Wicker

After two weeks in Ecuador and decades of thinking about this place, I had a certain expectation of what Cuzco would be like; a tourist trap with lots of locals cashing in; a pack-packer grotto full of younger people drinking too much and being loud. What I didn't expect was to find, in the ancient city of Cuzco, a beautiful town with lanes and cobbled streets. A number of plazas beautifully hemmed in with balconies full of diners and candles. Up market boutique shops with great products. And I didn't expect a clean place with so much culture and class. Cuzco is 3,400 meters above sea level and boasts the highest Irish pub (Paddy's) in the world, and very nice it is too. There is a constant air of expectation in the air as people arrive ... read more

From a hot sticky Amazon, we were transferred by fast boat, small plane and 4WD to a mountainous area outside of Quito called the Cloud Forest. This mystical place serves both as an ornithologist's paradise and a get-away-from-it-all location. A mad Englishman came here in 1992, bought a valley and a couple of mountains that had been turned from native forest to agriculture and set them back to the way they were. Just like that! In 19 years the forest has regrown and now there are an amazing number of bird species living there. A once thought extinct brown speckled bear has also re-established himself. After a night sleeping in a treehouse, Sarah and I went for a walk with a guide and a bloke from Tasmania. Now Tasmanians are not usually the first people you ... read more

If you swim with Aligators, something will happen to you. Sounds obvious I know but when the Napo Wildlife Lodge in the Amazon said 'you can swim in the lake' they didn't say it was infested with Aligators. Two nights later we found lots of Aligators, some the size of a large torpedo, on the lake close to our huts. Still the nice man in the green shirt reassured me with 'they've not attacked anyone yet'! My problem ended up not being the Aligators, but more the microscopic bugs I consumed while flailing around in the murky waters. Overnight vomiting and a day or more on my back ensued but I had already seen lots of birds, monkeys, insects, spiders, frogs and even a pig to justify the trip. But the most amazing thing of all ... read more

North Seymour and Bartelomew Saturday 10 September Another cram-packed day of activities starting with an overnight cruise between islands. This time we saw the Frigate birds in full swing with their extra ball bag inflated and bright red to attract their female mates to their nest (bed) for rumpy pumpy! Spectacular these birds are, with chests puffed out half the size of themselves, and these are big birds. The offspring are a white fluffy bundle of joy with a beak a bit like a cartoon sketch of Margaret Thatcher. The males build there nest in the top of a small bush, a bush shared with several other males and nests while the females circle over head checking out the size and colour of their suitors appendage. The Land Iguana showed himself just once but bold enough ... read more

Post Office Bay The Galapagos islands are all formed from a volcanic hot spot underneath Isla Fernandino. As molten lava has flowed down the volcanoes, lava tubes or tunnels have formed and we visited one at Post Office Bay on Floreana. Our guide is one of those that's either 100% right or 100% wrong. The problem is when to guess he's right and when to guess he's wrong. For the walk through the lava tunnel we had to wear our best walking shoes but when we got there, we found almost waist deep water! The lava tunnel was worth a visit but the explanation and loss of two of our members (until we alerted the guide) was a distraction. Floreana had the first human settlement - Germans - great. There is a Post Box with lots ... read more

It doesn't get much better than when you find yourself doing whatever you enjoy most. If that comes about by chance, that's good, if by design, it's all the better. My lust for the outdoors, wildlife and photography have come together very nicely here in the Galapagos. After an arduous slog across the southern pacific ocean overnight, one that kept most of us awake as doors slammed, glasses smashed and all sorts crashed around the boat in the big swell, we found ourselves at another paradisical beach festooned with sea lions and patrolled by Frigate birds. The island was Espaniola. The weather wasn't flash and everyone was feeling the effects of little sleep. Nonetheless we walked down the beach to find a rare Galapagos Hawk, sodden from the recent downpour. Perched on a rock at the ... read more

At the crack of dawn the Queen set off for Cerro Brujo and Kicker Rock, about 90 minutes around the island. In the shelter of the coast, the water was as flat as a pancake. Large seabirds with what looks like a red testicle descended from their neck cruised overhead. These are the famous Frigate birds, the males have this bright red inflatable bag which they show off to their prospective one night stands. Once they've got the job done, they bugger off looking for their next prize. Sounds like London on a Saturday night. We arrive at beach for a 'wet landing', which means the panga drops you at the beach and you get your knees wet. First, though, we cruised around the cliff, spotting some sea lions, brown pelicans and blue footed boobies, which ... read more

The longest journey in the World to arrive at a holiday destination is over. After what seemed like a human version of Walt Disney's Incredible Journey, we finally made it to San Cristobal, the capital of the Galapagos. Our bedroom onboard the Galapagos Queen cannot be understated. We have a king sized bed, another sitting room and an ensuite with bath and shower. We even have a large TV!!! No sooner had we got onboard and we were whisked back to the shore on a Panga (dinghy), loaded onto a bus and driven across thhe island to see some of the famous Giant Tortoises. This guy is a youngster at about 70 years old. They live up to 180 years. There is an increasing population of 25,000 that are being carefully managed back to sustainable numbers ... read more

I'm usually good with to time zones and travel but this is ridiculous. We left Brisbane at 6:30am on Sunday and arrived in Quito, Ecuador at 10pm the same day, except Ecuador is 13 hours behind or thereabouts. However our 6 hour sleepover here is an interruption to another journey to actually get to the Galapagos today. We get there at midday (Monday). So that's 30 hours plus a time difference of 13 hours except the Galapagos is an hour behind here so that's 14 hours! So I think our travel will take us from Brisbane to Galapagos in 44 hours. I wonder what the longest travel time from anywhere to anywhere on the planet is these days by plane? Quito seems a nice place. We'll be back in a week or so to find out. ... read more

After spending 11 hours on a modern Chilean aircraft gawping at the hair-perfect hostesses and the suave Chilean flight attendants, we find ourselves in Santiago having gone back in time since we left Auckland! The arrival in front of the Andes was spectacular. A photo appears separately in Facebook. Few hours here before moving on to Ecuador.... read more