Mother-Daughter trip to Galapagos and Ecuador

After flying all day – we have finally arrived into Quito! Betty was waiting with a smile for us at the airport exit and her husband Marcelo drove us to the Eugenia, our home for many of our nights in Quito. The hotel is beautiful, the staff so nice and friendly, and our room is so cute. We scrambled to repack for the Galapagos and packed a bag to leave in the hotel. What a long day! Pickup is at 9 tomorrow morning, so at least we can get a good night sleep.

This morning we set off on a boat for a full day of snorkeling. What a fun day! I was glad that we had the day before to get used to snorkeling, because we had a lot of snorkeling to do today. Our first stop, we snorkeled off the back of the boat, and stayed pretty near the line of lava rocks. We saw so many different fish right away! A few minutes into the water, my mom and I ended up away from the group, and had two sea lions start playing in the water with each other right in front of us. We watched them for several minutes, dancing in the water. It was one of the coolest things I had ever seen! We felt the need to move on from them – and am I glad that we did. We had a great time snorkeling with Fabricio. He pointed out so many fish to us, (none of which I can remember now) and then we eventually ended up on the edge of this little pool full of baby sea lions. We sat with them for nearly half an hour, watching them play and check us out. One even was nibbling on my mom’s flipper while she sat on the edge of a rock! Occasionally one of the moms would come by and yell at the babies, who would run away from us for a few minutes. But a few minutes later, and their curiosity got the best of them and they were back playing with us. Then, to make things that much more exciting, the alpha male came right up behind us, and barked at us! I turned around (I was on the edge of the circle) and he was just feet behind me! Luckily all he did was back, and then swam back to his perch 50 yards away from us. For as slow and awkward as they look on shore, they are graceful and fast in the water! I did not want to be on that guy’s bad side! The boat picked us up a few minutes later and we were off to our next destination – Kicker Rock, where we would be snorkeling with sharks, if we were lucky. We were. We saw several sharks quite a way below us. It was really fascinating how quickly I felt it was ok to snorkel with sharks, to the point of swimming towards them when I saw them! Instinct would tell you to swim away, but I was very trusting of our guide. We also swam over a school of spotted eagle manta rays. They are enormous, about the size of a car. I never in a million years thought I would be snorkeling with eagle manta rays or sharks, let alone both at the same time! Our third destination would be after lunch and a hike. We were now at the other end of San Cristobal Island, and hiked over the hills to the very end of the island. It looked like we were hiking on Mars. Crazy red rocks, real dry, desert-like, but beautiful. We snorkeled near a small collection of volcanic rocks pretty much out in the open. The water current was a little stronger here, so I was more nervous. I quickly relaxed when I started playing a small sea lion. She had the most beautiful, cartoon-like eyes. She would swim slowly below me and stare up into my eyes. I could get enough of playing with her. We swam circles around each other. She would swim full speed at my face, and dive below me. I wasn’t comfortable diving down with her, but Fabricio dove down to play with her. After 15 minutes of this, we were summoned back to the boat to start our long journey back to town and our hotel. I just can’t get over the look in that sea lion’s eyes. She was so sweet. My mom thought her eyes made her look like a Disney character. They did look big and fake!

We woke early this morning to catch our little 12-seater flight to Isabela. After we landed we headed to our hotel and then off to get our bikes for our next adventure. Unfortunately, this was the most we have seen the sun, and it was a pretty hot bike ride. But the ride was beautiful! We saw lots of marine iguanas along the way. We rode next to the beach for quite a while, and then started climbing until we reached the trail to the wall of tears. The wall was built by prisoners who once occupied the islands. After our bike ride and a hearty lunch, we met and walked to the dock to catch a boat to our last snorkel spot. The water was a little murky, but we still saw tons of fish, a manta ray, and some sea lions to play with! Exhausted after another busy day, we all went to bed pretty early today.

This morning we loaded up in a van to head up towards Sierra Negra volcano, where we met our pack of horses. It was pouring this down rain and the trail was incredibly muddy, but the horses didn’t seem to mind. We rode for several miles through a muddy trail, then finally came to a spot where we al got to run the horses a little. No one in our group had much experience on horses, so the trotting was quite fun. I don’t think I have laughed that hard in years! We got to the top and the clouds cleared up in time for us to see across the whole top of the volcano. It was incredible, and huge! There was also a juvenile Galapagos hawk waiting for us at the top, and posed for several pictures before we finally left it to continue on our way. From our resting spot, you could see where the lava flowed from the last eruption in 2004, and then we got to hike for a couple hours across the lava fields. Of course, the sun was out and it was incredibly hot, but so worth the heat. This afternoon was a free afternoon, but we still played Frisbee on the beach, walked to see flamingos and even got some ice cream.

This morning we got on a fast boat to take us the two hours to Santa Cruz Island and Puerto Ayora. Even with the Dramamine and sitting in the fresh air, I managed to get a little sick, but I made it. After getting here, we dropped our stuff off and headed to the Charles Darwin Research Station (we get no breaks on this trip!). After seeing lonesome George and our only land iguana, we got some ice cream and walked back to our hotel for a few minutes before our next adventure. Fabricio took Rod, Barbara, my mom and me to a farm up in the highlands where we were able to see tons of tortoises in their natural habitat. It was like seeing cows in a field! They just hang out in these pastures with no fear and not a care in the world. Before we left, we did get a chance to get into a tortoise shell and Fabricio and I even stood up in it. It was so heavy. I can’t imagine having to walk around my whole life with that thing on my back. It certainly made me appreciate the tortoises and understand why they walk so slowly! We had another “free” afternoon, but Fabricio took us to his favorite beach, about a 30 minute walk from our hotel. It was beautiful! I read a little, (I think this is the first I have had time to read!) played some Frisbee, jumped in the waves until I felt the ocean had beat me up enough, and then we too the journey back to our hotel to shower for dinner. Our last night together, we had a great dinner at an outdoor restaurant, and then went out for drinks at a fun local bar.

This morning we woke and met our guide Gustavo and headed to north towards Otavalo. He took us to the mitad del mundo on the way. We also went to several smaller towns, each with its own specialty. There was the biscuit town, where they make biscuits, the leather town, and the weaving town. I of course don’t remember the names of any of these towns, but each town surrounded one particular trade. In the late afternoon, through all the rain again, we arrived at the Hacienda Pinsaqui. What a place! Gustavo managed to get us room #1, which was where Simon Bolivar himself had stayed in the 1800s. The room was gorgeous and huge with a fireplace and sitting area. The grounds were all perfectly manicured, and each room was decorated just right. The hotel hosted everyone with a welcome drink and entertainment. Afterwards, we had dinner and spent the rest of the evening glued to the TV in one of the sitting rooms with a couple from California. We watched election coverage until after 1 am, staying up until after Obama had give his acceptance speech. What an incredible place to watch such an historic election!

Today we went to the market where we spent way too much money on gifts for our family, friends, and of course, ourselves. It was very fun to barter with the people in the market, and to see all the hand-made commodities. Our guide was there to explain the different types of goods, and to ask the questions that we didn’t even think to ask. We were also glad that we got there when we did because we beat the crowds being bussed in from Quito. That afternoon, we had a city tour with Gustavo, which included a sighting of the vice-president!

Today we drove to Bellavista with a stop at the middle of the world monument. Unfortunately the museum was closed but we took some fun pictures on the equator before heading into the cloudforest. Bellavista lodge is beautiful, and we got to take a fun hike with one of the guides to learn more about the forest. There were so many hummingbirds, and we got to see a couple tucans. It was of course raining, but we still had fun, and were able to relax for the first time in two weeks. We had dinner with some travelers from New Zealand who were traveling for several weeks. Two of them were in their 80s and having an amazing time! I hope I can travel like that when I am their age.