Day 15 in Ecuador

Good-bye to Ecuador

Rose early and contemplated that this was my last day in Ecuador. It’s been an incredible trip – and I’m not sure I’ve ever before done so many things in such a short time. The people have been wonderful, the traveling has been easy, fun and inexpensive, and the sights have been incredulous.

Having been on the plane a good chunk of yesterday, I decided to get out for one last walk into New Town. Specifically, I wanted to visit the Ethnic Café again – the most delicious latte’s are served there in such a feel-good environment. Walking along past the park, black clouds of diesel fumes from the continuous buses going by, and crowds of people scurrying off to their morning work, I kept eye-balling the mountain that flanks Quito on the west. It is the tallest peak around the city and has a Gondola running to the top that I had wanted to take, but hadn’t done yet. I could see that it was running – the little cars were slowly going up and down. I decided to try to squeeze it into my last morning and walk to it, and see the view of Quito from the top before leaving. Quickly calculating my total pocket money (I didn’t carry a purse with me – just pocket money) I figured I probably had enough to both ride the gondola to the top and come back down and have the latte at the Ethnic café.

Finding the way through the twisting and turning streets without my map, I finally arrived at a University situated at the base of the Gondola mountain. I asked some students for directions which wasn't very successful, then finally found an English-speaking traveler and she said it was still a looooooong way up the mountain, too far to walk. I hailed a taxi and sure enough indeed – had I continued walking I might never have arrived! It starts from darn near half-way up the mountain!

Leaving the taxi and walking to the ticket counter I was already feeling the shortness of breath these high altitudes bring. I began to wonder if I should actually do this, but decided I could always hop back into the Gondola and ride back down if I found I couldn’t breathe at the top.

There was a family of 8 Ecuadorians – two women about my age and the rest were youngsters probably in high school – who were purchasing their tickets just in front of me. We ended up talking a little and discovered that Norma, the older woman, is an English teacher in Guayaquil – they were traveling their country with their children. She told me that the minimum number of people allowed to ride in a Gondola car is 4, maximum is 6, and invited me to ride with them.

It was a slow ride to the top and my ears were having a few challenges with the popping process. They insisted that if I covered my ears and head with my jacket that the pressure wouldn’t affect my ears. I found this to be quite curious (and was unable to understand it scientifically), but two of them covered their heads completely with their jackets. The inside of the car became quite warm, and that in itself was causing a lack of oxygen. I kept yawning to try to pop my ears. The other older woman who rode up with us was already looking half-dead – Norma told me she experiences very low blood pressure at the top of this mountain and that she really shouldn’t have come up to the top. Finally, just to please them, I covered my ears with my jacket for the last 5 minutes of the ride. I don’t think it made any difference with the popping, but it appeared to make them happy. Finally, we reached the landing at the top of the mountain, and exited the Gondola. There was a brisk chill breeze that whipped across us as we gasped for air.

I tried to control my light-headedness and followed them over to the building housing the indoor cafes and shops that sits atop the mountain. The half-dead woman plopped herself into a bench at a table and Norma and some of the youths joined her. I wandered around for a few minutes looking at things, then told them I was going outside to take pictures.

Looking out across Quito and beyond, the views were from higher than the airplanes were flying – you could see the planes passing far below. You could see the current airport, and the big new one they’re building far in the distance, and separate valleys almost unpopulated to the west and east of Quito. The views of Cotopaxi and the other giant volcanoes were majestic – they were covered in snow and draped with a few small clouds. After shooting dozens of photos, I saw a path that appeared to go yet higher and achieve views from another angle. Walking up there, very slowly with several rest-stops along the way, I found a sign that read the elevation – 13,451 feet! No wonder I was feeling a trifle spent and wobbly!

After being on top of the mountain for about 40 minutes, my body was calling for lower altitudes. Walking back down the higher path, I met up with four of the youths who were coming up the path – they said Norma and the others had already taken the Gondola down, and they were just waiting for me! Unbelievable how thoughtful these Ecuadorians are! We descended the trail to the Gondola together and rode it back down. What a difference it made in how I physically felt to get lower by only a thousand feet. I started feeling much better less than half-way back down. By the time we hopped out of the Gondola at the bottom, my light-headedness was gone and my breathing was better. And that was still well above the 9,500’ that the city of Quito sits at.

We parted – couldn’t find Norma to say good-bye. Rode a courtesy bus down about a mile where it turns around and picks up other people to take back up to the Gondola. I got a trifle disoriented for a few minutes trying to figure out where I was (lost without my map and the roads were confusing), but then saw some familiar landmarks and set off walking down. I hailed a taxi and lo and behold – it was the same taxi driver that had taken me up to the Gondola! He seemed quite happy to see me and we actually started talking a little – my Spanish is very poor but he seemed to understand me. After a very enjoyable conversation and ride he delivered me to the Ethnic Café and I waved good-bye.

The Ethnic Café is a place of sanctuary here in Quito. It has beautiful soothing music playing softly in the background, the delicious scents of perfectly roasted coffee, and the aromas of the most yummy foods pervading from the kitchen. It is extraordinarily artistic and colorful in it’s decoration and display of mementos and coffees and tea sets for sale. The lighting is warm amber colored lamps of curved, angled and textured glass – this little haven has an ambiance of peace, comfort and rest.

I ordered my latte and apple strudel, and perched myself at the counter overlooking the street. All was well with the world from within the cocoon of the Ethnic Café. My latte and apple strudel arrived and tasted like perfection. It seemed unreal that within one hour I would be at the airport and heading home.

After sipping the last of the Latte, I slipped into the excellent tourist shop just next door to the Ethnic Café and purchased a small gift for a girlfriend – a male frigate bird in mating posture carved from the Tagua Nut, known as “vegetable ivory”. The nut is extremely hard and durable, and has an ivory color. It is from the palm tree called Phytelephas Macrocarpa that grows in the rainforest and coastal region of Ecuador, and is being used regularly now for carving in lieu of the tusks from elephants, walruses and rhinoceros.

From there I walked back to my hostel, through the large parks, along the streets filled with people, and the buses with diesel fumes, and the taxis zooming past, and the scents, sounds and sights of Quito…at the hostel I ate my leftover fish from the incredible dinner the night before, gave my good-byes and hugs, grabbed my bags, and hailed a taxi from across the street. I arrived at the airport just a few minutes after 12 noon – my flight was to depart at 2:10.

The flight to San Jose, Costa Rica was routed through Guayaquil, so for the second time in as many days I got to see the massive flooding from the air. After refueling and taking on new passengers, we were again airborne and on our way to Costa Rica.

Arriving at San Jose through the immense cloud cover didn’t seem strange until I deboarded. All of a sudden I was surrounded by a different culture entirely – Western Whites! Wow! What a different group than the Ecuadorians I had been enjoying the last two weeks. I could hear aggression and egos, and - excuse me for saying so – what translated to me as quite juvenile banter in some of the grouped male conversations, something I hadn’t heard for awhile, and now distinctively apparent. I was incredulized by how many U.S. folks there were at the airport – probably 90%!

Once boarded onto our Lacsa flight to LAX and taxied out to the end of the runway and ready for take-off only 30 minutes late, the Captain suddenly announced over the speakers that there was a malfunction of some gauges and the plane needed to return to the gate. I couldn’t believe it! This was my 8th flight total during my two-week trip, and the only one that needed to arrive on time due to my friends driving all the way from Palm Springs to LAX to pick me up so late in the evening (scheduled to arrive at 10:16 p.m.), and now it was being delayed! All my other flights had arrived at their destinations on time, but noooo – not THIS one! After 2 hours delay we finally lifted off from San Jose, for the long flight back to California.

And then, another strange thing happened….on re-entry to the U.S. I was pulled aside, as were several others at random, to go through additional security checks! Perhaps it was because I had declared the carved nut as a gift. It cost me another 30 minutes of time and almost lost me my nut! Fortunately, they decided to let me keep it, and I FINALLY got out to the lobby, and PRAISE THE UNIVERSE! My friends were still there waiting for me! They had almost returned to Palm Springs because the flight I was on had already deboarded so long ago and I had not shown up, but they had decided to wait a little longer…may miracles never cease!

We arrived back in Palm Springs by 2:45 a.m. and we were all in bed by 3! I lay there on my bed, my head swirling and my body still rocking from the yacht movement. I had arrived back in one piece with all having gone very well. As soon as the scabs on my buttocks heal from that demon saddle that ate my fanny back in Vilcabamba, I’ll be as good as new. It was an excellent trip, all in all, and I hope you get to go and have an adventure yourself real soon. Off to zzzzzzzzzzzzzz land.

Say

P.S. Stay tuned for the next adventure, coming this summer, when I hike parts of the Pacific Crest Trail and the Wonderland Trail. S

Day 14 in Ecuador

Sunday in the Galapagos

Woke early around 4:30 a.m., well before the alarm set for 5 a.m. Went outside and viewed the stars – they are a bit different here at the equator. Saw the Big Dipper with the North Star almost on the horizon, then the Little Dipper. Couldn’t make out Draco the Dragon but did see Scorpio – it is high in the sky here, whereas from the Northern Hemisphere it is much lower along the horizon.

It was balmy and warm out – absolutely divine temperature. The night was peaceful and quiet. The moon was full, and turning orange as it slowly descended over the Galapagos Islands. I finished looking through Kristina’s fish book before returning it, and went down to the main deck. No one was up or around - all quiet. Back to my room I organized a little for the day and went down again, and this time folks were around.

Because six of us were departing the yacht today at 8:45 a.m. to catch our return flights, we had a very early hike on North Seymour Island . The "pangas" took us at 7:15 over to the island and we had a dry landing almost on top of a baby seal – possibly the smallest, youngest one I’ve seen. Then we spied the marine iguana, which is very dark in comparison to the land iguanas known as the Christmas iguanas, which are red and green. But the big attraction on this walk, even greater than the blue-footed boobie which were plentiful, was the red-throated male frigate bird in all his mating regalia. When the male frigates are trying to attract a mate, they puff up the red air bag at the base of their throat until it is almost as big as a balloon, and crane their head back and watch the skies overhead for a female frigate that might be attracted to their large red air sack. We saw quite a few of these male frigates, and they are really quite extraordinary to behold. We also saw a number of frigate chicks, all fluffy and white, which proves the red neck balloon obviously works as nature intended.

The beach had incredible tube waves coming in, perfect for surfing. Long breaking rolls with aqua blue beneath – stunning! Finally it was time to board the "pangas" again and we were shuttled back to the yacht, where I quickly packed up and then had lunch with the others. This is the first absolutely perfectly beautiful day with no clouds and no hint of rain, and of course I’m leaving Ecuador when the good weather finally arrives.

Not only that, but once on my flight, out of at least 100 seats I had the only one, on a full plane, that had a drape across the headrest that said “Do Not Occupy”. And, to make matters worse, my seat was missing the button that allowed it to lean back. And the flight attendants went back and forth dozens of times and not one of them seemed the least concerned that I was in a broken seat. And I did not said anything for concern they would have me deboard and take the next flight instead of this one. On top of all this, two children thoroughly high and buzzed on sugar candies were seated right behind me who could not sit still. They were continually hitting the back of my seat and bouncing up and down with a mother who must have thought this behavior was natural and not to be controlled. There was someone in front of me who had reclined their seat all the way back practically into my lap! What a flight!

We were an hour late taking off, and it was so humid I was sweating like a pig, salt water running down my face, and once on board I discovered that this flight has no cooling air jets overhead, only reading lamps – it must be an ancient plane! Where's my parachute! While the captain was trying to start the engine, an airport worker was standing ready outside on the tarmac with a large fire extinguisher on wheels just off the left wing…it occurred to me that perhaps I should just stand up and get off….!

But I didn’t and, other than being in a completely ridiculous seating situation, all went well. The best thing I could say for it was that I was perched directly over the middle of the very wide wing, so in case we went down I might have survived a few minutes longer than the rest…although I'm not at all sure that would’ve been a good thing.

The flight to Guayaquil went well, despite the malfunctioning seat and the screaming kicking antics going on behind me, and once there we transferred to another plane. Now THAT was a scene – no one knew where we were going and when we finally found the proper gate it was a free-for-all on seat assignments! Fortunately I was quite near the front of the line, so I was able to get a window seat in the 9th row. Departing Guayaquil we flew above a largely flooded landscape, the direct result of recent torrential downpours. The massive flooding appears to have stretched in a swath between Guayaquil and Cuenca. The skies were completely covered by thick active cloud layers and had been this way almost continually since I arrived in the equatorial region. The temperature was warm and it would be unbearably hot if the clouds weren’t there – Nature’s way of trying to maintain temperature balance, I guess. Reminded me of my menopausal days: constant hot flashes with my response being cold showers.

Touchdown in Quito – excellent pilots! Smooth landing, quick plane departure, short visit with a fellow passenger, Robert from Colorado, and an arrangement for dinner later on, then a taxi and whoosh! I was back at the Chicago Hostel, my traditional hang-out in Old Town, Quito. My room was all fresh and neat, and after a little time checking emails I caught another taxi to Robert’s hotel, from which we went to a superb Ecuadorian restaurant he had heard of, the La Rhonda. We had fabulous traditional Ecuadorian style food while seated at a show-side table observing cultural skirt and shawl dances and Andean bands playing native music – all surrounded by fine mural art on the walls – an amazing place, delicious food, and delightful company. Unfortunately, the rigors of this trip were catching up with me and with the food, music, and wine I was slowly falling asleep in front of my host – how rude of me, but Nature cannot be fought with, at least not for long. We bade goodnight to our fine M’aitre de, and taxied it back to his place where he departed, and the taxi driver delivered me on to my hostel.

Out my hostel window I had full view of the most amazing “basilica” – a church to make the ones in Europe envious! The tall arched windows were all lit up in yellow from the inside, and on the tower the large round window was glowing yellow. The spires were delicate and tall, and extremely ornate in their architecture. Against the outside of the church were hidden lights that slowly rotated the color of the church walls from warm gray to beautiful yellow green, darker green, then purple blue – incredible. I stood at the window and watched for quite a while, then struggled to figure out how my camera works in order to take a timed picture of it. Finally got a few shots that were okay, and hit the hay!

Tomorrow is my last day…it seems to have all gone by in a rush and a flurry.

Say

Day 13 in Ecuador

Saturday in the Galapagos Islands

I entered the dining room at 6:55 a.m. and I was the only one there! Must’ve been a rough night for everyone and they were all sleeping in! Strangely empty and quiet. Sergey, the Ukrainian, arrived at 7 on the button, and then the others started showing up.

Tatiana called us all together before breakfast and announced the news: Chile had just had an 8.8 earthquake and the Navy had ordered all the ships to leave coastal areas and head for deeper water until further notice. Our yacht was underway as she was speaking. We all had breakfast and discussed the possibilities of a tsunami and what it would look like to us. After about an hour she said our Captain had heard that we could follow our regular itinerary, so we all got ready for the first snorkel of the day as the yacht headed for the coast.

Once the yacht was back nearer to shore of Isla Champion (a small islet just off the coast of Isla Floreana), we donned our life jackets and boarded the "panga" for a ride to the cliffside of a large outcropping of lava rock. There was a fair amount of current at this area, but once overboard and into the water, we had visibility of at least 100 feet. There was not as much particulate matter in this location, and it was stunning. Saw so many fish I can’t remember all the species, but there were parrotfish of every color, sea turtle, tube fish on some sort, electric blue fish, and many that are in the fish guides and many that aren’t. It was truly wonderful! Also saw both a black-tipped and white-tipped reef shark. The white-tipped shark was probably at least 7’ long, whereas the black-tipped was probably only about 4’ long. Saw tons of star fish on the bottom, plus a bright purple skinny legged one. I tried to remember every fish I saw, but when looking through the guide books for pictures and names, they all looked so different.

Back onto the yacht via the "panga", we showered and freshened up while the yacht motored down the coast of Isla Floreana to a place called "Post Office". This is where, during the years after Charles Darwin, travelers would leave post cards (sans stamps) and other travelers coming by would check the postcard stash to see if there were any to be delivered in the direction they were going. If there were, those secondary travelers would hand deliver the previous traveler’s mail. The tradition has continued, so we "panga’d" over to the area, landed, and walked into the unique “Post Office” area. We were each handed a stack of post cards to look through and see if there were any we could hand deliver, or at last resort stick a stamp on and send once we’re home. Somebody from California had just left tons of postcards for all their friends in CA, so I ended up with probably 12 postcards to either hand deliver or stick a stamp on! What a hoot! Of course I left one at the post office, too – for Mom! I have more postcards for the rest of my family, but I wanted to make sure everyone really got one, so those I am sending from home, including another one for Mom.
After the postcards, we jumped into our snorkel gear and dashed into the lovely water. We saw a penguin swimming around right near us, and a small sea lion, and a good-sized sea turtle, and many more fish of every kind. There was also a blue-footed boobie watching all our antics. The water is such an azure blue that you feel like you’ve really entered an ideal heaven. Except for the king-size horse flies that think you are the best thing they’ve tasted since the last touristas. One of our group, the Italian man, got bit three times very badly, and one of the welts swelled up to two-inches in diameter!

I finally tired of snorkeling – the visibility was not as good here as during the earlier morning outing, so I swam in to the beach and started exploring by foot the side areas to the cove. Believe it or not, there is a soccer field and a bench and quite a bit of litter just behind some bushes from where we snorkeled! What a shock! I told Tatiana later, and she said it is where the crews of some of these tourist boats play in teams against each other when they have the time and no tourists on board! I mentioned they should at least pick up their litter, but she didn’t respond. Sheesh! It’s so typical of what one sees everywhere. Sell the front, don’t check behind the curtain.

Back on the yacht, we freshened up again and had lunch – starting with spinach soup and popcorn, then shrimp and pepper steak and lots of veggies, finishing with a bowl of sweetened peaches (probably canned) for dessert. Pretty delish!

The yacht changed location again and was positioned just off Punta Cormorant. Around 2:30 we all panga’d to the green silica beach and hiked inland to see the flamingos. The inland shallow lake is brackish – part fresh water and some salt water influence from the tides. The flamingos originally flew here from Florida, and decided they liked it, and stayed. Tourista Flamingos! It happened a long time ago, so now they’re considered indigenous.
Tatiana gave us some human history of Isla Floreana, regarding the first people who came here (Germans), and the intrigue that occurred during their stay (murder by poisoning, etc.). We hiked on around the small lake, and the path headed downward and we were back at the ocean again – a lovely white sandy beach where the sea turtles lay their eggs. There was one lone bachelor sea lion, and we also saw several golden rays and sea turtles as dark shapes in the water. Lots of colorful orange, red and blue crabs scurried over the beach and lava rock, and frigate birds winged overhead checking for buried eggs.

We turned around and headed back up the same trail and were met by another tour group coming in. Tatiana took us on another short trail to an area right on the side of the lake where the flamingos were within a stone’s throw. After a short time there of photo opportunities and gawking, we went back to our snorkel bags at the beach edge and donned our gear – this was my last snorkel for my Galapagos trip. It was excellent!

The water started off with not much visibility, but as we got further out along the cliffside we got up to about 70’ visibility. Saw a sea snake digging its way into the sand until it disappeared, puffer fish, trumpet fish, sea turtle, incredible star fish, camouflaged fish, and so many more – I am in the process of IDing them.

Finally, we had to head back – the rest of the group had already returned to the beach and Kristina and I were the last ones out. We headed back and saw a two baby flounders, and lots more interesting fish. Loaded into the "pangas" and got back to the yacht. We were met with snacks and juice. This time in the snack department there were meat and cheese in fried pouches. They were delicious.

Took yet another shower and this time washed all the salt out of my hair – it’s the last time I’ll shower before returning to Quito. And it’s such a great shower – the best I’ve had my whole time in Ecuador - better than any in hostels I've stayed. Took a cervesa up to the top deck and started getting eveyone’s email address while the most spectacular sunset was under way.

The view of Isla Floreana as we were leaving just got better and better – the sun has been out all afternoon and now we could finally see the whole island. It is a very old island, low in profile, but very beautiful in character with many ancient lava cones throughout the surface, and many with hollow craters inside. At the same time the sunset was putting on a glorious show of orange and pinks against the turquoise blue evening western sky, whiole on the other side of the boat the full moon was rising against the deepening blue eastern night sky – wow! Truly spectacular. These are the kind of moments you want to live in forever, and that remind you how perennially majestic is this planet called Earth.

Tatiana gave us a briefing again before dinner regarding tomorrow’s activities, especially for those of us leaving, and we had a complimentary cocktail again from the bar. We toasted everyone – Tatiana, the crew, the bartender, and each other. What a great group it’s been! Then dinner was brought to the buffet! A beautiful roast Turkey, quite well decorated with carved colorful veggies, and lots of yummy hot dish vegetables and potatoes and even green beans that were excellent! I was very impressed and we all ate quite heartily. For dessert an incredible chocolate cake with chocolate icing was served! What a great way to end this trip to the Galapagos – the “last supper” was superb!

The rest of the evening was taken up with the details of preparing for Sunday’s departure. There was tipping the crew and guide, paying off the bar bill, catching up the journal, packing, checking flight times and making sure I still had all the proper legal paperwork to fly and pass customs, of which there is a bit. And we had to set our clocks early as we have one more hike tomorrow - Sunday – before those of us leaving must depart. We have to rise at 5 a.m. tomorrow and be on deck ready to board the "panga" by 6.

Say

Day 10 in Ecuador

Wednesday in Quito!

Slept in til the alarm went off and dragged around my room for a few minutes. Then rejuvenated myself with a delicious banana (no GMO here, folks – bananas taste like their supposed to, still) and went to breakfast on the Terrace with my laptop (one egg scrambled, coffee or tea, on large croissant, and a small bowl of fresh cut fruit - $1.00). A lovely couple from Calgary shared my table as there were no other tables available, and we discovered that we were all going to the same place today – Mitad del Mundo (the middle of the world)! We decided to go together, so after breakfast we rendezvoused down at the reception area of our hostel, and off we trekked to the appropriate bus stop – the Blue Line.

Caught the bus ($.25) which took us waaaay to the northern end of Quito to a major Bus Terminal, then transferred to another bus heading to Mitad del Mundo ($.10). We wondered whether we had boarded the correct bus as it made stops almost every 15’ picking up anybody and everybody alongside the road who was waiting for a bus! But finally, 1.5 hours after we left the Chicago Hostel, it dropped us at our destination and we entered the area said to be the equator’s dividing line between the Northern and Southern Hemisphere.

Of course, I had to have my photo taken with one foot in each of the world's hemispheres!

Mitad del Mundo is quite the tourist center ($2.00 adults, $1.00 seniors and children), with a large 8 story monument to the equator’s line, and within that building is quite an excellent Cultural Museum on each floor of the various indigenous cultures of Ecuador – I had no idea there were so many! The amazing thing is that many of them are still living the old way, though they have almost all been introduced to Christianity and much of current living trends. Some of them still live naked with the males tying their penises up with a string so they don’t get in the way of daily living – quite amazing to see the current photos! The basket work and weaving are highly talented, with one of the groups doing the weavings from the reverse side! Astonishing! I’ve never seen weaving done that way before.

After 8 floors of reading about the various cultures in Ecuador and seeing examples of the products and large color photos of them (we weren’t allowed to take pictures in that museum) I wandered out and looked for my friends, Rhonda and Mike, from Calgary. While looking for them I found the scales that you can put a quarter in and it will give you your weight at the equator, which is supposed to be a kilo less (about 2 pounds) than in either the Northern or Southern hemisphere. To me it seemed that my weight was the same as normal, and probably that is because it isn’t the true equator, as discussed below. Found my friends and visited for a few minutes, then we decided to both go our own ways, and rendezvous again once we're back at the Chicago Hostel.

I was famished and went to a little restaurant in the tourist area and ordered a ¼ chicken, rice, potatoes (the potatoes and rice are excellent down here), salad and water – the whole lunch was huge and cost $4.00! I had about 1/3 of it left over so brought it home with me. There are many, many shops in the tourist village area with all types of souvenirs for the purchase, and several high end gorgeous restaurants.

Walked over to the western side of the exhibits and saw the Museum del Sol, then the Insect Exhibit which was nothing short of incredible with the most gorgeous and imaginative insects of every kind I’ve ever seen (again we weren’t allowed to take pictures), then the French Museum, then the Geological Museum, and then out the gate and north to the Museo de Sitio Inti-Nan - the REAL center of the world.

Now THAT was truly interesting. This place says IT is the true equatorial center, and it is 200 meters to the north of the first one. It’s equatorial line was determined using GPS when that technology was newly discovered, so it was learned after the Mitad del Mundo was built that the TRUE equator is actually a bit north of where the large monument and tourist villa now stand.

The tour at Inti-Nan cost $3.00, and a group of three others from Vancouver Island and myself had an English speaking guide. It was fascinating! We learned and saw some of the ways of the indigenous peoples used to live, their house styles, cooking ways, saddles, burial traditions, guinea pig raising (they eat guinea pigs here just like we eat chicken in the states), and even how they shrunk heads in certain areas in the past. We also got to see some skins and some very large stuffed Anacondas. You wouldn’t want one of these snakes to spy you when they’re hungry!

Finally we got to the fun stuff! We got to see how equatorial time is told with something similar to a sundial, but different since the sun is 6 months on one side of the stone dial, and 6 months on the other – the direction of the shadow changes depending whether it’s winter or summer. Then we got to see water drain from a portable sink – clockwise in the southern hemisphere, straight down directly on the equator, and counter-clockwise in the northern hemisphere – and it was only 6 feet off either side of the equator, yet it made such a difference! Incredible! Then we tried to balance an egg on a nail – our guide could do it, but none of us could. Then we tried an exercise where kinesiology is at play – trying to pull a person’s thumb and forefinger apart while they tried to hold the connection of those fingers together. Supposedly it is difficult to pull them apart in either hemisphere, but easy to do on the equator, as there are opposing centrifugal forces which weaken a person’s strength. This exercise didn’t play terribly well, but it was fun. Then we tried to walk the equatorial line with arms outstretched, thumbs up, and eyes closed. This was supposed to be again difficult because of opposing centrifugal forces, which may be the case, but I challenge that it is difficult to walk a straight line anywhere when the eyes are closed and your arms up outstreched to either side and you're having to heel-to-toe touch all the way. Try it - the difficulty has little to do with being on the equator.

Finally our guide showed us some more indigenous dwelling replicas, and some captive guinea pigs (poor sweet things - they were scared and squeeling when we looked at them - they are eaten like we eat chicken). He led us back to a woven wool shop for purchases of rugs, etc., and stamped our passports with the 0’0’0’’ mark which shows we’ve been to the center of the world – pretty cool!

The nice folks I took the tour with offered me a ride back to Quito in their taxi, and within minutes we were back in the city – so much different than the bus! I checked out about 4 more hostels in the vicinity of their hotel (nice area!) then headed over to the Tierra de Fuego Tourist Agency and got updated about my trip departing to the Galapagos Islands tomorrow, and started walking back home.

Along my return to Chicago Hostel there was an excellent coffee shop called “Ethnic Café” where I stopped and had my first Latte since I’ve been down here (it was superbly made) and a half beef and vegetable sandwich which arrived in a whole wheat pita pocket with side salad and miniature baked potatoes. Total bill, $5.48. And it was absolutely delicious and the place is the best I’ve been in since I’ve arrived in Ecuador – could’ve been in a swank part of San Diego!

Continued walking home and passed a couple musicians playing on the street – Andean music of wood flutes playing over pre-scored background music, speakers and all powered by a very quiet generator humming along right beside them – what a hoot! And they were good, so of course I had to buy one of their CDs - $5.00.

Finished walking home and now getting ready for the Galapagos Islands! The tour agency will pick me up tomorrow morning at 7:30 a.m. to take me to the airport and my flight departs at 9:45. I expect to arrive in the Galapagos around 1 p.m. I will not be able to access internet in the Galapagos, to my understanding. That'll be different!

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Day 9 in Ecuador

Tuesday in Quito!

Woke before the alarm to drizzle and gray outside my window…looks like Seattle weather. Putzed around until about 8:30 a.m. and went downstairs to wait for my 8:40 pick-up (they call it Transfer) to the tour bus for the day trip to Papallacta Hot Springs at an elevation of 3307 meters! I waited and waited…cab after cab went by and though all the empty cabs wanted to give me a ride, none of them appeared to be my pick up person, and I waved them on.

Finally I determined they must have forgotten me – the tour was leaving at 9 a.m and it was already that time by my estimate, so I walked across the street to the little shop where there is a Cabina (Pay telephone) and was just dialing the tour office number when the tour company pick-up van came by! I couldn’t believe it! They were a full 20 minutes late, but I was so happy to see them! I really didn’t want to miss Papallacta.

I was the only passenger in the van, besides the driver and the guide, and everything was different than I had expected. There was no other bus we were going to, this was it - a very new and modern van that seats 9 behind the driver and front passenger seats. And we were on our way to pick up the other 3 tourists who had arranged this trip.

We introduced ourselves: Vince (or Vinnie) is the driver, and Felix is our Naturalist Tour Guide (with excellent English). Winding through all the traffic jammed streets we arrived about 20 minutes later at another hostel, and picked up the three tourists: Sallie (a nurse) from Australia, Jay (worker at an RV park in British Columbia) and his father who owns the RV park and whose name I can’t remember.

Leaving Quito took a very long time on a road that was once an ancient trail descending steeply down into a valley. The trail has now been turned into a narrow two lane road, well cobbled and cared for, but originally it was a foot path and then later a horse trail. We almost got into an accident around one sharp corner, and it really rattled our Tour Guide for a minute. Thankfully, both vehicles stopped in time and avoide contact.

Finally we were in the country away from the city and the landscape became the gorgeous Ecuadorian mountains and valleys I’ve come to enjoy so much for their spectacular beauty.

The road started climbing and eventually we were at the top of a 4000+ meter pass and Vince, our driver, pulled over to let us out. Though it was drizzling with high billowy clouds, you could see across the valley a huge snow covered volcano mountain – it was immense. clamored back into the van and descended downFrom there we descende down into a verdant pristine valley with a large clean-looking lake. After passing the lake we turned left and onto a dirt road, then descended some more, then up again and finally!! Voila! We arrived at Papallacta!

What a spectacular place! Nestled just below a saddle pass between two mountain ranges, there are large organic gardens with extremely healthy, gargantuan vegetables growing (giant kale, swiss chard, lettuce, dill, everything). The buildings are very well maintained and look classy enough to be from Santa Fe or Santa Barbara. There is a hotel, restaurant, and other offices, but all so un-signed that it just looks like a highly attractive small villa.

Felix, our Nature Guide, led us on a 45 minute trail hike through the rainforest along the river that feeds some of the cold water to cool the hot springs. The hike brought us by many tropical plants – bromeliads, bamboo, flowers of many kinds and colors, fungi, and always the heavenly sound of the rushing river over giant rocks. Walked back on a dirt road, fairly wet and getting a little cold, and majorly starving. I ate the apple I had brought with me, but the others had nothing.

We paid our $7.00 admittance fee and walked through the gate into the hot spring pool area. Wow Wow and more Wow! Extremely well done stone work, flower gardens, artistically designed pools – the whole place was thoroughly enchanting! There were at least 10 pools of various sizes and temperatures, some painted with pale blue bottoms, others left natural with rock. There were lockers to store our things, dressing rooms, bathrooms, a steam room (but we couldn’t figure out how to turn it on) and cold plunge pools. I felt like a kid in a candy store…which pool first, which pool first! They all looked so deliciously inviting! And while there were a number of other bathers, there really weren’t all that many – it wasn’t overcrowded by any means.

We four touristas started out in one pool and then decided after a few minutes it wasn’t hot enough, and migrated to another blue pool that had steam rolling off. We stayed in that one for the rest of the time, with little jaunts just to toe-test the others, then back to the perfect temp pool. Every 5 or 10 minutes we did the cold plunge pool – that was really refreshing and brought the tingles to your skin when you were back in the hot water.

Finally it was time for us to rendezvous with Felix again (he and Vince didn’t join us in the pools but were out in the van, reading and napping). We departed the lovely hot springs and drove down the hill to a restaurant they dearly wanted to take us to, not too far away. It was large and clean and nicely decorated with wood and warm paint, with varnished wooden tables and bench seats. We had a window next to our table where we could look out across the entire valley to the mountain range on the other side – breathtaking! We all ordered exactly the same thing – trout with rice and salad and potatoes, and a cervesa! It was delicious! Everything was very tasty and prepared excellently. Total price of the meal - $6.00 (that includes the beer).

On the drive back we stopped at the lake and took pictures of it with the mountains as backdrop – ahhh gorgeous Nature! Then we all slept quite a bit on the drive home, and arrived back in Quito about 5:30 p.m. (only 2.5 hours later than originally scheduled). I was the first one they dropped off. It was strange to be back – I felt like I had been in MagicLand and now I was back in – a small boring hostel room all by myself.

Walked downtown to go to an ATM machine – took me three tries before I found one that worked, and it was way on the other side of the large park not too far from my hostel. On the way back I saw the Hilton and went in to ask for room prices for the night of the 28th – I thought it might be nice to have my final night in Quito be at an upper class hotel - $200! The hostel will be fine. But I did go to their restaurant and ordered Seafood Soup. It was excellent! Huffed and puffed my way back to the hostel in the dark (still not used to these high altitudes, and with a full stomach it’s even harder!) with a wad of bills in my pocket totaling $500.00 – I kept a sharp eye out and no one looked twice at me.

Now I’m hopeful to get to Mitad del Mundo tomorrow – “The Middle of the World”. It’s the equatorial line which is still somewhat disputed in that several different places claim to be sitting on top of it. I have heard from people who have been there that they have a moveable toilet that you can take to one side or the other of the line, and even put it on the line itself, and the water goes down differently each time depending which side or the middle that you’re on. Also, an egg is supposed to balance on a pin there, and we are supposed to way about a pound less! I can’t wait to see this!

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Day 8 in Ecuador

Monday dawned early, long before my 7 a.m. alarm. Showered in the strangest shower stall I’ve ever been in – the water is delivered from so high up that by the time it reaches you it’s cooled considerably, and the opposite side of the stall from the shower head is split in half with a deep recess on one half, and the other half very close to the front wall of the shower…odd! But the warm water felt great! One appreciates the little things here that we take so for granted at home.

Walked all the way to the Mariscal area which is the hub of activity in New Town. The Quito map I had was less than clear, and the hefty load of diesel belching from all the busses going by almost turned me around to simply purchase a flight to Galapagos on my own through the internet and deal with lining up the boats over there. But I persisted.

After meandering around the Plaza Fuch area (don’t get excited, it’s not pronounced that way), and visiting 3 tourist agencies, I happened upon one that was perfect. The young woman spoke excellent English and she was a whiz on the computer. She had it nailed and she didn’t take any time about it. She found me the perfect Galapagos tour which will depart on Thursday on a Luxury Yacht and I’ll return to Quito on Sunday afternoon. I’ll visit 4 islands and see lots of wildlife and get to snorkel, kayak, hike and who knows what else! I placed a deposit as I didn’t have the full amount with me and told her I’d return in the afternoon.

Walked all the way back (it’s about 1.5 miles one way from Hostel to Travel Agency) and had to lie down for a moment – that much walking in this much warmth at this altitude - 9,500'…whew! It’s a sunny day today – first one I’ve had since being here, so it’s definitely warmer than the rest of the week – 28 Celsius.
A bit later in the afternoon I walked again all the way to the Tierra de Fuego Travel Agency (they’ve got 5 beautiful glass awards on their back shelf) and Lorena, my agent, was gone to lunch. So I went with the flow and wandered down the main boulevard and found a shop that made quite divine pastries and had one, and while I was in mid-bite my new Oregon friends, Laurel and Doug, walked up! What a shock to see them! It was great, considering we had just said good-bye yesterday morning at Hosteria Izhcayluma in Vilcabamba! And out of the entire city of Quito, which is 1.5 million strong, we happened to bump into each other at the same pastry store! Unbelievable.

They had just arrived to Quito on a flight, and they each took ice cream bars while I finished my pastry and we sat around and chatted awhile at the little outdoor table along the street in front of the sweet shop. Then a guitar player came up and even though Laurel told him no, he started to play and sing, so we stood up and walked away, and he followed and she told him in a big way “NO!” again and he walked away as we ducked into an beautiful shop filled with very expensive keepsakes, all made in Ecuador. After looking around a few minutes, we said our good-byes (til summer when I hope to visit them in Oregon) and I headed back to the travel agency.

My ticket to the Galapagos was all wrapped up and I was walking away when suddenly I realized I had forgotten to ask my agent, Lorena, about Mindo-Nambillo Protected Forest, an incredible botanical reserve that isn’t far away. I turned around and walked back into her office, and she said she’d try to get a tour together for Wednesday for that, but if not, I can always take to bus there and back (though it sounds a little sketchy). She asked me if I wanted to go to Papallacta Lake District and Hot Springs tomorrow, as they have a tour going for the day, but I have planned to visit my friend Johnny Douglass’s friend on the outskirts of Quito who has a sustainable farm with solar and more.

Walked all the way back to the Hostel again (2nd time today, and realized I must’ve walked 6 miles total). Passed a shop with a large poster showing every place where one could lose fat through the treatment they were offering. There are certainly enough people that could lose weight in this city. Looked similar to lipisuction only no invasion. Looked kinda like a scam, actually.

By this time it was about 5 p.m. and I was getting hungry. On my return walk I bought 4 nectarines from two female fruit vendors in traditional native attire. I’ll wash them very well before consuming. Later I passed a Chinese restaurant, and ordered a shrimp (camerones) and vegetable dish, thinking that’s all it was. But underneath the surface of veggies and shrimp was a large mound of noodles, so it wasn’t quite what I thought I was getting, but still quite good compared to what I’m seeing of most other available foods here in Ecuador’s cities. They eat TONS of sweets of every kind, artificial and natural, bur mostly artificial. And many of them are grossly overweight.

Later that evening I suddenly got a call from the great niece of the farmer I was supposed to meet tomorrow. Basically, they have Market Day tomorrow (like our Farmer's Markets) and my visit doesn’t work well for them, so I thanked them very much anyway and said I’d tried to arrange to meet them in the Fall, if I return then.

After that call I dug out Lorena’s card and luckily it had her cell phone number on it, because by now it was 8:30 p.m. Called her and she put me on the books for the tour tomorrow to Papallacta. Wow! What luck! I’ll be picked up in the morning at 8:45 to rendezvous with the tour bus, and we’ll be back in the afternoon tomorrow around 2 p.m. This is supposed to be an incredible National Park at high elevation that has natural hot springs warmed by hot magma below the nearby active volcano. The flora and fauna should be quite different up there, and we will have a Nature Guide to explain it all to us on the tour.

Packed up for the little excursion tomorrow and am ready for that next, new adventure!

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Day 7 in Ecuador

Sunday – Travels from Vilcabamba to Quito

I woke before the alarm, laid in bed and tried to determine if I was going to miss this place. I started to believe I would. Didn’t even shower (had enough showers yesterday to last a week!), just grabbed my bags and headed to the reception/restaurant area where I finished up Friday’s blog, had breakfast with a number of well-wishing friends, called the taxi and was delivered to the Vilcabamba bus station.

I was 30 minutes early for my bus, so I started exploring and discovered that the Sunday market was under way on the other side of the bus station! It was like a normal Farmer’s Market in the states, and I enjoyed walking around. All of a sudden behind me someone was saying “I knew if I waited a little longer you’d show up!” It was Daya! What a wonderful surprise. We started gabbing and then a friend of hers walked by and she introduced me to her – Kim Evans. Kim and I started talking and Daya said good-bye, she had to go, and Kim and I kept on babbling and I quickly learned that she is one of the Citizen Journalists for Mike Adams! Small world even here in Vilcabamba! So she started telling me how she got into it, etc. – most interesting and gives me renewed confidence that it just might be possible to earn a living at writing. It’s not a get-rich-quick scheme, of course, but then I never was about getting rich.

Finally I was worried I’d miss the bus, so said my good-byes and scurried around the bus terminal – my bus was in dock and the young bus assistant put my luggage in the hold. Pretty soon we all boarded and I luckily grabbed a window seat. The ride was beautiful and seemed to go by pretty fast. It was lovely seeing the incredible green valleys again on the way to Loja.

At the Loja terminal, there was a full hour before my next bus to Cuenca, so I wandered the shops inside the terminal and bought a couple apples and some Queso (cheese), pronounced ”kay-so”. Everything else in the shops looks like junk food.

Went out to where the busses dock and sat in a seat alongside the building with hoards of other folks waiting for their busses. Giant mesh bags of tubers, onions, and other vegetables, and immense bags of rice, were the luggage of some of the travelers. There were at least 5 different bus companies using this Terminal, if not more. It was very busy, and amazing to see how they all orchestrated their maneuverings so as not to hit each other as they pulled in and out of the rather small Terminal. It was like watching ballet, almost. Or Cirque de Soleil. It’s a dance. When I used to do archaeology I was mesmerized many times watching 3 or 4 gargantuan backhoes working side by side excavating a singular trench, and thinking they were all in such coordination and “knowing’ of exactly where each other was at each precise moment – it was like ballet, or living art. The Loja Bus Terminal reminded me of that.

Finally the bus to Cuenca arrived and the very handsome young bus assistant (reminded me of Matt Damon) put my luggage in the hold. I was one of the first to board, so I had my pick of seats, and as I wandered down the aisle I spied a window seat that looked just perfect for me. I plopped down, stowed my heavy carry-on under the seat in front, and watched the other passengers board. It was then that I noticed they were checking seat numbers against their ticket, and I suddenly realized I hadn’t looked at my ticket for a seat number – I’d just sat down in what looked like the best seat in the bus for me. I quickly grabbed out my ticket and checked the seat number – it was 19. Then I stood up and looked to see what number was listed on the luggage stow above me. This is where it gets weird….I was sitting in seat number 19!!! How bizarre! But how perfect! Once again, one of the strange little wonderments that seem to happen when you travel sometimes.

The trip to Cuenca was supposed to be 4.5 hours – and I fell asleep pretty soon after we started. The countryside is beautiful but after awhile you just have to nap. Somewhere in the first hour of the trip I was awoken by the most noxious chemical smell…I looked to the rear of the bus and it appeared that a mom with a baby may have had a diaper, or sans diaper, accident, and the bus attendant was back there helping her. I think the smell was a disinfectant, which these Latin American countries seem to use liberally and with no concern. I was almost unable to breathe, and I had not been able to slide my window open when I’d tried earlier, so I put a napkin close over my nose and held it there with both hands, feeling like I wasn’t getting enough air, but unable to breathe any other way than through the napkin. Within about 10 minutes of the problem, the young “Matt Damon” saw my problem and quickly opened my window for me – what a relief!! Of course I gave him a hearty “Muchas Gracious” (Many Thanks, or Thank you Very Much). I kept my nose out the window and breathed deep breaths of fresh air, trying to clean out my system. Meanwhile, there were other babies and all the rest of the full busload of folks who were all breathing it and behaving as though nothing had happened! I was the only gringo, so I guess that makes the difference – they’re used to these smells, and I am not.

The ride was long, but the country was appealing. Lush and green, major valleys and major mountains everywhere. Sprawled landscape of farms and towns – big sky country. Just stupendous to look at. We finally arrived at Cuenca, and I caught a quick taxi to the airport which was very close by, and amazingly it was only 4 p.m. at the airport! The bus had managed to make up the half hour it lost at a construction area just outside of Loja! I knew they were driving like idiots, but I hadn’t known they’d be able to make up that much time.

The airport was at sleep – no one but a couple of information folks were there. They told me that everything wakes back up at 5 p.m., but that there was a food court upstairs. I went upstairs, and they also had free wi-fi (I’m really liking these free wi-fi airports), so I had a ensalada pollo (chicken salad) and caught up my Saturday log. When I finally went downstairs again, the place was packed!!!

What a transformation! People everywhere! Got my ticket and went through security (you don’t have to take your shoes off, unpack your computer, or even take your coat off down here!), and then into the waiting area where I met a wonderful family from Connecticut. They had done the Galapagos already and gave me lots of great leads for my trip there. Finally we all boarded the Tame flight, which ended up departing 30 minutes late. The pilots deftly avoided a lightning storm somewhere to the west (I saw several large sky light-ups out my window) and we landed in Quito at 8 p.m.

As soon as I exited the terminal a man came rushing up to me and asked if I needed a taxi. I said yes and asked if he knew the Chicago Hostel. He said yes and loaded my stuff into his cab quicker than you could say lightning! The police were standing near his car and not too happy he was parked there, and then I noticed he didn’t have a meter, nor a taxi sign on the roof, and his car was black, not yellow like the other taxis, and I started wondering if I had made a big boo-boo. We had already settled on the price of $7.00 for the trip before I entered the taxi, and now I wondered if he really knew where Chicago Hostel was. I gave him the address, and then he said it’s a long way, it would be $10.00. I was very firm in my response that he had agreed to $7.00, so he acquiesced and still remained friendly – what a relief. We exchanged a little info and it turns out he’s from Columbia! There seem to be a lot of people working in Ecuador from Columbia. He finally found the Hostel, though it was a little different way than I was used to going, which caused me a little concern at first, but he seemed sure he knew where he was going once he saw the address, so I calmed myself and did not panic. Once there, I tipped him a dollar so he didn’t feel like he’d lost too much, and the Chicago Hostel let me in. Yippee! I finally made it! It was so great to finally plop my bags down and relax in my room!

What a long day of travel! But it was good, and now I just finished a cervesa and am going to bed! Tomorrow I hope to book passage to the Galapagos! It will be fantastic to be where Darwin and the Beagle were…I’ve been hearing incredible stories of people swimming with the sea lions and turtles and everything else on these tours…can’t wait to snorkel amongst the wild sea animals.

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Day 1 in Ecuador

Well it's been quite a journey so far!

The drive from Palm Springs to LAX and then trying to find the Hertz rental car drop-off location and then a gas station for tank fill-up had me quite frazzled before getting to the Airport itself. Once there, all went very well, though I was pretty tired by the time the plane departed at 12:30 a.m. I've never flown LACSA before and it was quite good. They showed a movie which I got sucked into before nodding off. I was awakened in early morning when they served a fairly decent breakfast - at least by most plane standards.

Weekend flights have an additional stop in El Salvador which weekday flights don't have, so I spent about half an hour in the San Salvador Airport. Re-boarded the same plane after they refueled and cleaned it and had a beautiful flight to San Jose, Costa Rica. Gorgeous from the air - beautiful land, ocean, clouds, farm fields - it's so Pandora-like in places down here. The San Jose Airport is amazingly efficient - it puts many States’ airports to shame.

We de-boarded to a bus which drove us 2 minutes to our next gate, got off the bus, climbed some stairs and voila! There was our connecting flight to Quito, Ecuador. They had free Internet in the waiting area, which is better than LAX which has only pay-as-you-go T-Mobile. Within about 15 minutes we boarded (after I checked free email) and had another excellent flight to Quito.

Quito is absolutely amazing from the air to fly in on. It occupies plateaus and valleys in a long corridor between ranges of mountains. Their population of about 1.5 million people are celebrating a holiday right now, but it is very quiet in the city. Apparently the city folk go to the small towns to have their noisy celebrations, so the cities get quiet.

I was greeted at the airport (after going through very easy visa and customs) by an official greeting party bearing my name and "Welcome" on the sign. How absolutely lovely and they whisked (and I do mean whisked...they drive like crazy) me away to my hostel and after the quickest check-in I've ever experienced, I climbed (huffed and puffed) up three flights of stairs (altitude here is 2850 meters elevation) and finally reached my room with my heart trying to explode through my rib cage. My room is very nice and is the only room in this hostel that has it's own balcony, much like you'd see in Europe, with nice wrought iron fence and the balcony hanging out over the street. STUNNING views! And the hostel has free wi-fi - and a terrace roof-top to sit and work from while purveying the views.

There are lots of travelers here - from Denmark, Sweden, and other European countries I haven't yet met. Needless to say I'm feeling quite rummy with fatigue (it's 3 hours later here, so not only was my journey quite long, I also lost 3 hours) so I'm going in with Jacob, a young Dane with dreadlocks who works for the Chicago Hostel, and some of the other hostel guests on the bus to an area called New Town for dinner tonight (the bus ride costs .25 cents) and then come back and crash. I will get up around 5:30 a.m. tomorrow and a taxi will pick me up and take me back to the airport where I'll catch my 8:30 a.m. flight on my journey to Vilcabamba, the Valley of Longevity. My flight should arrive in Loja around 9:30 where I will have another welcome party waiting for me with a taxi which will drive me 90 minutes to my hotel in Vilcabamba.

Even though I have zilch for energy right now, I love it down here. It's quite mild and warm, lots of billowy clouds, amazing architecture and simply stunning and startling views everywhere. I'll keep you posted as the trip unfolds.

These are a couple views from my third floor hostel balcony! Lovely!

More tomorrow. Say