Viva Ecuador

Technically we're only traveling half-a-world (a hemisphere), but from Great Falls to Quito it is a world away in perception, and it's a little bit shocking that we can be transported from the high plains of Montana to the foothills of the Andes in a matter of a few hours. We had woken up in our own beds; three flights later we bed down in a cozy and intimate hotel (Hostal de la Rabida) in Ecuador's capital.

Our plane was a little late boarding in Quito so we had a chance to start getting to know the other three couples who would be our companions on the Hike Galapagos tour, and Andres, our guide, who lives in Quito and happens to be a doppelganger for a former colleague of mine. We saw a little more of the diversity of Ecuador's geography as we flew south from the 9,200-foot elevation of Quito to Guayaquil, which from the air reminded me of New Orleans because of it's flatness and the abundance of water all around. It appears to be laid out only millimeters above the water table. I spent a good part of the 90-minute flight to San Cristobal marveling at the incredible cloud formations that towered above the Pacific. Dramatic skyscapes continued to draw my attention throughout our stay in the islands. I'm sure my heart skipped a beat when I caught my first glimpse of the Galapagos - the coastline of San Cristobal - from the plane window. The temperature was 86 and humidity near 100 per cent as we made our way through the airport's checkpoints (we had still been getting snow flurries a day or so before leaving Montana). We checked into the idyllic Casa Opuntia with its view of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno's harbor right outside our window. We had a grand lunch (dinner is more like it) overlooking the harbor, several courses including fresh tropical fruit and soup flavored to taste with aji, a kind of local salsa that could easily become addictive. Then for our Galapagos orientation we walked to the interpretive center where Andres outlined the volcanic origin of the archipelago. We were scheduled to walk up Frigatebird Hill but the path was closed for construction so we detoured to Darwin Bay, believed to be where Charles Darwin first landed on the islands in 1835, and where he is commemorated with an heroic bronze statue. We ended up on the beach where a female frigatebird perched on a snag just a few feet overhead. We stayed on the beach for the sunset then strolled into town. In front of one cafe/bar about 25 men and boys were gathered in the middle of the street looking through the bar's picture window at a big screen TV that was showing a soccer match (Quito's popular team Liga was playing). Sea lions were everywhere. At night they congregate on the beach by the score and bark themselves to sleep. On our way back to the hotel one male lumbered toward us in the middle of the street. Even though there was a lamppost between us he apparently resented my presence because he made an aggressive lunge in my direction and I yielded the right of way. Hey, I thought, it's his town.

Not about to waste any daylight, I got up just before sunrise for a little pre-breakfast scouting on the waterfront. A couple of ruddy turnstones foraged among the sleeping sea lions. A great blue heron hunted in a little cove before flying off to light incongruously on a streetlamp. A bus ride into the highlands brought us to one of the remaining patches of the miconia zone, once one of the islands' principal ecological niches. We walked around Lake Junco, a rain-filled volcanic caldera, and the islands' only body of fresh surface water. There were several frigatebirds skimming the surface; they have learned to come here to rinse off the salt they have collected in their feathers. Near the easternmost point in the archipelago we visited La Galapaguera, San Cristobal's giant tortoise breeding center. And there, just inside the gate, as if to ratify the purpose of the center, were two tortoises mating. We observed as respectfully as one can such a spectacle and the tortoises appeared not to notice (much less mind) yet another busload of visitors. We were told that the eggs of the free-roaming tortoises are collected and brought to the center for incubation to reduce mortality. We observed the babies in their age-grouped enclosures where they are kept until they are big enough to defend themselves against predators. Poison apple trees are common in the compound. The shiny-leaved trees produce apples that appear like ordinary green apples, but which are fatal if consumed by humans. Tortoises, on the other hand, eat them without ill effect and are the reason the trees are so widely dispersed. The tortoises here are Chatham tortoises (named for the island's English name), and the mockingbirds here are Chatham mockingbirds. They live only on this small island; other islands have their own distinct species. After lunch were had our first snorkeling experience at Isla Lobos, off the west coast of San Cristobal. We were immediately joined by several inquisitive sea lions that performed aquabatic rolls and dives. We saw lots of colorful fish, and a sea turtle drifted by. Another short boat ride took us to Kicker Rock where we saw lots of frigatebirds overhead, as well as Nazca boobies, and a swallow-tailed gull. Snorkeling our way between the cliffs of Kicker Rock I was admiring the barnacles and sea anemones when I noticed a couple of four-foot Galapagos sharks swimming below me, and then a couple more sea turtles.

A visit to the Charles Darwin Research Station was first on our agenda. We looked in on the tortoise nursery and were introduced to ''Super Diego'' a male of the Santa Cruz tortoise species that had been repatriated from the San Diego Zoo to help perpetuate his breed. It is said that he has sired most of the 1,500 offspring produced at the station. We got our first look at a land iguana, a fine golden-colored specimen about four feet long. Our first attempt to find the Pinta Island tortoise ''Lonesome George'' ( the world's most famous reptile) was unsuccessful. The last surviving individual of his species, he was brought to the Darwin Station in hopes he would mate with a related species and avoid extinction, but to date he has been uninterested. We did see one of the females he shares his compound with. A washed out road prevented our planned mid-morning activity (hiking to a volcano) so we switched to kayaking mode. We paddled around a quiet lagoon that serves as a cattle egret nesting area and explored ''the cracks'' a narrow passage between lava cliffs where we saw brown noddies, striated herons, a great blue heron, and blue-footed boobies. A short hike took us to Playa Los Perros, a boulder-strewn beach covered with marine iguanas and Sally Lightfoot crabs. These brilliant crustaceans are irresistible to a photographer, their scarlet color striking against the wet, black lava rock they often haunt. Named for their nimble scurrying, they scuttle on the very tips of their eight legs, like a ballet dancer ''en pointe''. After lunch at La Garrapata we hiked the three miles to Tortuga Bay, which offers white coral sand, red mangroves, and a tidal flat with lots of shore birds. Just as we started back to town the rain started and we walked 45 minutes in the rain back to the hotel. Since I was already wet I took a dip in the Hotel Fernandina pool before supper.

After an opulent breakfast we Zodiaked along the shore of Rabida island, where we (nearly) rubbed elbows with blue-footed boobies, brown noddies, a striated heron and fur sea lions for an hour or so. Then we landed on Rabida's red sand beach and watched a pair of flamingos dozing in a lagoon and hiked the low hills among the specialized, soft-spined Opuntia that grow here. During lunch the Coral cruised to the west side of Santiago and we put ashore at Puerto Egas, the site of an ill-fated salt mine. A short hike along the shore took us past fur sea lions, lots of marine iguanas and striated heron. As I photographed an iguana an inquisitive Galapagos flycatcher landed for a second on my lens. I don't know if I was more startled or delighted; anyway, I felt honored. Later we snorkeled with lots of surgeonfish, clownfish and many others. Just down the beach from me as I emerged from the water a great blue heron posed in the afternoon sun against the dark volcanic rock.

Having crossed the equator twice in the night (first, northbound, then southbound toward Fernandina) we piled into the Zodiaks right after breakfast. We were greeted by a welcoming committee that consisted of a flightless cormorant, a basking sea lion, crabs, a striated heron, marine iguanas and a Galapagos hawk that eyed us nonchalantly from a snag - and we had barely set foot on land. Fernandina is said to be the island least altered by human contact and that helps explain the abundance and variety of the wildlife. As Jose, our barefoot guide, pointed out the difference between ''pahoehoe'' (ropy) and ''aa'' (sharp, jagged) lava I stopped to admire a Galapagos snake stretched out along the folds of pahoeohoe. We watched a bit of the flightless cormorants' mating ritual: strutting with necks arched, twisting and twining. I guess you could say they were necking. The cormorants are one of the Galapagos' iconic species. So isolated from predators they have lost the ability to fly. What's left of their wings is effective for undersea fishing. We were nearly back to the Zodiak landing when Helen took a spill on the lava and scuffed her toes, knees and hands and injured her elbow. Our guides and other members of the party provided first aid and we were whisked back to the Coral. A doctor was ferried over from our sister ship the Legend and he gave further treatment and comfort. Since she could still move the arm he assumed there was nothing broken, though when we got home four days later that proved incorrect. As Helen rested aboard ship I continued with the group deep water snorkeling in Tagus Cove, on the west coast of Isabela. There were plenty of sea stars, barnacles, a couple of sea turtles. I even caught a glimpse of a penguin fishing below me. We made a quick hike uphill past 175 years of nautical graffiti (sailors from the British ship Phoenix were the first to carve their vessel's name and date in the rock). We got a view of hyper-saline Lake Darwin - three times saltier than the ocean. Back on the Coral we were treated to an ice cream social. We spent an hour on the upper deck looking for whales and admiring the sunset. Cruising through the night, we again crossed the equator twice. For our northbound transit the captain invited passengers up to the bridge to watch the GPS monitor as it displayed our latitude at O degrees, 0' 0'' Then we retired to the lounge for celebratory cocktails and the presentation of certificates designating each of us as veterans of the equator crossing.

It's hard to believe we're spending our last day in Ecuador, the conclusion of a spectacular adventure. At breakfast Gloria gave us directions to a sporting goods store, where we bought Liga (Quito's first division soccer team) jerseys for our grandsons. We spent a little time in the mall after our purchase; it's surprising how similar it is to any mall we are familiar with in the United States - same stores, same restaurant chains, even a lot of the same merchandise and paying with US dollars as well. We paid a visit to the Confederate Bookstore, not far from La Rabida, to replenish our reading material for the trip home. Aside from the novelty of an English language bookstore in downtown Quito, it has an amazing diversity of titles - better than some I've shopped in at home. It was established years ago by an American ex-pat from New Orleans (hence the name) and has become an institution. We bought a few items at an Ecuadorian products shop we stumbled onto and ate supper at Mama Clarinda's, a restaurant specializing in Ecuadorian fare that Gloria had recommended. I finally got to sample the Ecuadorian delicacy ''cuy'' that I had read about. In English, it's Guinea pig. I ordered the half portion so it appeared on the platter sort of flat; it is roasted complete with the head, making it look unfortunately like road kill. I found it pretty greasy and salty. It tasted a bit like - are you ready for this? - chicken. We got to the airport well in advance of our flight time and everything turned bizarre. We passed through a fairly perfunctory security check and were immediately accosted by a young woman in some sort of official looking uniform telling us we needed to have our checked luggage shrink-wrapped for security. Beside her was a burly young man ready to do just that. After grappling with this unheard-of ''requirement'' for a few minutes I decided that there were too many scam-like elements involved and I declined. Then, shortly after we had checked in with the airline we were told everyone had to vacate the gate area while they performed a security sweep, which they did, and pretty thoroughly, too. Then one by one we were readmitted after a hand search of all of our carry-on luggage, even though it had already been scanned in the first security check. Helen had to surrender a bottle of water she had bought after the first check. All the while we were in the terminal the reader boards were scrolling a message to the effect that the airport was closed due to weather conditions. Despite all the distractions they boarded our plane and we took off for Atlanta more or less on time for our 10:30 p. m. flight.