Mindy and Ryan's Galapagos Trip

Today we start the long journey from Montana to Quito, Ecuador for our Galapagos Adventure. Our flight didn’t depart too early, 7:00 am, and we made it through airport security without issue. Our first layover in Denver flew by, and when we arrived in Houston we spent most of our time trying to exchange the $100 bills my husband, Ryan, brought, for smaller denominations that we would be able to easily use in Ecuador. (They really don’t like to take anything larger than a $20 bill!)
We arrived to Quito around midnight, collected out luggage, and Betty and her husband, Marcello, from the Adventure Life office, met us just outside customs. It was hugs all around before heading off to the parking lot. It is always so nice to be picked up when you are in a foreign city! As we were walking through the parking lot Ryan spotted a black Land Rover Defender and started walking over to check it out. He kept saying how cool it was when Betty told us that was our ride. I thought she was just humoring him, but sure enough, that was their truck and we loaded in for the hour drive into Quito. We arrived to the Casa Aliso, our hotel for the next few nights, checked in and called it a day.
 

This morning we had a great breakfast at the hotel before meeting Santiago and Carlos, our guide and driver, for the day. We headed south from the city towards Cotopaxi, which is one of the world’s highest active volcanoes (just under 6,000 m). We stopped at a lookout to take in views of the valley that Quito occupies; it is a long narrow city, like nowhere I have even traveled before. The sheer number of people who live there is astounding!
Santiago was a wonderful guide! He was clearly passionate about Ecuador. He was from southern Ecuador where his family ran a farm. He and Ryan talked nearly the entire drive about different types of agriculture – coming from Montana that is something that we have a lot of experience with. We watched as our clear view of Cotopaxi volcano changed to clouds, and then the majestic peak revealed itself again as we rounded to the southern slopes. The weather patterns are curios when the valleys are positioned with jungle to the east and ocean to the west. We arrived to the Cotopaxi entrance where we picked up our local guide. She spoke only Spanish, but Santiago was there to fill in the gaps we didn’t understand. We visited the interpretation center which is filled with painted depictions of the area, the geo-physics of the volcano, and the flora and fauna of the area. Outside there was a small garden of native plants. We continued up Cotopaxi to a small parking lot where people hike up to the refugio. We were already quite high, over 14,000 feet, and although I had been training, the elevation slowed me down. My husband and the guides walked up to the snow line, higher than most people go, and I stayed behind to walk around and take photos of the view. About an hour passed before the rest of my group returned to the parking lot, and as we drove down the mountain there was a marked ease to my breathing.
We returned to the park entrance for our first local lunch, a starter of soup. I had a nice pork chop with potatoes and a glass of tree tomato juice. The translation of tree tomato was not an easy one. I was very surprised to take a drink and find a mild sweet juice as opposed to the salty, hearty juice I was expecting. Upon our return to Quito we visited the Adventure Life office to meet the staff and deliver a few gifts from Montana. (The Buffalo jerky was accepted with a few raised eye brows. “Mindy, must we cook it first?” Then, the group took Ryan and I around town to see Quito by night. It was just beautiful to see all the buildings lit up! We had a great seafood dinner before turning in for the night.

After sleeping in a little, Betty and her family picked us up for a trip up to Otavalo. The famed market was alive with energy as all the local artisans from the area converged in the central plaza, and many of the adjoining streets of this small town to sell their goods. The traditional clothing and one –on-one interactions take you back in time to an era before 24 hour big box stores and online shopping. There we found textiles, paintings, wooden carvings, clothing, and jewelry, all with a distinctly Ecuadorian feel. Not to mention the array of local spices and street foods, including whole grilled fish and snails by the bag, and great ice cream stands scattered within the bustling walkways. Our guides helped us navigate the market and negotiate for all our treasures. We were able to find several paintings to add to our growing art collection, a few scarves, some little trinkets for people at home, and a jade face mask of the God of Land. I was glad to visit the market on a Saturday, when the market is almost twice the size of the rest of the week. Bring your bartering skills, an empty suitcase, and enjoy all the treasures you are sure to find!
 

Today is the day that we fly out to the Galapagos! As an Anthropologist by education I have studied Darwin and the Galapagos Islands for years. I was excited to head out to the islands to witness the famed variations for myself. As our plane was descending on San Cristobal I was in awe that I could see Kicker Rock (one of the most recognizable islands in the archipelago) out my window! We found out this morning that the ship we would be on for the next week was called the Letty, one of three sister ships, and our guides were waiting for our group when we arrived to the islands. Once all the travelers were accounted for, we loaded onto a bus for a short trip to the San Cristobal highlands and a tortoise reserve. As we climb the little altitude of the island. We ended up driving into a cloud. That was the first indication of how diverse these islands would be: within just a few miles we went from a warm sunny day to being completely surrounded by mist! The reserve was a low impact path through a dense cloud forest area; we spotted our first tortoise through a few branches and it suddenly became a fun game to see who could spot what animals! There were several bird species around and we spotted a handful to the giant tortoises, so all and all it was a successful first stop!
 

Frigates, and finches, and boobies .. Oh My! The Galapagos attracts animal enthusiasts from around the world, but I maintain that the happiest visitors have to be the birders! The uniqueness and sheer quantity of birds was overwhelming. I was most excited to see the Blue Footed Boobie before I arrived, but as soon as we made our way around Genovesa, the northern most islands, I saw my first Nazca Boobie and I was in love! Black and white with a yellow bill and matching yellow eyes, these birds look like they would be the comedians of the Galapagos! I imagine them clumsily walking around andcracking jokes to all the other birds on the island... “So, a frigate, a finch, and swallow walk into a bar..." We were in the islands at the beginning of the breeding season and it was pretty wonderful to see all the males picking out nesting materials, trying to impress the ladies in all different ways, and singing their courting songs. Some of these advances were well received, but one poor frigate bird was denied by a female for so long that we started giving him helpful tips, like maybe he should try chocolate... Although we didn’t see any eggs, the spectacle of it assured us that they would be coming.
 

Food on this trip can be divided into two parts – mainland food and seafood. Similar to Peruvian food, the mainland food was very potato based (which made me very happy!). We didn’t have a lot of time on the mainland, but I really enjoyed the food that we were able to try. There was one restaurant near Otavalo that provided one of my favorite meals. Betty and her lovely family took us to one of their favorite places to eat where we ordered a big combination meal so that we could all try a little of everything. Several kinds of boiled potatoes and other legumes, oversized corn kernels, and delicious roasted pork arrived to the table on a huge tray. Delicious!
The food on the ship had a more international flare, and never disappointed! From Octopus to steak, and Halibut to lasagna, everything that came out of the ship's kitchen was simply amazing! I would have never believed that such high quality food would be offered on a relatively small ship.
 

One thing people should know about me is that I had never been afraid of water. Growing up I was the first person in the lake, I loved tubing (I never was able to water ski) and being on the river was a favorite pass time. Fast forward to high school when I was getting certified to be a diver. I loved the classes (being in Montana, these classes took place in a swimming pool at the local YMCA), and our big finish was a trip to Lake Dismit in Wyoming for a ‘natural’ dive – we saw one fish. Then came a trip to Venezuela, and I quickly realized that once the fish out number me, I am not such a fan of the underwater scene. So, now we are in the Galapagos, and I hear the snorkeling is pretty impressive. The water was warm, and my husband was super keen to jump right in – so I thought ‘what better place to reintroduce myself to the water and see how it goes.’ I pulled on my wetsuit aboard the Letty, climbed into the zodiac with the other travelers, added the Defog to my mask, and prepared to jump in. Our first snorkel was at Genovesa, and was considered a deep water snorkel because we started from the zodiac, not the shore. Ryan jumped right in, and turned to wait for me. I jumped in, feeling pretty nervous, but found his hand and we started swimming together.
I was taking deep slow breathes, and feeling pretty calm when all of a sudden there was a slight stinging feeling across my face. Shocked, I lifted my head out of the water and started running my hand on my face trying to figure out what had happened. My hands started to sting. I had been jellyfished! A stray, thin, tentacle had floated right onto my face. It caught me off guard, but I knew the guides would know how to take care of me, so I put my arm into the air (our sign that we wanted to get back into the zodiac) and the guides came right over for me. I hopped out and they handed me a bottle of vinegar. “Make a salad of you face” they explained – motioning me to splash the vinegar onto my sting. After several minutes of “making a salad’ the sting lightened, and I jumped back in the water to join the group. The colors and the fish were quite amazing, and totally worth testing out the water.

Our cruise took us over to the western islands in the archipelago. These are the youngest islands – and although I hate to choose a favorite, I really think Fernandina was amazing! This island seemed so raw to me. The black lava flow with the sparse vegetation, and the literal piles of marine Iguanas made this a super special stop! People always talk about how the animals of the Galapagos have never learned to fear humans, and the iguanas brought this point home for me. As the group walked around Fernandina the iguanas wouldn’t move. I felt like they were looking at us wondering what we were doing there. This was a completely surreal experience! As we were examining the different iguanas Ryan spotted a rotund one and said ‘well, that guy is quite the fatso, isn’t he?” Our guide Ceci approached him and said – ‘I do not know this word – fatso- can you explain it to me?” Ryan laughed, but explained it just meant he was a very large iguana. Later in the day Ceci came over and pointed to a lizard asking Ryan, “He too is a fatso?” We laughed, but confirmed!
We were lucky enough to do another snorkel here and see the marine iguanas eat under water. It was like swimming with dinosaurs! Every once and a while I would look from the ocean floor to the water line and it would surprise me to see a lizard swimming along like it belonged there! We made it to an underwater wall covered in algae and the iguanas were munching away. Spectacular!
 

At the end of a trip I like to look back over what I packed and makes notes for what I would have done differently. The most important thing I packed was seasickness medication. Everyone on our boat was taking something, and I am happy to report that no one on our ship suffered from seasickness. Remedies spanned the gamut from acupressure bands to seasick pills and patches, and they all seemed to work. We were also lucky as far as the weather conditions went. For the most part I felt my packing for this trip was pretty spot on. I brought 2 swimsuits, a few wrinkle resistant skirts, a couple of tank tops, a rain jacket, good walking shoes (I love my Chaco sandals!), 2 pairs of shorts, a pair of long, lightweight pants, a few casual dresses and a zip up fleece jacket.
The one thing that I really wished I would have had was a pair of flip flops just to wear on the boat. Almost all our landings throughout the trip were wet landings, and even though I had sandals, the straps were always wet when I put them on, and had I had a pair of shoes just for the boat my other shoes would have had a better chance to dry. This was nothing major, but the only thing I could really think of.