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Published: October 3rd 2008
galapagos - nick rinske and lyndall
underwater at gordon rocks. nice place to beNick: Ok this blog is all about Galapagos, equador and lots of photos. Rins taken on the lionshare of writing this time and Theres a heap of pictures in this blog. Ecquador with the galapagos islands served up photo opps big time. So take the time to browse the links at the bottom to check out all the action.
Rin: It was with quite some excitement that we landed in Quito, Eucador - we were finally going to meet up with Lyndall!!! Staying in the Old Town we pottered around for a few days, visiting the parks and vivarium (reptile enclosures). It was a good chance to sort out our self-guided galapagos trip as well. Being there for a few days meant that we were also able to catch up with Kate and Ryan, who we keep bumping into since we first met them in El Chaiten, Chile! (of the recent volcanic eruption fame)
An evening of 2 for 1 drinks with them meant that I thought I was going to be late to meet Lyndall at the airport the next morning... My anxiousness was unfounded and we arrived just as the plane was landing. It was sooo good
to see an old friend!!! We chattered the afternoon away, catching up on gossip and life in Oz (I don´t think Nick was too bored with our chatter!). With a few days to spare before our flight to the galapagos, we headed north to Otavalo and their infamous craft markets for a few days.
In Otavalo the low slung clouds finally started disappering. We had a perfect day to hike up Mount Fuya Fuya and the views didn´t let us down. It was great to finally get a perspective on just how many volcanoes there really are in Eucador! Lyndall managed the high altitude ascent without much more huffing and puffing than me! It was the beginning of us understanding the myriad noises Lyndall makes, of which our particular favourite is the ´woooooh!´when she´s about to slip!
Having bought so much stuff in Bolivia, we let Lyndall loose in the markets and tried to help with the haggling. We still don´t know how she managed to fit it all in her pack to take home!
Blue-footed Boobies and More!
Finally arriving in the Galapagos Islands I was completely unprepared for what we were to see and experience
there. Unfortunately my romantic notions of it being a last unspoilt paradise were overturned within half an hour into our bus trip from the airport to the main town, Santa Cruz. With so much human inhabitation it´s not surprising that much of the native vegetation is degraded and being swamped by weeds. And rubbish..... the ever present rubbish problem in south america has also found its way to the galapagos...
Having got all of that off my chest it is a pretty amazing place to visit. It was also great to see that there were many small islands that are uninhabited with their coast lines often ending in sheer cliffs. It gave me peace of mind that there are still places for all of the amazing creatures to live and continue their process of evolution.
So in short our galapagos experience was of -
- Amazing marine life
- The shout of 'Boobies!' followed by giggles every hour!
- Early mornings
- Inter-island travel consisted of lots of people squashed into small boats in choppy seas. Which resulted in lots of spew bags being passed around. Or being cold and soaking wet at back of the boat to
avoid the sea sickness.
- Ruffles chips and chocolate....a healthy diet for me...
- Being amused people watching on boats with people we wouldn't normally spend much time with...
- Wet season with its cloudy skies, rainy peaks and choppy seas
Isla Floreana Highlights
- Following another boat into the nearest shore as the tourists bailed out all the water it was taking on. An inexperienced captain speeding through the choppy waters led to a cracked hull and an emergency call to our boat. Thank goodness they didn't end up transferring them all to our boat!
- Seeing the whales splashing in the distance off the far coast of the island.
- Snorkelling around Champingon point was awesome. Nick saw his first moray eel, a cool green camouflaged rock fish and heaps of schools of smaller coloured fish and tiny silver ones. We also had a turtle hanging out with us for a while and a seal who didn't want to play.
- The huge pool of dolphins who followed us back to Santa Cruz for a while.
- Seeing flocks of flying fish and a lone albatross cruising the waters.
Lowlights
- Finding out that the turtles on
Floreana are in captivity because all the indigenous ones are now extinct.
- Not being able to swim at the Devil's Crown - an extinct volcanic cone in the ocean - because of choppy seas.
Gordon Rocks - Well, the whole diving adventure was definitely the highlight of our whole trip to the Galapagos. I'd had major concerns about diving in such strong currents but it wasn't nearly as bad as what we'd heard.
- The day turned out with choppy seas and cloudy skies again, which didn't calm my nerves at all. Thankfully the check dive was in the calm waters of Isla San Plaza and I was pleasantly distracted by a seal playing with a marine iguana on the nearby rocks. We rocked and bumped our way out to the Rocks, geared up and 1,2,3 backrolled off the boat into the choppy seas.
I hit my head on Lyndall's tank somehow which wasn't a great way to start but no time to dwell on it - down we went. Amazingly as soon as we started to descend there were schools of fish everywhere. And before we knew it we were seeing all these amazing big sea
animals. Turtles cruising past or being cleaned by the tiny fish and shrimps at the cleaning stations. I think one of my favourites, a majestic squadron of huge eagle rays flying in perfect formation so serenly through the water below us. Then the looming shadows of a school of hammer head sharks came into view.
I was surprised at how unphased I was at the sight of all these sharks swimming below us in such close proximity. They were so tranquil and calm my heart rate barely escalated! So amazing to be in the water with these beautiful creatures - even if they do look a little silly with their eyes stuck out on the sides of their hammers... As we began our descent we saw a smaller school of reef sharks above us on the coral. Nick and I were gobbling through our air so we had to ascend and barely got to look at all the other beautiful creatures and fish there. Lyndall however was able to stay down another 20 mins or so and had a playful visit from a sea lion on her way up.
I decided not to do the second dive as my
ears were playing up and I thought I end my day on a high note. So I watched as the other two descended for a similar dive to the first. Well, that's what they tell me and I'm not sure whether its true or whether they're just being kind to me!
Our trip back was not without adventures either. The sea sickness tablet Nicko had taken at lunch time was to be his undoing on the return trip. The even rougher seas brought on a bout of vomiting followed by a rapid need to visit the toilet. So much so that we had to pull into calmer waters of the nearest bay, and we all cracked up laughing as Nick and Hugo copped a full view of Nick's lilly white butt as he dropped his dacks before jumping in the water. Lucky we'd been able to stop then though, as we took over another hour to get back to port as we crawled through the rough high seas.
Isla Isabella - Happy birthday bro! I didn't have much of a fun day getting out to Isabella. Another bout of gastro, another few pukes overboard.... Did managed to see
another pod of galapagos dolphins though. And quite a lot of blue-footed boobies dive-bombing for fish.
By the time we arrived at the township of beautiful Isabella I was finally feeling better. We were whisked off to see the lone flamingo in the fading light. A few more came honking in before we left and it was great for Lyndall to see her first flamingoes fly.
- Visiting Volanco Chico on our second day was pretty cool - despite the rainy, muddy hike it began and ended with! 'Wooooooh!' Walking over old lava flows to see the fumaroles was amazing. With other volcanoes we've visited haven't we haven't been able to see quite the devastating effect they have on their surrounding landscapes - just incredible.
- The snorkeling location in the late afternoon was great - not for the snorkeling but for the piles of lava lizards camouflaged against all the rocks. A beach full of sleeping sea lions, a little underwater canyon for reef sharks to rest in, heaps of Boobies (he, he, he) and beautiful crabs made the day!
Isla San Cristobal Lucky it was my favourite island as it too us most of the day to
get there. A shivering bedraggled and sopping wet threesome, we arrived late in the day looking for a place with a nice hot shower. Harder to find than you'd imagine... It had taken us 3 hours from Isabella to Santa Cruz and a further 4 hours by boat from Santa Cruz to San Cristobal. Thinking it was our last boat trip I declared myself unfit for future boat travel...
- Snorkelling at Kicker Rock and through the crack was great. If not a little frustrating with a whole bunch of kicking snorkellers. I still had gummy ears so no diving for me. Nick and Lyndall were still being kind to me, saying our first dive at Gordon Rocks was still the best, but it was frustrating not being able to dive here. The snorkellers still managed to see a number of galapagos sharks, some turtles and ray. The sheer wall plunging into the depths of the ocean provided a great habitat for all sorts of beautiful fish and sea creatures to live. Very colourful.
- The afternoon snorkel at Isla Lobos was a great way to finish the day's activities. A whole colony of sea lions came to check us
out and play with us in the water. So beautiful to watch as they speed around you under water. Though they never failed to give me a fright when a big brown eye would appear in front of my mask out of nowhere!
Our last day in the galapagos we enjoyed visiting Galapagueros, a great sanctuary for the giant land-tortises. That was until our silly taxi driver decided to try and pick one of the tortoises up so that its head was facing us to take a picture!!!! A few angry cries of 'PARE! PARE!' and he stopped.... and they wonder why there are hardly any tortoises left....
After getting all hot under the collar from that, we headed out to Playa Chinto for a swim. Well, Nick went swimming while Lyn flaked out on the beach and I watched in amusement as a whole bunch of little finches began hopping all over her checking her out. They particularly liked perching on her camera bag and the tops of her teva's! So unafraid!
And my final boat trip was a tiny little water taxi that took us to a nearby beach full of smelly sea lions lolling about on
the beach. Too cold for swimming for me, i puttered around taking photos as Nick went for a last snorkel with about 6 turtles and some inquisitive sea lions (and Lyndall snoozed some more...).
Back to Mainland Ecuador After a day of travel we made it to Volcan Chimborazo. Our high expectations of getting up at the crack of dawn to do a mountain-bike trip down Chimborazo quickly fell into a hole when we looked out the window to find low cloud and rain... After a quick visit to the local food market we did manage to redeem ourselves slightly by taking a car trip on the same route! Probably not a bad thing as we hadn't been at high altitude for a good 10 days or so now. A good fit of the low-oxygen giggles with Lyn provided some entertainment for the guide and Nicko while we were waiting for the cloud to clear to get a look at the infamous south face.
Riding the train down the Devil's nose Fortunate timing meant that we were able to make the train trip down the nose of the devil. Another early morning start to secure good cushion space
on the roof of the train. Yes mum, I did say the roof of the train... Despite the slight concernation at being on the roof of a rusty old train crammed packed with other tourists it was a great way to see the beautiful countryside. The lack of a toilet and 2 food vendors who repeatedly climbed up and down the side of the train and pushed their way along the roof didn't deter our enjoyment. And whilst the Nose of the Devil was supposedly the highlight it wasn't until .... bang, bang, bang,.....we derailed! Nothing that doesn't occur every other day apparently, as before long we back on the tracks. A four hour bus trip later and we had finally made it to Cuenca. Yes, our butts were pretty numb afterwards!
Cuenca A cultural day here at one of the best museums we have visited in South America - well laid out exhibits, lots of rooms, information in english and interactive displays kept us entertained. The surrounding gardens with a great bird enclosure and small inca ruins were an extra surprise that allowed us to stretch our legs after sitting on our butts the day before.
Our
anticipated visit to the Cajas National Park turned out to be very short-lived indeed. With every 10 meters ascent up the mountain in the bus the fog thickened omniously. We were deposited by the local bus at the gate of the park and we all instantly piled on all of our extra clothes, gloves and beanies. It was freezing! We could barely see more than 20 m ahead of us as we trudged down to the ranger station. After a brief amusing discussion with the two rangers we found out that due to the fog it was extremely dangerous and basically prohibited to do any of the walks in the park. So back up to the road we trudged to wait for the next bus in 45 mins... While waiting we watched some horrifying driving behaviour on these windy, wet mountain roads - a truck passing a bus and car on tight blind corners - not very comforting knowing we had to go down these roads in the fog.
On a whim I managed to hitch us a ride in the back of a ute already harbouring 2 wet bedgraggled Israeli girls. So in we piled and so began
galapagos - old gorge... hes big
at least we think this was old gorge the famous giant turtle our freezing, fast, adrenalin pumping descent. Sliding about in the back we tried not to look through the front windscreen so see which side of the road we were on. Thankfully he was a better driver than others we had seen that morning and we made it back to Cuenca cold but safely!
Our final morning with Lyndall we visited the best Montecristo hat (aka, Panama hat) stores in Cuenca to delay the inevitable teary farewell. I was feeling especially flat and homesick as we sat on the bus to Riobamba, an overnight stop before we could make it to Banos.
Nick: Banos was our last real location in South Amercia as we took a week to unwind, polish up on our spanish at a spanish school for five days and eat a tonne of good food. well it almost was a tonne until we went to the doctor to check out that niggling stomach soreness that had been plaguing us for the last few months on and off.
Found out that we had a dose of salmonella! excellent. So a week of antibiotics, and a cocktail of drugs and orders of no milk or eggs or
their derivates kept us off most of the tastiest food for the week and alcohol. Bugger. And banos has some good restaurants that are nice and cheap.
oh well.. good to have it out of our system!
next stop. central america.
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Jeremy
non-member comment
You can never be too paranoid
That "hat" is really to stop them scanning your brain, right Nick? I've seen the photos - you and the aluminium foil helmets - I know the truth...