Saturday, June 6, 2009
More experiences in the Galapagos
Remember all photos on the left can be clicked on and enlarged.
One of the first things you experience when you get off the plane on Baltra Island in the Galapagos is color. Dry brown brush enclosed by black volcanic rock floating in turquoise waters hit the eye immediately. Then you start to notice the wildlife. While waiting for the ferry to take us from Baltra to Santa Cruz the Frigate birds started flying overhead, colorful fish sliced the water and gorgeous Sally Lightfoot crabs scuttled across the rocks. We were definitely in exotic territory already.
Now I know that there are those of you who just think we have been on a perpetual vacation, okay that's not far from the truth, but don't hate, appreciate. I hope that if you had the time and ability to go into debt that we have been afforded, you would not think it a waste of either of those things to come to such an amazing place. One of the fantastic aspects of being on these islands is that the wildlife is so placid. They don't fear human contact and you can get some great photos. You are directed not to touch the animals because it could change the space/time continuum. But Captain, it sure is tempting. Yet, even Lizzie managed not to touch a single animal, we did leave behind some sea urchin shells that she desperately wanted to take with her, and I wanted to hold an abandoned Albatross egg. I think that my mother can attest to my desire to touch things, simply because they are there, but come on, an Albatross egg! The eggs are left behind when the giant birds crash land head first onto the rocky airport after hunting for food, and die. Good thing that the our guide, Ivan, was able to distract my attention from the eggs with a blowhole. The surf bangs up against the crevices of some rocks and the water rises up geyser style through a hole.
The crazy thing is the amount of sea lions that are on the various islands. We first began to see them in Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz. We were taking a water taxi from our Yacht, Yachte Fragata, back to the island after unpacking our bags when we noticed a couple of the cute creatures lounging in one of the small motor boats in the harbor. At first I didn't believe they were in the boat, but the zoom lens on our camera doesn't lie. Then we saw a few more on our walk to the Charles Darwin Research Center. They were hanging around the fish dock along with one of my favorite birds, the Pelican. Santa Cruz is the most populous island with lots of inhabitants and tourists walking around, but these guys didn't mind. Our first close up encounter with a group of sea lions was on the second island we visited, Santa Fe. They filled the beach of this small island. Apparently, there is one bull for each group of adult female sea lions along with the various offspring. If we were shooting the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition these gals couldn't have posed better for us. They were working it, baby, and so were we. Their barks and cries could be somewhat surprising at times, especially if you walked too close. When they worked at clearing out their airways of salt water, it reminded us of a loud cat coughing up a hair ball. We saw so many sea lions on every island we visited I had to remind myself not to get jaded about seeing them by the fifth day. They really are awesome animals both in and out of the water.
The Giant Tortoises at the Charles Darwin Center didn't seem to mind our presence either. They let us in the pens with the ladies and later with the gents, but we couldn't spend time inside the pen cheering up Lonesome George, the last of his species of Giant Tortoises. He probably isn't lonesome at all and we humans are just dying to anthropomorphize him. If he doesn't want to fertilize, he just doesn't, right ladies? The guy is 80 years old and has about another 70 years to go. Lizzie practically bust a gut muscle while filming two female giants fighting over a piece of lettuce. One kept biting the other on the neck.
If you spend enough time around Lizzie, you will find that her laugh is infectious. She used to have these laughing attacks at dinner time over nothing and Julian and I would end up cracking up too. Norm is good about not encouraging silliness. Anyway, this came in handy on our last full day on Santa Cruz Island. We met up with some friends from Cuenca who are independent film makers from NYC. They were doing some filming for the Darwin Center and a hotel there in the Galapagos. They had finished up their work and suggested that we go to Tortuga Bay for the day. Norm was feeling a little under the weather, so we left him back at the house we were staying in. It was about a 40 minute walk to a gorgeous lagoon filled with placid turquoise water and mangrove trees. Our friend, Jessie, suggested that instead of walking back to the town since she has a 4 year old daughter, it would be better to ask one of the water taxis to take us back for a reasonable fee. This sounded like an outstanding idea. What does this have to do with Lizzie's infectious laughter? I'm getting to that. We boarded the 15 foot boat and set out for the docks, this was honky dorey when we were in the nice lagoon area, but as soon as we got into the ocean waters, things got dicey. The 4 year old was moved to side of the boat with Lizzie, Julian and I. But that didn't seem to matter much, the weather started getting rough, the tiny ship was tossed, if not for the courage of the fearless crew... Ok, it was sunny and the water was Tidy Bowl green, but the swells were about 7-8 feet and the captain had to cruise at an uncomfortably fast speed on the top of the waves which made the boat slam down hard. Everyone in the boat got really quiet and just tried hard to smile, except Jessie who wanted to get out of the boat right then, and Lizzie-- here comes the Lizzie part. She was maniacally laughing her head off. "This is great," she screamed, "just like a roller coaster. I was hoping for a ride like this." Her laughter was the only thing that kept me sane and free of vomit. That was the scariest boat ride I was on since the 4th of July evening we spent in Joe's boat where the boat kept running aground and it was so dark we couldn't find our way back into the Brigantine inlet.
As you can see from the pictures, Julian really loved snorkeling. He took a few of the pictures of the sea lions and the rays with our disposable underwater camera. One thing he didn't like so much was the result of a game he and Lizzie started playing on a beach in Espanola. They had been wading in the water after frolicking with the sea lions and came out to dry off. Lizzie started playing a game of hiding Julian's shirt from him. As usual Julian went along with it and even decided to hide the shirt himself and ask Liz to find it. He dug a nice hole and buried it well. He buried it so well that Lizzie couldn't find it. In fact he buried it so well, he couldn't find it! Some day some archeologists on the island will be digging around for some sea lion bones and come across the remains of some synthetic material. What is this weird lettering on the back "JULES"? We know you are not supposed to litter, but we had to leave the beach without it.
I would be remiss to leave my blog without mentioning one of my favorite sights, that of the male Magnificent Frigate Bird during mating season. These grand birds had a huge colony on the tiny island of North Seymour. The adult males have a red sack under their beak that they blow up once a year during mating season to attract a mate. The guide told us the sack could stay inflated for up to 3 weeks, and this without Viagra. Our guide told us that it wasn't the size of the blown up pouch, but more the bird's movements and noises that attracted the mate, ...right, once again, size doesn't matter. Additionally, once they get a mate, they deflate the beautiful red sack. I guess if I was the mate, I might be a little disappointed by that.
Well it's hard to say the word disappointed when talking about a trip to the Galapagos, because it is impossible not to be awestruck almost the entire time you are there.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Galápagos Adventure
Thursday, May 28, 2009
FROM QUILOTOA TO COTOPAXI TO PUERTO LOPEZ (PART 2) AND BACK TO CUENCA
April 15 to May 15 is usually a busy time for us in any part of the world as we celebrate Bridget’s birthday, our tax return, Mother’s Day, Lizzie’s Birthday and our wedding anniversary; but this month was even fuller in Ecuador as we hosted friends, traveled from mountains to sea, and lived and died a little with the local soccer team.
QUILOTOA, COTOPAXI, QUITO
In the first week of April we bundled ourselves up for a bus ride up to Quito with a stop by some volcanoes along the way. We took the bus up to Latacunga, launching point for visits to the Avenues of the Volcanoes. Arriving at 10 PM in Latacunga after a 8-hour bus ride, Lizzie decided to christen the end of the journey with a multi-colored baptism.
The next day we traveled up to the volcanic crater lake of Quilotoa (3,914m / 12,841 ft), about 40 km or 2 ½ hours away from Latacunga. As you can see from the photos, the weather was a bit on the cool side. Immediately upon arriving we availed ourselves of the almuerzo (set lunch) starting with the traditional potato soup (locro de papa). The crater was quite the magnificent site. For one thing, you can actually see it as the clouds, which often obscure the other volcanic areas, rest above the rim.
After taking in the awesome view for a bit, we hiked down to the lake. The hike down took about 45 minutes. And brought us to the spectacularly green-colored and cold lake. A lonesome boatman played a trumpet at the base of the lake. For the scientists among you: The 3 kilometres (2 mi) wide caldera was formed by the collapse of this volcano following a catastrophic VEI-6 eruption about 800 years ago, which produced pyroclastic flows and lahars that reached the Pacific Ocean and spread an airborne deposit of volcanic ash throughout the northern Andes. The caldera has since accumulated a 250 m (820 ft) deep crater lake, which has a greenish color as a result of dissolved minerals. Fumaroles are found on the lake floor and hot springs occur on the eastern flank of the volcano. Julian and Norm decided to hike back up and let Lizzie and Bridget take the easy way out with the mules. The hike up was much more difficult, but eventually surmounted. We spent the night on the rim of the crater at a hostal, where we were invited to hear local musicians play a few songs. Using traditional instruments, including the charango (The charango is a small South American stringed instrument of the lute family, about 66 cm long, traditionally made with the shell of the back of an armadillo.
It typically has 10 strings in five courses of 2 strings each) and pan pipes the show was quite the local flavor.
Deciding to indulge a bit, we took a taxi instead of a bus to our next destination – Cotopaxi (about 50 miles south of Quito). We stayed at a hacienda right outside the national park. Lizzie and Bridget spent the day with the puppies and farm animals housed at the inn, while Julian and Norm decided to scale the Cotopaxi Volcano. Cotopaxi is the second highest volcano in Ecuador (5,897m / 19,347 ft; Chimborazo is number 1 at 6,268.2m /20,565 ft) and one of the highest active volcanoes in the world. To get to the summit requires a 2-day excursion. Julian and Norm opted for the “soft” trip and merely hiked from the parking lot (ca. 4500 m) to the base camp (ca. 4800m). Unfortunately, the Gods did not smile brightly enough on our trip to pierce the dense cloud cover; and so, we did not get a chance to see the summit. Julian and Norm might go back to try to ascend the summit; or they might save up the last hike for the mighty Chimborazo (base camp only- ca. 5000m). After hiking to the glacier part of the refuge, Norm and Julian rode mountain bikes down the mountain. Quite fast and cold.
That night we traveled to Quito to pick up our friends, Suzanne and Norman Matlock from Philadelphia. They arrived safely and without any trouble from Miama via Newark and we all stayed overnight in a hostal in Quito. The hostal was in a quiet section of town and adequate, but we still have not found a great place to stay in Quito. But a minor inconvenience, because it was onto…
PUERTO LOPEZ, PART 2 AND BACK TO CUENCA
Part 2 because Bridget had been there with Mary Ellen a few weeks before. But it is quite the stunning beach experience and so repeating the experience seemed more than worth it. We stayed in the Mandala Hostal and lived it up on the good cuisine and good sun. Everyone except Bridget went out to the Isla la Plata where we had the chance to see Blue-Footed Boobies and Frigates on the barren island some 25 miles off the coast. Probably the highlight was the boat ride out where we saw an immense group of dolphins swimming alongside the boat accompanied by dive-bombing boobies. The video is better than the photos, and if we ever get the energy we will put up a video on the blog.
After a few more sunsets we took the bus back to Guayaquil and then flew back to Cuenca. In Cuenca we celebrated Bridget’s birthday at a nice Chilean restaurant on the outskirts of Cuenca. The occasion was made more special with the Chimay Trappist Ales that Suzanne had somehow managed to successfully smuggle into the country. First real beer in over 6 months!
After a few days in Cuenca, Suzanne and Norman left to go tend to their bees in Mt. Airy and we settled down to our Cuenca routine. We celebrated Mother’s Day by providing “Breakfast in Bed” for Bridget, and then we celebrated Lizzie’s birthday with a Sushi Dinner and a little sleepover party. The birthday party included bobbing for apples and musical chairs. Hard to tell who enjoyed it more – the kids or the adults.
As we pondered the skyline view from our apartment we were treated to a fun ride with the local soccer team. As you recall, dedicated reader and sports enthusiast, from an earlier blog entry, Deportiva Cuenca had miraculously qualified for the South American Clup Championships called the Copa Libertador. As the third team to qualify from Ecuador and in a group with the perennial Argentinian power Boca, Jrs. (Think Yankees, Cowboys, Celtics, Canadiens and you get the idea) Cuenca’s prospects were not that good to begin with. Additionally, the club had been reformatted since their qualification and had gone with a “youth-movement” approach (primarily to save money as they teetered on the brink of insolvency). Yet despite all odds the team played quite well, and with a greater offensive flair, were actually quite exciting to watch. In order to advance out of group play, Cuenca had to finish in the top 2 of the four-team group. And so, they found themselves with 2 games to go tied for second place when who should show up in Cuenca – but mighty Boca. No Ecuadorian club had ever beaten Boca. But the Liliputians actually won, 1-0. Boca plays a tough defense / counterattack – not quite as boring as the Italian “catanaccio” or the German “Ordnung muss sein” - but similar. And so the Cuenca players were getting mugged repeatedly. But finally their goal scorer – the Brazilian Roderigo Teixara – was able to turn on a defender and hold off the punches and deliver a pass to his teammate who scored. Absolute pandemonium.
The night was made even more festive as it was one of the last nights to drink before the national elections (remember: 1) all Ecuadorians are required to vote; and 2) all bars and liquor stores are closed for the 3 days surrounding the elections). As for the national elections, Raphael Correa, was re-elected. Let’s see if he can beat the Ecuadorian / Latin American malaise of revolving door presidents. Note: Cuenca made it to the next round for the first time ever, but lost to Caracas, Venezuela in the round of 16.
The month ended with missed opportunities - Jesus Christ Superstar in Quito and the Doors in Cuenca, but with the finalization of plans to go to the Galápagos Islands – the jewel in the crown.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Puerto Lopez: The Jersey Shore It Aint
Located on an isolated undeveloped stretch of beach on the northern end of this fishing village, this hostel was built by an Italian and Swiss-Italian couple who we didn't have the pleasure to meet because they were out of town. The hostel is a work of art. Nicely appointed thatched roof cabins immersed in lush botanical gardens. I truly enjoyed walking through the gardens with Mary Ellen every day as she pointed out the different species of plants and flowers, of which she was very knowledgeable. The hostel is appointed with wood on many surfaces and each wooden construction is a piece of art, from the gates that invite you into the place to the frames around the bathroom mirrors, to the inlaid restaurant tables, to the toilet seats, to the giant key rings for the locks on the door. How I lost that giant pinguino key ring is still a mystery to me.
The birds have no fear of humans and remain under their bush as you approach. The babies don't get the color in their feet until later. A little further on we ran into a Booby couple. They were playing and scrapping at each other with all kinds of fun squawks. Finally, we came to a huge Frigate Bird colony. These birds are huge and have very cute eagle like faces. I was enthralled by the numbers, size, and beauty of their flying. The guide gave us the option of carrying on to see the Red Footed and Masked Boobies, but as Mary Ellen pointed out, "If you've seen one Booby, you've seen 'em all." I pointed out that this probably isn't true for the birds or other kinds of boobies either. However, we turned around and headed back to the boat so that we might have more time for snorkeling.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Haiku Death Battle
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Banos Ambato
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Ingapirca
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Weekend in Guayaquil
CONAIE (Indigenous Political Movement in Ecuador) wants to have President Rafael Correa declared “persona non grata” by the World Socialist Forum meeting recently in Brazil.
Ecuador considers joining the regional group ALBA (Alternativa Bolivariana para las Americas) a group consisting of Cuba, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Honduras, and Venezuela in contrast to the other regional group ALCA (Area de Libre Comercio de las Americas) an initiative of the USA
Intelligent Email will now be able to intuit mailing destinations even without a formal address.
Daniel Radcliffe of Harry Potter fame declares that the British Royal Family symbolizes all that is bad in Great Britain
La Copa Libertador (South American Club Championships) begins. Deportiva Cuenca qualifies as the equivalent of a “Wild Card” and so must win a home-away series to get into the formal championship. In the first game (away) against Anzoategui (Venezuela) they lose 2-0. In order to qualify they need to win by three goals at home. Result? A 3-0 victory. Favorites to win the Cup (celebrating its 50th Anniversary): Pachuca (Mexico), Boca Juniors (Argentina), Liga de Quito (Ecuador), Sao Paulo (Brazil)
In the wake of Super Bowl XLIII Norm Roessler brings a lawsuit against the NFL in which he claims: 1a) cruel and unusual punishment of having to suffer through the decidedly non-super games of the 1970s and 1b) cruel and unusual punishment of having to hear how every game since the abyss of the 70s is the “greatest game ever." 2) Erasing history by acting as if the NFL did not really exist before 1966; 3) Forcing a hero or MVP upon us, and hence claiming that the individual makes a difference in the world, when football is the living symbol of an arbitrary universe; 4) being a better propaganda unit than Goebbels & Co. (There’s the real crime).
We recently took a trip to the big city – Guayaquil (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guayaquil) about 3.5 hours by bus and located near the Pacific Coast. We took a van service to Guayaquil this time instead of the usual passenger bus. It cost a few bucks extra, but everyone seemed to prefer the comfort as well as the reduced motion sickness issues upon navigation through the Cajas Mountains. We arrived in Guayaquil on Friday evening and were met by our friends – the Kreis Family. We immediately went to a Steakhouse owned by a famous soccer goalie from Uruguay and were treated to a heapin’ helpin’ of meat – steak, chicken, sausage – and some tasty tripe (well, I liked it). During our stay we came to find the cuisine in Guayaquil to be quite good. Along with the meat, we had a lot of good seafood – ceviche pulpo (octopus) is quite a nice dish. We are starting to think that Cuenca might be a kind of black hole for cuisine in Ecuador as we have not had many great eating experiences there.
After settling in at our friends’ spacious residence outside the city, we spent Saturday walking the Malecón and Las Peñas. The Malecón (breakwater) is the name given to the riverside promenade or boardwalk, which includes lots of gardens and recreational activities. After years of waiting for Philadelphia to develop its riverfront, it was quite refreshing to actually see an urban success.
Las Peñas is at the end of the Malecón and is a renovated neighborhood that one scales with a 444 step walk. Lots of history with terrorists, or I mean pirates (love the whitewash of Western political imagination. (God Bless Captain Jack, Michael Corleone, and Robin Hood) and quite an interesting vista of the city. We finished up our afternoon at Parque Bolivar, also known as Parque Iguana. Yep, that’s right hundreds of iguanas just roaming around, grubbing for handouts, climbing trees, and trying to crap on the heads of humans. What a life!
In the evening we took a ride on a tall ship on the river and got some good views of Las Peñas at night.
On the following day, Julian and Norm threw the baseball around (equipment courtesy of our guest) and then we spent a leisurely, if not decadent, day at the Guayaquil Country Club seeing how the other half in Ecuador lives. All in all a good time in a town that doesn’t always have the best reputation.
We returned to Cuenca on the night van and were somehow survived a near death experience through the Cajas Mountains. With visibility sometimes as little as 2 feet, our driver barely slowed down through the whole mountain trek. When we got to Cuenca we discovered that a massive rain storm had passed through. The End.