Solita

Saturday September 6th, 2014.

Quito, Ecuador / Miami, FL / Los Angeles, CA

It’s 5am; I am very groggy. Laura is gathering her bags and will soon leave to catch her 7:30am flight back to AUS. As she exits I wave from underneath the covers and promise to see her again soon. By 5:05 I am fast asleep again.

At 8am my alarm goes off. I have 4pm flight back to LAX and half of day to spend in lovely Quito. I quickly get ready, gather my bags and head downstairs to find a driver. I am going to Cuidad Mitad del Mundo. Direct translation: Middle of the Earth City. This is where the equator monument has stood since 1936 (new technology has since proven that the equator is slightly north).

Throughout this entire trip I’ve had a very difficult time communicating with the front desk at this particular hotel and today is no different. As a result of sheer will power (and a lot of gestures) I am able to book a driver to take me to Cuidad Mitad del Mundo, watch my bags while I look around, and then drive me to the airport. I worry incessantly that something will go wrong.   

The morning starts out with a pretty long drive to the actual equator (the driver thinks I should see it and I agree). There is some conversation on the way there, but it is very rough. I keep catching the word “solita”, which I understand to mean small and alone (later it’s explained to me that it’s slang for "little lost child").

Soon we arrive at our destination. There is a small science center and a vista that overlooks a village that sits on the true equator. The view is nice, but there is really not much to do here. After 20 minutes, we leave for Cuidad Mitad del Mundo. Here I explain again that I want one hour to look around and that I would like to leave my bags in the car. I am sure he doesn’t understand, but I really, really want to see the monument. I abandon both my driver and my bags and hope for the best.

The monument is everything that I had hoped. There are cheesy gift shops and little museums all over the place, as well as, a thick yellow line that represents the equator.

The first order of business is to get a few photos of myself on that yellow line. Unfortunately, this is a task not suited for even the most independent traveler; I am going to need help. I look for a trustworthy tourist and eventually find one. As I approach her I realize she doesn’t speak English, but I use the universal gesture for will-you-take-my-picture and she seems to understand. What doesn't translate is that I want multiple pictures and I want them to all to be silly. Eventually I get my point across and she laughs heartily while I pretend to balance on the equator. When my impromptu photo session is complete, I retrieve my camera, thus crossing off another major bucket list item. Boom.

I spend the rest of my morning shopping for equator-themed T-shirts and walking through the adorably, cheesy Ecuadorian museum of history. When its time to return to the car to head to the airport, I say a little prayer, exit the main park, and find my driver right where I left him. Whew.

 

The ride the airport takes an hour and a half. I sit quietly in the car, watching Ecuador pass me by. Because I had planned for many contingencies (none of which happened), I end up at the airport way early.

I spend the next 3 hours sitting in a very empty terminal. I do some shopping in the duty free shop and play several rounds of plants versus zombies on my iPad. Eventually I board my flight back to LAX. Again, I am flying first class, but as it turns out, American first class is nothing like Delta first class. The service is nice but they do not have flat chairs like Delta. It’s okay though, I am pretty tired and am happy to just sit and watch movies.

There is a layover in Miami, which is a madhouse. I get through customs and just barely make my connecting flight. Eventually I end up back in LA around 10pm. My ride home is waiting dutifully outside.

The car ride back is quiet. I will not begin to fully process this trip for several weeks and I will not fully appreciate it for much longer. For now, however, I am just happy to be back at sea level.

   

Why you should never give up your food-veto power.

Friday September 5th, 2014.

Santa Cruz, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador / Quito, Ecuador

Its 8am and we are waking up to our last morning in the Galapagos. It feels good to sleep in. We finish packing our bags and head next door to the hotel-sponsored breakfast bar (apparently its been here the whole time, we were just slow to catch on). We drink a quick cup of coffee and finish our breakfast surrounded by a family of tired parents and screaming children. I also notice a community bookshelf where I ditch my recently completed copy of Farnham’s Freehold (my gift to future travelers).

A few minutes later our original tour guide, Alexandria, arrives to make sure that we get to the airport in one piece. After a 30 minute drive across the island, she accompanies us on the ferry to Baltra, forces us to cut in line for the bus, and then pushes her way through everyone else to make sure that we get our bags first. I am not sure if she is providing good customer service or just wants us off of her damn island! Once logistics are successfully completed Laura and I exchange the obligatory hug with Alexandria and give her our best Texas-sized smiles. We also give her a Texas-sized tip… she was a very efficient guide and a memorable part of our trip.

Once we are in the airport and our bags are checked, we have time to shop around for a little bit. I buy all sorts of chocolate for myself and Laura buys more gifts for her family. After shopping is completed we still have another 30 minutes or so to kill. We grab 2 Coronas from the bar and enjoy our last few minutes at sea level. As we are leaving we notice a little Darwin finch hopping around the inside of the airport terminal. We both say goodbye to the little bird and we are off to Quito.

When we land, we try several different ways to make a quick trip to Ciudad Mitad del Mundo (this is where the famous equator marker is located), but sadly our flight arrives too late and we do not have time. As soon as we land I can feel my stomach starting to cramp up again. We are now back at 9500 feet and my body is not ready for it. 

Our cab ride from the airport back to our hotel takes over an hour and a half. Eventually we arrive at the same hotel where we stayed on Sunday evening. Its nearing 6pm and the streets are packed with bar hoppers (it’s basically Mardi Gras in the middle of the day). Even though we are both feeling sick, we don on our hiking boots and fleece jackets (also known as the only clean items left) and forge ahead into the Quito nightlife.

I’m really not in the mood to eat so I tell Laura that she can pick anything and I promise that I will not veto. She picks Indian food. I immediately regret surrendering my veto.

The Indian restaurant is a lot like a club. It is packed and blasting techno music. We order our dinner and try our best to choke some of it down (neither of us are very successful). After dinner we walk around the bar district for a little bit. It is major culture shock. The streets are shoulder-to-shoulder packed. We duck into a little bar and find a corner table where we can sit down, not talk to each other, and people watch. Laura orders a brandy and I order a godmother. After one round we call it a night. 

Back at the hotel we pack up, climb into bed, and drift to sleep to the sounds of club music, car horns, and very loud voices speaking in Spanish.

Tomorrow we say Adios to South America.   

Mojito Island

Thursday September 4th, 2014.

Santa Cruz, Santiago, and Bartholomew Islands, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador

Its 5:30am and we are slowly waking for our last full day in the Galapagos. We need to be ready for our bus by 6am. Today we will visit Bartholomew Island, with a bonus side trip to Santiago Island. Again, we are the first hotel on the bus pick up route; we sit quietly as we are driven across Santa Cruz Island to our yacht-for-the-day. Once we arrive, we both order dock coffee and by 7am we are off!

It will take a few hours to get to our first destination (which is Bartholomew Island). Most of the crowd sits quietly inside. Laura and I, however, are stubborn Texans and insist on sitting outside even though the wind and the sun are ferocious.

By mid-morning we are disembarking. At first Bartholomew looks very barren. Upon second look, it is actually barren. This is a good example of a “young” island. There are many strange rock formations, but few plants and animals. The rock formations are still relatively new (geologically speaking), so we have to walk around on a wooden boardwalk. Despite the lack of vegetation, the lava lizards live happily here. After a brief nature talk, we head up a few flights of steps to get one of the greatest island views of all time. Bartholomew turned out to be okay, after all.

Our next stop is Santiago Island for another hike and a viewing of a very large colony of sea lions. In stark contrast to Bartholomew, Santiago has a lot of wildlife. The landscape is very dry, but there are tons of birds and all of their nests are on the ground (you can do that, when you have no predators). There are also plenty of land iguanas. As we continue our hike we approach a large colony of sea lions and seals. It is explained to us that sea lions are brown and “walk” on their flippers, whereas, seals are black and “scoot” using their flippers. Honestly, I can’t always tell the difference. As we approach the colony we are overwhelmed by smell and sound. These animals definitely stink.

The colony is pretty active with sea lions constantly slipping in and out of the water. They alternate between sunning themselves on the rocks and diving into the water to eat and cool off. Every once in while two of them start to fight, but it’s always quickly resolved (I guess there’s really nothing to fight about). Once we’ve had our fill of sea lions and bird’s-nests-on-the-ground, we all load back on the boat for lunch.

Lunch is okay, but not as good as yesterday. It consists of chicken, a few veggies and a whole bunch of rice. After lunch we take the little speed boat to the beach for our opportunity to snorkel and, potentially, see the Galapagos penguins (we will actually not see penguins, but its okay because a whole bunch of other cool stuff is about to happen). 

Snorkeling off the beach at Bartholomew is pretty awesome. Immediately we see all sorts of colorful fish swimming in unison. There are also a few very large fish hanging out near the ground, maybe 10 feet or so from the surface. Next we see a very playful sea lion doing spins and flips under water. I am kind of scared (they are bigger and faster than you think), but I survey our tour crowd and calculate that my odds of being the one to get mauled by a sea lion are pretty low. 

We continue to float around, admiring to vast underwater world. Soon I see one of the marine iguanas drop into the water from a ledge above, swim around the surface for a few minutes, dive to the bottom, attach himself to a rock, and start eating algae. This is so cool. The Galapagos have the only marine iguanas in the whole world. They can hold their breath for up to one hour while they feed on algae underwater and once they resurface they shoot highly concentrated salt water out of a spout on their heads. I watch the iguana for a while before I finally fulfill my tourist duty and call everyone else over to see (I figure that he’s not going anywhere).

Eventually I get cold and decide to opt for beach time before re-boarding the yacht. The sun is warm and the view is beautiful. I am really going to miss these islands. 

Soon we are called back to the boat. They are selling beer and despite the incredibly choppy ride over, we decide that beer is a good idea. As we are leaving the island and the waves begin to hit our boat, one of the guides tells Laura and I that we can shimmy our way over to the front of the yacht (requiring us to walk along a very narrow ledge) to get a better view. As I am saying no-thank-you-we’ll-stay-in-the-back-and-not-shimmy-anywhere, Laura has already scuttled to the front. I sigh and follow. I am clutching the boat with one hand and my beer with the other. Terrified to let go of either.

At first the front of the boat is pretty cool. We can lay in the sun, the view is amazing and we have the whole front deck to ourselves. Soon, though, the water becomes unbelievably choppy. We are holding on to the boat for dear life and are apparently stuck here until conditions improve. Our perspectives of the situation alternate from total fear to hilarity (the beer is helping!). 3 hours and 1 nasty sunburn later the boat is slowing for its approach into Santa Cruz Island. We shimmy to the back of the boat and watch our ascent to the big dock. This is our last yacht trip and we are already nostalgic.

Once we are back on dry land, we board the bus to head back into town. About halfway back, I notice that the bus driver is driving like an actual maniac. He is on the shoulder of the left side of the road and traveling at 50 mph, easily. I assume that he must know what he is doing, but it turns out that he does not. We are all jolted out of our island daze when the driver suddenly slams on the breaks and swerves out of the shoulder. We see a small truck with a family of 5; they are stopped directly in front of us, and are justifiably angry. Words are exchanged and our bus driver eventually takes off again. The passengers remain silent; that was an uncomfortably close call.

As we are about to enter town, Laura and I make dinner plans with a nice Canadian couple that we met on the boat. They are probably 7-8 years younger than us and are really, really friendly. At dinner we all chat about our lives back home. Laura and I order some mojitos (it took me almost 3 days to succumb to the fact that the mojito is the only decent cocktail on this island. Laura somehow intuitively knew this coming in... she is the more experienced traveler, after all).

Dinner is pretty tame and we part ways with our new friends afterwards. Laura and I are determined to find (and/or create) some nightlife in this town. Now that we both know rum is the only acceptable beverage, we start exploring various venues. We eventually end up at an outside table of an empty restaurant. Our dedicated waiter brings us several rounds as we debrief about our time in the Galapagos. Around midnight the town is totally dead and we head back to the hotel. 

This is our last night here; tomorrow we will fly back to Quito.   

Dos what?!?

Wednesday September 3rd, 2014.

Santa Cruz Island and South Plaza Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador

Its 7am and we are waking up for the first (of two) yacht tours of the Galapagos! We are super excited and only have about 30 minutes to get ready and go wait outside for a large tour bus to come pick us up. At this point, we are both realizing that we really have nothing to wear. We had put extensive thought into packing for the Inca Trail portion of this vacation and no thought, whatsoever, into this part. I end up wearing jean shorts and a fleece (over my swimsuit) and Laura ends up in a turquoise muumuu, which she drunk-bought the night before.

We are ready – let’s do this!

We only have to wait a few minutes outside of our hotel for a large bus to come pick us up. The bus is empty; we are first on the pickup route. We sit with our noses pressed against the window while we get an impromptu island tour of hotels-that-are-nicer-than-ours. Soon we arrive at the dock on the opposite side of the island (this is the dock that where the big boats come in… different than the bay dock, which is next to our hotel). As we wait for our yacht-for-the-day to arrive Laura and I purchase some pretty bad coffee from the snack shop on the dock. Soon the yacht arrives and we have to take a little boat to board it (the water is not deep enough for it to come all the way in). We board the little speed boat, clutch our coffees tightly, and we are off!

The crowd on the boat is very international and we all sit quietly, hypnotized by the waves for the 2 hour trip to South Plazas Island.     

When we finally arrive, we are treated to a quick island tour half in Spanish and half in English. The guide goes through the Spanish explanations first (which we try to translate) and the English explanations second (which completely discredit our translations). Early in a Spanish explanation of the marine iguanas, Laura catches the phrase “dos penes”. She tells me that she thinks that means two penises, but we are sure that she misheard. Later, during the English explanation, we discover that she did not, in fact, mistranslate. The marine iguanas have evolved two penises, thus allowing them procreate with greater consistency. We cannot stop giggling.  

South Plaza Island is known for its marine iguanas, land iguanas, and crazy flora. The whole island is covered with red plants (later I learned they are called sesuvium) with intermittent large green cacti. The water is a deep blue and the view is amazing.  After a short hike (and a million pictures), we head back to the boat for lunch.

Lunch is pretty good, it consists of fish and veggies (an omelet with veggies for Laura). We take a quick boat ride to a famous snorkeling / dive site where we will see all sorts of little fish and go on a hunt for sharks. The Galapagos is known for its shark population and mainly consists of hammerheads and reef sharks, but there are many other kinds as well. We are going to an area that is known for white tipped reef sharks. Don’t worry, they are nice, our guide assures us.  

Immediately I am amazed by the very large schools of brightly colored fish, which are basically everywhere. Snorkeling in the Galapagos is like floating through a National Geographic magazine. I am happy with all the weird fish, but our guide eventually pulls me over to a group of rocks where he is frantically pointing his flashlight. He watches me with great anticipation until I finally recognize that I am staring at a shark and then he explodes with joy. Our guide is sooo happy, its contagious. He quickly swims off to find more tourists.

Eventually we all board the yacht and begin the trip back to Santa Cruz. We get back around 6pm and load onto the bus to head into town. From here we shower, change clothes, and have a little time to spare before dinner. We spend the evening shopping, drinking, and generally appreciating the beautiful weather and views. Puerto Aroya is really cute and since all of the boat/tour people leave around 5pm, it’s like we have the whole town to ourselves. After dinner and a few rum-based cocktails we head back to the hotel for another full 8 hours of sleep.

Tomorrow is Yacht Day #2. 

The greatest giant land tortoise photograph of all time.

Tuesday September 2nd, 2014.

Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador

Its 7am and we are slowly waking from the best 13 hours of uninterrupted sleep that has ever occurred in history. The sun is up before us (for the first time what seems like forever) and we are very well rested. Today we will be exploring the island of Santa Cruz, but first we have time to go into town for coffee and breakfast.

We are staying in Puerto Ayora, which is one of 2 towns with hotels located on the islands (this town is much larger than Puerto Villamil, which is located on Isla Isabela). We quickly find an open restaurant and sit at an outside table and begin pursuing the menu for the perfect breakfast. There are many options and, after almost of week of no food decisions, I am feeling overwhelmed. Eventually we both put in orders for very large plates of breakfast food. I also order coffee and Laura orders a cappuccino. Breakfast is lovely and we have plenty of time to relax, return to the hotel, and get ready for the day.

Right at 8am, Alexandria and our driver arrive at the hotel. Our first stop is El Garrapatero, a beautiful beach. When we arrive it is completely empty except for a guy renting kayaks. Alexandria wanders off and Laura and I are left alone on the most beautiful beach of all time. I am feeling adventurous so I go off to secure a kayak for a quick paddle. I have to make the transaction in Spanish, but renting a kayak is a pretty basic task, so I flub my way through it. I spend about 30 minutes paddling around, but eventually get scared and turn around to join Laura on the beach. We sit quietly and intermittently wander in and out of the water. This is very tranquil.

After the beach Alexandria takes us to the highlands where the weather changes drastically and we are able to see views of the entire island. She talks a little bit about life on the islands and takes a few pictures of Laura and I. She says that I look better without my hat, so I should make sure to take it off for photos. In hindsight, I agree.

Next we are off to the see the giant land tortoises. This is going to be cool. As we are driving to the tortoise farm we see our first giant tortoise drinking water out of a make shift water trough close to the edge of the property. It is super cool and we take 10 pictures each. Only a few minutes later we are stopped because one of the giants is taking a nap in the middle of the road. We all get out of the truck and are slowly approaching when a small bus approaches from the other direction. It soon becomes clear that the tortoise is not going to move on his own accord. Our driver and the bus driver both have a plan though. We are all to grab part of the shell and drag the 300 pound creature out of the way. Laura and Alexandria are immediately on the case. Meanwhile, I am on my camera phone. After some grunting and heavy lifting the group eventually clears the road. We are free to make the rest of the drive to the main house at the farm.

After looking around the main area for a few minutes, we all sit at a table in an open air dining area. We are served an amazingly delicious piece of tuna, some vegetables, and plantain chips with hot sauce. This will be our best meal in the Galapagos. When lunch is over we watch a short documentary on the glory of the Galapagos.

As it turns out the tortoise farm is filled with very mean ants and we are not allowed to walk around without large rubber boots. Of course we do not have socks, so we both have to go barefoot in the large boots. It doesn’t matter though, because we are about to enter land tortoise-plalooza. There are so many tortoises, it is truly unbelievable. Every time I think I have taken my last photo another opportunity presents itself; we are both in hot pursuit of the greatest giant land tortoise photograph of all time.

Once we are done with our loop of the farm (and our sockless feet are officially swimming in sweat) we load back into the truck and head into town. Its only 5pm, so Laura and I have some time to kill before dinner. Alexandria suggests that we go to the Darwin Center and tortoise hatchery and drops us close by. We walk around for a little bit, see baby tortoises, a few land lizards and I finally get my picture next to the Darwin Research Station sign (a major check on my bucket list). We also spend some time at the cheesy tourist shops just outside of the Research Station.

As it becomes dark we head back to our hotel to shower and make attempt #2 at going to dinner. This time around we are successful. We end up eating at one of two restaurants that are included in our tour package. The menu is not impressive and neither is the food. We both end up eating veggie pasta and Laura chokes down a glass of Ecuadorian wine.  

After dinner we do our best to find a bar to relax and have a few drinks. Everywhere is basically empty, but that does not stop us. A few rounds later, we wander back to the hotel for the night.

Tomorrow we go to Santa Fe Island! 

Bubble gum scented pesticides, that's my favorite.

Monday September 1st, 2014.

Quito, Ecuador / Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador

Its 5am and we are waking up extra early to catch our flight to the Galapagos Islands. The hotel is very far from the airport, plus we will be hitting Monday morning traffic. The previous evening we had booked a cab for 5:30am but, alas, it does not show. After standing in the dark lobby for a few minutes, a desk clerk eventually appears and helps us get a cab. On the way to the airport we chat with the driver in broken Spanish and arrive safely with plenty of time to spare.

The airport looks even nicer than I remember. There are high ceilings and lots of empty space. Since we are traveling to the Galapagos, we have to go through a special line and run our bags through a screening process that will determine if we are approved to enter the biologically fragile environment of the Galapagos Islands (as it turns out the main determining factor is whether or not you have $150 for a temporary visa… don’t worry though, we have known about this for a while and are both prepared).

Bags checked. Visas acquired. 

Next we need to check into our flight. The airline personnel are exceedingly kind and try to nicely explain to us that if both take window seats then we cannot sit together. We quickly explain that we do not want to sit together and to feel free to seat us very far apart; the kind women looks surprised, but obliges us anyways. It’s nothing personal.      

Once we are boarded and on our way, I was surprised to learn about a mandatory stop in Guayaquil. It’s not that big of a deal, but we have to sit on the runway for a while and are not allowed to use electronics. Having finished my book several days before, I am feeling quiet bored.

We are nearing the airport in the Galapagos when the flight attendants suddenly storm the cabin with pesticides. They are spraying the ground and the insides of the overhead bins. It’s explained to us that this procedure is required before entering the protected area of the Galapagos and before anyone can argue, they are already done. I am worried for the health of my lungs, but the air now smells of bubble gum, so I feel calm.

As we stand in line for customs Laura and I fill out the required paperwork. It asks questions such as: Have you been camping recently? Are you carrying hiking boots? Do you have anything made of wood? Uh oh. In an effort to be truthful we both end up answering “yes” more often than “no”. When it’s our turn to talk to the guard we are both nervous. He looks at us and at our bags and sighs (our truthfulness has irritated him). After a long hesitation, he waves us through. We are happy that he is not a hero.

We have booked transportation from the airport to our hotel and are extremely surprised to find an eager guide standing by the airport door holding a sign with Laura’s name on it. Success (finally).

Our guide’s name is Alexandria and she has a plan. Laura and I are both tired and still sick, so when Alexandria explains to us the 37 things that are going to happen next we both totally space out. It’s okay though, Alexandria is treating us like idiots... ergo its okay to act idiotic.

We are herded onto a bus, a little boat, and, eventually, into a pickup truck. With great urgency Alexandria explains that we are to check into our hotel, drop our bags, put on swimsuits, get back in the truck, go to the dock, and then sit quietly while we wait for her to bring us lunch. Alexandria is pushy and we follow her instructions.

As it turns out, we have plenty of time to eat and enjoy the view before our boat arrives for our tour of the bay of Santa Cruz. We climb onto a small motor boat with about 10 other tourists. The driver seems to really like me and Laura and is constantly grabbing our cameras to get pictures of the birds and sea turtles. The tour turns out to be pretty awesome. Immediately we see blue-footed boobies. Next our guide shows us the sharks by throwing his flip flop in the water (thus enticing them to come up to the surface). Then we make a stop at a lagoon where we see tons marine iguanas (this is the only place they exist!). Our tour ends with almost an hour of snorkeling with a gigantic sea turtle who keeps swimming right up to me (I am simultaneously terrified and amazed). On the way back to the dock our guide sings and stands on his hands. He is working us for tips and, in the end, we do not disappoint.

Once we are back on dry land, we realize that we really have no idea where our hotel is. It takes a little effort, but eventually we make it back. We both shower and get ready for dinner. The shower is Amazing and we decide to rest for a few minutes before heading back into town.

It’s nearing 6pm and before we know it, we are out. We cannot go to dinner. We both know this but feel mildly guilty that we are missing out on an opportunity to explore. With no discussion whatsoever, we come to the mutual understanding that we are staying in for the night. We are at the beginning of 13 hours of uninterrupted, sea-level sleep. The Galapagos are awesome.

Tomorrow – we will take very many photographs of tortoises.