Blogs from Ecuador, South America - page 18

As we had gone to bed very early we both woke up early and had showers before the usual 07:00 breakfast. We were now at Puerto Egas, Santiago Island. Daisy was feeling better but not good enough to be able to jump off the zodiac for the wet-landing, so instead, the Captain offered to take her on a personal zodiac ride around the island. The walk was onto black sand and a sea lion was resting on the rocks. We walked along the coast and saw iguanas, lizards and most all lots of baby sea lions who were really cute. When we got to a cool blow hole, Rob was looking down when his sunglasses fell off, then his cap followed. We could see the cap floating around so Fabian allowed him to jump in but ... read more

Another calm, smooth overnight navigation had us at Moreno Point on Isabela island. I should mention how we get off the boats with the dry-landings. Fabian and Christian who did a lot of the zodiac driving would jump off first and then Fabian would always say “one by one, side by side” which we would all repeat and they would grab your arm and you would grab theirs and they pulled you up. This was a dry-landing onto a massive black lava flow which had big cracks that created mini-canyons. Some parts were quite smooth and looked like highways with big cracks in them. The various shapes were fascinating. After walking over the lava flow for a while we then came across some lakes with beautiful flamingoes which were quite a contrast to the harsh black ... read more

One whole year in Tortuga...it hardly seems possible! Admittedly we have only travelled through 4 countries during this whole year, and one of those was the US, but that's beside the point. Moving so slowly has allowed us to get to know certain places really well, and evaluate their livability potential, instead of having to rush through them to stay on a faster and more distance-covering schedule. When we left Colorado last November we really didn't know what to expect. Would we survive Mexico, despite all the disconcerting security warnings? (well we're still alive!) How would it feel driving a relatively large vehicle through a bunch of developing countries? (ask Ken!) Would we really go through the hassle and expense of shipping Tortuga all the way down to South America? (yes!) And, most importantly, would we ... read more

Regular schedule is 07:00 breakfast and out today at 07:30. Overnight we had navigated to Genovesa Island and we were anchored in Darwin Bay. At 08:00 we did our first wet-landing which means we arrive at a beach and then jump off the zodiac boat which is an inflatable motor boat into the water and walk onto the beach, carrying our shoes. Here we saw a lot of wildlife close-up, sea lions, petrels, red footed boobies and other birdlife. This walk was about 60 minutes and we then returned to the boat for a drink and snacks before going for our first snorkeling adventure. Unfortunately, I had a lot of trouble taking in too much sea-water as the sea was quite choppy in the area we were snorkeling in. The other times I have snorkeled were ... read more

Relaxed start to the day as we didn't have to get to the meeting point for the tour bus until 08:50. There was one meeting point for the tour in the old city and tour to Cotopaxi Volcano officially started at 09:25. The weather didn't look the best for the tour but with just two full days in Quito, we didn't have much choice. The drive there passes many volcanoes so it was an It was a fair distance to travel and after picking up a local guide, Paulini it was 11:00 when we reached the entrance to the park. It was a quick toilet stop before arriving at the visitor centre, where Paulini took the English speakers through and explained a few things about local flora and talked about the volcanoes in the area. It ... read more