Day 2 on the Samba

Wednesday January 25, 2017

Overnight we navigated to Darwin's Bay on Genovesa Island.  The bay is actually a collapsed caldera of a volcano so the whole island looks like a horseshoe.  There is a network of towers that used to shine lights so that boat captains could navigate into the bay before GPS since there is only a small area that's deep enough for boats to get through.

Our schedule for Genovesa Island.  All day every day was busy!

In the morning we took a walk with Santiago around the beach.  There is a mangrove forest where red-footed booby nest and we saw a few babies.  They are so puffy and white!  There are also tons of other birds that nest in the cliffs.  Most of the wildlife on this island was birds but we did see a few sea lions.  The sun was super intense and bright and it was pretty hot standing directly in it on the beach.  Miraculously I didn't get sunburned the entire trip!  I think a good full-brimmed had is definitely a necessity and I'll get one before my next trip to somewhere near the equator.  Also a long sleeved shirt like a rash guard is also important to swim in.  I borrowed one from Brandon's mom and definitely need to get my own.   Anyway, here are some of my favorite pictures from the Darwin's Bay hike.

A frigate bird warming his wings

Swallow Tailed Gull

Juvenile frigate bird

Red-footed booby bird

Baby red-footed booby

Santiago talking about how this turtle basically roasted to death

A Nazca Gull with a nest.  You can't see the nest since they don't build nests that we're familiar with.  It's basically just a few twigs on the ground.

A Frigate Bird

This sea lion eventually  made it to the shade in the mangroves

After our morning hike we went for a snorkeling test run in the bay.  There was literally nothing to see since the visibility was terrible in the water but I think it was good practice to find out if we're comfortable with the equipment and swimming in open water.  After snorkeling we had fun jumping off the side of the boat!  Other people have pictures of that, I'll have to look for them.

After lunch I was exhausted so took a nap.  Brandon, Jeremy and their parents went kayaking around the bay but I was resting up for our afternoon hike which was up Darwin's Steps (I've also seen these called Prince Philip's Steps?).  This hike started with steps up the cliffs across the top of the island to the oceanside.  There is a small plateau that you're not allowed to walk on since it's a nesting site for storm petrels.  The entire walk is just full of birds- mostly Nazca gulls and red-footed boobies but we also saw Frigate birds and petrels in the distance.  We were also really lucky and saw multiple short-eared owls.  We actually saw a short-eared owl eating a petrel!  The gulls nest right next to the trail so we saw a lot with eggs and some building their nests.  It was really interesting to see the male gulls give the females twigs or stones for the nest.  Unfortunately we saw a few abandoned eggs as well.

Nesting Nazca gull

Short-eared owl eating a petrel

Frigate bird.  These are much larger than they seem in the picture!

Male frigate birds

Another short-eared owl, this one is sleeping though and not eating other birds!

Most of the walk on Prince Philip's steps were lava rocks and small Palo Santo trees

On the boat that evening after dinner we hung out on the deck and saw the Milk Way.  The amount of stars you can see at night is amazing since you're in the middle of nowhere.  There was also bioluminescence in the water and it was beautiful when the fish jumped and made sparkling waves.  We also saw a bright red star(?) or planet(?) set on the horizon.  Other passengers said it was Venus.

There really isn't much to do at night on the boat.  Most evenings after the briefing and dinner and would sit on the deck and watch the stars or look for things in the water.  It sounds boring but it was really relaxing to just sit around and not have to be anywhere or do anything.  I definitely want to look up more boat trips!  I imagine most of the boat trip options are in more habited areas though.

Also we were getting up so early every day (5:30-6am) that we rarely stayed up past 9-10pm.

Trip to the Galapagos, Day 1 on Samba

Tuesday January 24, 2017

We had an early flight to the Galapagos and the airport was about an hour away in rush hour so I think the bus came to pick up the group really early- maybe 7am?  The drive was pretty uneventful.  We had a good view of the volcano Cotopaxi again.

Arriving to the airport was a little hectic since we were a big group and didn't really know what to do.  Basically they scan your luggage and look for anything that could be invasive to the Galapagos and they make sure you have your $20 visa and then you walk through a bunch of stores (akin to a mall) and you wait a long time since the process goes much more quickly than you think it will.  We got breakfast at a Mexican food place which was pretty good.

The flight to the Galapagos actually goes to Guayaquil first, the plane lets off people and another group gets back on but if you're going to the Galapagos you'll sit and wait on the plane.  The airline we flew was Latam and they had an app you could download and watch TV shows for free.  I started watching Mr. Robot but then stopped because my phone was dying and there were no outlets.  Overall I think the flight is about 3 hours total?

Getting off the plane at Baltra

Going through customs in the Galapagos is also pretty quick.  You'll need to pay $100 cash and you should get another passport stamp.  I didn't get one though because there was some sort of issue with people in my line so I was moved to another desk and in the shuffle I guess my passport missed the stamp.  That's okay though, my Ecuador one will suffice since I'm running low on pages anyway!  Your bags will be searched again for anything organic.  As long as you don't have fruits or anything like that you should be fine.

The biggest shock going from Quito to the Galapagos will be the weather.  Quito is cool and very low humidity due to the altitude.  The Galapagos are very hot and humid and the minute you get off the plane and walk into the airport it will be a big change!

A pelican in the port of Baltra

Our guide, Santiago, met us at the airport and we immediately got onto a bus that took us to the port to get on our boat.  Since we were on a northern itinerary our boat was docked at Baltra Island, where the airport is.  Most northern itinerary cruises will end at Puerto Ayora and you'll need to travel back to the airport on Baltra.

Shelley on the deck of the Samba

The bus dropped us off at the port, Santiago gave us life jackets and we got in the small inflatable boats that would take us to our home for the week, the Samba!  The small inflatable boats held about 8 people and the driver and were called tenders.  Before you get on for the first time your guide will probably teach you what they call the Galapagos Handshake which you'll use to get on and off the tenders.  Instead of grabbing someone by the hand you'll grab them by the wrist which gives you a better grip.

Some of our group boarding a tender

Once we were all on board the board started heading toward Mosquera Island for our first stop.  If I remember correctly we were on board by 2pm and I think it was only an hour or so to Mosquera.  Before each walk/hike Santiago gave us a briefing about what to expect, what we should wear and what animals we might see.  The walks distance wise were never long but they lasted a few hours and Santiago would give us so much information about the animals, the islands and their history.

Our first walk on Mosquera was a wonderful introduction to the Galapagos.  It was a beautiful beach with tons of sea lions, crabs and some whale bones.  The sun was starting to set so it was a little less intense than earlier in the day.  We saw an adorable baby sea lion in a cove and I probably took 20 pictures of it!

What I remember most vividly about this island were the sea lions lolling around.  The Galapagos National Park has some very strict rules about how close you can get to the animals (I think it was 10 feet?) but the animals themselves make that hard!  What struck me immediately when we got on land is that none of the animals are afraid of humans!  They aren't afraid to get close to you and won't run away if you walk past them.  It's so amazing to walk down a beach and sea lions and iguanas walk right next to you and don't run away.

Some of my favorite pictures from Mosquera are below.

Santiago our guide explaining something to us.

I thought this green vegetation was so striking against the sand.

A sandy sea lion

Afterwards we got back on the boat and Santiago gave us our schedule for the next day.  The days on the boat are so busy!  Typically we got up around 5ish with breakfast at 6am then there was usually an activity like snorkeling or a walk.  The hottest/sunniest part of the day we were usually resting on the boat or traveling to the next destination.  There was usually some kind of early evening walk/hike before dinner.  By the evening you're totally exhausted so most of the time everyone went to bed early (8-9pm?).  The stargazing at night was probably the best I've ever seen though so it was wonderful to sit out on deck at night and just look up.  The water was usually very active too!  We occasionally saw sharks, bioluminescence and sea lions chasing fish.

Our first sunset in the Galapagos

Ecuador - Quito Day 3

Monday January 23, 2017
Today we had the official city tour of Quito that was included in our tour package with CNH.  As I mentioned in a previous post, the rest of our tour group was staying at the hotel with us so the guide met us there in the morning with a small bus.  There were 12 people total on our tour but a few chose not to go on the city tour since they had seen most of the city already.

We started by going up the TeleferiQo which is a cable car that goes up to the side of Pichincha Volcano, one of the many volcanoes surrounding Quito.  It was a really beautiful, clear day so the view was wonderful at the top.  Our guide took us off the main trail on a sort of hidden overlook that was great and I never would have found on my own.  We saw one of the surrounding volcanoes erupting which the guide said was rare to be able to see since it's usually cloudy.  I'd definitely recommend this even though it's a super touristy attraction.  It was pretty cheap and the top has a coffee bar, bathrooms and a nice little walk to go even further up the volcano.

Riding up in the cable car

One of the volcanoes surrounding Quito

Another volcano, you can see it beginning to erupt

View from the other side of the overlook

Brandon and I at the overlook

After the TeleferiQo we went to the Virgin of the Apocalypse statue.  It's a 150 foot aluminum statue of the madonna.  I guess it was interesting to see and the view from the top is great but our guide didn't really tell us anything about the statue.  There are some plaques inside but they mostly discuss how the statue was built and erected and not really anything in-depth.  I learned more from the Wikipedia entry I just read than our guide honestly.

The Virgin of the Apocalypse

A view of Quito from the top

Another view from the top

After visiting the Virgin statue we went to the old city again and visited a chocolate shop.  We had a mini presentation about processing cocoa pods to chocolate.  The woman was talking impressively fast and rushing through everything but it was around lunch time and I was pretty hungry so I guess it accomplished the goal of selling chocolate!  High quality chocolate and cocoa beans are a big export of Ecuador and it was delicious but there is still a soft spot in my hear for a good old processed Hershey's bar.

The chocolate shop was located in an alley with a bunch of artisan shops that seemed like a tourist trap.  There was a store selling only spinning tops that our group wanted to stop in.  I waited outside.

Lunch was pretty late (1-2pm I think?) at a hotel whose name I don't remember.  There was an option for shrimp or steam and I chose the steak.  It was terrible honestly.  It was way overcooked and it was wrapped in raw bacon.  Even dessert was horrible.  It was stewed apples which tasted like they were boiled in cheap wine.  I would saw this was probably the worst meal of the trip!  Lunch was in a nice courtyard though and it was a relaxing atmosphere and they had wifi so there were some redeeming qualities.

After lunch we visited a few churches that we had already seen.  I was about church-ed out at this point though and kind of ready for the tour to end.  Then we went to a panama hat store and I was definitely ready for it to end.  Then we went to a plaza to wait for the bus which was a really long wait because I guess the bus driver wasn't answer his phone?  Who knows?  The last stop was a basilica in another part of town that I had been wanting to go to because it was interesting Gothic architecture unlike most of the churches in Quito.  The guide gave us a mini tour and then let us just walk around.  Apparently the church was modeled after Notre Dame which was cool since I'm going to Paris in a few weeks and will see the real deal.  I really liked the stained glass and the fact that the gargoyles were animals from Ecuador.

Stained glass at the Basilica

More stained glass at the Basilica

Brandon and Jeremy in the choir box

Galapagos Tortoise gargoyles

Anteater gargoyles

Marine iguana gargoyles

This was the end of the tour so we went back to the hotel to shower and get ready for dinner.  For dinner we went to Theatrum which was in a large (presumably) old theater.  It was actually really cold in the restaurant but the food was delicious and the service was great.  I was having a lovely time and then a mariachi band showed up to play for someone's birthday party and it was loud and totally crazy and I was a little annoyed.  The servers were all watching the band I guess and service became really slow towards the end of our meal.  Anyway, overall it was a good meal and I would recommend the place.

Ecuador - Quito Day 2

Sunday January 22, 2017
We slept in a little bit on Sunday (8am which turned out to be late compared to the rest of the vacation!).  Breakfast at our hotel was charming.  It was in a small courtyard type area that had a bunch of birds in bird cages that sang throughout the day.

I should probably mention I have very few pictures of our hotel which was an oversight I'll try to be more mindful of on our next trip (to India!).

I should also mention that our entire trip was part of a tour organized by CNH Tours (I'll refrain from linking them here since I have a few minor complaints).  The official package tour didn't really start until Monday but we opted to arrive early and stay a few days later.  Apparently most of the people in our group (that were also staying at the same hotel) had this same idea too.  I believe a few of them even arrived earlier than us!

That bears mentioning since a lot of what we chose to see today was included on the official group tour of Quito that would happen on Monday.  One thing that was not included on Monday that we were told would be included was a trip to the equator which, although touristy, I was looking forward to seeing but chose not to since we saw on the itinerary we were going on Monday.

Anyway, Sunday we went walking around the old city to see the main plaza and look at old churches.  Some of the churches were very well preserved which is rare for this area since earthquakes are fairly common.  Most of the churches were having services since it was Sunday morning but we were able to peek in.  We walked around a bit but the old city was super crowded with the Sunday markets and church services.

A church in the old city in Quito.  None of the churches allowed photography inside.

Sunday in the old city, Quito

We stopped went to the Maria August Urrutia house/museum.  It was a large beautiful house that the owner turned into a charity to help homeless children around the 1930s.  I don't think the children actually lived there but it seemed like they ate there and were able to learn skills or take classes.  The house was beautiful and it was very well preserved so it was interesting to see how the upper class lived.  They technically didn't allow photography inside but I snagged a few of the photos below.

Beautiful stained glass in the bathroom

Creepy doll that kind of matches the painting above it!

Open courtyard with plants around the edges.

After grabbing a mediocre lunch at a cafe on one of the plazas we went to a really great souvenir store that called itself a museum.  I'm not sure I would call it a museum since everything was for sale and didn't really have an descriptive plaques but there were some original things there that I didn't see at any of the other tourist traps and the place was absolutely huge.  It was under a church and the hallways just kept going on forever and they were all filled with knickknacks.    Unfortunately I can't find the name of it but it's on this main plaza (where the subway was being built!) and the entrance is on the other side of the stairs in this photo.

Brandon, his mom and I headed back to the hotel to rest while Jeremy and Brandon's dad wandered around and took some more pictures.  Our hotel had tea at 5pm where we met many of the people that would later join us on the boat.  We had opted to have dinner at the hotel that evening and it was so delicious and just a lovely time.  I wish we had the time to eat there one more time before we left!

Shelley and George at dinner

My dessert that was advertised as a cheesecake.  It was more of a vanilla cake but it was amazing nonetheless.  The gelato was served on a frozen rose petal!

Brandon and Jeremy at dinner.  I don't remember what they were talking about but this picture turned out great.

A few more notes about our hotel since they're on my mind: all of the bath products were chocolate scented- chocolate shampoo, lotion etc.  This was kind of weird to me and I didn't use them.  When you got back regardless of the time of day you had to be buzzed in a gate and then buzzed in the front door which was kind of annoying but I'm sure important for safety.  In the late evening there was a very large doorstop placed behind the door that was shaped like a giant foot with a sandle on it.  Our room was lovely and had lots of old tile and a huge bathroom and king size bed (why don't we own a king size bed yet?!).  The heat was radiant heat flooring that I couldn't really figure out.  Even though we turned it up in the evening it didn't seem to make a noticeable difference until the middle of the night when I woke up sweating!  I could also hear the phone in the lobby ring or the doorbell on the gate in the middle of the night but I'm a really really light sleeper.  The turn down service was wonderful because they left some music channel on on the tv that played a curious mix of ambient and world music (think Brian Eno followed by Irish folk music).  After the first night we just left it on for noise throughout the night.  It was wonderful.

Ecuador - Quito Day 1

Saturday January 21, 2017
We planned this trip with Brandon's family over a year ago so of course we just chose a seemingly random Saturday in January to leave.  Of course once the 2016 election happened we realized we were leaving the day after the inauguration which was of course the same day as the Women's March on Washington.  We were also leaving from Reagan Airport which meant we had to drive through the city.  Our flight wasn't until 10:30am but we got picked up at 6am and of course got to the airport around 6:30am.  That was fine though, better early than late!  At check-in we saw a few very tough, scary looking military dogs flying home.  Presumably they were in DC for inauguration crowd control.

I'd like to take this moment to complain about American Airlines.  We bought our flights forever ago, probably June 2016?  We were flying with Brandon's parents and brother so there were 5 of us but not on the same ticket.  American repeatedly switched our flights to either give us really long layovers or arriving to Quito extremely late.  When I would call to complain they would switch them back but it makes me so hesitant to fly with them again.  Even though you put time into researching flights to find the perfect one they can just randomly move you to something else at their whim?  Regardless it all worked out since I demanded a refund for our first tickets and was able to buy them cheaper with my new Chase Sapphire Reserve card which has been AMAZING the six months I've had it.  More on that in some other post!

Anyway, we got to the airport really early and had surprisingly good airport breakfast and waited for our flight.  We saw tons of women arriving for the march and making their posters at the arrival gates which was great.

There really isn't much to report from the flights.  We flew to Miami and had very mediocre Mexican food and met Brandon's brother and then got to Quito in the early evening.  The airport is about 45 minutes from the city so by the time we go to the hotel I think it was about 7pm.  We basically dropped our bags off and asked for a recommendation for dinner.  The hotel insisted the five of us would fit into one cab but it was a bit too cozy for us so that was the last time we would only take one cab!

For some reason the concierge at the hotel thought we would be into the main tourist square with tons of clubs and street vendors.  The area seemed kind of sketchy and definitely not our scene but eventually we settled on a traditional Ecuadorian restaurant that was very mediocre but edible.  Then we piled into 2 cabs and went back to the hotel to get some sleep!

Throughout our time in Quito there just seemed to be a pervasive sketchy vibe.  It's the type of town I definitely wouldn't walk around alone at night as a woman.  Regardless of where you go it's recommended that you don't hail your own cabs, the hotel or restaurant will call you one- there's actually signs telling you not to get your own cab.  It just seemed a bit more gritty than I'm used to for large cities.

Our hotel was wonderful  It was the Mansion del Angel and we had a room/suite with a little sitting room and large bathroom off the garden.   I guess I didn't take too many pictures of our room or during travel so perhaps this is a lackluster first entry but here you go!

The lobby at the Mansion del Angel

The garden outside our room

Galapagos Summary

We got back from the Galapagos about a week ago (the evening of Saturday the 4th) and life has been a little hectic since then so I'm just now getting around to writing about our trip.  I think I'll start with a quick summary and then make shorter, more detailed posts about each day.

We flew into Quito on Saturday the 21st and then spent a few days going around the city.  We left for the Galapagos on Tuesday the 24th and immediately got on the ship in Baltra once we landed.  We were on the ship for 7 nights got off on Tuesday morning the 31st in Puerto Ayora.  We spent 2 nights in Puerto Ayora and then flew back to Quito on Thursday the 2nd.  On Friday Brandon and I, along with two other people in our group from the ship, went to Bellavista Cloud Forest.  On Saturday we flew home.

Overall, it was amazing being away from civilization for a full week.  There wasn't even cell service once you got away from Baltra.  I really like the relaxed atmosphere of traveling by boat and having a pre-planned schedule each along along with all your meals made for you was fantastic.  Of course, the scenery and the animals were wonderful too!  The time of the boat was very busy though and I was getting up earlier on the boat than I was for work!

Anyway, here are a few of my favorite pictures before I get around to writing the longer posts.

Above Quito at the top of the Teleferiqo, a cable car up the side of a volcano to a lookout

The view of Quito from the Virgin of the Apocalypse statue

The deck of our boat

Adorable baby sea lion at our first stop (Darwin's Bay, Genovesa)

A Nazca Gull at Darwin's Steps

The small inflated boat was how we got to the islands from our ship, the crew called it a tender or panga.

Blue-footed boobie

Upcoming!

I haven't been on a nice long ("long" to me means over 1 week) trip since Costa Rica in February so I'm getting a little antsy.  I've realized that probably about 7-8 months without a long trip makes me tired of my commute, the ridiculously hot and humid DC weather (which we are in the height of right now!) and the general frenzied news cycle- especially with the presidential election season.  I really like the freedom of going somewhere and not paying attention to politics and the tragic events that never seem to stop.

Anyway, unfortunately that's not happening anytime soon for me!  I'm saving my vacation time (and money) because we have a bunch of stuff coming up next year so I'll just talk about that.  I probably mentioned these trips in passing but here are the details.

January 2017 - We're going to the Galapagos with Brandon's family.  I think we will only actually be on the (very small) cruise boat for 7 nights then we will have a night or two on one of the islands and then 2 nights before/after in Quito.

March 2017 - I'm going to Paris for 5 nights on my own!  I'm very excited since I haven't ever traveled internationally alone and I can't wait to do all the stereotypical tourist stuff like visit the champagne bar at the top of the Eiffel Tower.  On a whim a few months ago I bought a super cheap flight with WOW but then a few weeks later they lowered their Fall 2016 prices (which would have been the perfect time to go) but of course they have a huge change fee that I wasn't willing to pay so I'll just wait.  Reading through my old Iceland entries I see that I swore off WOW for future trips but my annoyance can be surmounted for a $400 round trip flight to Paris!

October 2017 - We are going to northern India for 3 weeks!  Oh man I am so excited.  We worked with a local travel agent who was endlessly patient and helpful (and if he thought it was weird I was planning a trip a year in advance he didn't say so!).  Initially we were going to go in September 2017 but a lot of things aren't open then so I moved the trip to October (mostly so we could go to Ranthambore National Park and see tigers).  The cost for a 3 week trip is ridiculously cheap (and working with a local travel agent is so easy) so I wish I had looked into traveling to India sooner!  When the time comes I'm going to try to get a 10 year visa for Brandon and myself so that we can go back easily.

That's all I have planned coming up and I'm not going to let myself plan anything until at least after I get back from Paris.  I learned my lesson with buying my WOW plane ticket way too early!  I think planning travel early is helpful but there is a line that's TOO early.  I do have some ideas for our next big trip after India though.  I really want to go to Africa and I'm thinking Madagascar would be perfect!  There are also other places in Europe I would love to go to on shorter trips like Italy and Spain.