Our hostal is great. We have booked it through the next week and signed up for spanish classes. I am a little paranoid about being in Quito because people keep sharing stories about getting robbed or mugged or having mustard thrown on them. It is a little unnerving. I hate not trusting people, which this town seems to have reputation as being very untrustworthy.
We decided to go exploring and went into the "New Town" to go to an internet cafe and get some money. we had no cash left thanks to the Galapagos. well when I was signing one of my American Express Checks at the place, I messed up on the date (repeating the same action causes me to do that every once in a while) and the lady wouldn´t take it! I signed it RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER! I was a little irritated.
Then I went down to the Fugi camera store and had all of my pictures on my memory card backed up onto a CD. I think this was a good move on my part. I still have issues trusting technology.
We then walked all over looking for a grocery store because we are in a hostal, (which I love the atmosphere!) and have the use of a kitchen. After a few weeks its nice to be able to cook on your own. We looked for ever to find a grocery store, which is limited here. very few ingrediants that we are used to and very few fresh foods. We found one that had noodles and "tomato sauce" which was tomato paste. well dinner was absolutely horrible! first, Sarah had dropped the jar of sauce on the floor and it broke. Then to make it even worse I wasn´t paying attention and put the noodles in the water before it was boiled. So we had nasty soggy noodles with no sauce and hamburger with no spice and cheese that didn´t melt. It was the most disgusting thing I have ever eaten.
Today was pretty uneventful and hopfully tomorrow qill be better.
2/06/08
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Leaving the Galapagos
Today we woke up and went to breakfast. Then we caught a cab with Barbara and Verna to the fairy which take us to Baltra Island where we catch a bus to the airport. We ahd to wait forever for our flight. We did some shopping at the airport and took in the last part of the islands.
Once we started boarding the plane I was in line and waiting for this group to enter together. Then this dumb old man started yelling at me to push infront because "these people" will never let us in. i really wanted to yell at him, but instead I yelled at him in my head. We are all gonna get on the same flight and we all have assigned seats so it really doesn´t matter the order that we get on. then he started pushing.
Once we went through security him and his wife crowded me while I was collecting my stuff. I have never felt bad for hitting an old person with my backpack and I still don´t. Once we were n the plane, we were headed to Quito.
It was about an hour and a half flight to Guayaquil and another 45 minutes to Quito. once we got to our hostal, we loved it and booked for the rest of the week and the following week. We also signed up for a week long spanish class. The hostal was clean and safe and had hot water(which works weird), laundry service and breakfast all for very little. It was great. then we again crashed pretty early and had to realize we were no longer in the Galapagos.
02/05/08
Once we started boarding the plane I was in line and waiting for this group to enter together. Then this dumb old man started yelling at me to push infront because "these people" will never let us in. i really wanted to yell at him, but instead I yelled at him in my head. We are all gonna get on the same flight and we all have assigned seats so it really doesn´t matter the order that we get on. then he started pushing.
Once we went through security him and his wife crowded me while I was collecting my stuff. I have never felt bad for hitting an old person with my backpack and I still don´t. Once we were n the plane, we were headed to Quito.
It was about an hour and a half flight to Guayaquil and another 45 minutes to Quito. once we got to our hostal, we loved it and booked for the rest of the week and the following week. We also signed up for a week long spanish class. The hostal was clean and safe and had hot water(which works weird), laundry service and breakfast all for very little. It was great. then we again crashed pretty early and had to realize we were no longer in the Galapagos.
02/05/08
Port Ayora Day 1
We woke up early and caught our speedboad/ferry this morning. We were headed back to Santa Cruz and port Ayora where we would spend our last night in the Galapagos. We arrived at Port Ayora around 9:00 and checked into a hostal and went to breakfast. We spent the day shopping in town and exploring the city. We went back to the Darwin Center to take our time and walk through. I had a lot of fun. I love shopping.
We were walking down the street and saw a fish market where they were cuting up and selling fish. Not that interesting to me. however, there were about 20 pelicans and a seal begging for scraps which were gladdly given to them. it was so much fun to watch. The seal was so patient and never tried to take anything that was not his. The pelicans were so crowded, it was just really fun to watch. It was a nice and relaxing say, plus I love shopping! it will be sad to leave tomorrow.
02/04/08
We were walking down the street and saw a fish market where they were cuting up and selling fish. Not that interesting to me. however, there were about 20 pelicans and a seal begging for scraps which were gladdly given to them. it was so much fun to watch. The seal was so patient and never tried to take anything that was not his. The pelicans were so crowded, it was just really fun to watch. It was a nice and relaxing say, plus I love shopping! it will be sad to leave tomorrow.
02/04/08
Isabella Island Day 3
Today was so much fun, but it did have its rough parts. we woke up and walked to the hotel to meet our guides to the Sierra Negra volcano. We got in buses and were driven about an 30 minutes to an hour up the mountain. When we got out of the car there were saddled horses waiting to take us another 1.5 hours to the crate of the volcano. It was so beautiful. very green and covered in trees and flowers.
The ranchers paired us up with our horses. I was one of the last ones on a horse. I didn´t even get a horse! I got a MULE! Why does everyone else get a horse and I only get a mule? Not Fair! besides, my mule was slow and pokey and only wanted to eat. it wa consistently in the back of the pack. Once we finally reached the top it was amazing. The crater was huge, second biggest in the world. It had a diameter of 6 miles. i couldn´t get the whole thing in a picture it was so big.
After the horse ride, my mule ride we went on a hike to a neighboring volcano, chico. It was about an hour and a half hike. the rocks were slippery and lose. Thills are all up and down on these rocks. very tricky to keep you balance. i know because I slipped and scratched the back of my camera after I had taken a picture. I was so mad, i´m still mad. When we finally got to the top we sat down and had lunch. It was really hot so we dreaded the climb back. it was a nice workout. Once back, we picked up the people who didn´t go on the hike (stories if you ask) and got back on our horses, MULE to head back down the volcano.
Again, my mule was slow and no matter what happened she really wouldn´t go. When has anyone seen a donkey run? Doesn´t happen. Well apparently it does because our guide came up behind me and spanked my mule, which I named pokey. she started to run, then she stopped. I had a stubborn little ass, but I can´t really complain because my stubborn ass was hauling my ass up a volcano. i gave her credit. that is not an easy thing to do. then I started cracking up becaue i was making crude jokes in my head about my stubborn as and getting spanked to get her going and what not. i let out a lown pitch scream because the guide would sneak up behind me and spank my mule, who would then take off for a little quick jog and would catch me off guard.
I continued laughing because when pokey would speed up it reminded me of this infomercial we saw on the boat about an exercise machine that shakes your fat way. i thought this was doing about the same thing. Later pokey really didn´t care if she was spanked or not, she was done going fast and took her time all the way down the hill.
This one guy had a mamma horse and the baby colt followed uu up the hill. It was so cute. It was hard because the guy rode the mom pretty hard and the baby couldn´t keep up and walked next to us, but then would cry because she couldn´t see her mom. It was sad.
We, me and Pokey, finally made it back to the site where we started. We got back in the bus and went back to the hotel. We had some down time and used it to pack because we had to catch the ferry/speedboat at 6:00 the next morning. Once we were ready and had some down time we went to carnival on the beach. It was a lot of fun. there was a ton of music and drinking and waterfights. We watched the sunset and sat and talked for a while. We met up with barbara and Verna too. Later we decided to call it a night because we had done a lot and had an early morning the next day. This was a really fun day despite my little mishaps and disappointments.
02/03/08
The ranchers paired us up with our horses. I was one of the last ones on a horse. I didn´t even get a horse! I got a MULE! Why does everyone else get a horse and I only get a mule? Not Fair! besides, my mule was slow and pokey and only wanted to eat. it wa consistently in the back of the pack. Once we finally reached the top it was amazing. The crater was huge, second biggest in the world. It had a diameter of 6 miles. i couldn´t get the whole thing in a picture it was so big.
After the horse ride, my mule ride we went on a hike to a neighboring volcano, chico. It was about an hour and a half hike. the rocks were slippery and lose. Thills are all up and down on these rocks. very tricky to keep you balance. i know because I slipped and scratched the back of my camera after I had taken a picture. I was so mad, i´m still mad. When we finally got to the top we sat down and had lunch. It was really hot so we dreaded the climb back. it was a nice workout. Once back, we picked up the people who didn´t go on the hike (stories if you ask) and got back on our horses, MULE to head back down the volcano.
Again, my mule was slow and no matter what happened she really wouldn´t go. When has anyone seen a donkey run? Doesn´t happen. Well apparently it does because our guide came up behind me and spanked my mule, which I named pokey. she started to run, then she stopped. I had a stubborn little ass, but I can´t really complain because my stubborn ass was hauling my ass up a volcano. i gave her credit. that is not an easy thing to do. then I started cracking up becaue i was making crude jokes in my head about my stubborn as and getting spanked to get her going and what not. i let out a lown pitch scream because the guide would sneak up behind me and spank my mule, who would then take off for a little quick jog and would catch me off guard.
I continued laughing because when pokey would speed up it reminded me of this infomercial we saw on the boat about an exercise machine that shakes your fat way. i thought this was doing about the same thing. Later pokey really didn´t care if she was spanked or not, she was done going fast and took her time all the way down the hill.
This one guy had a mamma horse and the baby colt followed uu up the hill. It was so cute. It was hard because the guy rode the mom pretty hard and the baby couldn´t keep up and walked next to us, but then would cry because she couldn´t see her mom. It was sad.
We, me and Pokey, finally made it back to the site where we started. We got back in the bus and went back to the hotel. We had some down time and used it to pack because we had to catch the ferry/speedboat at 6:00 the next morning. Once we were ready and had some down time we went to carnival on the beach. It was a lot of fun. there was a ton of music and drinking and waterfights. We watched the sunset and sat and talked for a while. We met up with barbara and Verna too. Later we decided to call it a night because we had done a lot and had an early morning the next day. This was a really fun day despite my little mishaps and disappointments.
02/03/08
Isabela Island Day 2
Since last night we went to bed before 8:00, we got up fairly early. we realized we didn´t like our hotel and wanted to change. We had made a fast decision the night before because we were tired and now were well rested and ready to make a decission. It was time to move because we had a chicken farm right next to our window and the rooster had no concept of morning. he crowed at 3:30 and every half an hour until almost 10:00 it seemed.
We moved to a hotel down the street on a recomendation from a couple of traveling friends from Australia we met the day before. Tom and leela were at the hotel and invited us to go snorkeling with them. we were a little snorkeled out. we said thanks and decided to make plans for the four of us to visit the volcano the next day. we had some breakfast and then headed into town to book the tour.
We couldn´t find a place to book the tour so insted we went on a 12km walk to a turtle reproduction and breeding center. It was a nice walk to the center and we saw the turtles, some birds and iguanas. I even saw a chickin in water. On the way back we walked on the beach. This is such a cool little town, Port Villamil. All of the streets are sand and their are coconut trees all around and cabana and plam leaves. There is also an enormous amount of hammocks. It is such a nice little place.
So, Finally we found a place that had a guided tour of the volcano. However, these people only speak spanish, and we barely speak spanish. When they were giving us directions to pick up our tickets and meet tomorrow, they new that wehad no idea where to go,so the man decided to walk us down there. it was so nice. he felt sorry for us and knew that we would probably get lost on the way. Anyway, we got out tickets and went back to the hotel to rest because we walked a lot and it was hot outside.
later that afternoon we went for a drink with Tom and leela. tom cooked us a snakc (baked potato in the microwave) but when you don´t have anything else, it worked. We later went to dinner and ran into two women they had met in port Ayora, barbara and verna from utah. We called it a night pretty early because we needed to get up early tomorrow to go to the volcano. I am so excited for tomorrow, Sarah is not.
02/02/08
We moved to a hotel down the street on a recomendation from a couple of traveling friends from Australia we met the day before. Tom and leela were at the hotel and invited us to go snorkeling with them. we were a little snorkeled out. we said thanks and decided to make plans for the four of us to visit the volcano the next day. we had some breakfast and then headed into town to book the tour.
We couldn´t find a place to book the tour so insted we went on a 12km walk to a turtle reproduction and breeding center. It was a nice walk to the center and we saw the turtles, some birds and iguanas. I even saw a chickin in water. On the way back we walked on the beach. This is such a cool little town, Port Villamil. All of the streets are sand and their are coconut trees all around and cabana and plam leaves. There is also an enormous amount of hammocks. It is such a nice little place.
So, Finally we found a place that had a guided tour of the volcano. However, these people only speak spanish, and we barely speak spanish. When they were giving us directions to pick up our tickets and meet tomorrow, they new that wehad no idea where to go,so the man decided to walk us down there. it was so nice. he felt sorry for us and knew that we would probably get lost on the way. Anyway, we got out tickets and went back to the hotel to rest because we walked a lot and it was hot outside.
later that afternoon we went for a drink with Tom and leela. tom cooked us a snakc (baked potato in the microwave) but when you don´t have anything else, it worked. We later went to dinner and ran into two women they had met in port Ayora, barbara and verna from utah. We called it a night pretty early because we needed to get up early tomorrow to go to the volcano. I am so excited for tomorrow, Sarah is not.
02/02/08
Isabela Island Day 1
Once the bus had left us at the Darwin Center, we walked into town and booked a ticket on a ferry to Isabella Island. We dropped off our luggage and walked around Port Ayora. we had lunch and went window shopping to pass the time.
It was time to get onto the ferry, also known as a speed boat. it was a 2 a half hour ride squished between two strangers. not the best experience but we lived through it. Once we got to our hotel wehad something to eat and then ended up going to bed really early. We are officially on our own int he Galapagos. No more adult summer camp.
02/01/08
It was time to get onto the ferry, also known as a speed boat. it was a 2 a half hour ride squished between two strangers. not the best experience but we lived through it. Once we got to our hotel wehad something to eat and then ended up going to bed really early. We are officially on our own int he Galapagos. No more adult summer camp.
02/01/08
Cruise Day 8
Today is the last day of our cruise. We woke up and went to the Island of Santa Cruz at port Ayora where we began our adventure. we came on land and went to the Darwin Center. I thought it was really enjoyable. We learned about the turtles and specific turtles, Lonesome George and Super Diego.
Lonesome George is the last turtle of his kind. They thought that this species had been extinct until George was found. He is the last one! They put him in an inclosure with two females of a similar species. George was scared. he had grown up all alone and now has to interact socially, and hopefully sexually with these two females. Then two males were placed in the inclosure to help george learn what to do, this scared Geroge even more. So they were removed, eventually George learned social behavior but has yet to create babies. The next step will be artificial insemination to save this species. George is approx. 75 years old.
Then Super Diego. A different species. There were only twelve of this species left. 2 males and 10 females. The Darwin Center sent out messages throughout the world to locate any other turtles and Diego was found at the San Diego zoo (hense the name). He was put into the inclosure with the rest of his kind. It happened to be breeding season and Diego was SUPER! He helped in the process of saving this species. he apparently had to be taken out of the enclosure because he was a little to super.
Once we left the Darwin Center, we were handed our bags and said our goodbyes to everyone we had met. Everyone was continuing to the airport and we were starying on the island for a few more days. When saying our goodbyes we saw Fabrizio (our old guide) with his new group...awkward. This wa such a great experience and if people have the money I would recomend going on a cruise of the Galapagos. It is worth it to have a guide who is trained (a naturalist 3). It was the most amazing experience.
02/01/08
Lonesome George is the last turtle of his kind. They thought that this species had been extinct until George was found. He is the last one! They put him in an inclosure with two females of a similar species. George was scared. he had grown up all alone and now has to interact socially, and hopefully sexually with these two females. Then two males were placed in the inclosure to help george learn what to do, this scared Geroge even more. So they were removed, eventually George learned social behavior but has yet to create babies. The next step will be artificial insemination to save this species. George is approx. 75 years old.
Then Super Diego. A different species. There were only twelve of this species left. 2 males and 10 females. The Darwin Center sent out messages throughout the world to locate any other turtles and Diego was found at the San Diego zoo (hense the name). He was put into the inclosure with the rest of his kind. It happened to be breeding season and Diego was SUPER! He helped in the process of saving this species. he apparently had to be taken out of the enclosure because he was a little to super.
Once we left the Darwin Center, we were handed our bags and said our goodbyes to everyone we had met. Everyone was continuing to the airport and we were starying on the island for a few more days. When saying our goodbyes we saw Fabrizio (our old guide) with his new group...awkward. This wa such a great experience and if people have the money I would recomend going on a cruise of the Galapagos. It is worth it to have a guide who is trained (a naturalist 3). It was the most amazing experience.
02/01/08
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