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Galapagos & Ecuador 2012

By : Erin Correia
Trip Begins June 7, 2012
Trip Ends June 18, 2012

An amazing adventure in Ecuador! A whirlwind tour with my sister that included the Galapagos Islands, Guayaquil, Cotopaxi Volcano, Quito and Otavalo in just 13 days!!

Want to go? Millennium: Eastern Islands

I went to: Leon Dormido, San Cristobal, Galapagos, Mansion del Angel, Quito, Ecuador, Espanola, Punta Suarez, Floreana, Post Office Bay, Santa Cruz Island, Charles Darwin Center, Guayaquil, Hotel Oro Verde, Otavalo, Cotopaxi, Hotel Eugenia, Lobos
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June 7, 2012
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Thank goodness it's not Sunday...

Mansion del Angel, Quito

After finishing packing just after midnight, the 4AM alarm came a little too soon! Groggy and excited, I started my long journey to Quito. My flight from Missoula to Minneapolis was plagued by a 2 hour screaming tantrum compliments of the toddler sitting directly behind me- but my Minneapolis to Atlanta flight was much nicer and I was able to get in a much needed nap.

In Atlanta, I met up with my sister, Amanda, who I had not seen in 7 months. She flew in from Michigan. We immediately set out to find my favorite restaurant that doesn't exist in Montana- a must anytime I visit the south (Thank goodness it isn't Sunday when this restaurant is always closed). We gorged ourselves on deliciously greasy food and then wandered the airport for a while to stretch our legs. We grabbed a couple of giant sandwiches for the flight and boarded our plane.

The Delta flight was AWESOME- we were bumped to an Exit row and there were dozens of movies, tv shows and music stations to choose from. They also served us giant sandwiches...so...4 hours and 4 giant sandwiches later (that's right, waste not...), we landed in Quito!

After going through customs, we were met by Betty and Marcelo (they run our office in Quito). It was so nice to be greeted by such wonderful people after a long day of travel! They drove us to Mansion del Angel, our home for the night. We felt like VIPs as we pulled up to the beautiful hotel and went through the wrought iron gate and up the spiral stone steps. Betty helped us check in (my Spanish isn't what it used to be) and we were shown to our room. The room was fabulous!! Super spacious, clean and very comfortable. There was a fireplace, a living room and a huge bathroom. Our beds even had heated blankets! We were sad to only get one night here! After taking silly pictures of ourselves in the fancy robes provided, we settled in to rest up for our Galapagos flight.

June 8, 2012
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To the Galapagos!

San Cristobal, Galapagos

Our wake up call cane at 6:30 today and we got up and enjoyed the nice shower. We went down to breakfast in the indoor patio (beautiful!) and were met by plates of fresh local fruit and a shot glass full of yogurt. While they made us fresh eggs and bacon (yum!), you poked around the buffet spread of cheeses, fancy deli meats, cereal and pastries. We listened to the birds in their cages next to us as we ate. After breakfast we strolled through the small garden area behind the hotel that leads to the spa.

Our guide, Daniel, picked us up at 8:25 and we were off to the airport. Daniel was a lot of fun to talk to and he told us all about the area and its history. He got us to the airport and sent us through security. There are only a few gates and they all share one waiting area. When it was time to board the plane, we actually boarded a bus first that took us to our plane. We boarded and flew to Guayaquil, waited in the plane for about 30 minutes while they changed out some passengers and then flew on to the islands.

Once in the islands, we went through immigration and then waited as an older man unloaded each of our bags, one by one. After the 'food dog' sniffed our bags, we were free to go. We headed to the doors where we were met by Leonidas, our guide for our cruise. He loaded us on to a bus and we rode to the dock. We were apparently the only 2 adding on to the cruise today. We hopped off the bus at the docks and then loaded into a panga for the quick ride to our boat, the Millennium.

Once at the boat, Leonidas showed us to our room- the Owner's Suite - and gave us brief safety instructions before bringing us down to lunch where we met the rest of our traveling companions. There was a grandmother and granddaughter from Ohio (Adventure Life travelers), a couple from Sydney and the rest were Israelis in their early 20's. Lunch was some tasty fish, potatoes, fruit and veggies. During lunch, Leonidas explained the plan for the afternoon. We changed into walking clothes and hopped into a panga. We first set out on a panga tour to check out birds and other critters along the cliffs. Within minutes, I saw my first sea lion- I was like a little kid at Christmas!! 15 minutes into the ride, I saw sea lions chasing our boat, blue footed boobies resting in the trees, frigate birds puffed up trying to attract a mate, and Sally Lightfoot crabs dotting the cliffsides. All the things you hope to see in a week, and we saw them in the first few moments of our trip!!!

Leonidas took us to a few nesting sites for the frigate birds and boobies, so we saw plenty. There were dozens of sea lions who kept curiously coming up to play with us in the panga and all the while we were surrounded by a flock of blue footed boobies and a pelican that kept diving into the water in masses to try to fish!

We finally pulled ashore by a rocky dock and got out for a walk. We walked along the rocky shore for about 40 minutes, stopping to watch baby sea lions play, male fight for dominance on the beach and marine iguanas saunter by. We had to constantly move off the trail to make was for blue footed boobies nesting on the ground and protecting their eggs. On our way back to the panga, a male sea lion tried to advance on the group a few times. Leonidas jumped to our defense and had to smack him with his hat to get him to back away.

We returned to the boat and suited up for snorkeling. They brought us back to the area where we had seen all of the sea lions and dropped us off. It was AMAZING!!! All of the rumors proved true- those curious sea lions wanted to play! They would swim right at your face, upside down, until they were nose to nose with you, and then, at the last second they would dive down a bit and swim right underneath you, blowing bubbles up at you. They loved my camera and it almost seemed like they were posing for it, constantly swimming right up to it(I am SO glad I bought an underwater case!). It was such an UNBELIEVABLE experience!! We stayed and played with them as long as we could, barely even noticing the colorful fish, and then climbed back into the panga and returned to the ship.

Before changing out of our suits, we joined the Israeli boys in ''cliff jumping'' off the top deck of the ship into the ocean. After a quick shower, the dinner bell rang and we practically ran to the tables- we were starving! Before dinner, we all sat in the common area while Leonidas explained the plan for the next day. Dinner featured chicken, shrimp, potato wedges, salad and fruit. For dessert we had a toasted caramel flan-type thing. After dinner, most of the travelers gathered in the common area to watch a movie so my sister and I decided to join them. I lasted about 5 minutes into the movie before falling asleep! We both woke up as the movie ended and headed up to bed.

June 9, 2012
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And then there were 3...

San Cristobal, Galapagos

We moved locations during the night and it was super rocky. Thanks to my Bonine pills, I never felt even the slightest bit sick! We didn't bring any sort of clock with us, so Miguel was kind enough to knock on our door at 6:30 and by 7:00 we were feasting on omelets, toast, fruit, yogurt, cereal, potatoes, juice and coffee.

After breakfast we headed to shore at Punta Pitt for a hike to some red footed booby nests and a great overlook. On the way, they took us on another panga tour- that way, people who didn't feel up for the hike still got to see some really neat stuff. On the panga tour we went to the rocks where we would be snorkeling later. The waves were crazy and the sea was rough. We saw a ton of red footed boobies nesting in the trees. In one area, we were able to spot all 3 types of boobies in one tree (red, blue and masked or nazca). All the while, sea lions kept coming up a splashing us.

Once we landed at Punta Pitt, we hiked for about an hour over rocks and along the trail. We hiked up to beautiful overlooks and nests of red footed boobies that had giant fluffy babies inside. IT was SO hot out and the stones reflecting the sun made it feel like we were baking in an oven.

After the hike, we suited up and returned to the rocks for snorkeling. The water was a bit more calm, but still not great. I was nervous, but Javier reassured me and I decided to go for it...you're only in the Galapagos once, right? The visibility wasn't great but we saw some giant schools of fish and had the chance to play with sea lions again. There were about 5 that kept chasing us around and swimming with us. They were so playful!! One even grabbed the string on my wetsuit and started tugging on it! We felt a little sick after being tossed in the waves for a while, so we signaled to the panga and Javier picked us up and took us back to the ship.

In the afternoon, we headed to La Galapaguera. It felt like it was a thousand degrees out as we started our hike across the island in search of giant tortoises. This area is known for saddleback tortoises- since vegetation grows higher, they need to be able to stretch their necks further and their shells curve up to allow for this. The hike seemed to go on forever and the heat was making me feel faint. About an hour in, the first person turned back for the beach. After another half hour or so, we finally came upon a giant tortoise hiding in the brush. After another half hour and another 5 or 6 more tortoises, more of the group headed back.

Drenched in sweat and feeling exhausted, I refused to stop. Everytime Leonidas said "I stretch you just a little further", more people either headed back to the beach, or decided to stop right there under a tree and wait for the rest of us to return. I started to feel like one more tortoise just wasn't worth the walk, but my stubbornness and need for adventure kept me going...and I'm glad it did! It was finally down to just 3 of us plus Leo and we were all ready to quit when he pushed us one more time. We sighed and followed him and came upon a giant lagoon in the middle of nowhere. It is sometimes dried up by this time of year, but we lucked out and it was still full of water. Wallowing in the mud were easily 100 giant tortoises!!! They were eating, drinking, relaxing and mating! It was an amazing site and well worth the walk. Thankfully, that put a little spring in my step for the long hike back to the beach.

After what seemed like forever, we made it back to the beach where the remaining hikers peeled off their sweat-soaked clothes for a refreshing dip in the water. Back on board the ship, we showered up, met to go over the plan for the next day and then ate our fabulous dinner. The spiral cake with caramel sauce for dessert was the perfect ending to the day. We stayed up after dinner for a bit and chatted with the Israelis and learned some really cool stuff about their culture. Then we all piled onto the couches with a couple of the crew members to watch a movie together. Amanda and I made it about 10 minutes this time before falling asleep!

June 10, 2012
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Sharks, turtles and jellyfish, oh my!

Leon Dormido, San Cristobal

This morning I woke up with the sun by stayed in bed until the breakfast bell. After filling myself up with banana pancakes, I sunblocked up and headed out for Cerro Brujo. Along the way we did another panga tour along the giant cliffs and even rode into a tiny cave. We went into 'the Cathedral', and really cool cove and then went through the 'tunnel of love'. Again, sea lions followed us all over and we even saw one playing fetch with a stick!

We made our way to Cerro Brujo, a gorgeous white sand beach. As we approached the beach, we could see dozens of sea lions laying on their backs in the water with only their flippers sticking out above the surface.

We landed and found a nice spot in the powder soft sand and had a few hours to relax and play. Amanda and I walked the entire length of the beach, stopping to take pictures of the sea lions, marine iguanas and sally lightfoot crabs. We decided to swim for a bit to cool off and found a gorgeous little pool that was only a couple of feet deep and was surrounded on 3 sides by rocks. The water was crystal clear and the white sandy bottom made it heavenly. In the little pool, we found some sea lions playing and just watched them for a while. The mother sea lion, who we had watched attack and bite another sea lion, came off the beach and gave us a nasty look. She started to charge us, and we had no where to go- she was blocking our escape! We knew she could out swim us so our only chance was to get around her and to shore where we could out run her. My instant reaction was to yell 'hey!' while pointing at her...I'm not sure what I was thinking, but apparently fight beat out flight in my head. My sister looked at me like I was crazy and we made a run for it, high-stepping through the water until it was shallow enough for us to run! We were completely fine, but that sure got our adrenaline going!

By this point, my already badly burnt skin felt like it was on fire(I'm Irish, the sun and I don't play well together), so I covered up as much as I could and we wandered the beach some more, checking out the wildlife from a distance. After a couple of hours, we returned to the ship. Miguel was waiting for us on board with cool glasses of juice and we had a little time to kill before lunch. Amanda and I relaxed on our balcony for a bit, and then Amanda joined Miguel and the Israelis for more 'cliff jumping' off the boat.

After lunch, the anchor was pulled and we headed to Kicker Rock, or Leon Dormido- the giant rock that had been looming in the background the past few days. We started our excursion there by circling the rock with the ship. We could see birds nesting on top and then we saw a whole group of sea turtles swimming by the ship- my first sea turtle!! We were told we might see turtles while snorkeling today...any maybe even a shark.

Next, we suited up and headed out in pangas to the snorkeling drop spot. We were going to snorkel through the channel between the rocks and then continue along the outside of the rock. We got into the channel and because of the lack of sunshine inside, the water looked really murky and a bit spooky. All of a sudden, one girl yelled 'shark!'. We all swam over, and sure enough, a shark swam underneath us. That was just the beginning! Within minutes, there were at least 20 black-tipped reef sharks swimming around us. They were easily 6-8 or more feet long. Just as Leonidas promised, they left us alone and it was a strangely calm feeling considering we were in creepy, murky water with giant sharks!

We continued along the reef-covered wall to the outside of the rock and suddenly, as a sea lion swam by, all of the sharks disappeared and were replaced by sea turtles. It was so amazing to watch them swim. Typically, while watching something as amazing as that, you don't pay attention to the tiny specks floating all around you in the water. I happened to focus on one and realized that all of the tiny blobs of goo were in fact thousands of jellyfish. The long stringy things that looked like hair were also jellyfish...that is when I started to feel the stings! I motioned to Amanda and warned her, but it was too late, she was in them too. It didn't matter where we moved, they were everywhere! We calmly swam back to the panga and climbed in. Amanda and I had been a ways ahead of the group, and we had remained calm, so no one else saw what was coming. We watched just in time to see the 'tough' guys from our ship start screaming and yelling. They swam to the other panga and refused to wait their turn on the ladder- they all started climbing over the sides of the panga like their lives depended on it. Despite the stings, it was one of the funniest things I have ever seen! We got back to the ship and the crew was waiting for us with a type of soy sauce that they poured all over our stings. They were more irritating than painful and we all had a good laugh about it.

We were taking turns showering up when someone pounded on our door and yelled 'whale'! We all ran to the top deck and gathered to watch the whale surface over and over, but no big breaches. In one day I saw my first wild sea turtle, shark and whale, AND had my first jelly fish sting!

The crew gathered to watch the big Ecuador v. Colombia soccer match while dinner was being prepared. While this was happening, we switched out some passengers. The group of Israelis returned to shore and we got another group of Israelis along with an Aussie, a Dutch girl and a couple from Barcelona, all in their 20's and early 30's.

We had a group meeting, enjoyed another amazing dinner, and then stayed at the tables and chatted for a few hours with all of the new folks- everyone was super nice! As the ship headed to open sea, it got pretty rough! Amanda and I went to star gaze on the sun deck (you can see stars from both hemispheres in Ecuador!), but the boat rocked so much that Amanda's lounge chair shot all the way across the deck with her still on it. We decided it would be safer to stay below deck and returned to the common room. We settled in to watch Batman with Adam, one of the new passengers, and Teo, the bartender, but all of us were asleep within minutes. Teo was kind enough to wake us up and send us to bed!

June 11, 2012
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Amazing Espanola!

Punta Suarez, Espanola

Someone was looking out for me today, because just as we were getting up, giant clouds rolled in- I was going to get a much needed break on my sunburns!! We had a great breakfast and headed to shore. We had traveled to Espanola over night and we made our first landing there amongst lounging sea lions and piles of marine iguanas. These marine iguanas had some red on their bodies- the only ones like this in the islands! We began our walk in Punta Suarez and first stopped to watch a colony of masked boobies and blue footed boobies. It was mating season and we watched many couples forming. The males were doing a sort of dance where they slowly walk around, picking their feet up extra high as they go. Then, they duck down, put their wings up and whistle. The females respond with a loud call similar to a duck quacking.

The landscape was my favorite yet! Black rock cliffs and beaches with giant waves of teal, aqua and blue crashing over them. We continued on to the nesting grounds of the waved albatross. These giant birds are typically only found on this island. We saw pairs of them clicking their beaks together in a mating ritual and many others incubating their eggs. As we came around to the shore on the other side, it was breathtaking! We were on a cliff overlooking the surf below, where there was a giant blow-hole in the rocks. As waves crashed, they forced water up through the blow hole like a great geyser. It was beautiful!

As we continued along, the cliffs opposite of us reminded me so much of my visit to the cliffs of Moher in Ireland. What a beautiful island!! We continued our walk back to the beach, stopping along the way to photograph lizards, iguanas, more albatross,a Galapagos hawk, a tiny snake, mocking birds and lots of boobies. We even got to see a marine iguana swimming! We had to walk in the rocks to avoid the tiny baby sea lion nursing on the pier and then hopped in the pangas and returned to the ship.

On the boat, we had about an hour until lunch, and Amanda and I both climbed into bed and passed out until the lunch bell rang! After lunch, we were still motoring to our next spot for a while, so we went up to the sun deck and ended up falling asleep again! In the afternoon, we went snorkeling again. We were told that today would not be very exciting, we would probably just see fish. As we pulled into the quiet cove along the giant rocks, we looked up to see the cliffs covered in baby sea lions. It was as if they had just been waiting for us to come and play with them. As we pulled in, they all started barking and jumped into the water, swimming quickly over to our pangas. It was Adam (the Aussie)'s first day snorkeling and he was like the sea lion whisperer! They followed him everywhere! The sea lions here were even more playful than the last couple of groups and not even a bit shy. They were constantly coming up and touching us and they even started nibbling on our flippers, just like they do to each other when they are playing! We swam into a cave a bit, but the site of a couple of jellyfish in the water there was enough for me, so I swam back out! The water was chilly today, so we didn't last too long. After about 45 minutes, we headed back to the boat.

About an hour later, we were back in the pangas and headed to the beach of Gardner Bay- one of the most iconic beaches in the islands. It was exactly what I had imagined a beach in the Galapagos would look like: powder-soft white sand, amazing teal water and hundreds of sea lions!! The Spanish couple asked us to take a photo of them and while we were taking it, a baby sea lion came running over to nibble on the girl's pants! They jumped away, dropping their towel and the sea lion immediately grabbed the towel and started playing with it! We all laughed and got some great photos before taking away its new toy.

Amanda and I walked the beach a couple of times and Adam joined us as we watched 3 babies wrestle with each other while the dad watched over them. Josie joined us as we walked the beach again. On our way back, a baby sea lion came right up to me! I sat down and let her play. She just checked me out and sniffed a bit, nibbling on my skirt once, and then left me alone. She was SUPER cute!!! We made our way back to the group and it was time to load into the pangas and return to the ship for the evening. Tasty puff balls filled with cheese were waiting for us when we returned which just made us super excited for dinner.

After our group meeting, we had another amazing dinner and then stayed around the tables chatting for quite a while. I didn't even attempt to watch the group movie tonight- I headed straight to bed!

June 12, 2012
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Mail time!

Post Office Bay, Floreana

This morning was so overcast that the sun didn't wake us up...the breakfast bell did! We rushed down and ate super quickly and then ran back up to our cabin to get ready for the landing on Floreana! First, we headed to Punta Cormorant to see the Flamingos. Leonidas warned us that there may not be any but only about a minute into our walk from the beach, we saw our first flamingo. We finished the walk to the edge of the lagoon and saw a few more flamingos next to the first one. They were closer to a different look-out point, so Leonidas led us over there for a better look. It smelled strongly of sulfur at the lagoon, but we were able to see about 5 or 6 flamingos eating and drinking.

Next we walked to a beach that is a nesting ground for sea turtles. We didn't see any turtles, but we saw their nests all along the top of the sand. It was a beautiful beach area, and as we stood there enjoying it, a big wave receded and we saw dozens of sting rays just hanging out in the surf! After a while, we walked back to the pangas and headed back to the ship. The ship motored to the next spot while we suited up for snorkeling.

We arrived to the rocks with rough seas beneath us and a bit of rain in the air. Nothing about jumping into the water appealed to me and several people decided not to go in. I'm glad I did! Floreana is great for snorkeling, and while visibility wasn't great, we saw thousands of fish- much more than anywhere else we had been (more than in my trip to the Great Barrier Reef!). We swam along the cliffs, staying far enough out not to be pummeled by the waves, and were amazed at all the fish. As we came around the point, there was a giant colony of sea lions on the beach that immediately jumped into the water when they saw us. There were lots of babies, so the giant male came along the watch over them. He was huge and very intimidating, but we gave him his space and he left us alone. The babies were super playful again and we all had a great time swimming with them. Doug had a blue footed boobie dive into the water to catch a fish right in front of him- it scared him half to death, but was really cool to see. The water was cold and rough, so I barely lasted an hour before climbing back into the panga. Javier took us back to the boat and I hopped in the shower to warm up.

After lunch, we returned to our rooms to write letters for the post office on Floreana. Neither of us had anything nice to write on since we hadn't been to town yet, but Teo showed up at our door and surprised us with postcards to use. He was so sweet and took such good care of Amanda and me!

We made our landing at Post Office Bay and made our way to the p.o. box. It is just a really old barrel! This has been used as a communication means forever! You leave your letters or cards in the barrel, and anyone who comes to the island checks to see if any of the letters are for where they are headed. If they are, the travelers would take them and deliver them! You could also address them as "to be picked up" if you had friends or family you knew would be traveling there later! It was amazing! We looked through all the letters and a few people took some to deliver back home. I sent one to Kepler (my husband) and Laura (my co-worker)...it will be interesting to see if they ever make it to them!

After the post office barrel, we walked to another part of the island where Leo sat us down and told us all about the history of the area. Then, we continued on to a lava tube cave. It was pretty neat, but we didn't have enough flashlights to see a whole lot. Connie didn't want to go in and let us use her light, we were so thankful! We had fun checking it out, until we spotted a giant roach on one of the walls- at that point I couldn't get out fast enough!

We headed back to the beach and had about an hour to hang out. Some people went swimming and snorkeling and saw another big turtle. Most of the guys ran over to a big sand soccer field and they started up a game- Israelis v. the crew! Amanda and I walked along the beach and had a good laugh watching some crabs scurry from rock to rock. The made a hilarious plopping noise and looked pretty funny too!

We returned to the boat and set said for Santa Cruz. It was a pretty rocky ride, but not quite as bad as the trip to Espanola. Amanda and I both passed the time by napping and then it was time for our meeting and dinner. Right as we sat down for dinner, we dropped our anchor at Santa Cruz and the rocking eased up a bit. After dinner, the crew took us to the pier and dropped us off to explore Puerto Ayora on our own. The town looked sketchy at night, but it wasn't at all! It was a super cute little family town. As we came off the pier, there was a playground with tons of kids and families hanging out. We wandered through the shops and found souvenirs for our nephew, parents, ourselves and my husband. We got soft serve ice cream from a little cafe and walked around town. We met back up with everyone else from the ship, just by chance and all shared a water taxi back to the boat. You just tell them the name of your ship and they get you there for $1! We both packed up our bags for our early morning and then went back up to the deck to star gaze. I was beat, so I headed to bed and Amanda stayed up for a bit longer.

June 13, 2012
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The world is a rockin'

Charles Darwin Center, Santa Cruz Island

Ros woke us up at 6:00 this morning we could pack and be ready to go by breakfast at 6:30. We ate quickly, said our goodbyes to the crew and brought our bags downstairs. We hopped in the pangas and rode away from the Millennium for the last time. We headed to a different dock tucked in the red mangroves and unloaded there. We walked to the Charles Darwin center where we got to see giant tortoises from all over the islands. Some were twice the size of the ones we saw on San Cristobal! We saw Lonesome George, the very last tortoise of his species. We also got to see the baby tortoises that were hatched in the past couple of years. Some of them were SO tiny and adorable. It was already swelteringly hot outside and the sun was beating down on us as we left the station and walked to the bus. The bus took us to the town center where we dropped off anyone who was staying in the islands. We said good bye to most of our traveling companions and then road for about an hour across Santa Cruz. The island was so lush compared to the other islands we had visited! When we reached the northern end of Santa Cruz, we hopped onto a ferry to take us across the Ibathaca Channel to Baltra Island and then onto another bus that delivered us to the airport.

Leonidas helped us check in and showed us where we could get our passports stamped. We had an hour or so until our flight, so we did a little more shopping and then went through security and waited for our flight. It was an open air airport and it was strange to see the planes sitting less than 50 yards away! We were on LAN this time and again had an exit row! I passed out as soon as I hit my seat and only woke up long enough to eat the plantain crisps they gave us while watching a prank tv show.

When we landed in Guayaquil, we collected our bags, found our driver by the exit and headed to Oro Verde. They treated us like VIPs starting with the drive! We knew we had been upgraded at the hotel, but we didn't realize how nice it would be! Apparently, they upgraded us to the Executive floor at the top of the hotel and you needed a special key to get there. We weren't even allowed to check in at the normal front desk. We had our own special reception area on our floor, right next to our lounge that had 24 hour snacks, sandwiches, drinks and a whole buffet of desserts. They helped us get settled into our room and even gave us a laptop to use during our stay. We were so out of our element that we might have giggled out loud a few times as they showed us the room!

We took advantage of the chocolate buffet and mini bar in our room right away. After the cruise, I was excited for a good shower, and boy did I get it! Our room had a GIANT shower with 3 shower heads on the ceiling, 3 more on the wall and a hand held shower head as well! I took an amazing shower and then got dressed up for the IGTOA welcome dinner.

The IGTOA dinner was ridiculously amazing. It was big banquet room at the hotel set up with dozens of tables covered in food. There were so many fabulous foods, including crab!!, constantly flowing drinks (the featured drink of the evening was a 'Momma Mia' and an unbelievable dessert bar including a 3 foot tall chocolate fountain! We mingled for a few hours with the IGTOA members and the hotel staff. The chef came out and took great pleasure in showing Amanda and I each of the different foods and explaining why it was special. The potato cocktails were amazing, but the risotto took the prize! It was made in a giant wheel of parmesean that costs thousands of dollars! As you stir the risotto, bits of the parmesean melt into it!

We were so full from all of the savory food that we could barely eat dessert. Since there were only a few of us there and easily food for 50-100 people, there was so much left over. The owner and chef urged Amanda and I to take some with us. We looked at each other, giggled, and loaded up plates of desserts to carry back to our room!

The one thing no one had warned me about with cruising is how you feel after the cruise. On the ship, we were fine and had gotten used to the rocking. Once we got off the ship, the rocking didn't stop...except that it was just us! I would take two steps forward and another back and everytime I leaned a bit, I lost my balance. The room constantly looked like it was moving and it felt impossible to walk in a straight line. Ooh, I was ready for that feeling to go away!!

June 14, 2012
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IGTOA and Secret Service

Hotel Oro Verde, Guayaquil

Today was the first official day of the IGTOA conference. Amanda and I joined the group for an amazing breakfast at the Patio Restaurant- the chocolate croissants and ceviche were my favorites! After breakfast, Amanda headed back to the room and I headed to the conference.

All morning long we listened to speakers from organizations that IGTOA has supported. They spoke about threats to the Galapagos and where they felt support and money was needed the most. The biggest threat is uncontrolled and unregulated tourism. With the new airport going in and numbers of tourists skyrocketing, it is more important now than ever before to make sure tourists are traveling with licensed tour operators!

We all had lunch together and then met again in the afternoon to discuss what we had heard that morning. When we were done meeting, I went to Casa de la Cultura (a museum) to see if I could find Amanda. She had left a note that she would be there. I found her in one of the rooms and we checked out the museum and Plaza del Centenario. They aren't used to 'gringitas' there, so we drew a little attention, but we kept our heads low and made it around safely. We came back to the hotel and took advantage of the free snacks and then got dressed for our evening out.

We met in the lobby and loaded into a bus with two tour guides and the US Consulate to Ecuador. They handed us Ecuadorian beers as we loaded onto the bus and then proceeded to give us a super quick city tour on or way to Malecon. They had arranged a very special event for us. The Cerro Santa Ana district is a hill at the south end of town on the river. There are 440 steps to the top (each numbered) with shops, bars and restaurants flanking the stairs. Next to each door is a photo of how that building used to look before it was turned into a business. It was a beautiful and super popular area. We had crazy security detail (even some guys who looked like the secret service type) that followed us the entire night.

We headed up the hill, beer in hand. The climb was super easy, but apparently they had anticipated us having a rough go of it, so they had set up two stops along the way for us to grab another drink and pause for a moment. It was strange amidst all the tourists to a see a butler standing at a table of beer and gatorade! When we reached the top, they were waiting for us with cool, spearmint scented towels.

They had closed off the top area just for us, it was the first time in the history of the city that this had been done! There was a little church and a lighthouse at the top and the view of the city was gorgeous. Servers kept approaching us with appetizers, drinks and desserts. It was all prepared by the same chef that had made our banquet the night before, and it was all amazing! After an hour or so of gorging ourselves on deliciousness and small talk with the consulate, we headed down the hill in a different direction that took us through La Pena- one of the oldest areas in Guayaquil. It was beautiful.

We made our way back to the bus and back to our hotel. We joined the rest of the group at the bar and stayed up laughing and drinking until about 1AM. The rocking was still making me pretty crazy, so Amanda and I called it a night and headed upstairs.

June 15, 2012
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Comprame!

Hotel Oro Verde, Guayaquil

Since last night ended so late, we got a late start to the day. The IGTOA members met again to discuss changes to be made in the coming year. We discussed best practices and what each responsible tour operator should be doing (or not doing) in the Galapagos to help protect the precious archipelago.

After our meeting, we all took a tour of the Ecua-Andino hat factory where the world famous Panama hats are made (this factory supplies stores like J Crew with all of their Panama hats). Each hat is woven by hand and it takes almost a month to make one. They are the top producers of these hats. They gave each of us a personalized hat with our name in it! It was really neat! We tried on the rest of the collection and ended up buying more for family and friends.

We returned to the hotel and dropped off our hats and headed to the Malecon 2000. This is a beautiful area along the waterfront that has parks, restaurants, shops and much more. It is a nice, safe area to walk around. It was insanely hot and muggy as we grabbed a really inexpensive dinner at the outdoor food booths on the waterfront. Kids kept coming up trying to sell us candy, toys, gum, you name it. One little boy couldn't have been more than 3 or 4 who came up to sell us candy and cigarettes. He simply refused to leave our table. He had really big eyes and was playing the adorable card by sadly saying Comprame! (buy from me) over and over. Finally Matt couldn't handle it and bought a cigarette to get him to leave us alone.

As the rest of the group headed back to the hotel, Amanda and I set out on our own. We explored the malls for a bit, got some ice cream and then decided to head in the direction of Parque de las Iguanas - we were determined to feed the iguanas and I had a purse full of bananas that I had been carrying all day for just that purpose! We ended up off our path and wandered into a local underground market where it looked a bit like everything had fallen off the back of a truck. We were the only gringos in the market and most people gave us a funny look as we walked through, looking confident (when all else fails, look like you know what you're doing!).

I am amazed at Ecuadorian entrepreneurial skills. You don't really see people begging, but everywhere you turn there is someone walking around selling something- anything- but not to tourists...they are selling it to the locals! Slices of watermelon, bottles of water, candy, cones of meringue, gum...the most interesting thing (and most common) that I saw was people walking around with giant 4 liter bottles of pop and sleeves of plastic cups- like a mobile kool-aid stand run by adults! Betty told us that you can pretty much do all of your grocery shopping for the week by just walking down the street or through a park.

After asking directions from a nice woman who told us it was far too dangerous to be out after dark and told us to immediately get a taxi back to our hotel, we felt safe enough, found a street sign and headed to the park. We ended up getting to the park too late and all of the iguanas were already up in the trees for the evening. It was still a beautiful park, with an AMAZING cathedral across the street, and it was still neat to see the giant iguanas sleeping in the trees, but we were pretty disappointed that our bananas would not be hand-fed to iguanas! (It ended up being perfectly safe, by the way)

We headed back to the hotel, loaded up on more desserts and headed up to our room to pack for our early flight to Quito. We went down to the bar to bid farewell to the rest of the IGTOA crew who was all flying out late that night.

June 16, 2012
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My Ecuadorian Family

Otavalo, Ecuador

Today was a long but fun day! We woke up at 5:20 AM and returned to the airport for our flight back to Quito. It felt way too early and we both passed out on the flight. When we arrived in Quito, we were met at the airport by Daniel and were immediately off for Otavalo.

Along the way north, Daniel stopped to show us great sites and foods. Our first stop was at a fruit stand by the side of the road. We tried a new food called chirimoya. It was big, green and lumpy and you rip it apart with your hands. The inside was creamy white with giant black seeds. It had the texture of an avocado but tasted like a mix of banana, coconut and pineapple. They were so delicious that we bought a couple more to take with us! The next stop was a little town famous for bizcochos- a type of breadstick made with bacon fat and then baked twice. Daniel took us to his favorite spot where we had bizcochos, fresh cheese and hot chocolate.

Next, we stopped at Lago San Pablo for a beautiful view. The Imbabura district was beautiful- green fields all along the hills and mountain sides- lots of farms and greenhouses for roses. We drove through a small town where dozens of children were gathered in front of the church having just made their first communion. They looked beautiful in their white dresses and suits. Their families were all celebrating.

We continued to Otavalo and their Saturday market, one of the largest in Ecuador! Daniel led us through the local food market and then on to the more touristic market. We had to bargain for prices and Daniel stepped in a bit to help (okay...more than a bit!). Amanda and I spent a good amount of time roaming the market and ended up with some great stuff. Daniel had an amazing memory and if we mentioned something we saw earlier in the day that we liked, he took us directly to the right booth!

We stopped to visit Hacienda Pinsaqui for a quick tour. Haciendas are to Ecuador what castles are to Ireland. This one was over 300 years old and was beautiful. The rooms looked so nice, the food smelled delicious and the peacocks strutting around were fun to watch. I wish we had time to stay overnight!

We continued on to Cotacacchi where they specialize in leather. We're not really into leather, so we quickly walked the street lined with shops. If we had more time, it probably would not have taken much convincing to get me to buy one of the beautiful purses or great pairs of boots.

We headed back to Quito and slept for most of the drive. Daniel helped us check in at Hotel Eugenia and pointed out a good restaurant for dinner. We ate at Coffee Tree and then returned to Eugenia where we were met by the staff of our office in Quito. They are all so fabulous!! It was nice to finally meet all of the people I have been working with through the computer for so long! I felt like I was meeting distant family.

They took us on a driving tour of the city and we went all the way up to El Panecillo for an amazing view of Quito all lit up. We climbed up into the giant virgin of the city tower for an even better view. After getting some cotton candy from a street vendor at the bottom of the statue, we headed to La Mariscal district which is where Eugenia is located. It is also the main touristic area of the city and we went to the center of it all to see the city really come alive! There were tons of bars and restaurants and discos and the streets were filled with people and street performers. We enjoyed coffee on the heated patio of one of the cafes and chatted for a couple of hours. It was great! As it got late, they took us back to our hotel for the night.

June 17, 2012
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Snow at the Equator

Cotopaxi, Ecuador

We headed out early this morning with our guide, Luis. We made our way south along the Pan-American Highway to Cotopaxi National Park, enjoying stunning views the whole way. We picked up a local national park guide as we turned off the highway and headed to the registration area. (The bathrooms there were some of the most disgusting I have ever seen in my life!!)

We continued to an interpretation area where Luis showed us a map of what we would be doing. We had a cup of Coca tea to help with the altitude since we would be hiking to 4810 meters- almost 16,000 feet - and had just been at sea level yesterday! The road was long and super bumpy since it was under construction. The sun was shining on the mountain and we were very excited to get a photo from the top! We parked the bus and got ready to hike the Refugio Jose Fribasst. It didn't look that far away, but it was almost straight up the mountain. As we started to hike, giant clouds rolled in bringing hail and snow and blocking our views below. The altitude hit harder than I expected. I needed to stop every few feet to catch my breath. The dizziness set in next, which made the climbing so much harder. I felt like every time I blinked it took a minute for my eyes to adjust again. By the time we reached the top, nausea had also set in! We thought we had been super slow, but Luis told us that we made it in about 30 minutes... apparently it normally takes 1 to 1.5 hours! I wish we had known this, we might have slowed down a bit! At the top, it was hailing pretty hard and we were in the middle of a thundercloud. The Ecuadorians were all super excited- many of them had never seen snow before since they live at the equator.

My nausea was pretty bad, so we decided to head back down to escape the altitude, rather than continue on further. As we got closer to the car, we spotted an Andean wolf. It came to the parking lot to try to get food from the tourists, and many were happy to oblige.

Next, we drove to Lake Limpiopungo to do some more hiking. We had the option of just taking photos from the viewing platform or hiking around the lake. We were freezing and starving, but we opted for the hike. It was kind of marshy with low plants everywhere. Our guide stopped every so often to tell us about a plant's uses or have us smell unique ones (one smelled like spearmint, another like chocolate). We saw lots of birds and an Andean rabbit. It was beautiful and we were glad we decided to do it. After the hike, we headed down the long road out of the park and dropped off our park guide at the entrance.

We went in search of a restaurant that would serve cuy (guinea pig) but it was father's day and everyone was sold out already. Instead, Luis took us to his favorite local restaurant and helped us order our meals. Amanda and I shared a couple of options that were delicious and had amazing fresh squeezed juices. On the way back to Quito, we got stuck in a terrible traffic jam which almost doubled our drive time! The drivers here are crazy. We did get to see an amazing sunset over the mountains. I can't describe how much Ecuador looks like Ireland to me. The shades of green are stunning! The only big difference is that Ecuador is warm.

Once back at the hotel, we realized we were super dehydrated and needed to get some water. We set out in search of a convenience store. It was only about 7PM, but the sun sets at 6PM every day, so it seemed much later. Everything already looked shut down for the night. We met a couple from Minnesota along the way but didn't find a convenience store that was still open. We did find a bakery where we bought giant waters and one of each kind of cake instead! We went back to the hotel, piled on my bed and devoured the cakes while watching a little tv before bed.

June 18, 2012
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The Middle of the World

Hotel Eugenia, Quito

Today we met our guide and headed to the sky tram for a ride up Pinchicha Volcano for amazing views over the city. The area was pretty dead, so we had a tram car all to ourselves. Quito looks beautiful from above- a long stretch of city surrounded by amazing green hills and mountains. It was a little chilly when we got out at the top, so I was glad I had my sweater. We walked around the top, taking in views from each possible direction and then rode the tram back down again.

After the sky tram, we headed to Old Town in Quito. First we stopped to see the Gothic Cathedral- the largest of its kind in all of the Americas! It was beautiful! The gargoyles surrounding the cathedral were not what you would expect, they were all the native animals of Ecuador. They had condors, tortoises, llamas and more! It was sort of funny looking, but a really neat concept.

We parked in a tiny parking garage underground and then set out on foot. We headed to the main government square (most towns in Ecuador have a main square with the government building on one side and the church on the other). The White House of Ecuador in on this square, so we went in to look around and take our photos by the guards. Out in front of the white house, people come to either shout praise or criticism. Both were happening while we were there. It was interesting to see how normal and peaceful this was!

We went to the Cultural Center where we saw the glassed in courtyard and another courtyard with 2 giant monkey puzzle trees growing in it. We continued to the Gold Church, a gorgeous cathedral with incredibly intricate designs covering the entire inside...and all of the designs were gold leaf plated. It was pretty spectacular to see! As part of their compensation, many of the artists who worked on the church got to be buried in the catacombs beneath it.

We grabbed some fresh juice from a stand and went to another square that had a fair trade store where they were selling a type of rainforest seed Amanda had been looking for. After shopping, we were off to the Adventure Life office and Betty's house.

Betty has a beautiful home next door to the office. We got to tour the office and see where they sit every day when we work together. Next, we went over to her house for lunch. Amelia served us homemade empanadas that were delicious! Since Betty knows how much I like to cook, she thought she would teach us how to make our meal, rather than just feeding us- how thoughtful! She first taught us to make aji (thier version of hot sauce) and then she and Giovi taught us how to make classic Ecuadorian ceviche. They said that their favorite is made of conch, but that we probably wouldn't like it, so the next best version is made with shrimp. We watched as they mixed everything together, explaining as they went. It was so cool to get to learn about the food we were going to eat. We sat down to lunch with the whole staff. They serve the ceviche with banana crisps, rice, aji and popcorn (my favorite food on earth). It is also typical to drink local beer with it, so we felt that we had better do this as well! It was the best meal we had the whole trip!

After lunch and a family photo, we bid farewell to most of the office and headed off with Betty and Marcelo for the Middle of the World (the equator). On the way, we stopped at Pululahua Volcano to see the giant crater that now houses a small town. Unfortunately, as we drove up, a giant cloud rolled in that was so thick we weren't able to see anything! Marcelo stopped at one of the vendor's booths on the way out and bought us each a postcard with a photo of the crater town on it. That was very sweet!

We continued to the Middle of the World museum where we ran into Daniel leading some of our other travelers around. I fully expected this museum to be super cheesy and sappy, but I ended up loving it! They had displays and recreations of typical homes for the different regions and tribes of Ecuador. We learned how shrunken heads were made (and saw real ones!!!), were taught about burial practices that made me glad I wasn't part of those tribes, and learned how guinea pigs are used in medicine. (Shamans will take a guinea pig and rub it over the body of a sick person and then sacrifice it and cut it open. Whatever part of the guinea pig that has turned dark is where the illness is located in the person). Guinea pigs are also used to judge people's spirits. The animals are kept in the house and if they make noise when someone visits, the people know that visitor has a bad spirit and will not let them in the house. If they stay quiet, the person has a good spirit and it allowed to enter- luckily, we passed the test and the guinea pigs stayed quiet!!

My favorite part, by far, was when they showed us natural phenomena that occur at the equator. They placed a basin filled with water directly on the equator and drained it- the water drained straight down, as expected. They repeated this 5 feet south of the equator and it swirled one direction- they repeated it 5 feet north of the equator and it swirled the opposite direction! I was not expecting that big of a difference in only a few feet- I was pretty amazed!! They also did resistance tests to show us that we lacked a lot of physical resistance when standing on the equator and they also had us attempt to walk a straight line blindfolded. You aren't able to do it, and almost feel drunk, because you are feeling the pull from both magnetic poles at the same time- crazy! We also got to try to balance a raw egg on a nailhead (I was one of only two in our group to succeed- they gave me an Egg Master certificate!).

On the way back to the hotel, Betty and Marcelo took us to a grocery store to buy our favorite candies from our trip to take home to family and friends. They also took us to an artisans market in La Mariscal so that Amanda could buy a recreation of a famous Guayasamin painting that she had been searching for. After we successfully bought our wares, Betty and Marcelo dropped us back off at the hotel and we said our good byes. We had an hour or two to relax before Daniel picked us up and drove us back to the airport. After a few delays, we were on our flight and headed to Michigan for our little brother's wedding. It was such an amazing trip and awesome adventure. We only wish the rest of our loved ones could have experienced it too!

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