Tuesday, May 3rd to Friday, May 6

The Frigate bird and chick

Blue footed boobie

Mamma bird and egg

Mamma and Chick

Two blue footed boobies courting.

 

North Seymour. Up at 5:30 to get one last hike in. It's already warm and humid. The walk should last 11/2 hours. This should be renamed mating/nesting island. Wow. Love was in the air. There were couples everywhere you looked. The blue footed boobies were doing their mating dance. The male frigate birds had huge, puffed out red chests. This whole part of the island was a nesting farm. We saw birds with their eggs, new hatchlings, and unfortunately some little ones who didn't make it.

 

We go back for breakfast and sail to Baltra Island  where we disembark and head to the airport. John and Anna are catching a flight home to Puget Sound today. The rest of the gang is hanging out in Puerto Ayora for the next two days. We hop on a bus which takes us to a wharf where we get on a ferry. A few minutes later we arrive at our destination. We get off the ferry, hop on another bus and drive to the airport. Here we say goodbye to John, Anna, and Darwin and hello to our new tour guide, Jimmy. We hop on a smaller tour bus for the 12 remaining members of our group. We make a few stops along the way. The first is a sink hole made by a volcano. No one was interested in going for a short walk around part of the caldera. We were tired after a week of non-stop activities. Our second pause was at a homemade distillery. They grow sugar cane and use it to make a type of moonshine. It's actually legal as they sell it. They also cultivate coffee beans and make brown sugar. We had a chance to chew on sugar cane, drink some straight moonshine (agh!), drink some coffee, and eat a combination coffee beans and brown sugar. I didn't mind it and I don't even like coffee. It was fun. It was an interesting visit.

 

Jimmy and the farmer.(sweet guy)

Tom and Jimmy juicing the sugar cane the old fashioned way.

Jimmy showing us the coffee beans.

Using the tool for crushing the coffee beans.

The moonshine fermenting

The farmer testing the alcohol content.

 

We were offered a second drink of moonshine, this time mixed with sugar cane juice and lime juice. This made drinking it a lot easier. I actually liked it. We could buy some coffee beans and  moonshine. (we didn't get either one) We are off again and now to our final destination- Puerto Ayora. It's 12:30 so we quickly check in, freshen up and go off for lunch. Our restaurant has already been chosen. There is a demonstration on how to make ceviche (raw fish, veggies, lime juice). It is all mixed together and left for a while. We had a chance to order some for an appetizer, but I didn't. The food was very good here. We get some time for ourselves after lunch to do some window shopping and check out the town. It is not very big. We walk to where the fishermen/women are cleaning the fish.

 

At the cleaning station

Cook showing how to make ceviche

 

Ron and I walk toward a beach for about 20 minutes. We then turn around and head back to our hotel. Not quite the same quality as the one in Quito. It's ok, but lots of renovations taking place, so noisy, areas cut of because of fresh paint, pool closed, etc. 

Our guide Jimmy makes a suggestion for dinner. He takes us off the tourist trap area and we eat with the locals. It was good Ecuadorian food along with drinks. (Cuba libre, Mojitos, Sangria, beer) We then stop at an Ice cream shop and have some Helados. yum! Then it's back to our rooms and sleep.

Jimmy suggests a hike to Tortuga beach the next day. Ron, myself, Bob, and Connie are the only takers. The others just want to relax and shop. We meet Jimmy at 8 am the next day. (Wednesday) Connie arrives but Bob is not feeling well so they decide to stay. So off we go with our private guide. We take a cab to cut off one km. We arrive at the beginning of the trail.  

I am walking with Jimmy. He's teaching me some new words in Spanish.

After about 45 minutes, we arrive at the beach. The first part is only for surfers. Too rough for swimming.

We continue walking and see a heron.

This is the calm beach. You have to come early to get some shade under the mangroves.

Someone is taking a nap.

Lots of sea iguanas on the surfers beach.

We stay at the beach for almost 3 hours. Jimmy loves it there so he doesn't mind. We walk back to town and hotel for a shower. We finally head out for lunch around 1:00. We go to a restaurant that was recommended to us by a member of the Samba. His family owns the place. We each order a beer and unknowingly they only serve the big size beers. Ah well, we were thirsty after our hike.  We then do some shopping. Our final meal as a group with our guide is at 7 pm. 

Thursday, May 5- We get picked up at 9 am and head to the airport. Our flight is around 1 pm or so. Our flight takes us first to Guayaquil then Quito. We arrive at our final destination just before 5 pm. Our drive takes us to our hotel, Mansion del Angel. We make reservations for dinner at 7:45.

Our flights Friday begin at 11 am. Our first leg takes us to Bogota, Colombia and onto Toronto. We overnight to take a flight with Porter at 8 am to Ottawa and then to Moncton. We arrive in Moncton at noon hour. Good to be home, but a trip that we will remember for a long time to come. So lucky and happy to have taken this trip. The most unique and wonderful experience of our lives.  

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

Monday, May 2nd

Santiago Island- 6:00 departure for a hike. Had to get going early as it gets hot early. It's a one and a half hour walk. The trail brings us along the coastal route which is full of life and great sceneries. The rock formations reminded me of the pancake rocks in New Zealand on a smaller scale.

Caught the pelican drying it's wings.

Saw these two upon our arrival on the beach.

We also saw fur seals. They are slightly smaller than the sea lions and they have thicker whiskers. We saw herons, iguanas, and crabs as well.

A heron hanging out in the cave like rock formation.

A fur seal napping.

A fur seal scaling to a rest area.

Bob overlooking the area where seals where playing. 

Water rushing in. 

Return to pangas for breakfast. Afterwards we prepped for a snorkel. This was the first and only location that was not memorable. We were all cold, the water was murky, and there wasn't much to see. So off again in the open sea looking for more whales on route for Rabida island. Once again Dolphins came to visit. They were common Dolphins. By the time we arrived on the island it was very hot so only five of us completed the whole hike, only about 45 minutes. About four others came for a short walk off the beach to see if Flamingos were there. Unfortunately there were non. We did watch a young sea lion trying to eat a trumpet fish. It was funny as he would get 3/4 of the fish down his throat and then he would start gagging. Out came the fish and he would restart. He did throw the fish in the water and he seemed to be trying to soften it before digging in again. 

Almost there, but no, too long. He did succeed eventually.

The hike took us up to see cactus trees, brown/red lava,sea lions, and great vistas.

Sea lion staying cool 

Beautiful scenery even with Ron in it.... 

A school of fish. 

Back to the pangas and the Samba to get ready for our last snorkel. So sad. Last day tomorrow. The snorkeling site was a bit rough and rocky but just before going out we saw some Dolphins and hoped that they would stick around long enough for us to get in with them. Unfortunately they had somewhere else to go. We did see the biggest Manta ray yet. Wow- beautiful. There were king angel fish, six or seven  black and white tipped sharks. Thank goodness they weren't huge as it was a bit unnerving as they swam just below us. Suddenly we were engulfed by these little blue-purple flowers. Found out later that they were indeed animal, not vegetable. Then I saw the biggest shark yet, for me anyway. I was happy that it was not swimming. He was just relaxing of the bottom. After that a sea lion went past me. I was thinking of getting out when I heard that there were sting rays. So I swam to see. There were three of them  hanging out in a small cave. In fact they were Marble sting rays. It was an awesome last snorkel. It felt so good. Return for shower and drink. It was quite windy so the captain decided to put the mail sail up. It was really cool. It's our last night on the ocean so it's special. Once again the crew gets all dressed up in their formal wear, we are served Champagne, and there are speeches. Our guide has a few words to thank us, etc. one of the tourist, Jude, spoke for all of us as her Spanish was quite comprehensible. She and her husband had brought red caps, signed by all of us and handed out to the crew.

Ricardo pouring the Champagne. 

Y

Jude saying a few words of thanks.

Crew wearing their new caps.

After dinner we check out the stars, look for something to see in the water. We see a few puffer fish, gaze at the beautiful constellations, and head down to our respective cabins. We pack as we won't have much time tomorrow. Great last day. 

Sunday, May first

Santiago Island- up at 5:40 for a 6 am hike on lava fields. It gets too hot later in the day so we get a very early start. Sun is coming up, so great views.

There were many volcanos on this island.

This was actually very black but lightened up with the sun on it.

More realistic colour

The gang listening to a well described life of magma, lava, and of course volcanoes.

View from our landing on the lava stones. Leaning tower of Galápagos. The Samba is hiding in behind the bigger ship. We were very happy to be in our smaller boat.

Back to the Samba for breakfast. We digest while waiting to go on the hunt for penguins. An hour later we are dressed for snorkeling and are off. 

Our drop off is near a cliff and we see a huge lobster, some groupers, parrot fish, snappers of all kinds, a white-tipped shark and a sea turtle whom we swam with for five minutes or so. There was a larger turtle further in as well as a ray. We return to the Samba, and not two minutes after arriving Darwin suggests we go back out as he has a hunch that we will see penguins on the opposite side of our first site. Some decide against it, but most of us forge ahead. As soon as we enter the water we are immersed in a school of hundreds of fish. It felt like we were in a snow globe but with fish surrounding us, not snow flakes. Unreal. We also see a white-tipped shark and for the first time hundreds and hundreds of starfish. They totally covered the bottom and some were glued to the side of rocks- these were different and were called chocolate chip star fish. 

The larger ones were about 12 inch across. 

We swam in amongst these beauties.

Another school of fish.

After being in the middle of these schools of fish, it got quiet when we saw another smaller shark and a sting ray. We had another great snorkel and we were pumped. Back on the pangas and someone says "is that a penguin"? Sure enough it was. The pangas drove to where a lone little penguin was hanging out. 

This little guy is one of the smallest species of penguins besides a species from N-Z. 

Back on board and it was shower time for me. After lunch our crazy guide was talking about snorkeling for the third time today. I didn't feel like putting that wetsuit on again and Ron, unfortunately hurt his inner ear after he and four others dove off the top of the Samba. (He wasn't able to dive under water for the rest of the trip.) he will need to see a doctor upon our return. Only seven snorkelers go out. They see white-tipped sharks, penguins, a moray eel, a sting ray, and of course many species of fish. The gang was pretty tired when they returned. 

At 3:30 it was hike time. Of course it is very hot at this time of day. The hike is on Bartolome island. 

There are 380 steps to the top. It is quite steep. We see lots of sunken volcanoes and beautiful views.

The well built stairs. Less erosion and destruction from hikers walking on the ground.

A water crater.

We return to the boat and we have a well deserved beer. A little later we realize that a fishing boat is attaching itself to us. They are making a deal. Fish for money and a few bottles of coke. 

We also spend the 15-20 minutes watching the Rays jump and do cartwheels. Then it's whale time again. A few right whales are going past us. 

The two fisherman. We end up towing them for a little while. 

Dinner is served at 7:00. We have monster shrimps in a wonderful sauce. If I haven't said it before we are eating like kings and queens. There are no complaints from me. (We often eat fish  for one meal of the day) every meal is different and varied. How does Anghel, our chef, do it?  We anchor near Puerto Egas on Santiago island. We go on deck to see the stars and hit the sack at 8:45. Early rise tomorrow.