Quito

Our day started out with a buffet breakfast.  The breakfast buffet is always included in all the hotels we stay at.  The one at this hotel is really good, but last time we were here we had to leave too early to enjoy it.  The restaurant is bright and interestingly decorated. 

After breakfast, Judith is finished getting ready first, and decides to wait in the lobby to meet our tour guide.  When I arrive, they're already in conversation.  I introduce myself to him, but he doesn't reciprocate.  I find out later, he never told Judith his name either.  Just a weird quirky thing about this guide; otherwise he's as pleasant at possible.  

Our first stop is the Equator museum.  First there are Llamas in pens at the entrance and of course you-know-who goes to scratch them.  

Overall the museum is interesting.  They start with a talk about some of the indigenous animals, tribes and people.  I haven't figured out why the equator museum would discuss these topics--there wasn't a clear connection between the first part of the museum's presentation with the next part about being on the equator.  

In fact, the first part seemed a bit random.  She showed us a mounted tarantula in a glass display container, a taxidermied Anaconda and boa constrictor, then she showed us some shrunken heads - one human and one sloth and showed us wall murals of the method employed in making such a head. Next she pointed us to a 3 dimensional figure of a indigenous man who had his penis secured pointing upward against his body.  Apparently it's done to prevent a particular deadly Amazon fish attracted by urea from entering the penis.  This figure was inside a grass house that she said was built in 6 days by a local tribe.  Next she showed us the actual home where a local woman lived until she was 110.    She was famous for her corn liquor "checha".  Then she showed us the cactus that contains mescaline allows you to have hallucinagenic experiences.  I tried to connect the dots here but all these things, while interesting, were so random. 

It was only when she started discussing equator related issues that her discussion started to make sense.  She showed us a timepiece that works only on the equator.  We watched water drain straight when the sink was on the equator when it was moved to the north, the water swirled one way (counter clockwise as I recall) and the opposite way (clockwise) when the sink was moved south of the equator.  

We did some other experiments that supposedly showed the effects of being on the equator such as balancing an egg on a nail.  I was just happy with the equator photo op.  Judith says she was standing on the south side but I can't remember.

After the equator we headed to a huge statue of the Madonna overlooking Old town. The statue is located on El Panecillo, a 200 metre high hill.  The statue is 45 metres tall made of 7000 pieces of aluminium.  In the picture you can see people out on the observation deck just above the base.  This was built in 1976.  We climbed a narrow staircase to get to the observation deck.  The view of the city is impressive.  

Next up was Old Town district of Quito.  It's often known as Colonial town as a result of all the older architecture.  When the Spaniards took over in the mid 1500's, the Incas destroyed their settlement there before the Spaniards destroyed it.  Unlike places such as Cuzco, there wasn't much of any ruins left to build upon.  Some architectural pictures:

We next see Iglesia de la Compania de Jesus (Church of the Society of Jesus) , in the Old town area.  It has a lovely baroque facade.  The church was started in 1605 and took over 150 years to complete.  

The interior is ornate, with more gold leaf in that building than I've ever seen -- the only place where there wasn't any gold leaf seemed to be on the pews and the floor. We weren't allowed to take any pictures.   Inside the Symphony of Ecuador was playing.  We find out that it was a practice session for a free show that night.  Both Judith and I look at each other and instantly decide to come and take in the show.

After the quick tour of the square, we went into one of the buildings that currently houses a university.  It had a large diorama of the city with a keypad that would light up certain landmarks and buildings.  I thought it was a bit lame, as if some elementary student put it together.  But our guide seemed to like it, pressing buttons to light up buildings throughout the Old town area

There was a cool piece of art that was displayed in the courtyard.  It was made to look as if the concrete wall had exploded.  The actual installation was more dramatic than the picture below suggests. 

Nest up was the Plaza Grande, formally known as the Plaza de la Independencia.   It's the major central square for Quito, full of people talking, busking, exercising or just hanging out. It is bounded by several buildings including the President's residence (he was in, so no tours), Quito Cathedral (we didn't go in and the Archbishop's Residence, now turned into shops and restaurants.  In the middle of the square is this monument to recognize Ecuador's independence from Spanish control.  Considering that the Spaniards overthrew the Inca Empire around 1550 and the plaque says 1809, that's a long period of Spanish influence.  Much longer than the Inca Empire which only lasted about a hundred years.  

The square is quite large.  I snapped a picture of some buskers.  They seemed quite popular receiving applause when they finished their song.

We walked back to the van to check out one last church. The Basílica deal Voto Nacional is the largest neo gothic Basílica in North or South America.  It was started around 1884 and continues to be under construction to this day.  Instead of gargoyles, the building has Ecuadorian animals such as Pumas, tortoises, iguanas, armadillos, etc.  

Inside the interior is very plain in comparison to the other church we visited.  The Basílica is just immense.  Ceilings are very high, and the sanctuary and chapels are large; it can hold a lot of people.  

When we finished looking at this church, the tour was over.  We had the tour guide drop us off at the Teriferico, the cable car that runs up one of the hills.  The height rises just over 800 metres to 4050 meters.  It took a long time to arrive at the top, maybe 15 to 20 minutes.  The views of the city aren't as good as they are from the Madonna statue hill as here the volcanic mountains obscure my pictures.  

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Quito is a long, narrow shaped city.  It is bounded by large mountains to the east and west and has to grow in a north south orientation.  It is currently 60 km from north to south--equivalent to downtown Victoria to Duncan.  Crazy.  

At the top of the cable car mountain it was cold and windy.  We discovered that you can go horseback riding, have your picture taken so that you appear to be hanging from the edge of a moving cable car or grab an overpriced snack or souvenir.  We didn't do any of these, so we went back down.  At the bottom, we were approached by a taxi driver who asked if we needed a ride.  All the taxi drivers will give you a price to take you wherever you want to go before you get into the vehicle.  And the prices are very reasonable.  I don't think Uber will be much of a threat here.  The cab we take is owned by the cable car company as the Teriferico name is on the side of it.  

We got back to the hotel and when I unloaded my stuff onto my bed, I discovered I left my iPhone in the Teriferico cab.  It's not a great feeling.  I checked my "find my phone" app and discover it at a nearby intersection.  I advise Judith that I'm going to check with the hotel to see if I can somehow get them to help me chase down my phone.  I discover this isn't easy due to a bit of a language barrier.  

But eventually the hotel manager gives the OK for one of the valets to come with me in the hotel cab.  I link my iPad to his iPhone and we're off trying to get my phone back.  Unfortunately, the app doesn't

refresh often enough.  We try linking my iPad with the driver's phone but that also doesn't refresh fast either.  Back to the iPhone which by this time has no battery power left so we stop and I follow him into a cell store and I pay $5 for a change cable.  We get back on the chase.  

The valet flags down a motorcycle policeman and he tags along with us.  But the app doesn't want to refresh and that spinning circle by the wifi indicator just keeps spinning.  We must have tried to chase my phone for over an hour; but in the end gave up because the app it wasn't refreshing -- just a spinning circle indicator.  During this time, we're using Google translate to communicate.  I discover you can't say anything complicated.  A few things we said translated into amusing nonsensical gobbledygook until I got the hang of it and made the simplest sentences I could come up with. 

Calls to Teriferico went unanswered. They were gone until Monday.  I asked the hotel manager if they could call Monday to see if my phone was found.  By this time it was running out of juice.  I put it into "lost phone" mode.  

When I came back to the hotel, Judith was wondering what had happened to me since by now I had disappeared for a couple of hours.  Given that nothing else could be done and since she had already had a bite, I decided we should just go to the concert.  We would be early, but we should be able to get great seats.  Even better was that the lineup was only by the front gate which had steps that we could sit down on.  If we were 15 minutes later, we would have had to stand for the hour we waited.  And the symphony was excellent.  I'm no expert, but I enjoyed the performance a lot.  It was standing room only.  And we were permitted to take non flash photos!

Below is a shot of the interior above the orchestra, and it's all gold leaf.  The gold leaf appears on the ceiling and on the walls and pillars throughout the entire church.

After the concert, we flag down a cab back to the hotel.  Other than the missing iPhone, it's an excellent day. 

 

 

Goodbye Galápagos

 Today was the end of our voyage.  

This was our itinerary.

We quickly had breakfast and waited for the announcements to start boarding the zodiacs to check out Bachas Beach.  This beach is known as a nesting beach for sea turtles.  We're too early in the season to see any turtles.  They start to congregate in the waters in October, feeding on the plentiful jellyfish in the waters.  On our way to Bachas beach we went through a patch of water that was so thick with jellyfish, that the water turned colour.  

Our guide, Alex, picked up a handful of these jellyfish.  They were small and didn't sting him, and he was pretty happy to see an abundant supply of them as it bodes well for the sea turtles.  

When the turtles arrive the females climb onto the beach and dig a hole for the eggs.  The depth of the hole is made so that the turtles emerge from the sand at night, so that they have a better chance of making it to the water without being attacked by predictors.  Unfortunately there are so many sea turtles looking for space to dig a nest to lay eggs that they often dig up an existing nest, changing the depth of the sand covering the hole.  As a result, the turtles emerge too early during the day and become easy prey.  This is a picture of Bachas beach.  

When we were there at the beach we saw some sharks in the water.  They were small, about 2-3 feet in length.

We get back to the boat and get ready to leave it for the last time.  Most of us congregate in the lounge where Judith and I take our last selfie.  Judith can't believe how many pictures I take.  She brought her brand new camera this trip and I think she's taken about 6 pictures.  I can do that in a minute.  

We board th zodiacs and motor over to the assembly area on Baltra Island to get the buses to the airport.  

The flight was had a stopover in Guayaquil, making the trip a bit tedious.  I was glad to get off the plane.  This time, our guide shows up and she drives us to Hotel Dan Carlton, the same one that we stayed at the night before heading to Galápagos.  

We got a different room but it has a similar look as the last time:

We head out to grab a bite and end up,at the Green Choice restaurant we went to last time.  We had a tasty dinner but the owner's dog that was there last time was not there this time.  But Judith's luck was good as the owner came in with the dog.  

When it was time to go, Judith went to say hello to the dog and in conversation with them found that the waitress had a puppy there that she wa taking home.  The puppy was a stray found by the restaurant owners who cared for it for a liitle while and was now giving it to one of her staff.  Of course the story would not be complete without the picture.  

We return to the hotel around 6:00.  Judith plans to have a nap.  I think that she's going to be down for the rest of the night.  I am right.  

Galápagos is fascinating.

This is the itinerary for Wednesday.  It's another action packed day.   

Today we were off to Cerro Dragon to see the land iguanas.   These iguanas are bigger than the marine variety and the males have yellow colouring while the females are smaller and dark grey in colour.  We see about 25 of these animals on our walk.  I can't get over how unafraid these animals are of these giant humans walking nearby to them.  They know we're there, and will stare back at us, but generally ignore the paparazzi taking photos of them.  We are required to keep a respectful distance and are forbidden to touch any of the animals.  The no touch rule is easy for me, but appears to be more difficult for Judith who wants to pet the cute sea lions.  

On our walk we pass by a pond with a single pink flamingo. At one point a duck gets too close to him and he chases it away.  

Here are some specimens of male land iguanas. 

The following picture has a male and female land iguanas.  

During the trip we see giant prickly pear cactus.  There are sharp barbs all around the trunk.

And this a flower from the cactus.

We went back on board for anther lecture on the Galápagos.  This time it's before lunch and I'm able to stay awake for all of it.  It was about the history of man's colonization of the area.  The islands currently have about 30,000 inhabitants and there are strict regulations who can live there.   Property can only be sold to an inhabitant as they do not want to increase the population already there.  It's expensive to live there as everything has to be brought in.  

The crew also provide instructions on the checking out requirements.  We need to settle our accounts, make sure the luggage is tagged and outside the cabin door by 6:00 am before you go for breakfast and fill the gratuity/tip envelopes with money.  They even recommend how much each person is to put in:  $8.00 per day for the guide and $20 per day for the ship's crew.  For my 4 days that's an extra $112.  Our guide looked after about 15 of us, so if everybody paid the recommended amount, it would be about $500 for the 4 days.  

The cruise functions like clockwork.  Getting people fed, in and out of the zodiacs for shore excursions, lectures, making and cleaning the rooms daily, etc, etc., takes a significant amount of coordination and effort to make sure everything runs smoothly.  And tipping once into a pooled fund, hopefully ensures that all staff from the engine room, kitchen, housekeeping, zodiac drivers, bridge, etc, get a fair cut of the tip proceeds.  

We have our lunch and then head upstairs for the photo contest from the guests.  Judith is all over me submitting a couple of my pictures and when she learns that I'm really not keen, we agree that she can submit them under her name.  These are the two she picks:

1.  Galápagos Tourtoise Scat

That's my shoe in the picture which I added for a size reference.  It was the only picture of tortoise scat.  It did get a chuckle out of the crowd.  

2.  Male Frigate bird

I took this picture at the lunch barbecue on the back deck.  There were lots of frigates riding the breeze and I managed to get this one centered in the frame.  The part of his neck is like a balloon and he puffs it out to attract a female.  

Judith didn't win; there were some beautiful wildlife photos that only a telephoto lens can best capture.

There was some deep water snorkelling activity that Judith went to participate.  I didn't go because I'm not so comfortable with my ability to go snorkelling jumping from a boat as opposed to walking in from the shore.  I want to be standing when I'm testing whether my breathing gear works.  The deep water snorkellers had a great time, even seeing a shark swim by.  Yikes!  Here's the deep water snorkellers on their way back to the ship

Next up was the ice cream bar.  We filled up large parfait glasses with raspberry, mango and chocolate flavoured ice cream, and added fruit, crispy and other toppings.  It was a fun treat and everybody came together for a bit of socializing.  

Our next excursion was to North Seymour Island to check out nursing areas for frigates and boobies.  It was really interesting.  

We see a number of blue footed baby chicks.  This one still has quite a bit of down.  

This one was testing his wings. 

The boobies mate for life.  One of them stays by the chick while the other goes to find food.  

We see a a whole bunch of baby frigates who can't fly yet.  They wait around for the mother to come back with food.  The baby chick then reaches in for its meal.   Male (black with a red neck pouch) and sometimes other female (with white chest marking) frigates hover close by and try to steal a free meal.

A mother frigate feeding her chick. 

Here's a video of the feeding and a male frigate trying for a free meal.  

https://youtu.be/KB0r610tUrU

The male frigate bird attracts a mate by puffing out his red pouch.  The female comes by to check out his nest to see if it meets her standards.  

I took this picture of a bird taking off but I don't know what kind it is.  It has a distinctive tail shape.  You'll note the amount of guano on the rocks.  The frigates won't come back to nest in areas with guano.  

And these are swallow tail gulls.  They don't squawk at all.  They hunt at night so the noise the make is a clicking sound for echo location - like bats.  

To get back into the zodiac, we had to climb over one of the gull's nest.  The gull mother stayed on the nest the whole time while one of the staff straddled over it to help the rest of us into the zodiac.  

We ended the day with a goodbye toast on board followed by dinner.  Tomorrow we leave the ship and need to place our luggage outside our cabin door by 6:00 am.  

So much to Learn

Today we started the day at 7:00.  I found the night to be noisy and was woken up a few times with strange noises including the ship getting underway about 3:30 am to motor over to its next destination.  Here's the itinerary from the information terminal.  They pack a lot in each day

  

We got dressed to have some breakfast (buffet style with an eggs cooked to order station).  Our seat mates for our dining room meals are John and Norma from Melbourne.  They are very lovely people and we have enjoyed sharing our meals them.  

The first excursion of the day begins to leave at 8:30.  We are called up by groups as only so many people fit not the staging area to board the zodiacs.  This morning was a "wet entry" meaning that there is no wharf or rocks to climb onto from the boat.  We are to exit from the rear of the zodiac about knee deep into the water and make ourselves into the beach.  

Before we leave for the shore excursion, Judith and I decide to take up the snorkelling option which means that after breakfast and before we leave for Puerto Egas, we need to get fitted for snorkels, masks and fins.  Since the water has cooled off a bit from the summer, we elect to rent some wetsuits -- an add on option.  It turns out it was a good choice because the water would have been too cold to stay out a long time without the extra insulation.

Puerto Egas is where you can find marine iguanas.  When we land, we share the beach with 3 sea lion mothers and their pups. The pups are very cute; Judith is successful at finding a way to stop herself from running up to pet them.  

The iguanas live near the shore, eating algae off the rocks.  Their teeth have adapted to scrape off the algae.  Alex, our guide, showed us the dried out remains of a marine iguana lying near the path.  Alex indicates this would have happened because the food source ran out.  Looking at the shore rocks, I couldn't see any algae.  Alex indicates that the amount of algae goes through cycles.  There have been periods that the the marine iguana population has suffered when the amount of algae as fallen off.  

We see several of these prehistoric looking creatures.  Like the animals we saw yesterday, they are not perturbed by humans being nearby as long as you're quiet and don't make sudden movements.  We see serveral of them this morning along the beach.  

They need to lie in the sun to warm up their core.  If there aren't any algae on the exposed rocks, they need to enter the water to feed.

We see an oyster catcher.  We have lots on the west coast but they would never let me get close to them to be anything but a very small speck in my photos.  This picture has her (him?) guarding her (his?) eggs and I didn't break any park rules to get this picture.  Oyster catchers are funny looking birds.  They're often described as a bird smoking a carrot.  

Here is a brown pelican diving into the water.  They are large birds so there is always a large splash when they hit the water.  An egret stands undisturbed by the splashing.

The area has many grottos that fur seals (a type of sea lions) like to hang out in.  

After the walk we go snorkelling.  I had a faulty snorkel which filled with water instantly.  One of the other guides came to my rescue and switched his mask and snorkel for mine.  Then he takes me around the bay pointing out all the cool marine life.  One of the sea lions darted past.  I recorded some of my snorkelling on my GoPro--I'll need to edit it before  I publish it.  

We finished snorkelling and went back to the ship for lunch.  It's a barbecue on the outside back deck.  After lunch there was a lecture on the Galápagos but admittedly, I was pretty tired and fell asleep for about half of it.  That's what you get for feeding me lunch and then making me sit still for a while.  The few parts I did hear were interesting and informative. 

After the seminar (and my nap) we went snorkelling again, this time to another island, Bartolome.  I manage to take some more video of several species of fish.  Then it was back to the ship to get ready for a hike up to the lookout point on Bartolome.  We guess that the average age of the passengers is between 65 and 70.  The climb to the top of the hill is difficult for some of them, even though the path up is smooth with stairs built into the steeper sections. 

The island is a barren volcanic landscape.  There is little vegetation. We see collapsed lava tubes and open cones of past volcanic activity.  

At the top of the hill, it's windy! 

We climb back down the hill and return to the zodiac.  On our way back from the island we see a lone penguin.  This species is one of the smallest and is the only one that can be found north of the equator.  The water was a little choppy and this picture was the best of an awful lot of blurry takes.  

We head back to the boat and I snap this picture of the dramatic rock formation on the island of Bartolome.  The hill in the background is the one we hiked up.  

We're back on board around 6:00 for dinner at 7:00 pm.  Prior to that is a presentation explaining the next day's activities. 

The stargazing seminar didn't happen as it was too cloudy. I went to bed. They seem to pack a lot of activities into a day.