Hello readers - thanks for viewing my blog. Especially welcome are my beautiful wife Cyndi, our two wonderful children Tom and Lisa, and my siblings Jeff, Mary and Suzy. I posted often from America Samoa while I was there a few years ago. I also post from our past and later travels. Keep checking in, and please leave a comment!
They may not be readers, but our dogs Monte and Zoey have a special page with their own photos. They are involved in many of our trips, and all of our lives.
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In March, 2015 Cyndi and I traveled to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. These are a world heritage site, and one of the most unique and interesting destinations in the entire world. Coming here is the trip of a lifetime. We brought Lisa and Ross, and also Tom and Deb. This expedition was so interesting that I have split my blog postings into five separate posts about the experience. Here is a quick directory - click on the post name and you will be transported directly there.
Leaving the Letty behind was both exhilarating and sad. We had so enjoyed our week of touring, snorkeling, and the wonderful people we met and with whom we became acquainted along the way. Our trusty naturalist guides Pepe and Gaby brought us ashore and directed us to a small interpretive center back in Puerto Baquerizo Moreno on San Cristobal where we learned many more things about the Galapagos history. Then we had a few hours to wander in the little town, which was a few hours too long for what was there. Actually, due to a flight delay it was even longer before we took off on the return flight to Quito.
Back in Quito, our trusty driver Arturo had waited for us despite the delay in arrival, and he returned us unscathed to he Hotel Patio Andaluz for another night. This was our last night with Tom, Deb, Lisa and Ross. We went out for a nice dinner to celebrate and reminisce. Lisa and Ross were bound for Peru and a visit to Machu Pichu, while Tom and Deb had a day to spend in Quito before returning to the US.
Cyndi and Rick had arranged to stay at a hacienda south of Quito, not too far from the volcano Cotopaxi. Our driver took us there, and a good thing that was. The road was poor, bumpy, and unmarked. We would never have arrived had we driven ourselves. But once there, the Hacienda Santa Ana was a very nice hostelry. Here are a few photos of the outside:
Rick in the entryway
Cyndi catching the view
View from Hacienda Santa Ana
Hacienda Santa Ana was formerly a Jesuit home, where the order had a residence to care for the surrounding area. It is now updated to modern standards, but it keeps a cloistered atmosphere - soft, church music, relics, and above all quiet. It is also more than 12,000 feet above sea level. This proved to be a real problem, especially for Rick as I could not seem to shake the effects of that altitude. Even repeated cups of mata de coca didn't work too well. The Hacienda Santa Ana was situated in a very rural area with fields, cattle, sheep and wonderful views in every direction. It was about an hour's drive south of Quito. Its restaurant was quite good, a necessary thing since there was literally nothing else anywhere near us there.
Our first day was spent on a hike up a river valley to a hidden waterfall, with many others en route. We had a guide, Flavio, to show the way. Luckily for us this was at a significantly lower altitude so we were able to hike the 5 miles or so it took to get there and back. Of course, it was rainy, and even somewhat cold as well - what a difference from the Galapagos! Here are some pictures:
And a short video of the main attraction:
We had arranged for the second day a horseback ride up to see Volcan Cotopaxi accompanied again by Flavio. Cotopaxi is the second highest volcano in the Andes, rising more than 19,000 feet above sea level, and among the tallest mountains in the world. It is at the center of a big national park, all well above the tree line. We could not see Cotopaxi until we had ridden for almost an hour, but then it came into view as we rounded a corner. Photos don't do it justice - a snow-capped peak so near the equator, so impressively high that we had to recall that we ourselves were already well above 12,000 feet! If you imagine a volcano, you think of a conical, symmetrical peak with white snow surrounding the top - and that's exactly what Cotopaxi looks like. We rode all around the relatively flat tundra, saw old lava flows, wild horses, and virtually no people. But we actually saw a real Andean Condor fly right over our heads! Here are a few photos:
Here is a short video panorama of the Cotopaxi Park:
We spent another night at the hacienda, but the altitude was too much so we returned again to our refuge, the trusty Patio Andaluz for our last night. That last day we hired another driver to take us down to Mindo, a small town in the "cloud forest." This is the tropical forest about halfway down to the sea, a lower altitude with its own ecosystem. Here we visited a butterfly farm, a chocolate making operation, and orchid garden and hummingbird sanctuary. Here are a few photos:
Chocolate pods
Chocolate beans drying before processing.
Hummingbirds at feeder
Hummingbirds. They flit around so fast!
And here are videos of the butterfly farm and some hummingbirds!
What a trip! Returning to Quito after that long day, we again had Arturo drive us out to the airport for the overnight flight back to Atlanta and home.
Every day we had one, and usually two, snorkeling trips. The crew would load us into the Zodiacs and head out to a reef, or a submerged volcano cone, or just off some rocky points. Then we would don our gear and slip into the water. I carried our GoPro camera for some super underwater shots.
There are two seasons in the Galapagos. The first, from February through August, is when the warmer currents arrive. This attracts certain kinds of aquatic life. Then the colder currents from the antarctic predominate, bringing colder water and different sea life. We preferred the warmer currents, if for no better reason than that we wouldn't be too cold to stay under for a longer time. The Letty carried wetsuits for those who wanted them, but the water at the time of our trip was warm enough that we didn't nee them.
Each session lasted perhaps an our. Gaby and Pepe stayed in the zodiacs, lifeguards. We were told there were sharks, but not any significant risk of harm. I never saw one, but others did see a few reef sharks and a couple hammerheads. We were not there during the times that humpback whales congregated, a pity. But we saw plenty of other sea life. Just jump in anywhere, and right below the surface the water teems with colorful tropical fish. Here are some photos and videos:
A highlight was the time we came across a pod of five spotted rays, swimming along serenely. I also captured a shot of two interacting more playfully:
I followed a sea turtle for a time, as shown here:
Finally, a couple vids of seal lions and a view from the water:
Sometimes still shots are interesting, here are a few:
Penguins swimming - they are fast!
An unusual starfish
Reef life
Tom, Deb and the Zodiacs
Actually, snorkeling was one of the daily highlights. The sights were awesome, and being in the water was so refreshing. That equatorial sun got quite hot every day. And how can you ever beat a sight like this -
In my previous post I described in very abbreviated way our yacht, the trip and the Galapagos in general. These islands are so unique and special, no words can do them justice. here instead are a collection of photographs and videos taken from around the islands. My next post will show the underwater side of the Galapagos. These are in no discernible order, befitting the awesome jumble of impressions given by this absolutely unique paradise.
Sea Lion
Heron, Kicker Rock in the distance
Sea lions doing what they do best
The sea lions were so cool. They were totally fearless of people, and they went wherever they pleased. The pups especially were basically sea-going dogs. Their appearance and behavior resembled that of our trusty animal companions. Actually, the early Spanish explorers referred to them as lobos, their word for wolves.
Cactus tree
Here's a video panorama of one nesting area:
Lisa and Ross on a day hike
Booby nesting
Inlet with sheer cliffs too tall to get in the photo
Through a stone arch, Kicker Rock out there.
On the Galapagos,and nowhere else, you will find both land and marine iguanas. The marine iguanas have adapted to feeding in the ocean because on their island (just a couple such here) there was no land food for them. So they turned to the ocean, learned to swim, and now feed on the kelp and algae. Of course, they do spend time on land as well.here is a video of one I encountered:
Marine iguanas
Wrestling for a rock
Uncountable numbers of birds nest around these cliffs.
Tom and Deb, cooling off.
Sea lion
Sea lion colony on the beach.
Blue footed boobies
On Santa Cruz - tortoise
I just had to do this.
So did Lisa and Ross
And Tom & Deb.
Big tortoise at Darwin Center
Baby tortoises in their pen.
Gaby hugging a tree.
Statute of Lonesome George in Puerto Ayora
Cool ocean currents carry some animals far from their home territory. These penguins are a sub-species unique to the Galapagos, noticeably smaller than their Antarctic forebears:
Penguins on the lava rocks.
Small lava island called Chinese Hat.
Colorful crabs scuttle over rocks at the shore.
Sea lion pups
They come right up and lick your toes!
Lisa in a lava tube.
Another lava tube.
Iguana hunting a crab dinner.
At Bartolome on Santiago Island we climbed an old volcano cone for a wide panorama view of the area. If you saw the Master and Commander movie, this is where Steven caught view of the evil French frigate.
Bartolome
Lava island, too new for much vegetation.
Cactus on lava!
View of lava fields over to Chinese Hat.
The view at Bartolome.
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Finally a panoramic video of the view from up on top:
Land iguana. Looks like a dragon!
Female frigate bird.
The male frigate birds have this red air sac a their throats. In mating season they inflate it like an enormous red balloon to attract female companionship. Hard to resist, ladies? And to think, these birds soar so gracefully for enormous distances over water!
The blue-footed booby is our favorite. They dive straight into the ocean for fish, just like an aerodynamic bomb. But on land they waddle and are so awkward! The male dances to impress the female; she chooses the with the most impressive presentation. Not too different from us?
Lisa getting a memory.
The next posting will cover undersea life at the Galapagos.
