The Galapagos Series – Floreana Island

Floreana Island in one of the southern islands two hours away from Santa Cruz.  We booked a day trip to explore the island and the surrounding waters.  Our first stop was up to the hinterlands.  We hopped on to the roof of our tour bus (where the cool kids hang) for the quick drive up the hillside.

We were dropped off at the start of a trail paved with jagged rocks, perfect for the slippery thongs Marc and I were wearing.  We weren’t quite sure what to expect as we followed the path but were pleasantly greeted by two giant tortoises having sex!  Apparently it can last anywhere from 45 minutes to four hours.  And considering the pace and the obstacles the male tortoise literally has to get over, it’s not really that surprising.

After we had watched the tortoises doing it for long enough we continued up the path to some pirate caves and some other stuff that is nowhere near as exciting as tortoises doing it.

This is when it decided to bucket down and Marc and I made the call to rid ourselves of our pesky footwear and take on the sharp piercing rocks.  Luckily there weren’t any serious injuries, just muddy shoes and a few grazes.

We headed back to the boat and were greeted by a sea lion and her pup lounging on the wharf.  Super cute!

Our next stop was a snorkeling site where we saw tropical fish, Galapagos penguins and a sea lion.  The clarity of the water wasn't great so the average photos are even more average than usual and not really worth showing.

On the way back to Santa Cruz we were followed by a large pod of dolphins whom swam along with us for half an hour or so.  Definitely a Galapagos highlight!

The Galapagos Series: Santa Cruz

As most of you know I like animals.  I prefer them to be fluffy and fuzzy but I am partial to the odd feathered creature or a smooth skinned mammal.  We hoped Galapagos would be my Nirvana.  Surrounded by animals 24/7, everything all natural and stuff.  Santa Cruz Island was a great introduction to what the rest of the Islands are like.

Santa Cruz is the most populated of all the Islands and where we decided to base ourselves for most of the time.  Besides roaming the paved streets looking for restaurants and trying to find last minute accommodation, we didn't actually see too much of the island.  The first two days Marc spent diving (see his diving blog posts) and I explored the areas that were public access (most of the time you need to be with a Galapagos National Parks Guide).

The best part of Galapagos is that the animals are really tame and not at all afraid of humans.  We are meant to keep at least two metres from the animals but if you are standing perfectly still and a sea lion happens to walk over to you it's not really your fault!!

On one of our strolls along the main road we stopped at an area where the fishing boats berth to clean and gut their catch.  Here we observed with much delight sea lions sneakily trying to steal fish either from the shore or directly from the boats.  Personally I feel they have a right to the fish, but the hardworking fisherman aren't always as excited to have a sea lion hop on to their boats.

It really was amazing to just be strolling along and happen upon a sea lion relaxing on a pier or even on a bench (just like a homeless person!).

There is a beautiful beach on Santa Cruz called Tortuga Bay.  There is a surf beach side and and the other side is a calm lagoon.  I got up relatively early on one of the days Marc was diving and headed off on the 45 minute walk to the bay.  I arrived around 8am and lucky to have it pretty much just to myself.

Deserted surf beach at Tortuga Bay

Mangrove Island

All to myself!

Tortuga Bay didn't disappoint in the animal department.  They may not be soft and fuzzy but it was awesome just to be able to get so close to wild animals.

First Marine Iguana spotting for the trip

Pelican

Stay tuned for our next Galapagos Series instalment!

Quito

Hola and again, apologies for the delay in posts.

So Quito.  What can we say...we love it here!  The people are friendly, the food is tasty and the scenery is beautiful.  We spent two days in Quito before heading to Galapagos and we squeezed in as much as we could in the historic centre.  After Galapagos we headed back to Quito and explored the more modern northern end of the city and the surrounding areas.

The historic centre is a rabbit warren (I miss Alfie) of narrow cobbled streets packed with vendors pushing their wares and beautiful old buildings.  Our first stop was the observatory which is situated in one of Quito's many beautiful parks.

We would have spent longer here but all the signs were in Spanish so it was difficult for us to get out nerd on.

We then walked up hill (at altitude so this is a big deal) to the Basíllica del Voto Nacional.  It is a beautiful neo-gothic catholic church and can be seen from many places in the historic centre.  The main reason I liked it is because instead of the usual gargoyles there are turtles, iguanas and armadillos scattered around the place!  After that we wandered around many a nice plaza and saw many nice old buildings.

Basílica del Voto Nacional

Turtle gargoyles

 In the evening we headed to Parque Ichimbía which is on a hill to the east of the historical centre and has an amazing view of the old town.  There is a beautiful glass building on the top of the hill which is used for many cultural events.  It was really stunning up there and gave you a feel for how big the city is.

The cultural centre at Parque Ichimbía 

Historic centre at dusk

When we returned to Quito we were lucky to have Pierina (who we met in Cordoba!) show us around her home town!  She was possibly the best tour guide ever!  She took us back to the the Basílica and took us up the spires and the clock towers.  I should clarify this by saying that Marc and Pierina climbed the rickety stairs to the top of the towers while I stayed on the safer lower levels trying to not feel too ashamed as I watched two small children easily and fearlessly climb the death stairs.

Pierina and I in the Basílica

The clocks both with the wrong time

After we safely descended from the Basílica we headed to the more modern northern end of town where we ate at an amazing modern Peruvian/fusion restaurant.  We then wandered around an extremely lovely mall where we realised our packs were not sufficient to carry all the things we would like to purchase so we promptly left and made our way to a massive super market.  Now I know this sounds odd but I just really love seeing supermarkets in other countries.  I love meandering up and down the aisles marvelling at all the things they have that I have never seen before and being bitterly disappointed when I realise they don't have my brand of soy milk.

The next day we booked a day tour with our lovely taxi driver Jorge who planned out a day of sightseeing to Otavalo Markets north of Quito.  We first stopped in San Antonio which was a cute little town known for its beautiful wood carvings.

Jorge - our lovely guide for the day

On the way to San Antonio 

Lago San Pedro and Volcan Imbabura 

Main square of San Antonio

Master wood carver at work

We then headed to  Cuicocha which is a crater lake at the foot of the Cotacachi Volcano with cute little guinea pig shaped islands in the middle of the crater.

At the markets Marc and I bought Amazon appropriate clothes in the form of happy pants and hippy shirts (photographic evidence will be provided in a later post).  Our last stop for the day was the Inti Nan Museum which is built on the line of the equator.  Here we tried to walk in a straight line along the equator (and failed), balanced eggs on nails (succeeded) and watched water swirl in opposite directions on each side of the equator!

This is the mythical fish that swims up your urethra if you pee naked in the Amazon!  Can't wait to go there!!!!

So from Basílicas and fish swimming up your pee hole, we now head to Galapagos!!!!!!

Return from Galapagos

Hi all

So we have just arrived back in Quito after 14 complete days of once in a lifetime experiences.

Due to the lack of internet connection in such a remote but amazing environment we have been prevented from keeping you up to date.

Shortly we will post additional blogs to ensure you get the full picture and exclusive story of our adventure. However, we could not leave without giving you a taste of things to come….


Enjoy

Sea lion pup

Marine Iguana

Galapagos tortoise

Half wet half dry sea lion pup - the cutest kind

Beautiful clear waters off Sombrero Chino Island

Galapagos penguin

Blue footed booby

Playing with the sea lions in their natural habitat