miércoles, 31 de octubre de 2012

20/10/2012 - Day 2 - Mauricio

Hair styled to a T (especially Tony's!) overlooking Pinnacle Rock on Batholome island



"Look at me when I'm talking to you!"[gruff voice required]
"It's not rocket science James, simple
lava flows. It came from the sea!!"
Mauricio – tour group guide or repressed drill sergeant? You decide. Keen to regale the group with tales of leg loss (3 in a single day – steer clear of slippery rocks, lava holes and sea lions!), and never shy of telling you if you’re walking, swimming, looking (!) in the wrong area, soldier!!! The enthusiasm which he exuded upon seeing the first set of flamingos fly was incredible, but this was significantly offset by the anger on display upon being left with 13 clients and no dingy (even though it was floating out to sea with no motor…)! All this said, our unruly mob needed some authority to keep us moving and on schedule and Mauricio was a fountain of Galapagos wildlife and geology knowledge who introduced us to many of the characters you will meet this week.      
More James' island action

Fortunately the hair style was also
impeccable first thing in the morning!
"Hurry up you fools - no time for
hanging around taking pictures -
you'd think you were on holidays!" 
Lava lovers on James' island - painted locust, lava lizard,
marine iguana and penguins. Penguins???
From lava bombs to ropes, to oysters...
















Sunset at Bartolome

Our welcoming committee to
Bartolome island looked a bit bored...
Lava cactus with lava bombs
in the distance - original
names all around!

19/10/2012 - All aboard! Day 1 - Sally Lightfoot

So let me introduce to you... Sally Lightfoot (and friend)


It was going to be tough on this boat for the next 8 days...
Yep - real tough!
Galapagos Islands - home of some of the world’s youngest islands, amazing volcanic scenery, wildlife that treats tourists like they don’t exist and 8 days of great weather. Bring it on (after getting back across the island and over to the airport!). Instead of our usual blog, this time we're doing a who's who in the zoo (make that nature...) of the characters to cross our paths over these 8 days. The photos will show the real journey...

Stupid English jumping in the ocean for a swim.
Little did they know these were shark infested waters!

Bird life on Bacchus beach










Pretty red thing
I thought I was scary, but then this shadow that's
following me around is terrifying!
Galapagos Island Cruise Day 1 - Sally Lightfoot


A luminescent crab species or female thief? You decide. Had already sneaked a peak of these, and they were a regular feature in our travels around Galaps. Vegetarians, picking the highlights of the lichen using their front claws like cutlery. The males also boasted an envious physical attribute – two penises! Talk about survival of the fittest in full effect!
You've nicked my seat mate!



A lost bet - at least one less bag
of Percy Pigs to worry about!
[Photo courtesy of Deb and Larry] -
our first sunset on the boat.




lunes, 29 de octubre de 2012

17/10/2012 - 18/10/2012 - Galloping to the Galapagos

Heading out looking for the hammerheads!
Ferrying across to Santa Cruz
'Best' Galapagos homestay might be
a bit of an exaggeration!

Unknown technical problems slightly delayed our arrival to Santa Cruz island, but with sun and aquamarine water greeting us we couldn’t be too upset. Our host for the next couple of days, Kev the American, gave us a 30 minute tour of Puerto Ayora, the main Galapagos tourist hub. His script was well practised, but his Spanish left a little to be desired – on jumping into a cab he remarked ‘this guy is the worst driver – he doesn’t know how to communicate!’ (i.e. doesn’t speak English – not even we were that bad!).
 
A shy SallyLightfoot crab
Iguana action
Just had time to head to Tortuga bay in the last of the light, where we were greeted with our first proper marine iguana’s (couldn’t really count those at the port!) and Sally Lightfoot crabs – little were we to know what was coming later.






We were encouraged to leave the beach by the machete
wielding guy in the background - OK then!

A pretty special sky














Great fish shoals, a sting ray and some
starfish action
More shoals, a puffer fish, some white tip reef sharks and
two strangely attractive underwater beasts...
The next day was hammer time, at least that’s what we’d hoped. Annoyingly, nature was not on our side, and despite getting a glimpse of a hammerhead the visibility meant that we only got an outline at 8m (and no picture!)… Saw some brilliant starfish, a school of eagle rays in the distance, various shoals of fish, lots of reef sharks and a couple of sea lions though, so couldn’t really complain.

 
Close up these guys looked much
prettier!
Jumbo mentioned Tony looked like
the star from Hangover - not Bradley
Cooper but the other one...
Las Grietas and James were waiting post lunch, where we had a refreshing dip and a rock scrambleto escape the crowds – frustratingly a group of locals followed us! Not wanting to be outdone by the locals, Tony and James scaled the dizzy heights of the chasm and jumped for their lives…


All smiles as we contemplate the drop. The
less said about the guy above us the better...
Get ready for the splash!

And he's off! Tony leading
the charge, obviously!






The Pelly and me
A street dinner at William's

Key Learnings:
1. Kev might be a unique individual, but his preferred options in terms of dining were spot on!

15/10/2012 - 16/10/2012 - Just don’t Quito

Errrrrr - what is that weird looking unit doing standing up n the corner?



Old town at night
Watch your wallet























Despite our best attempts, we did actually arrive in the dark and in perfect time for rush hour… Not wanting to trawl around the dark and dangerous streets of the Old Town, Annaliza had planned our dining location, where desert was served by a Klu Klux Klan member (actually a cucurucho - http://www.todayinecuador.com/noticias-ecuador/semana-santa-in-quito-472418.html) who had mixed his purples with his whites…


Quito on the way up the Telerifico
The rooftops of Quito
What a view!

Ecuador were playing again, so another
excuse to bring out the colours!
Another day, another food fight!
Aimed to have a telerific time on the Telerifico which transported us up a mountain overlooking Quito. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t so telerific, as we could only see for yards and yards – made up for it with another dining highlight in the old town.


Would have been a lot more
scary if he wasn't carrying ice cream!
Key Learnings:
1. If you ever eat at Café Plaza Grande, make sure you order the ice-cream. When the lights dim, sit back and enjoy!

13/10/2012 - 15/10/2012 - Jungle exploits, sort of…

Made it! Before the mist descended as well - added bonus!


Hmmm - Tony was all for
purchasing, but Annaliza
and Jumbo voted against -
probably a good thing!
Just a small part of the huge market...
Recently, tourists have been kidnapped in the Ecuadorian jungle close to the Colombian border, so most tour companies have decided to put a stop to tours there. Despite Tony’s adventurous desires, common sense prevailed and we decided to use our spare pre-Galapagos days in the mountain forest area of Otavalo. The famous Saturday market was the overriding factor – a perfect opportunity to spend some $$$$ on unnecessary pantaloons, fridge magnets and artwork – Annaliza does love any opportunity to showcase her bartering skills! 

Started off looking lovely
Steeper than it looks!
Jumbo had yet to be acclimatised to the heights of Quito, so a perfect solution was to take him even higher up to the Mojanda Lakes, and the Fuya Fuya mountain, a breeze at 4,270m! The slope at the start, potentially the unofficial route (!), was severe to say the least, and regular pit stops were required. Upon bagging the summit, we could see for yards and yards, but fortunately it cleared as we devoured one of Annaliza’s many birthday packets of Percy Pigs (to reduce our luggage, obviously!).

The mist coming in quickly
Also doesn't look too impressive - got to be the camera angle















Get ready for the hail!
Climbing down using the
reverse spider technique
Feeling rejuvenated on the way back down, we decided to take a plunge (not literally!) and walk round the lake. Looks were deceptive in respect of the distance, and the hail storm was a bit of a dampener (literally!), and we arrived at the clump of buildings looking forward to a sit down and decent feed. What we got was a scary looking dude who spoke no English, so pretty swiftly high-tailed it out of there! On the way back the dog that had accompanied us the whole way somehow caught a rabbit (better it biting that than Annaliza!), and the long grass gave us a thorough soaking.  Wet and weary, we took shelter at the makeshift ‘restaurant’ for a well-deserved coffee and interesting Empanada. The wait for the taxi tested the nerves – never ideal when you’ve got no idea if your repeated Spanish attempts at ordering a taxi has been successful!



The volcanic cones at Cuicocha
Enjoying the improved weather at Cuicocha
Jumbo had almost got through his first altitude test unscathed, so the next day we took off on another adventure in the hills, to the volcano cones in a crater lake at Cuicocha. Didn’t have time for the full loop so opted for getting nearer the 2 cones and then stopping for some more bartering over leather goods in Cotacachi. Not wanting to arrive in Quito in the dark, after ‘enjoying’ some painstakingly slow wifi in a café and sorting our accommodation we said goodbye to Otovalo…
Got to love a panoramic picture!

The view from outside our
abode - no insectoids as
they only came out at night...
Get in! The top of a volcano in view
from our hostel

Key Learnings:
1. The outskirts of Otovalo are littered with impressively large insectoids.
2. James isn’t the biggest fan of impressively large insectoids…