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 woke and had a delicious breakfast at the hotel. We walked around our hotel, just a few blocks – enough to stretch our legs after a long day of flying. We met Nancy and Scott on the steps of our hotel, and Betty picked us all up to take us to the airport for our flight to the Galapagos. Fabricio, our guide, met us at the airport, took care of our bags and check in, and waited for our flights. When we arrived to the Galapagos we met the other three in our group, Rod and Barbara from New York, and their son Russel from California. A five minute drive had us at our hotel overlooking the bay with all the yachts floating in front of us. We went for a walk this afternoon to the Frigate Hill. We walked a little through town for a few minutes and then headed along the trail. We went to the highest point, where we got a great view of the little inlet below us (where we are kayaking to tomorrow) and all the way to Isla Lobo, or Kicker Rock, where we will be snorkeling later this week. We saw some blue-footed boobies, BIRDS, and sea lions playing in the water below us. The walk back was a little bit tricky, walking on uneven lava rocks in the near dark! Dinner was delicious, and afterwards, Fabricio took us all out to the beach in town so we could see the sea lion babies hanging out, waiting for their moms to return from hunting. Then we all went to a local bar where we had Caiparinas, a popular local drink made out of extremely sweet sugar cane liquor. Some headed back, but Fabricio, Russell and I took on some locals in pool – and managed to lose more than once.

We drove for almost an hour this morning to get to Galapaguero where we got to view our first giant tortoises! They are really incredible. Slow as you can imagine, but also really fascinating looking. I cannot believe that they are able to get themselves around, albeit slow, but they get around nonetheless. There were also some young tortoises in the breeding area, as young as a few months old, all the way until several years old. On the way back, we stopped at VOLCANO and hiked to the rim. There is a lake at the top of the volcano, the only fresh water source on the island. We hiked all the way around the rim, giving the clouds time to lift, and could see all the way to the other end of the island! When we got back to the hotel we were told that unfortunately, we would not be able to have shrimp for lunch, but instead got lobster for lunch! What a nice treat to come home to! In the afternoon, we loaded up in our kayaks, and set off along the shore. My mom and I were in the same kayak, which was a little tough for us, but we did manage after a few minutes of “getting used to each other” in the kayak. We stayed pretty close to shore, but the waves still made me a little nervous! I know it is safe, but I have never shared a kayak with someone. It is hard enough to deal with a tippy kayak on my own, but to deal with someone else’s weight in the boat threw me off a little! We kayaked all the way around the point, where the water got even trickier, and then into a nice quiet cove below Frigate Hill, where we were yesterday. We paddled along with the sea lions, saw a ton of different crab along the shore, blue-footed boobies, nazca boobies, tropical birds, and BIRDS. Then we stopped along the way back and got to snorkel! I was a little freaked out at first, but once I relaxed I was able to swim out further from shore. Then a small sea lion came and started playing with us! It would swim right up to my face, then dive under me and blow bubbles in my face. Then, I saw a turtle swim right underneath me! I tried to follow it, but quickly lost it. When we were about to head back to shore, Fabricio spotted a manta ray! I followed it around for a while, but it was a little creepy. We got back into our kayaks and paddled back to shore.

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.

Our last morning in the Galapagos, but unfortunately, we didn’t have much time to do anything. We headed across the island where we caught the short ferry to Baltra, then our bus to the airport. I was amazed how well Fabricio kept us all together, and managed our entire luggage as well. The airport was pretty chaotic, but he just took care of everything for us, and after a short wait, we said our goodbyes. It felt like saying goodbye to family after the week we had all spent together. Seeing as it is Halloween, my mom and I went out to dinner with Nancy and Scott, and it happened to also be a semi-holiday, to celebrate happiness in Quito. So, we found a tapas bar in the Plaza Foche, and listened to live music in the plaza while we ate 15 different tapas and drank delicious wine from Argentina. What a great way to spend Halloween! Even though we weren’t dressed up, we did wear little masks we bought on the street and celebrated in our own way.

Betty and her husband picked us up this morning with their kids for our weekend away with the family. Mateo and Maria Paula were awfully shy, and wouldn’t speak to us for the first hour or so, but Paula eventually warmed up to us, and I was able to practice Spanish with her. She is learning English, so it was fun for both of us to practice. We drove to Cotopaxi and Marcelo took us with Maria Paula to hike to the refuge. We started around 14,000 feet and hiked to 15,000 feet. Of course we both felt sick and dizzy the whole time, seeing as we were at sea level just the day before. I guess it really would have helped to acclimatize a little! After some tea, we got to run down the loose volcano stones to our warm car waiting for us. We then ate at a little typical restaurant on the way to Quilotoa, and had, amongst other things, four different kinds of corn on our plates. It was unfortunately very dark and foggy when we headed to Quilotoa, and the road was extremely high (around 14,000 feet) and windy. Marcelo did an amazing job driving and got us to the village safely, even though we couldn’t see much of anything through the fog. Mom and I were both still feeling the altitude, so after a cup of tea, we went to bed in our little room. The indigenous tribe had little hostel-style accommodations for us to stay in, and while they were rustic, we still slept quite well.

We woke this morning to a delicious home-cooked meal and then went to view the Quilotoa Volcano and Lagoon. The water was a crazy blue color, and perfectly reflected the surrounding mountains. We hiked down about half way, and then decided that we better not go all the way, since we had to hike back up and we were still feeling the effects of the altitude. We were hiking on sand and rocks, all the while looking down on the beautiful lagoon. We then drove out of Quilotoa on our way to Banos. I was blown away by the roads we were driving on the night before! They were so steep and windy, I was glad that it had been dark and foggy the night before so we didn’t have to see what we were on! Today is La Dia de Los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, and we saw a whole village spending the morning in the cemetery, where they had brought their loved ones meals and gifts. The holiday is primarily a day for them to celebrate their deceased family members. It is not a day to be sad, but more of a celebration of the life they had and to give them gifts to have with them in the afterlife. We arrived to Banos and checked into our gorgeous hotel, Sumari Inn and Spa. We had lunch and then walked around Banos for a while. Betty showed us the cathedral and we got to try some sugar cane on the street. Marcelo had gone to watch soccer, and mom and I decided that we deserved a massage. After swimming in the pool with the kids, we got our massages and went to bed in our huge comfy beds.

After breakfast, we all drove up the canyon towards the jungle. We rode a cable car across the incredibly high gorge over a waterfall, then hiked down to another waterfall. It was raining again, but we weren’t going to let that stop us! Late in the morning, Marcelo decided we better head back to Quito to try to beat some of the traffic. What a great couple of days with Betty and her family! The kids were so much fun to travel with, and we learned so much more than we would have on our own. I think in the last couple days, I have tried more new fruits than I have had in my whole life!

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.

After a very relaxing morning at Bellavista (I finally finished my book in the hammock!), we came back to Quito. A friend of Betty's came to pick us up and we spent the evening with Betty and her family, as well as the others from our office. We had a great dinner, danced some salsa and had fun conversations in both English and Spanish. After saying goodbye, Marcelo drove us back to our hotel for our last night in Ecuador.

Today we had to say goodbye to Quito, Ecuador and Betty, our most wonderful host. I just hope that I will be able to return someday to see all the parts of the country I had missed!