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Published: November 21st 2008
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I can stop travelling now....in fact if I never travel again, I reckon I will be alright. I have been to the Galapagos and truthfully I don´t think anywhere else in the world will surpass this place. Am I talking this place up too much...don´t know...you better come here to judge for yourselves. But I know that I am so glad that I came here.
I spent 7 nights on a boat touring the islands. I swam with gigantic sea turtles and the tamest sea-lions and even sharks. I have seen sea-lions giving birth, I have seen male and female blue-footed boobies doing their courtship dances, I have seen sea turtles mating, I have seen frigate birds dive from the sky to pick up and eat baby turtles (obviously not a nice thought but that what happens!), I have seen 2 bull lions fighting....an amazingly frightening sight, I have seen giant land turtoises...so many in one field, it took my brain and eyes a while to register what I was looking at. I thought I was in Jurassic Park! It was like living in a wildlife documentarty..but one that I actually enjoyed! There are just so many sealions, birds and
iguanas on these islands. I feel very lucky to have seen this part of the world. If you ever get the chance, please come here. You won´t be disappointed.
After the Galapagoes, I spent a week in Quito. Quito has grown on me but overall think I am happy to leave. I have never felt so unsafe! The count is now up to 3 the amount of girls in the hostel that have been mugged in the last week....
Mainly I have spent my time in Quito exploring the city, getting used to teh altitude and going on day trips in the surrounding countryside. I have been to some local markets and seen some amazing crater lakes. The area is very volcanic and so lots of hills, mountains and volcanos to hike.I also visited an indigenous family in the countryside. This kinda upset me...felt very voyeuristic...their life seems so harsh. Their house was a mud hut with rushes or straw on the outside...very dark but warm inside...took my eyes a few moments to adjust. They sleep on the floor. No running water, toilet or electricity. Nearest school is an hour´s walk away so the kids just don´t go
to school. They eke out a living by growing onions or corn or potatoes in a small plot they may have. Grandparents, parents, kids live in this hovel. The women work the fields which is all done by hand of course and the men usually look after the house...but the men are still the boss of the household. The women are short, shorter than me (!!) and of course as they get older they just get shorter and also as they get older they become more and more bent over from all the time they spent bent over in the fields or carrying heavy loads. I have seen one old woman who was so bent over that she was now walking on all fours and had her hands in shoes. She was begging. That was very upsetting. I remember learning in history once about some English guy who came to Ireland during the famine years and described what he saw. He descibed the Irish as wretches...and you know after what I saw with this family, I think I know what he meant. Less that 200 years agos the Irish, were living in houses just like what I saw yesterday and
probably had the same existence. I´m telling ya, we´ve come a long way!
Went to the equator. Got to carry out experiments such as draining water on the equator and north and south of equator. Strangely enough it drained straight down on the equator and clockwise/anticlockwise when a few metres north/south of equator. I videotaped. But its a fix..its has to be and I think I know how they do it. I studied the movie diligently...and know how they did it! We also did experiments such as testing your strength both on or off the equator, the theory being you weigh less on the equator and so are less strong. I also tried to balance an egg on the equator and failed and tried to walk in a straight line on the equator (with eyes closed and arms outstretched) and failed...theory here being there is a force trying to bring you into either the north or south hemispheres. I couldn´t even walk straight in any of the hemispheres so that experiement was wasted on me! It was great fun this place. Also saw how ancient tribes here use to shrink the heads of their enemies so that they could
wear the heads as pendants around their necks as trophies. Saw an actual shrunken head of a 12year old boy from 150 years ago. They don´t practice it anymore....
Got myself on Ecuadorian TV!!! Went to visit this Basilica in Quito. Claim to fame is that you can climb to top of one of the tower using the most rickety steps ever. You have to cross a plank and climb a ladder. Then there is a flight of open steps in the open over the main roof and you have the climb these to get to the top. I chickened out at this point. Even though there was chicken wire over the steps to prevent you slipping through them I just couldn´t get over the fact that if I fell, it would be to my death...my head told me I was being stupid that I wouldn´t slip but the height got to me. Anways before I attempted this ill-fated climb I had some lunch is a cafe in the grounds of the Basilica. There was TV crew there doing some report. The lady reporter came into the cafe and I asked her what was going on and she said they were doing a report on tourism in Quito. She then asked me if I spoke Spanish which I can´t...well I have decided I have enough Espanol to talk to anyone up to the age of 10 or taxi drivers! So this lady reporter left and then she came back in again and asked if I would do some words to the camera in English. So I sat down and she was off camera and I answered her questions in English. She just wanted to know how long I had been in Quito, what I had done, did I like Quito, would I recommend it to others...I lied a few times!!
They eat guinea pig in Ecuador and cats and puppy dogs. I went to an animal market and saw the cutest puppy dogs...was then told they were being sold for food. I couldn´t believe it. On one hand, these pups are eaten in the country and then I see pups and dogs being pampered as pets in the city! At this market, bigger animals were also being bought and sold, animals such as pigs, cows, llamas, etc. From what I could see animal rights are definitely not a big thing here. Went to this market with a vegetarian...don´t ask me why she went...anyways thought she would get physically sick...spent the next few hours telling us all why we should be vegetarians!!
Am off to Lima, Peru tonight. Am hoping to be hiking the Inca trail this time next week.
That´s all from Ecuador. Lots more travelling to do!
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ralph
non-member comment
awesome
Hi Know exactly what you mean. Its a fantastic place. Enjoy the rest. Ralph