Well, today was fun.... I had booked identical flights to/from Miami, down to the same seat numbers. Flight today was supposed to leave Miami at 10:56, but at around 10:15 I noticed that the plane still hadn't arrived in Miami. Well, it was finally announced that the plane was delayed due to President Obama's presence in Miami and was circling. A bit later, they announced that the plane had been diverted to West Palm Beach. It eventually showed up, and we took off a bit after noon. Flight was a bit bumpy, but not terrible. However, at the end of the [View Full Entry]

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So the mystery of the weird flight connections is solved. We got on the plane in Guyaquil, got off it in Quito for 1/2 hour and got back on the same plane (but in different seats) for the flight to Miami. I still think it's weird, and even weirder that it had 2 different flight numbers, but since I'm here now, I'm not going to complain. The flight from Guyaquil to Quito is only 30 minutes, so it's 10 minutes ascending, 10 minutes cruising and 10 minutes descending. Flight to Miami was 3 and 1/2 hours, and once again, I've lost [View Full Entry]

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One of the mysteries of this trip was why Globus booked our flight home the way they did. Instead of flying from Baltra to Quito and staying there overnight and just catching a flight to Miami, instead we flew from Baltra to Guayaquil. And tomorrow morning we have a ridiculously early flight to Quito to change planes for Miami. I really think it´s silly! But, I have faith it will work out and I'll get home at some point. This morning was the walk to the boat to the bus to the Darwin Center back on the bus to the ferry [View Full Entry]

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Well, day was a long hike. Actually, I shouldn't call it a hike, since that implies a long walk over very level ground with some rocks or something. This was a climb. Three hundred and sixty seven steps supposedly (I didn't count). Early start (6:45 am) to trek to the ferry across to Puerta Ayora then 45 minute boat ride to where the yacht had docked last night. A little over an hour and a half got us to Bartholome Island. It is one of the younger islands, so there is not a lot of wildlife on it, but it is [View Full Entry]

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Another long day today. Left the hotel at 7:45, treked to the pier then panga to the yacht. Hour and a half cruise to South Plaza Island. Sea was a bit calmer today, but it was cloudy all day. South Plaza Island is covered with this red plant that put me in mind of the red weed from H.G. Wells´War of the Worlds. It is also home to a colony of sealions right on the pier, and when we were coming back we had to wait for one of them to move off the pier so we could get back on [View Full Entry]

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Today we visited Santa Fe Island. Left the hotel at 7:45 for the walk to the pier. Small boat (called panga) from the pier to the Sea Finch Yacht. Very nice yacht, 2 levels. The main level has cushioned seats and tables. The top is open to the air in the back and covered in the front and also has cushioned seats. On the bow of the yacht is a nice long cushioned bench and some chaise lounge like seats. Criuse to the island took about 1 and 3/4 hour. Sea was a bit choppy going out, but not terrible. Slightly [View Full Entry]

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Greetings from the Galapagos Islands. We started our day early. Up at 5 am to leave for the airport at 6 am. 7:40 flight to Baltra via Guyaquil. Flight was good, had a great view of the mountains around Quito as we left. I was sitting next to a nice couple from Toronto who are on their honeymoon. They are staying at a different hotel and plan on doing a lot of scuba diving. Landed on Baltra at around 10:30 (we've come west, so we're now in a different time zone). Bus from the airport to the pier took around 10 [View Full Entry]

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Last night I went out to dinner with the Nishimuras and the Descours. We took two cabs to a restaurant our local guide (Edison) had recommended. It was a seafood place called Mare Nostrum. Dinner for the 5 of us, including wine and desserts was 111 dollars. The good thing in Ecuador is that they use the US dollar as their currency, so it's easy to pay for things. I had grilled salmon and it was really yummy. We again had to take 2 cabs back to the hotel, and Diane and Yoshi and I stayed in the hotel bar and [View Full Entry]

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Well, yesterday was a bit of a trial. Our flight from Juliaca to Quito (via Arequipa) was supposed to be at 3:25 pm. We got to the airport really early (so early that the LAN reps weren't even at the counters yet), after stopping at an Indian village and the ruins at Suillistani on our way from Puno. Well, after waiting for a long time to check in, we went through the security gates. And then it started to rain. And then it started to thunder. By around 3:00 we knew we were in trouble. Eventually, we were told that they [View Full Entry]

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Today was spent on the lake. We left at 8 and walked down to the private pier by the hotel. And I do mean down, it was loads of stairs! Fifteen minute boat ride took us to the Uros Islands, aka the Floating Islands. They are inhabited by the Uros Indians. In pre-Incan times, they were forced off the land and started living on reed house boats in the southern part of the lake. In the late 1930s/early 1940s there was a drought that forced them back on to the shore. After the drought ended, they came up with the idea [View Full Entry]

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