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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Hello from the Galápagos! A beautiful place! The weather has been amazing! We heard it cleared up right when we got here...it was rainy and moist everyday until we arrived. Now it´s been sunny and warm! The reserve is located about 45 minutes away from the main town, Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, on San Cristobal Island. Everyone at the reserve has been very friendly, especially the volunteer coordinator (Cesar) who reminds us of one of our permaculture teachers Claude William Genest. We also met up with Phil, the Scottish man who was at La Hesperia who came here a week ago. (Phil [View Full Entry]

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We arrived safe in Quito and were super happy that we chose to fly. As for Quito, not much to say other than, if you´ve seen one big South American city, you´ve pretty much seen them all. One thing that is nice is the massive presence of the policia - makes the city feel a little safer (especially since Quito is known for its theft). It is pretty crazy though to see police on horses in the middle of busy streets, or roaming around the city with large dogs, some wearing full camoflauge gear, and all of them carrying huge guns [View Full Entry]

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The border town of Tulcan was built on a hill, cobblestones and all and when it's pouring down rain the water gushes down like a torrential stream to the bottom, the taxi we were on was caught one too many times in this deluge and we got a bit worried but the driver got us through safe and dropped us off at the bus terminal .85 cents per person but he did not give us a change for the 2 dollars we gave him, he quickly sped off, 3 people were shouting our destination, Quito, Quito!! the most aggressive person won [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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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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23.10.2009 17:55 Corazón... ... ist ein huebscher Brauner, den so leicht nichts aus der Ruhe bringen laesst, gehorsam auf die Befehle seines Besitzers hinter ihm reagiert und die zaghaften Steuerungsversuche seiner unerfahrenen Reiterin konsequent ignoriert. Hoch zu Ross und eher kartoffelsackaehnlich als stolz gehts von Vilcabamba aus in Richtung Podocarpus-Nationalpark. Fuer die ersten 15 Minuten ist der Sattelknauf mein bester Freund, nach 30 Minuten bin ich entspannt und geniesse die Panoramen der Landschaft ringsum, nach 5 Stunden weiss ich, warum die Anbieter von [View Full Entry]

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So, hallo allerseits! Mir geht’s immer noch super, bin immer noch nicht krank und noch haben mich die Kinder nicht zum Burn-Out-Patienten gemacht. Nur mein Rücken ist ziemlich am Ächzen, nachdem ich vergangenes Wochenende auch noch beim Wiederaufforstungsprojekt schuften durfte (bzw. vor allem mich bücken). Vor 3 Wochen war ich kurz entschlossen für einen Tag/Nacht am Strand. Dort hab ich für 15 $ wirklich AUF dem Strand mit Hängematte aufm Balkon ein Zimmer bekommen. Zum Thema Sonnenuntergang siehe Foto. Der Pazifik ist hier in Ecuador auch total warm, nur die Wellen waren fast etwas z [View Full Entry]

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This chapter of the travel blog will be a nice short one for 2 reasons. The first being that I've already been to Ecuador once before heading north to Colombia and secondly as a result of going North I don't have a great deal of time to get to Cuzco in Peru. I don't like making too many plans or sticking to time and dates, however you need to book the Inca trail in Cuzco at least 3 months in advance of going and I've already paid a lot for it, so I'm getting there by the 22nd October one way [View Full Entry]

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Once again we voyaged across the rough seas to get away from “city life” for a weekend at Isabella. This time, we stayed with our Isabella volunteer friends, Heather and Daniel. Being able to cook our own meals strangely felt like a luxury! The goal of this weekend trip was to take the “shit your pants boat ride” to los tuneles. Heather had gone on this day trip before and said that it was amazing, but one of the scariest things she has ever done. Los tuneles, is a difficult area to get to, which is why it can be scary. [View Full Entry]

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