs and getting a taxi. Our driver was a girl who didn’t speak much English and didn’t seem to know where we were going, but thankfully, we made it!!! For this portion of our journey, we stayed at Mansion del Angel and it was quite lovely. My first impression of Quito? Big, dirty, and not unlike Mexico (Oh, and a little scary!). Joe’s first impression of Quito? It’s really busy for 10:00 PM!! We’ll see if a tour of Old Town tomorrow can change my opinion!
9/24/2011 – Free day in Quito
My second impression of Quito: I looked out the window to find a man relieving himself on the wall below the window of our hotel. Hummmmm…. I didn't get his picture, but here's a look out our window (although left of the wall where I saw the man):
I, admittedly, did not do much research before we arrived. Since we would be on a yacht with our days planned for us, I didn't see the need to buy a travel guide. Further, the weather had indicated it would be raining, so I wasn't sure we would be able to do much sightseeing. In retrospect, I wish I would have done a little more research on Quito. All I had managed to read directed us to the historic district, so after breakfast at the hotel (included in the price), we headed that way. We started out in the wrong direction, but didn’t walk too far before Joe figured that out. It was a bit of a walk to the right place, but not too bad. I was slightly intimidated by the fact that we were the only “Americanos” walking around the streets (we did finally run in to some more at some of the more touristy places), but overall it was a really nice morning (although much warmer than I expected). There were TONS of people out and about. The squares were full of families and performers. We visited 5 different churches today. The churches are all very elaborate and much is done in gold.
Plaza Grande is the main square in the historic district of Quito. The Presidential Palace is on one side of the square and the Cathedral is on another. The other two sides are filled with shops and restaurants. Following our tourist map, we headed to the sites it highlighted.
The Presidential Palace:
The first church was the Cathedral at the Plaza Grande. The floor was wooden and creaky. There was some gold on the altar, but not as much as the next place.
The second church was La Iglesia de la Compania Jesus (The Church of the Society of Jesus) and is said to be one of the most beautiful churches in Latin America. It was richly displayed with gold. When the light shone – just right – it lit up incredibly.
The third church was Iglesia y Monasterio de San Francisco (Church and Monastery of San Francisco) and was in much need of renovation. There were holes in the ceiling and most of the statues on the altars were gone. When we returned home, I read that most of the damage was the result of an earthquake. There was scaffolding in the front, so perhaps they are beginning that process.
The fourth church, Iglesia La Merced, was having mass when we arrived. We tried to sneak in to the back to listen, but we were approached to give a donation. I wouldn’t mind donating to the church, but how could we know if this guy was legit? Since he wouldn’t leave us alone, we left – past the beggars at the door that included an amputee and someone with an IV bag (slightly off the tourist path, I guess).
By now, it was time for lunch. We walked by a couple of places I had written down from TripAdvisor, but neither were open for lunch on Saturday, so we settled on a cute little place in an enclosed plaza off Plaza Grande. Joe had the chicken and mushrooms, which was good, but would have been better without the hair!! I had a “traditional” Ecuadorian dish which was basically chicken fried steak without the gravy. The breading was pretty light and had a hint of lemon flavor. And as an added bonus – no hair!! Both lunches came with French fries.
After lunch, we opted to walk through the Ronda district. It is supposed to be very artsy, but most of the shops were closed although quite a few cafes were open. In this area, we had our best views of La Virgin de Quito (The Virgin of Quito) who overlooks the city. We were tempted to take the steps up to the top of El Panecillo (the hill she sits on), but we opted not to. Later on our cruise, we found out that was good because it is a very dangerous area where many tourists have been mugged!! La Virgin de Quito has a crown of stars, angelic wings, and a chained dragon.
From there, we walked by another church – Church of Santo Domingo. We didn’t attempt to go in. A rock band – correction – a very loud and awful rock bank was playing in the plaza so we kept going.
Our next stop would be our fifth church – the basilica. We stepped inside and they were having a wedding. I didn’t take a picture inside, but lots outside of the beautiful church.
That pretty much completed our Historical District tour, so we headed back to the hotel to regroup. Unfortunately, we must have regrouped a little too long. By the time we decided that our next destination would be the tram to the top of the volcano (Teleferico), the clouds had moved over and our visit was somewhat a waste. You could barely see the person standing beside you at the top due to the clouds. However, the trip itself was interesting – although a little scary for me – and we did get some great views of the city on the way up and the way down. We hadn’t really considered doing the tram in the AM because it was supposed to rain. All day, rain clouds were around, but they spent most of the day on the other side of the mountains.
The teleferico:
Views of the city on the way up:
Views from the top:
So – lesson #1 – take the tram in the morning because the clouds move into the city in the afternoon. Lesson #2 – if you take a taxi see if he can come back for you – or ask at your hotel the best way to get back. We did neither of these and ended up walking down to the bottom of the hill – about 1 – 2 miles – in the rain. Yes, it started sprinkling as were walking down and by the time we got to the bottom, it was a genuine downpour!!! We got to a busy street, yet still had a bit of a tough time finding a taxi. It was probably not more than 10-15 minutes, but it felt like 17 hours!!! When one drove by and honked at us, I could have cried with joy. Now, let me tell you, that taxi ride in the pouring down rain was the adventure of the day. Apparently they don’t put de-foggers in cars in Ecuador because all the windows were completely fogged up. The windshield wipers were working, but I don’t know how the driver saw anything. He charged us $4 to get back to the hotel. It was worth every penny - I probably would have paid him anything.
But the adventure didn’t stop there. We arrived back at the hotel, which has a locked gate & a locked front door. You must ring the doorbell to get in. We rang that doorbell for at least 10-15 minutes and got no response. Joe walked across the street to see if he could see anyone, which he couldn’t. I’m ringing the bell, I’m SCREAMING “Hello” and getting nothing but more and more drenched. Finally, out of complete frustration, I grab the gate and start shaking it and it comes open (without being buzzed – GREAT security!). We run up the stairs and proceed to bang on the door – also to no avail, although at least we were under an eave, so we aren’t getting rained on anymore. 5 – 10 minutes go by and finally – thank goodness – another guest hears us. He can’t figure out how to open the door, but he goes and finds the lady and we finally get in. She just gives me the key – no apology – no “sorry, I didn’t hear you” – no nothing!!! I was so pissed!!!!! Argh!!!
By this time it was about 6:30 – 7:00. We had not had dinner, but we were afraid if we left we would never get back in. Plus, there’s no convenient place close so we had crackers, trail mix, and water for dinner. We hung up all our wet clothes and went to bed by 8:00. It really was a crappy ending to our day even though we’ve already conceded that we’ll probably laugh about it some day. Hopefully.
A couple of notes: 1) we have yet to find a taxi driver that speaks English, nor do they know where our hotel, Mansion del Angel, is. When we arrived, the driver had to call someone to figure out where it was. Tonight, I had to show the driver a map so he would know where it was. Not that it’s their fault – don’t get me wrong – I don’t expect them to speak English. I am in their country – my inability to speak their language is my problem. Them not knowing how to get to our hotel, however, I’m not so sure about! 2) They must grow roses in Ecuador. There was a huge, beautiful bouquet in the immigration hall when we arrived and everywhere we go, there seems to be a roses “theme” – roses at the hotel and roses at the restaurant, too.
9/25/2011 – Heading to the Galapagos Islands
It was an early morning for us – 5:45 wake up to be ready to walk out the door at 7:00. Our driver, Angel, was right on time. He loaded up our bags and took us to the airport – checked us in – got our Galapagos forms – led us to security. About an hour (maybe 45 minutes) later we boarded our flight. We even got a muffin and a drink on the way.
On the way we stopped in Guayaquil to drop people off and take on more passengers and freight. They also refueled our plane. Since we were continuing on, we were required to stay onboard, so while they refueled we had to unbuckle our seat belts in case of fire. Hummmm…. I guess it’s smart, but not very comforting!!!
Our airline to the Galapagos is Aerolineas Galapagos or “Aerogal.” I thought there was only one airline that flew there, but TAME – an Ecuadorian airline also flies there. AA currently seems to have the only flights from the U.S. – at least we haven’t seen any other planes at either airport. We did see a couple of KLM planes, but other than that, only LAN and airlines I’ve never heard of.
We arrived at San Cristobal at about 3:00 PM. We were met at the airport by our naturalists, Ceci and Gabi and were taken by bus to the harbor. Our boat is named the Eric and our very first adventure was just getting to it via the Panga. Our suitcases were delivered directly to the boat so we only had to worry about our backpack and my small bag. Once on board we had a briefing of what to expect and the rules of the park and the boat – then we were shown to our rooms. Our cabin is the tiniest thing I’ve ever seen but, we have a big window that faces out the back of the boat. There are 18 of us and 11 crew members.
Lunch was next – spaghetti with fresh tomato sauce, a white-fish, white-cheese baked cauliflower, salad, and fruit. Quite tasty!
After our safety drill they gave out the snorkel gear, including wet suits. Our first snorkel was a wet landing, meaning we jumped off the panga into shallow water. The purpose of the first snorkel was just to get used to our equipment and the feel of the wet suits in the water. And, it was a good thing because it turned out to be a little rough for me. It was as though I had never snorkeled!!! As soon as I put my face in the water, I started hyperventilating! I think it was getting a bit better, but my mask was too big and that wasn’t helping because it kept filling with water. So…a new mask for me tomorrow!!!
The beach was Ochoa on San Cristobal Island and is one where the locals go. There was a sea lion swimming there and several sleeping under the trees. After we were done snorkeling, a couple of sea lions came out and headed toward the rocks. Gosh, they STINK!! But they are so darn cute!!!
The water was C-O-L-D!!! When I got in, it totally took my breath away. But with the wet suit, it’s not bad once you get used to it. There wasn’t a lot to see – in fact, the water was a little murky, but, again, the purpose was to get used to the equipment.
Not a lot of fish, but some interesting rock formations:
This playful sea lion is not an albino - he completely rolled around in the sand until he covered every inch of himself:
After snorkeling, we sailed around Kicker Rock where we got our first look at some of the birds that are common here in the Galapagos Islands.
After sunset, the captain welcomed us, we had our briefing for tomorrow and then dinner. The sea was pretty rough and at least a couple of people got seasick. Dinner was mozzarella and tomatoes w/ pesto, onion soup, white fish with lemon sauce, broccoli, mashed potatoes (Dinner is the only meal that it served - breakfast and lunch are served buffet style). Sleep was pretty bad – the boat was jerking left and right all night long!!!
9/26/2011 – Genovesa Island
Today we spent the day on Genovesa Island. First, we did a hike from the beach and saw many, many birds. The red-footed booby is the bird most famous on this island because it isn’t on any of the other islands we will visit. They are unique in the blue color of their bills and because of their red feet. Even though they have webbed feet, they can wrap them around the branches and sit on them. There were lots of babies which look like cotton balls. Unfortunately during our visit, Joe got a poop bullet to the leg.
The red-footed booby:
Cotton-Ball Baby:
After our hike we had a choice between beach snorkeling and a deep water snorkel. We were going to beach snorkel because of my mask issues, but no one else opted to do that so we decided to do the deep water after all. I was SO glad we did!!! This snorkel was so much better for me!!! I was comfortable and had no problems with the new mask. We didn’t see a ton of fish – some angel fish and a lot of black fish with an orange tail & fins and a stripe around their body. Still – the best thing for me was feeling comfortable in the water again so I was really glad we changed our minds.
After our snorkel we had lunch. It was shrimp kabob and then some type of beef cooked with a sauce & pickles and served over rice. Dessert was Key Lime Pie. All was very good. We had a couple of hours of free time on the boat after lunch. We went up to the sun deck and lounged. I managed to read one whole chapter of my book, but that was it.
Our afternoon hike took us up Prince Phillip steps to the top of the caldera. There, again, we saw tons and tons and tons of birds. I think the most amazing thing is how un-afraid they are of people. They may be standing or sitting right in the middle of the path and won’t budge one inch as we approach – pretty cool. Apparently the bird we were looking for this afternoon was an owl. And we saw 4 of them!!! The guides thought that was pretty incredible.
Dinner tonight was a choice between pork chop & salmon. I had the pork, which was actually like a stir fry thing – not at all what I expected. Joe said the salmon was really good. Dessert was bread pudding – always a hit in our house!
The naturalists warned us that tonight the seas would be rougher than last night. I will say that because the boat (yacht) is so much smaller than a cruise ship (for example), you can really feel the motion. And let me tell you – it’s really hard to shave your legs when swaying back and forth. I could barely take a shower!!! I was holding on for dear life! But for some reason – even though we’re moving back and forth – a LOT – it seems like it’s not as jerky as it was last night. Kind of hard to explain. I just hope I get a little more sleep!!!
9/27/2011 – Fernandina & Isabela
When we got up this morning, we were still sailing. And we had a fabulous start to our day – first we saw a couple of whales – tropical or Bryde whales, I think they said. Then in the middle of breakfast – a huge school of dolphins swam by. It was so cool!!! I tried to get a couple of pictures, but was not very successful.
Here's a picture that our naturalist gave us:
Fernandina:
This morning our hike was on Fernandina Island – the youngest island in the Galapagos. It looks a lot like the Big Island of Hawaii with the black lava flows everywhere.
Here we saw lots of Marine Iguanas and I also managed to step in iguana guano! We also came across 3 baby sea lions playing in a little tide pool. One caught a fish and played with it to death. It was cute, if not a little sad the poor little fish had to die. Especially since the sea lion had no intention of eating the fish because he was too young. As it turned out, though, it didn’t matter – the tide went out and the rest of the fish died, too, including a teeny, tiny octopus. There were a few people in our group that wanted to save the octopus, but Ceci reminded us that one of the rules of the park is not to mess with nature! One of the fish ended up being lunch for a little lizard who ran out from the rocks, snatched the sea lions “toy” fish and proceeded to swallow it whole! The most amusing part of this being that the fish was probably about half the size of the lizard!
Marine Iguanas:
Playful baby sea lion and his "toy" fish:
Poor little octopus:
Next, we saw a couple of flightless cormants mating (or rather doing the mating dance) and lots and lots of turtles. Overall, a good, long hike. At the end we saw a red turtle swim by in this little pond and on the way back, we saw the bones of a beached whale.
Isabela:
This afternoon, we were on Isabela island – across the bay from Fernandina. Our first thing was a deep water snorkel. I was only nervous this time because I knew the water would be cold – the coldest of the trip, but I didn’t give any thought to not going. It was cold, but once you got in and adjusted, it was just fine. This snorkel was in hopes of seeing penguins and we did!!! A whole “flock” (is that what they’re called en masse?) of penguins swam right by us. Very cool! Just incredible. The other big sighting on this dive was the turtles – we saw probably at least a dozen, which was also very cool.
After the snorkel, we took a panga ride around the cove where we had snorkeled for up close views of the blue-footed boobies and more penguins. We even saw 2 penguins mating.
Blue-Footed Boobies:
Galapagos Penguins:
Finally, we did a hike – up, up, UP past Darwin Lake ending at a cinder cone with 360 degree views of the volcanoes of Isabela & Fernandina.
Joe and I at Darwin Lake:
And, at the very top - holding my hat because of the wind:
Tonight we had dinner with the captain. Steak w/ mushroom sauce or Sea Bass w/ tomato sauce. Joe had the fish and I had a combo, but the highlight was dessert – some molten chocolate cake pudding in a cup sprinkled with powdered sugar. TO. DIE. FOR.
9/28/2011 – Santiago, the Chinese Hat & Bainbridge Island
Today we started out with a hike at Puerto Egas on Santiago Island. We learned a bit about some of the endemic plants of the Galapagos and how they have adapted to the climate. We are here in the dry season and it is very dry!!! Most of the plants are brown and/or look dead. On the plus side – it’s not raining! The rainy season is Jan – May, but it’s also very hot. The rest of the year is dry and it’s cooler, but it also means the water is pretty cold when you’re snorkeling so if you decide to visit the Galapagos you have to pick your poison.
Marine Iguana tracks:
After our walk through the plants, we walked along the coast on the lava and saw lots of lava tubes where the water shoots up when the waves come in. One is called “Darwin’s toilet.” Ha! Along this stretch, we also saw a lot of baby sea lions – including one that was nursing. They are so darn cute you just can’t stand it!! (Have I already mentioned that?)
Sugar, sugar...
Next we had a beach snorkel, which aren’t my favorite at this point, but I didn’t hesitate going (I only don’t like it because it’s hard to walk in to the water with fins on). On this snorkel we saw a couple of sea lions, a turtle, two sting rays, and lots of fish. I was surprised at how close to the shore some of the fish were on this snorkel. In fact, I almost sat on one when I was attempting to take my fins off.
Back on the boat, lunch today was Mexican food – soft tacos with beef & beans & guacamole. Flan for dessert.
I was back to my old trick for this afternoon’s snorkel at Chinese Hat. The captain had told us that it would be rough and we should be strong swimmers, which I am not. But, I knew Joe wanted to go and the guilt overwhelmed me. And, again, I was really glad we went!!! We saw tons & tons & TONS of fish. At the end, I did get a little tired of fighting the current and opted out of the water before our time was up, but then THE best part!!! When all the snorkelers got out of the water, we went to pick everyone up from the beach (the Aussie’s & Ceci) and when we got there, they were playing in the water with 3 sea lions. So we jumped back in, too! They were so much FUN!!!! They were completely playful & showing off. Posing for the cameras – it was great. They would swim toward you and just before they got to you, they would turn. They swam upside down and all around – so incredibly cute! And so much fun!! It was a big, big, BIG highlight of the trip. And we would have missed it if I had wimped out.
Heading to Chinese Hat:
Snorkeling at Chinese Hat:
Shortly after that we did a drive by of Baimbridge Islet to look for flamingos & we did see 2, which Gaby said we were really lucky. I didn’t get a very good picture, but we did see them!!
Dinner tonight was served buffet style – Turkey, Veggies, Potatoes, and a Calamari Salad. For dessert, we had anniversary cake for Bonnie and Eyal – celebrating 18 years. Overall, it was my least favorite dinner so far.
Tonight we are anchored by our next destination, Bartelome Island. Should be a very good night’s sleep!!
7/22/2011 – Bartelome & North Seymour
Our morning started with a hike to the summit of Bartelome. When I saw the “mountain” and realized it was our destination, I said I wasn’t going (here I go again, right?). But Gaby and Ceci said that we would take it slow so I figured I could make it – and I did. It wasn’t so horrible. In fact, it was much easier than the hike on Isabela!! The views were really spectacular, too!! Joe and I were volunteers for Gaby’s demonstration on tectonic plates. I was the plate and Joe was “Hot Spot” & Jen was South America. Joe came through me and I pushed up Jen to create the Andes Mountains!
At the top!
Our fellow passengers (except Mila & Dimitri who skipped this hike):
From the hike we had another beach snorkel around Pinnacle Rock. Again, there were lots & lots of fish and two more playful sea lions (although not quite as playful as the 3 yesterday). It was a good, long snorkel and for the record, I didn’t hesitate on this one either.
That brought us back to the boat for lunch (BBQ pork, rice, veggies, salad, fruit) and a couple of free hours while we made our way to Seymour Island where Gaby says we will “see more.” Hahaha!!!
Our hike on Seymour Island was another interesting one. We were looking for 2 things – the magnificent frigate bird with his red “balloon” puffed out and gold land iguanas. We saw both right away!!! We ended up seeing several of the frigate birds plus a couple of blue-footed boobies with their baby. And we saw about 4 of the yellow land iguanas.
Frigatebird trying to attract a female:
Land Iguana:
The path was very rocky and at one point I stepped off to get a picture of an iguana under the tree. I really didn’t mean to – just got carried away, but then I felt horrible and guilty for the rest of the hike.
Dinner was shrimp with coconut sauce or chicken cordon bleu. We both ordered shrimp, but sat with Donna & Jennifer and ended up eating some of their chicken. Both were good, but I liked the chicken a bit better.
Seas were rough again. I guess traveling North-South makes for a rougher trip – or so it seems.
9/30/2011 – Santa Cruz Island
Today was quite different from the other days because we were on Santa Cruz Island – an island where people actually live. In the morning, we visited the tortoise sanctuary where we saw the giant tortoise for which the islands were named. We also visited 2 sink holes that we couldn’t actually see because of the gurua (cloudy / foggy). And we visited a lava tube.
At the Tortoise Sanctuary:
In the afternoon, we went to the Charles Darwin Research Station and saw how they are raising tortoises with the hope of avoiding extinction. We also saw Lonesome George, a giant tortoise that is the last of his exact species from the island of Pinta. We also saw Diego, a giant tortoise from the island of Espanola that has an interesting story (Professor Diego).
Lonesome George:
After our visit we walked back to and through town and had some free time. We bought souvenirs for our parents and then made our way back to the boat.
Dinner was Sea Bass with a pepper sauce or Pasta with Pesto Sauce. I had the pasta, which I thought I would regret (garlic), but it was quite good and I had no repercussions.
10/1/11 – Espanola Island
And so, we have reached our last island before heading home. We have 2 hopes for our long morning hike before heading home. We have 2 hopes for our long morning hike – to see the Waved Albatross and the Christmas Iguana. The iguana was pretty easy to spot since dozens of them had taken up residence on the start of the trail. We would see them and lava lizards throughout our hike.
We had to find an alternate route - this was our trail! These are also Marine Iguanas, they are just more colorful here:
We, again, saw several of the blue-footed boobies with babies. One was quite close to the path and after 7 people passed, mama decided she had had enough and was not going to let me by!! She even pecked at me!! I made it, but she was equally against Joe’s passage. He ended up going the other way around.
We saw many of the Waved Albatross as well and many, many babies. 2 interesting things about these magnificent birds – 1) they leave their babies for up to 2 weeks while they look for food. 2) They walk from the middle of the island to the cliff edge to take flight. We got to see a couple of them do that, so that was really cool. These turned out to be my favorite birds of the whole trip.
A baby:
In flight:
Lunch today was traditional Ecuadorian food – ceviche, stewed chicken, plantains in cinnamon, potatoes, rice, and pork.
We skipped our last snorkel opportunity (a little remorseful – yes). The water was cold, our suits were dry, and there wasn’t anything new to see. Plus, this was our cloudiest day with mist off and on so we decided it would not be worth it.
Our last stop was for a walk along the beach at Gardner Bay. There were, according to the girl’s count, 244 sea lions along this beautiful, white, sandy beach. Sadly, we saw a deserted dead baby seal lion and then we saw a mother who had recently given birth and her baby had not lived. So sad!!! Happily, we saw another newborn that appeared to be quite healthy and was barking up a storm! Gaby said it was a good year for sea lions – only a few dead ones all week. YIKES!!!
After a shower we played “Galapagos Jeopardy” and got all of our instructions for disembarking. Then we said goodbye to our crew with a farewell drink before dinner. Our last meal was a choice between vegetable lasagna and curry chicken.
10/2/2011 – Back to Quito
This morning after breakfast, we disembarked for the last time. But before we left San Cristobal we went to the Galapagos Interpretive Center and revisited the history of the islands. From there, the bus dropped us off and we had some free time in town. Since it is Sunday, a lot of places were closed, but along the harbor stores were open for the tourists.
We found a restaurant Ceci recommended and had a coke and a snack and then relaxed a bit before heading to the airport for our uneventful flight back to Quito and our return to Mansion del Angel.
It wasn’t that late and we had considered going out for dinner, but opted to eat at the hotel bistro. And, we were glad since the evening shower had arrived. Ashley & Mark are staying here, too, so we had dinner with them (sort of different tables, different timing). It was good food and nice to end our trip with two of our new friends.
10/3/2011 – Home
Our journey home was fairly uneventful other than the shower drain being too slow and me not realizing it until I had flooded the bathroom. Fortunately, there was another drain in the middle of the room so Joe was able to get most of the water down a drain or soaked up in a towel.
Check-in at AA in Quito was pretty easy. We went through immigration and security, then stopped for a Subway sandwich since we missed breakfast at the hotel again (they did offer to bring toast & coffee to our room). At the AA gate, they hand check your baggage, which I thought was interesting. Also, if you have purchased a drink in the airport, you can’t bring it into the gate area. So, the restrictions are somewhat the same, but enforced differently.
We arrived without incident to MIA and customs wasn’t bad, although the hall could use some stanchions versus the “free-for-all” it was. In spite, it didn’t take long and since we carried on our bags, we whizzed through. We had a couple of hours in MIA, so we got something to eat and bought a newspaper and a new book for me since I finished mine.
We arrived back in DFW safely. I know that we will look back on this trip as a very unique adventure. It was a truly wonderful and interesting experience.
Before I give you my travel journal, I just wanted to add a few things - our tour included our accommodations, 3 meals a day and snacks, and all of our excursions. I don't mention breakfast very often (if ever), but we had a variety of things - eggs cooked different ways, cereal, pancakes, French Toast, etc.. Every time we got back on the boat, we were greeted with snacks and juice. Overall, the weather was pretty good. In the morning, we would have the gurua - cloudy, foggy - but afternoons were typically pretty sunny and warm. We were on the yacht with 16 other people. Although I don't talk about them much in the journal, or have pictures of them here, I'll tell you who they are...
- Scott & Annie were traveling with their daughters, Jessie and Nellie from Australia. They are geologists. Scott was a professor and met Annie when she was his student. He has 3 grown daughters from his 1st marriage and Jessie and Nellie were 9 and 7 respectively. They were a lot of fun. When I saw the girls at the Quito airport, they were wrestling each other and I jokingly looked at Joe and said that I hoped they were on our boat. Imagine my surprise when they were!!! But, they turned out to be quite good and enjoyable. One of the other couples (Nick & Jo) were annoyed because they thought Scott & Annie were using the rest of us as free babysitters, but I guess I didn't really feel that way. Sometimes they would sit separately from their parents at meals, but I thought it was more of them trying to be grown-up and worldly. When at home, they live on a ranch and have some chickens, but they are traveling for 6 months.
- Nick and Jo are from Manchester, England. Apparently, Nick had started a company a few years back and sold it in a multi-million dollar deal. As a result, neither of them were currently working, although apparently they are planning to again some day. They have been married close to 20 years and have no children (don't want them).
- Jennifer and Donna are mother/daughter traveling from New York. Dad and a Sister had both passed away, so they are seeing the world together. I guess Jennifer is some kind of semi-high-powered executive in Manhattan, but has yet to have found a man. Donna lives in Connecticut and spends time with the grandchildren her daughter left behind.
- Dimitri and Mila are originally from Serbia, but now live in Sydney, Australia. They were at the end of a full-year of traveling around the world. They spent the week before the one we were together on a scuba-diving cruise around the Galapagos. I think Dimitri was growing weary of the road - he was often a little grumpy and cantankerous. But, I really liked Mila. They don't have any kids - yet, they say.
- Chris and Jo were honeymooners from London. Chris is the U.S. equivalent of an attorney and Jo is a physicist. I told her that was intimidating, but Chris assured me it really wasn't. LOL!! They were quite nice, but quiet and kept to themselves.
- Bonnie and Eyal were traveling from Israel. Eyal was from Israel, but Bonnie was originally from Canada. She had moved to Israel as a child with her family. They had both been married before and both had kids from previous marriages, then had kids together. One of their children was wheelchair bound, but I'm not sure why. Also, Bonnie had had cancer, but was now okay. They were traveling for their 18th anniversary. He is veterinarian and she is a vet assistant.
- Ashley and Mark are honeymooners from Chicago. They met online and are both artists, although she earns a living as a speech therapist for children. I think he was doing web designing or something to that effect. Mark is originally from Michigan and Ashley is an military kid who went to high school in Albuquerque.
Here's my travel journal and a few favorite pictures:
9/23/2011 – Heading to Quito
6:47 PM – I waited to write until I knew we were on our way – it was a little touch and go in Miami, but I’ll not get ahead of myself.
It’s not preferable to me to spend a whole day getting to our destination, but sometimes it can’t be helped. Our day started with a 10:45 AM flight to MIA (& if I back up even further then I would tell you that we’re traveling on AADV tickets). That gave us the opportunity to sleep in a bit and make our way to the airport, which was actually quite nice. Our flight backed up about 8 minutes late, but not too bad. We landed in MIA at 2:40 (5 minutes past our scheduled arrival), but a storm was moving through so we sat on the tarmac for about 30 minutes before parking. Of course, we came in at D4 and had to make our way to D40, but that was fine – we rode the new train and it was actually quite easy. Our connection was going to be a little tight, but then our Quito flight was slightly delayed and we had a “small” mechanical. I was about to get out the old journal when I looked out the window and saw more black clouds. I would say I was holding my breath, but since we sat there for an hour and a half, I don’t think you would believe me. Here was our view out the window as we waited:
Thoughts so far: I’ve decided that MIA is akin to a foreign country. Everyone is speaking another language and carrying a foreign passport. I’ve never been a big fan, but I am biased by my view that the airport is the non-rev black hole. In fairness to the city – I’ve never really been there except to travel through or on business. It is – surprisingly – on our list of places to visit, but maybe later.
We were supposed to land in Quito sometime around 7:00, but it was more like 9:00-something (I think). Fortunately, we had no problem clearing customs and getting a taxi. Our driver was a girl who didn’t speak much English and didn’t seem to know where we were going, but thankfully, we made it!!! For this portion of our journey, we stayed at Mansion del Angel and it was quite lovely. My first impression of Quito? Big, dirty, and not unlike Mexico (Oh, and a little scary!). Joe’s first impression of Quito? It’s really busy for 10:00 PM!! We’ll see if a tour of Old Town tomorrow can change my opinion!
9/24/2011 – Free day in Quito
My second impression of Quito: I looked out the window to find a man relieving himself on the wall below the window of our hotel. Hummmmm…. I didn't get his picture, but here's a look out our window (although left of the wall where I saw the man):
I, admittedly, did not do much research before we arrived. Since we would be on a yacht with our days planned for us, I didn't see the need to buy a travel guide. Further, the weather had indicated it would be raining, so I wasn't sure we would be able to do much sightseeing. In retrospect, I wish I would have done a little more research on Quito. All I had managed to read directed us to the historic district, so after breakfast at the hotel (included in the price), we headed that way. We started out in the wrong direction, but didn’t walk too far before Joe figured that out. It was a bit of a walk to the right place, but not too bad. I was slightly intimidated by the fact that we were the only “Americanos” walking around the streets (we did finally run in to some more at some of the more touristy places), but overall it was a really nice morning (although much warmer than I expected). There were TONS of people out and about. The squares were full of families and performers. We visited 5 different churches today. The churches are all very elaborate and much is done in gold.
Plaza Grande is the main square in the historic district of Quito. The Presidential Palace is on one side of the square and the Cathedral is on another. The other two sides are filled with shops and restaurants. Following our tourist map, we headed to the sites it highlighted.
The Presidential Palace:
The first church was the Cathedral at the Plaza Grande. The floor was wooden and creaky. There was some gold on the altar, but not as much as the next place.
The second church was La Iglesia de la Compania Jesus (The Church of the Society of Jesus) and is said to be one of the most beautiful churches in Latin America. It was richly displayed with gold. When the light shone – just right – it lit up incredibly.
The third church was Iglesia y Monasterio de San Francisco (Church and Monastery of San Francisco) and was in much need of renovation. There were holes in the ceiling and most of the statues on the altars were gone. When we returned home, I read that most of the damage was the result of an earthquake. There was scaffolding in the front, so perhaps they are beginning that process.
The fourth church, Iglesia La Merced, was having mass when we arrived. We tried to sneak in to the back to listen, but we were approached to give a donation. I wouldn’t mind donating to the church, but how could we know if this guy was legit? Since he wouldn’t leave us alone, we left – past the beggars at the door that included an amputee and someone with an IV bag (slightly off the tourist path, I guess).
By now, it was time for lunch. We walked by a couple of places I had written down from TripAdvisor, but neither were open for lunch on Saturday, so we settled on a cute little place in an enclosed plaza off Plaza Grande. Joe had the chicken and mushrooms, which was good, but would have been better without the hair!! I had a “traditional” Ecuadorian dish which was basically chicken fried steak without the gravy. The breading was pretty light and had a hint of lemon flavor. And as an added bonus – no hair!! Both lunches came with French fries.
After lunch, we opted to walk through the Ronda district. It is supposed to be very artsy, but most of the shops were closed although quite a few cafes were open. In this area, we had our best views of La Virgin de Quito (The Virgin of Quito) who overlooks the city. We were tempted to take the steps up to the top of El Panecillo (the hill she sits on), but we opted not to. Later on our cruise, we found out that was good because it is a very dangerous area where many tourists have been mugged!! La Virgin de Quito has a crown of stars, angelic wings, and a chained dragon.
From there, we walked by another church – Church of Santo Domingo. We didn’t attempt to go in. A rock band – correction – a very loud and awful rock bank was playing in the plaza so we kept going.
Our next stop would be our fifth church – the basilica. We stepped inside and they were having a wedding. I didn’t take a picture inside, but lots outside of the beautiful church.
That pretty much completed our Historical District tour, so we headed back to the hotel to regroup. Unfortunately, we must have regrouped a little too long. By the time we decided that our next destination would be the tram to the top of the volcano (Teleferico), the clouds had moved over and our visit was somewhat a waste. You could barely see the person standing beside you at the top due to the clouds. However, the trip itself was interesting – although a little scary for me – and we did get some great views of the city on the way up and the way down. We hadn’t really considered doing the tram in the AM because it was supposed to rain. All day, rain clouds were around, but they spent most of the day on the other side of the mountains.
The teleferico:
Views of the city on the way up:
Views from the top:
So – lesson #1 – take the tram in the morning because the clouds move into the city in the afternoon. Lesson #2 – if you take a taxi see if he can come back for you – or ask at your hotel the best way to get back. We did neither of these and ended up walking down to the bottom of the hill – about 1 – 2 miles – in the rain. Yes, it started sprinkling as were walking down and by the time we got to the bottom, it was a genuine downpour!!! We got to a busy street, yet still had a bit of a tough time finding a taxi. It was probably not more than 10-15 minutes, but it felt like 17 hours!!! When one drove by and honked at us, I could have cried with joy. Now, let me tell you, that taxi ride in the pouring down rain was the adventure of the day. Apparently they don’t put de-foggers in cars in Ecuador because all the windows were completely fogged up. The windshield wipers were working, but I don’t know how the driver saw anything. He charged us $4 to get back to the hotel. It was worth every penny - I probably would have paid him anything.
But the adventure didn’t stop there. We arrived back at the hotel, which has a locked gate & a locked front door. You must ring the doorbell to get in. We rang that doorbell for at least 10-15 minutes and got no response. Joe walked across the street to see if he could see anyone, which he couldn’t. I’m ringing the bell, I’m SCREAMING “Hello” and getting nothing but more and more drenched. Finally, out of complete frustration, I grab the gate and start shaking it and it comes open (without being buzzed – GREAT security!). We run up the stairs and proceed to bang on the door – also to no avail, although at least we were under an eave, so we aren’t getting rained on anymore. 5 – 10 minutes go by and finally – thank goodness – another guest hears us. He can’t figure out how to open the door, but he goes and finds the lady and we finally get in. She just gives me the key – no apology – no “sorry, I didn’t hear you” – no nothing!!! I was so pissed!!!!! Argh!!!
By this time it was about 6:30 – 7:00. We had not had dinner, but we were afraid if we left we would never get back in. Plus, there’s no convenient place close so we had crackers, trail mix, and water for dinner. We hung up all our wet clothes and went to bed by 8:00. It really was a crappy ending to our day even though we’ve already conceded that we’ll probably laugh about it some day. Hopefully.
A couple of notes: 1) we have yet to find a taxi driver that speaks English, nor do they know where our hotel, Mansion del Angel, is. When we arrived, the driver had to call someone to figure out where it was. Tonight, I had to show the driver a map so he would know where it was. Not that it’s their fault – don’t get me wrong – I don’t expect them to speak English. I am in their country – my inability to speak their language is my problem. Them not knowing how to get to our hotel, however, I’m not so sure about! 2) They must grow roses in Ecuador. There was a huge, beautiful bouquet in the immigration hall when we arrived and everywhere we go, there seems to be a roses “theme” – roses at the hotel and roses at the restaurant, too.
9/25/2011 – Heading to the Galapagos Islands
It was an early morning for us – 5:45 wake up to be ready to walk out the door at 7:00. Our driver, Angel, was right on time. He loaded up our bags and took us to the airport – checked us in – got our Galapagos forms – led us to security. About an hour (maybe 45 minutes) later we boarded our flight. We even got a muffin and a drink on the way.
On the way we stopped in Guayaquil to drop people off and take on more passengers and freight. They also refueled our plane. Since we were continuing on, we were required to stay onboard, so while they refueled we had to unbuckle our seat belts in case of fire. Hummmm…. I guess it’s smart, but not very comforting!!!
Our airline to the Galapagos is Aerolineas Galapagos or “Aerogal.” I thought there was only one airline that flew there, but TAME – an Ecuadorian airline also flies there. AA currently seems to have the only flights from the U.S. – at least we haven’t seen any other planes at either airport. We did see a couple of KLM planes, but other than that, only LAN and airlines I’ve never heard of.
We arrived at San Cristobal at about 3:00 PM. We were met at the airport by our naturalists, Ceci and Gabi and were taken by bus to the harbor. Our boat is named the Eric and our very first adventure was just getting to it via the Panga. Our suitcases were delivered directly to the boat so we only had to worry about our backpack and my small bag. Once on board we had a briefing of what to expect and the rules of the park and the boat – then we were shown to our rooms. Our cabin is the tiniest thing I’ve ever seen but, we have a big window that faces out the back of the boat. There are 18 of us and 11 crew members.
Lunch was next – spaghetti with fresh tomato sauce, a white-fish, white-cheese baked cauliflower, salad, and fruit. Quite tasty!
After our safety drill they gave out the snorkel gear, including wet suits. Our first snorkel was a wet landing, meaning we jumped off the panga into shallow water. The purpose of the first snorkel was just to get used to our equipment and the feel of the wet suits in the water. And, it was a good thing because it turned out to be a little rough for me. It was as though I had never snorkeled!!! As soon as I put my face in the water, I started hyperventilating! I think it was getting a bit better, but my mask was too big and that wasn’t helping because it kept filling with water. So…a new mask for me tomorrow!!!
The beach was Ochoa on San Cristobal Island and is one where the locals go. There was a sea lion swimming there and several sleeping under the trees. After we were done snorkeling, a couple of sea lions came out and headed toward the rocks. Gosh, they STINK!! But they are so darn cute!!!
The water was C-O-L-D!!! When I got in, it totally took my breath away. But with the wet suit, it’s not bad once you get used to it. There wasn’t a lot to see – in fact, the water was a little murky, but, again, the purpose was to get used to the equipment.
Not a lot of fish, but some interesting rock formations:
This playful sea lion is not an albino - he completely rolled around in the sand until he covered every inch of himself:
After snorkeling, we sailed around Kicker Rock where we got our first look at some of the birds that are common here in the Galapagos Islands.
After sunset, the captain welcomed us, we had our briefing for tomorrow and then dinner. The sea was pretty rough and at least a couple of people got seasick. Dinner was mozzarella and tomatoes w/ pesto, onion soup, white fish with lemon sauce, broccoli, mashed potatoes (Dinner is the only meal that it served - breakfast and lunch are served buffet style). Sleep was pretty bad – the boat was jerking left and right all night long!!!
9/26/2011 – Genovesa Island
Today we spent the day on Genovesa Island. First, we did a hike from the beach and saw many, many birds. The red-footed booby is the bird most famous on this island because it isn’t on any of the other islands we will visit. They are unique in the blue color of their bills and because of their red feet. Even though they have webbed feet, they can wrap them around the branches and sit on them. There were lots of babies which look like cotton balls. Unfortunately during our visit, Joe got a poop bullet to the leg.
The red-footed booby:
Cotton-Ball Baby:
After our hike we had a choice between beach snorkeling and a deep water snorkel. We were going to beach snorkel because of my mask issues, but no one else opted to do that so we decided to do the deep water after all. I was SO glad we did!!! This snorkel was so much better for me!!! I was comfortable and had no problems with the new mask. We didn’t see a ton of fish – some angel fish and a lot of black fish with an orange tail & fins and a stripe around their body. Still – the best thing for me was feeling comfortable in the water again so I was really glad we changed our minds.
After our snorkel we had lunch. It was shrimp kabob and then some type of beef cooked with a sauce & pickles and served over rice. Dessert was Key Lime Pie. All was very good. We had a couple of hours of free time on the boat after lunch. We went up to the sun deck and lounged. I managed to read one whole chapter of my book, but that was it.
Our afternoon hike took us up Prince Phillip steps to the top of the caldera. There, again, we saw tons and tons and tons of birds. I think the most amazing thing is how un-afraid they are of people. They may be standing or sitting right in the middle of the path and won’t budge one inch as we approach – pretty cool. Apparently the bird we were looking for this afternoon was an owl. And we saw 4 of them!!! The guides thought that was pretty incredible.
Dinner tonight was a choice between pork chop & salmon. I had the pork, which was actually like a stir fry thing – not at all what I expected. Joe said the salmon was really good. Dessert was bread pudding – always a hit in our house!
The naturalists warned us that tonight the seas would be rougher than last night. I will say that because the boat (yacht) is so much smaller than a cruise ship (for example), you can really feel the motion. And let me tell you – it’s really hard to shave your legs when swaying back and forth. I could barely take a shower!!! I was holding on for dear life! But for some reason – even though we’re moving back and forth – a LOT – it seems like it’s not as jerky as it was last night. Kind of hard to explain. I just hope I get a little more sleep!!!
9/27/2011 – Fernandina & Isabela
When we got up this morning, we were still sailing. And we had a fabulous start to our day – first we saw a couple of whales – tropical or Bryde whales, I think they said. Then in the middle of breakfast – a huge school of dolphins swam by. It was so cool!!! I tried to get a couple of pictures, but was not very successful.
Here's a picture that our naturalist gave us:
Fernandina:
This morning our hike was on Fernandina Island – the youngest island in the Galapagos. It looks a lot like the Big Island of Hawaii with the black lava flows everywhere.
Here we saw lots of Marine Iguanas and I also managed to step in iguana guano! We also came across 3 baby sea lions playing in a little tide pool. One caught a fish and played with it to death. It was cute, if not a little sad the poor little fish had to die. Especially since the sea lion had no intention of eating the fish because he was too young. As it turned out, though, it didn’t matter – the tide went out and the rest of the fish died, too, including a teeny, tiny octopus. There were a few people in our group that wanted to save the octopus, but Ceci reminded us that one of the rules of the park is not to mess with nature! One of the fish ended up being lunch for a little lizard who ran out from the rocks, snatched the sea lions “toy” fish and proceeded to swallow it whole! The most amusing part of this being that the fish was probably about half the size of the lizard!
Marine Iguanas:
Playful baby sea lion and his "toy" fish:
Poor little octopus:
Next, we saw a couple of flightless cormants mating (or rather doing the mating dance) and lots and lots of turtles. Overall, a good, long hike. At the end we saw a red turtle swim by in this little pond and on the way back, we saw the bones of a beached whale.
Isabela:
This afternoon, we were on Isabela island – across the bay from Fernandina. Our first thing was a deep water snorkel. I was only nervous this time because I knew the water would be cold – the coldest of the trip, but I didn’t give any thought to not going. It was cold, but once you got in and adjusted, it was just fine. This snorkel was in hopes of seeing penguins and we did!!! A whole “flock” (is that what they’re called en masse?) of penguins swam right by us. Very cool! Just incredible. The other big sighting on this dive was the turtles – we saw probably at least a dozen, which was also very cool.
After the snorkel, we took a panga ride around the cove where we had snorkeled for up close views of the blue-footed boobies and more penguins. We even saw 2 penguins mating.
Blue-Footed Boobies:
Galapagos Penguins:
Finally, we did a hike – up, up, UP past Darwin Lake ending at a cinder cone with 360 degree views of the volcanoes of Isabela & Fernandina.
Joe and I at Darwin Lake:
And, at the very top - holding my hat because of the wind:
Tonight we had dinner with the captain. Steak w/ mushroom sauce or Sea Bass w/ tomato sauce. Joe had the fish and I had a combo, but the highlight was dessert – some molten chocolate cake pudding in a cup sprinkled with powdered sugar. TO. DIE. FOR.
9/28/2011 – Santiago, the Chinese Hat & Bainbridge Island
Today we started out with a hike at Puerto Egas on Santiago Island. We learned a bit about some of the endemic plants of the Galapagos and how they have adapted to the climate. We are here in the dry season and it is very dry!!! Most of the plants are brown and/or look dead. On the plus side – it’s not raining! The rainy season is Jan – May, but it’s also very hot. The rest of the year is dry and it’s cooler, but it also means the water is pretty cold when you’re snorkeling so if you decide to visit the Galapagos you have to pick your poison.
Marine Iguana tracks:
After our walk through the plants, we walked along the coast on the lava and saw lots of lava tubes where the water shoots up when the waves come in. One is called “Darwin’s toilet.” Ha! Along this stretch, we also saw a lot of baby sea lions – including one that was nursing. They are so darn cute you just can’t stand it!! (Have I already mentioned that?)
Sugar, sugar...
Next we had a beach snorkel, which aren’t my favorite at this point, but I didn’t hesitate going (I only don’t like it because it’s hard to walk in to the water with fins on). On this snorkel we saw a couple of sea lions, a turtle, two sting rays, and lots of fish. I was surprised at how close to the shore some of the fish were on this snorkel. In fact, I almost sat on one when I was attempting to take my fins off.
Back on the boat, lunch today was Mexican food – soft tacos with beef & beans & guacamole. Flan for dessert.
I was back to my old trick for this afternoon’s snorkel at Chinese Hat. The captain had told us that it would be rough and we should be strong swimmers, which I am not. But, I knew Joe wanted to go and the guilt overwhelmed me. And, again, I was really glad we went!!! We saw tons & tons & TONS of fish. At the end, I did get a little tired of fighting the current and opted out of the water before our time was up, but then THE best part!!! When all the snorkelers got out of the water, we went to pick everyone up from the beach (the Aussie’s & Ceci) and when we got there, they were playing in the water with 3 sea lions. So we jumped back in, too! They were so much FUN!!!! They were completely playful & showing off. Posing for the cameras – it was great. They would swim toward you and just before they got to you, they would turn. They swam upside down and all around – so incredibly cute! And so much fun!! It was a big, big, BIG highlight of the trip. And we would have missed it if I had wimped out.
Heading to Chinese Hat:
Snorkeling at Chinese Hat:
Shortly after that we did a drive by of Baimbridge Islet to look for flamingos & we did see 2, which Gaby said we were really lucky. I didn’t get a very good picture, but we did see them!!
Dinner tonight was served buffet style – Turkey, Veggies, Potatoes, and a Calamari Salad. For dessert, we had anniversary cake for Bonnie and Eyal – celebrating 18 years. Overall, it was my least favorite dinner so far.
Tonight we are anchored by our next destination, Bartelome Island. Should be a very good night’s sleep!!
7/22/2011 – Bartelome & North Seymour
Our morning started with a hike to the summit of Bartelome. When I saw the “mountain” and realized it was our destination, I said I wasn’t going (here I go again, right?). But Gaby and Ceci said that we would take it slow so I figured I could make it – and I did. It wasn’t so horrible. In fact, it was much easier than the hike on Isabela!! The views were really spectacular, too!! Joe and I were volunteers for Gaby’s demonstration on tectonic plates. I was the plate and Joe was “Hot Spot” & Jen was South America. Joe came through me and I pushed up Jen to create the Andes Mountains!
At the top!
Our fellow passengers (except Mila & Dimitri who skipped this hike):
From the hike we had another beach snorkel around Pinnacle Rock. Again, there were lots & lots of fish and two more playful sea lions (although not quite as playful as the 3 yesterday). It was a good, long snorkel and for the record, I didn’t hesitate on this one either.
That brought us back to the boat for lunch (BBQ pork, rice, veggies, salad, fruit) and a couple of free hours while we made our way to Seymour Island where Gaby says we will “see more.” Hahaha!!!
Our hike on Seymour Island was another interesting one. We were looking for 2 things – the magnificent frigate bird with his red “balloon” puffed out and gold land iguanas. We saw both right away!!! We ended up seeing several of the frigate birds plus a couple of blue-footed boobies with their baby. And we saw about 4 of the yellow land iguanas.
Frigatebird trying to attract a female:
Land Iguana:
The path was very rocky and at one point I stepped off to get a picture of an iguana under the tree. I really didn’t mean to – just got carried away, but then I felt horrible and guilty for the rest of the hike.
Dinner was shrimp with coconut sauce or chicken cordon bleu. We both ordered shrimp, but sat with Donna & Jennifer and ended up eating some of their chicken. Both were good, but I liked the chicken a bit better.
Seas were rough again. I guess traveling North-South makes for a rougher trip – or so it seems.
9/30/2011 – Santa Cruz Island
Today was quite different from the other days because we were on Santa Cruz Island – an island where people actually live. In the morning, we visited the tortoise sanctuary where we saw the giant tortoise for which the islands were named. We also visited 2 sink holes that we couldn’t actually see because of the gurua (cloudy / foggy). And we visited a lava tube.
At the Tortoise Sanctuary:
In the afternoon, we went to the Charles Darwin Research Station and saw how they are raising tortoises with the hope of avoiding extinction. We also saw Lonesome George, a giant tortoise that is the last of his exact species from the island of Pinta. We also saw Diego, a giant tortoise from the island of Espanola that has an interesting story (Professor Diego).
Lonesome George:
After our visit we walked back to and through town and had some free time. We bought souvenirs for our parents and then made our way back to the boat.
Dinner was Sea Bass with a pepper sauce or Pasta with Pesto Sauce. I had the pasta, which I thought I would regret (garlic), but it was quite good and I had no repercussions.
10/1/11 – Espanola Island
And so, we have reached our last island before heading home. We have 2 hopes for our long morning hike before heading home. We have 2 hopes for our long morning hike – to see the Waved Albatross and the Christmas Iguana. The iguana was pretty easy to spot since dozens of them had taken up residence on the start of the trail. We would see them and lava lizards throughout our hike.
We had to find an alternate route - this was our trail! These are also Marine Iguanas, they are just more colorful here:
We, again, saw several of the blue-footed boobies with babies. One was quite close to the path and after 7 people passed, mama decided she had had enough and was not going to let me by!! She even pecked at me!! I made it, but she was equally against Joe’s passage. He ended up going the other way around.
We saw many of the Waved Albatross as well and many, many babies. 2 interesting things about these magnificent birds – 1) they leave their babies for up to 2 weeks while they look for food. 2) They walk from the middle of the island to the cliff edge to take flight. We got to see a couple of them do that, so that was really cool. These turned out to be my favorite birds of the whole trip.
A baby:
In flight:
Lunch today was traditional Ecuadorian food – ceviche, stewed chicken, plantains in cinnamon, potatoes, rice, and pork.
We skipped our last snorkel opportunity (a little remorseful – yes). The water was cold, our suits were dry, and there wasn’t anything new to see. Plus, this was our cloudiest day with mist off and on so we decided it would not be worth it.
Our last stop was for a walk along the beach at Gardner Bay. There were, according to the girl’s count, 244 sea lions along this beautiful, white, sandy beach. Sadly, we saw a deserted dead baby seal lion and then we saw a mother who had recently given birth and her baby had not lived. So sad!!! Happily, we saw another newborn that appeared to be quite healthy and was barking up a storm! Gaby said it was a good year for sea lions – only a few dead ones all week. YIKES!!!
After a shower we played “Galapagos Jeopardy” and got all of our instructions for disembarking. Then we said goodbye to our crew with a farewell drink before dinner. Our last meal was a choice between vegetable lasagna and curry chicken.
10/2/2011 – Back to Quito
This morning after breakfast, we disembarked for the last time. But before we left San Cristobal we went to the Galapagos Interpretive Center and revisited the history of the islands. From there, the bus dropped us off and we had some free time in town. Since it is Sunday, a lot of places were closed, but along the harbor stores were open for the tourists.
We found a restaurant Ceci recommended and had a coke and a snack and then relaxed a bit before heading to the airport for our uneventful flight back to Quito and our return to Mansion del Angel.
It wasn’t that late and we had considered going out for dinner, but opted to eat at the hotel bistro. And, we were glad since the evening shower had arrived. Ashley & Mark are staying here, too, so we had dinner with them (sort of different tables, different timing). It was good food and nice to end our trip with two of our new friends.
10/3/2011 – Home
Our journey home was fairly uneventful other than the shower drain being too slow and me not realizing it until I had flooded the bathroom. Fortunately, there was another drain in the middle of the room so Joe was able to get most of the water down a drain or soaked up in a towel.
Check-in at AA in Quito was pretty easy. We went through immigration and security, then stopped for a Subway sandwich since we missed breakfast at the hotel again (they did offer to bring toast & coffee to our room). At the AA gate, they hand check your baggage, which I thought was interesting. Also, if you have purchased a drink in the airport, you can’t bring it into the gate area. So, the restrictions are somewhat the same, but enforced differently.
We arrived without incident to MIA and customs wasn’t bad, although the hall could use some stanchions versus the “free-for-all” it was. In spite, it didn’t take long and since we carried on our bags, we whizzed through. We had a couple of hours in MIA, so we got something to eat and bought a newspaper and a new book for me since I finished mine.
We arrived back in DFW safely. I know that we will look back on this trip as a very unique adventure. It was a truly wonderful and interesting experience.
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