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Published: March 3rd 2013
10 weeks ago I left magical little Antigua bound for Honduras.
I joined a tour that was four weeks, leaving from Antigua Guatemala and travelling down through the Central American isthmus to Panama City. In hindsight, four weeks was far too short. We covered so much ground in such a short space of time that I took a cursory glance at the landscape and architecture but didn’t have enough time to absorb the culture. Following closely on the heels of culture-rich Antigua, I felt a little disappointed that I wasn’t getting the same culture hit. However, that said, we did visit some incredible places…
Our first stop after Antigua was Copan in Honduras. It is a compact little town surrounded by steep hills, the highlight being the Mayan ruins on the edge of town. On Christmas morning we jumped in a convoy of tuk tuks and screamed down a very steep hill for 1.5kms to the ruins where we spent all morning (before the day got too hot) exploring the old city. These ruins were listed as a World Heritage site in 1980. The ruins are smaller than Tikal and Palenque but surrounded by jungle which gave them a similar feel. For me, the most impressive structure was the hieroglyphic staircase (even if the blocks were reconstructed in the wrong order…).
Next stop on the itinerary was Roatan Island – the largest of the Bay Islands - off the Caribbean coast of Honduras. We had a long travel day that included a minivan, a ferry and a taxi before arriving into West End in the evening.
When we arrived on Roatan we entered the arrivals hall to find absolute chaos. The luggage collection system (I use the term system loosely) was a nightmare. You had to yell out a description of your bag and if you were lucky they would hear you over the din. I now understand why we spent so long learning how to describe luggage in my Spanish classes…
Roatan is a popular diving and snorkeling spot due to the barrier reef that runs along side it. The reef is the second largest after the Great Barrier Reef and a few of us had a fun morning out snorkeling in several places along the reef spotting starfish, turtles, dolphins and lots of other sealife.
Also a popular place for American (and other) expats, it seems people arrive on the island for the diving or other similar activities and never leave. We certainly encountered some interesting characters on the island. One lunchtime a few of us got chatting to a former US military guy who had been living on Roatan for 20 years. He came here for the diving, became a dive instructor for a while, but more recently it sounds like he lives off charity… missing a few teeth, skin like leather, chain smoking and downing several whiskeys while we sat by and ate our sandwiches… He gave us a comprehensive rundown of the recent murders and shootings on the island… something to ponder over our fresh pineapple juice!
We had a couple of days on the island swimming, snorkeling, relaxing on hammocks, eating large amounts of seafood and drinking Monkey LaLas (a cocktail that was dessert in a glass…delicious!).
One night we headed into the centre of the island for dinner in a local village. Our van was greeted by several young kids who were ready to give us all a high five as we exited. When we pulled out our cameras, the little girls started posing provocatively around poles…they are clearly used to the tourist traffic through their little community.
Maisie, our host, served up large amounts of traditional food for dinner. Conch soup for starters, iguana and crab stew together with plantain for main and lots of rum…
After dinner, members of the little community led us in several of their traditional activities… there was a Maypole dance followed by a limbo challenge. The little kids were all dancing (Beyonce style)… I have no idea how they move like that… even the smallest ones who had only just learnt how to walk were dancing the night away until we left at 11pm. It was an entertaining last night on Roatan.
Early the next morning we set off on a 30-hour journey to Granada in Nicaragua via an overnight stay in Comayagua. Our attempt to leave the island was very nearly thwarted by a malfunctioning computer system, but a last minute and very effective “how much?” from Jaime to the transport officials saw us boarding our desired ferry with about 30 seconds to spare and as there were no seats they opened up the First Class section for us so we had plenty of space and quiet to get some more sleep on our way back to the mainland. It’s amazing how far 300 lempiras (USD15) will go...
We had a stopover for the night in Comayagua which is a little town, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, with not much to offer. But as one of my fellow travellers has stated so beautifully in this piece published in GOOD Magazine, it was perhaps one of the more authentic moments on our journey:
http://www.good.is/posts/why-travel-makes-us-better-designers-and-chefs-and-scientists .
The next morning we left early for the 12 hour drive into Granada. Our driver on this occasion either desperately needed relief or was a former racing car driver as we went around several bends on two wheels and we arrived at our breakfast stop much faster than anticipated. Next stop was the Honduras/Nicaragua border where we sat in the vans in the pouring rain while our guide spent some time trying desperately not to get deported back to Mexico. Thankfully, when we set off a few hours later, Jaime was still on board.
The drive was long but interesting. We passed many trucks with their trays full of people, animals, bananas and countless other things. There were cows on the road which we had to swerve to miss. We drove alongside rice paddies, banana plantations and through dusty little villages… beautiful countryside…it’s a shame we drive straight through these places.
In the late afternoon we finally arrived into Granada, a character-filled little town which looks like a mix between Antigua Guatemala, Trinidad in Cuba and San Cristobal de las Casas in Mexico.
Granada was a Spanish colonial settlement and as such the colonial heritage is reflected in the architecture and layout of the town. The town is on the shores of Lake Nicaragua and is surrounded by active volcanoes. We took a walking tour for several hours around the colourful, character-filled streets, learning about the history of the town and Nicaragua in general.
As it was New Year’s Eve, there was a big street party happening right out the front of our hotel. Fireworks were being let off everywhere (reminiscent of Guatemala last year where we nearly lost some digits). The age of some of the children letting off fireworks was a little disconcerting. We had to run the gauntlet heading back from dinner to the street party. Together with the bangers being let off by kids everywhere, there were also adults next to our table letting off rockets, lighting them with their cigarettes…it was crazy!
A street parade appeared out of nowhere and came straight past us in a flurry of colour and noise, and following the parade the live music that was dotted up and down the street started up and continued well into the wee hours. A memorable way to bring in 2013.
Ometepe Island was our first stop for the new year. Ometepe is an island in Lake Nicaragua formed by two volcanoes with a low isthmus joining the volcanoes.
Our first afternoon we set off on an island tour which included visits to sites with petroglyphs (stone carvings) dating back to around 1000 BC, the “nicest” beach on the island, and finally, to Ojo de Agua natural springs where we bathed in the therapeutic waters and all came out looking several years younger (apparently).
The next day we set off for a horse ride that was to take us a little way up the side of Volcan Concepcion. None of us on this ride were “horse-riders” as such so we all nervously mounted our horses and headed off at a snail’s pace clinging on tightly to the saddle with one hand and to the reins with the other as we made out way up through various plantations and onto more sparse areas as we climbed the volcano.
The horses were treading gingerly over the large chunks of volcanic rock and at one point the path was less than a metre wide with a huge ravine to the right of us… Thankfully, the last section we had to dismount and walk as the horses had gone as far as they could… We continued on foot up to the lava canyon, formed by an eruption in the 1940s. Quite spectacular. The view back down over the volcano and lake was also beautiful.
We rode back a different way, alongside the lake. The horses made a dash for the water for a drink, dragging our feet in the deep water at the same time. I wasn’t so concerned about my shoes but I was concerned that if I fell off I had an expensive camera on my back. However, once their thirst was quenched, we continued around the beaches in the shallows, which was a highlight of the ride, wet shoes aside.
That afternoon a few of us jumped on the back of a truck and rode, standing up, for about 45 minutes to the other side of the island to Volcan Maderas where we visited a coffee plantation. We climbed a very muddy, slippery path up to the coffee plantation and heard all about how the local coffee producers go about their business. It was very interesting to hear about the politics surrounding coffee and chocolate growing on Ometepe… one side of the island has better soil and the other side has the water… a tricky situation!
That night, our last on the island, we had a BBQ and bonfire on the beach. The next morning we bade farewell to Ometepe and Nicaragua all too soon and crossed the border into Costa Rica.
This border crossing was supposed to be very easy but after a bit of a hitch with our paperwork, we spent an hour or two, in extremely oppressive heat and humidity, carting our bags about through different offices and across muddy roads. Finally it was all sorted out and we emerged on the Costa Rican side of the border. Pura Vida!
Unfortunately one of our vans was a sauna van… black vinyl seats and no air. I was sitting backwards – never a good thing – and ended up sitting in a puddle of sweat… definitely the most unpleasant transport to date.
As we drove up into the highlands, on our way to Monteverde, the temperature decreased significantly – a relief – and we finally arrived into Santa Elena in the late afternoon.
We immediately donned long pants and jackets and set off into the Cloud Forest for a night walk hoping to see all sorts of nocturnal wildlife. We saw birds, a lot of large insects, and some tarantulas in their holes. Unfortunately we didn’t see any sloths as apparently there had recently been pumas in the area and the sloths may have been food… The highlight for me was getting a great sighting of an armadillo, such strange creatures.
The next day included another cloud forest walk (easier to see things with a bit of sunlight) and another coffee and chocolate plantation (where I saw my first sloth - yay!). Monteverde is a beautiful spot and a few more days would have been beneficial to make the most of it. However…onwards towards La Fortuna.
La Fortuna is a small town at the base of Volcan Arenal. La Fortuna, like Santa Elena, caters pretty much entirely to tourists and those wanting to undertake adventure-based or wildlife tours. I wanted to see as much wildlife as possible so, together with a few of my travel companions, I headed up to Caño Negro, a river up in the north of Costa Rica, to go wildlife spotting.
We drove through banana and pineapple plantations stopping a few times on the way. The first stop was to see a large group of enormous, colourful iguanas hanging out on trees getting a bit of sun which was an incredible sight. Our next stop was on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere where we all hopped out to see a sloth up in a tree – very funny creatures.
We finally arrived up in Caño Negro, boarded our boat and set off up the river where we saw many different birds, more colourful iguanas, caimans, howler monkeys and white faced capuchin monkeys, and some more sloths. It was a lovely relaxing day.
Next stop San Jose. Possibly the least exciting city I’ve ever travelled through, however I did have enough time to get some chores completed, like getting my iPhoto fixed at an apple store and picking up a waterproof camera. I also got to try out my Spanish whilst helping Melissa negotiate the Costa Rican health system when she decided she needed a yellow fever vaccination!
After a couple of days in San Jose I was more than ready to get out and head off to Puerto Viejo on the Caribbean coast. Relaxation time…
Puerto Viejo is a cruisy little town on the coast surrounded by national parks and ocean. We had three days here to relax and enjoy our surroundings, including lots of beach and hammock time.
One day a few of us headed off to visit the Jaguar Rescue Centre. The centre is staffed by volunteers who look after animals that need assistance before being released back into the wild. We saw deer, owls, crows, sloths (lots of baby sloths), snakes, and toucans amongst other things. It was nice to see these animals being looked after so well.
Refreshed after our three days of relaxation, we hopped in a dodgy looking van (facing backwards again…) and headed off on a bumpy, steep, dusty dirt road heading for the Costa Rica/Panama border.
Once stamped out of Costa Rica we grabbed our packs and walked across an old railway bridge into Panama. The most interesting border crossing to date.
Next stop was Bocas del Toro, a group of idyllic islands in the Caribbean. We folded ourselves into another small van and set off to the river where we boarded a boat, smaller than all our previous boats, and set off for Isla Colón, the main island in the archipelago. Once in Colón we hopped on another boat (smaller still…), and set off for Isla Bastimentos, our home for the next three nights.
Our hotel, the Caribbean View is built out over the water with a huge deck right over the water… a perfect spot for a bit more relaxation in hammocks, playing cards, and enjoying a few cold drinks. The family that own the hotel are lovely – Luis and Sylvia and their adult children run the place. There were always little grandchildren running around while we were there…so adorable. It felt like our extended family.
The majority of activities on Bocas involve water. Our first afternoon we hopped back on the little boat with Luis junior at the helm and headed back to Isla Colón and to Boca del Drago, a beach with extremely clear water and lots of starfish dotted about in the shallows. We spent hours here playing about in the water.
The next day we headed out for a day of island hopping to check out the nearby islands and beaches. It was another fun day involving beaches with turquoise water and white sand beaches, seafood and cocktails. At Red Frog beach in the afternoon we settled in with some beers and cards.
Isla Bastimentos is less touristy than the others islands which was nice as it felt a bit more authentic. There was only one path along our side of the island where the traffic was locals walking or cycling, and us.
We bid a sad farewell to Isla Bastimentos and to our wonderful hosts. We took the two boats back to the mainland where we hopped into another dodgy little broken van (its all part of the adventure) and headed off for Boquete in the Panamanian highlands.
Boquete is another little town that has grown purely as a tourist hotspot for all of the adventure tours one can undertake from here. A lot of expats have set up shop here and it could be anywhere in the world.
Our hotel was up in the highlands, a 30 minute bumpy, steep journey up the side of a mountain so it was quite secluded which was nice, although inconvenient for eating... The hotel had their own ziplining outfit, so one afternoon, most of us got kitted up and took off down the 12 zip lines… so much fun.
As beautiful as our spot in the highlands was, I was very happy when we reached Santa Catalina, a popular surfing spot on the Pacific coast. Our cabins were right on the beach, the beach was huge, and the water was a perfect temperature… I loved it here. We spent the next couple of days kicking a ball around the beach, throwing Frisbee, swimming, walking, reading in hammocks, drinking beer, cocktails, eating seafood and playing cards. Never been so relaxed.
The last stop on this trip was Panama City. I had been looking forward to seeing Panama City and the canal for some time. I have to confess it wasn’t quite what I expected. The city doesn’t really have a centre and is spread out so that you have to get transport everywhere – not ideal when you prefer to walk.
The old town, Panama Viejo, reminded me immediately of Havana with its dirty, dilapidated buildings. There are also sections of the old town that have been refurbished, and by the look of the extensive construction works going on throughout the old town, the whole peninsula will be looking shiny and new in a few years, but hopefully retaining its original colonial character. The construction work made it a little bit difficult to get around the streets, but despite that little hindrance, the old town has a really nice feel to it. From the tip of the peninsula you can see the big ships lining up to enter under the Bridge of the Americas to head up the Panama Canal.
We headed up to the Miraflores Locks on the Panama Canal one morning which was fascinating. We watched a couple of ships sitting in the locks waiting for the water to fill and drain so they could head out the other side, which happens in about 10 minutes. An amazing engineering feat.
My tour ended in Panama City but I decided to stay on for another week in Panama to see a few other places and get a bunch of errands done in a place where I knew (thanks to the huge expat community) I could access the services I would need, and also refresh my clothing supply at the western shopping malls!
Chores completed, I headed out to the San Blas Islands for a day trip. The San Blas islands are an archipeligo in the Caribbean consisting over 350 islands, home to the Kuna Indians. We set off very early in the morning and drove for several hours through Chagres National Park with dirt roads that were steeper than anything I think I’ve ever seen… windy and steep. It was a challenging ride…good workout for the stomach muscles.
We got to the river tributary where a local met us with his tiny dinghy to take us 45 minutes across large seas to the islands. When we came out of the sheltered tributary into the ocean we were horrified. The boat was being thrown about in the huge swells and we were soaked through (thankfully our bags with cameras etc were under a tarp).
We got within shouting distance of Isla Porvenir when we ran out of petrol. The disclaimer I had read from the travel agency came to mind which said something along the lines of:
tours are run by local Indians and we have no control over the condition of boats, equipment, and things don’t always run to plan…
An impossibly tanned, good looking Swede (according to the flag on his million dollar yacht) hopped down off his yacht into his little inflatable runabout and raced over to try to assist but the fuel lines didn’t match. Another wealthy looking Swiss couple came over in their runabout to give us a tow. Finally we took on some more fuel and made it to shore. An interesting morning to say the least.
We stayed on Isla Porvenir for breakfast then reboarded our tiny boat and headed off in the big swells to see some more islands. I was hoping it would be a short hop but we passed island after island and it seemed we were heading to an island as far away as possible. Finally we arrived at Dog Island and hopped off to relax and swim for a few hours.
We cruised around several islands, past ship wrecks on reefs, and tiny little sand islands, sometimes with just one palm tree swaying gently in the breeze. A stunning part of the world and well worth the tough travel day.
We headed back to Isla Porvenir for a very late lunch – a traditional Kuna meal of rice, fish and beans… and coca cola :-/
Around 4pm we reluctantly hopped back onto the boat for the return journey to the mainland. Thankfully the seas had calmed down a bit so it was a dry journey back. The swells were still so large that at times the skipper pulled back on the throttle, waited for the wave and we surfed down the waves. Quite harrowing… I was extremely pleased when we reached the mainland. It was certainly an interesting day, but one I wouldn’t have missed.
I had three weeks up my sleeve before I had to be in Quito for the start of my Galapagos tour so I decided to travel back to Costa Rica to explore parts of the Pacific coast, and to take some more Spanish classes.
I headed back up to San Jose then across to Montezuma on the Nicoya Peninsula. I had met a very helpful local when we were coming through Costa Rica three weeks earlier and he had recommended a hotel in Montezuma which had a school attached that offered classes in Spanish, surfing, poi and yoga.
As soon as I arrived at Hotel Tajalin in Montezuma I felt like part of the family. Everyone associated with the school and hotel were lovely (and so were my fellow students!). My Spanish lessons took place on a table on a balcony just outside my room. The trees next to the hotel were filled with howler monkeys and our neighbour’s roof had a few resident iguanas constantly sunning themselves and scurrying about.
The common room which overlooks the central park and has sea glimpses about 100 metres away, was a great place to relax in hammocks or on lounges with a book, or Spanish homework. I fell in love with this place.
I decided to sign up for surfing classes as well. Surfing is one of those things I’ve always wondered whether I could do, despite my fear of being knocked out by the board.
The first couple of days we met at 7am for surfing. We walked along several rocky beaches and around headlands to get to Playa Grande where our lessons were to take place. With the adrenalin pumping on day one I actually managed to stand up on the board and ride a few waves, but the days following I was so bruised and battered I could barely lift myself to pop up on the board. I had satisfied my curiosity and had ridden a few waves, so was happy to just swim on the final two days. I confirmed my preference for being able to dive under huge waves unburdened by a huge, finned weapon.
For my final week in Costa Rica I headed over the other side of the Peninsula to Santa Teresa. I stayed right on the beach and just swam, walked and read for hours every day and enjoyed the beautiful sunsets every evening. Playa Hermosa and Playa Santa Teresa are stunning stretches of white sand beaches, very popular with surfers.
I was sad to leave Costa Rica but also excited to get to the Galapagos Islands. I flew down to Quito which was grey, cold and a bit depressing after the lovely sunshine in Costa Rica.
I met my new tour group in Quito and we headed out to explore the old town. The most impressive structure was the gothic Basilica del Voto Nacional which has incredible views from the towers. The Basilica doesn’t have the usual gargoyles, it has turtles, iguanas and monkeys instead.
At a very early hour the next morning we jetted out to San Cristobal, one of the inhabited islands in the Galapagos archipelago. The Galapagos islands are an archipelago of volcanic islands in the Pacific Ocean around 1000km off the coast of Ecuador, known for their incredible wildlife.
We arrived on San Cristobal and immediately set off to explore the little island. About 200m down the road we encountered our first lot of sea lions lounging around on a beach, on benches along the Malecon and over rocks all along the shore. There were also countless colourful sally lightfoot crabs cruising about and many marine iguanas also. Not a bad tally for our first little stroll.
We went and found some lunch and then headed off up into the highlands to get to a view point where we could see over the other side of the island and down to Kicker Rock and Tortuga Bay where we were going to go snorkeling the next day.
After seeing the landscape from above we jumped on our mountain bikes and set off for a bike ride down some very steep, muddy and rocky roads to get back down to the coast. During our ride the heavens opened and we got drenched, it also made the mud worse so when we arrived at the beach we were covered in mud. Thankfully we had an hour or so to clean off in the sea. At the beach we saw more iguanas, sea lions and some sea turtles popping their heads up in the waves.
The next day’s activities included snorkeling and more snorkeling. Our first stop was Sea Lion island where we swam and frolicked with sea lions for some time. Back on the boat cruising by the shore we saw male frigate birds inflating their bright red neck pouches trying to attract female frigates, and also a lot of Blue Footed Boobies.
The next stop was Kicker Rock - a huge rock created by compacted volcanic ash. Over time it has developed a big split creating a channel that we could snorkel through. In the channel we saw a couple of sharks - black tip and Galapagos sharks - and turtles amongst other things. Once through the channel we snorkeled half way around the giant rock which was fascinating in itself with its barnacle covered sides dropping away sharply into nothing but deep sea. We enthusiastically followed a few sea turtles as they gracefully swam around.
Totally exhausted after snorkeling in choppy waters we hopped back on the boat and headed into a sheltered beach where we had some lunch then spent some time relaxing on the beach and swimming in the clear aqua waters, trying to avoid the kamikaze diving pelicans.
Back in town, we strolled around to the Interpretation Centre where Jessica, our wonderful local guide, gave us history on how the islands were formed through volcanic eruptions, the moving plates the islands sit on and the theories of how the animals came here and have changed over time...the inspiration behind Darwin’s theory of evolution. Fascinating.
The next morning we packed our bags, jumped on another small boat and set off for the two hour ride to Isla Floreana. Before getting into Floreana, we once again donned our masks and fins and went for another snorkel. The water today was clearer and we saw white tip sharks, rays and turtles. So beautiful and peaceful under water.
An hour or so later we hopped back on the boat and headed into the port at Floreana where we were met by sea lions and iguanas lounging about like a welcoming committee (who were in the middle of siesta). We wandered up a small dirt road to our lunch spot where we recharged the batteries for an hour or so. After lunch we jumped on an open air truck for a 30 minute drive up to the highlands on the island where we walked to the corral where there were several giant tortoises, including a mating couple. Such intriguing animals.
Back at the shore we had a quick swim then set off for another couple of hours ride to Isla Isabela, the biggest island in the archipelago and our base for the next three nights.
Isabela was formed by several volcanoes so it was only appropriate we climb one of them. The next day we set off on a hike to Volcan Sierra Negra. We climbed up to the crater…the second largest crater in the world. It was a beautiful clear day so we could see the whole expanse. We continued walking around the crater for some time until finally the vegetation petered out and we ended up climbing over lava rocks and scree to reach the summit of a second, smaller volcano. From this summit we had a breathtaking view over the island and out to sea.
We climbed over lava tunnels and all sorts of different rock formations in different colours due to the sulphur and iron – yellows, reds and sort of bluey greys. A beautiful sight.
Back in town, having de-volcanoed ourselves, we headed down to the beach to have some cocktails and watch another beautiful sunset.
Early the next day we set off to the Giant Tortoise Breeding Centre. Here we saw different breeds of tortoise and also enclosures full of tortoises at different ages. There were some groups of adults, and a lot of younger tortoises, like two to five year olds. My favourites were the little babies…just a couple of weeks old. Donatello, the two week old was adorable, barely bigger than the egg. The really small ones live in hutches until their shells are hard enough for them to go out into an enclosure where they can fight for themselves.
Because of introduced animals like rats, pigs, and cats, the National Parks personnel collect the tortoise eggs and look after the tortoises in captivity until their shells are strong enough for them to be released into the wild where they can then look after themselves.
Following our breeding centre visit, we wandered along a boardwalk through mangroves for about 15 minutes which brought us out by the beach where we swam and sunbaked next to some iguanas also basking in the sun.
That afternoon we headed out on kayaks looking for Galapagos penguins, followed by a trip over to Tintoreras or Shark Alley, the popular iguana breeding ground. We went for a stroll over the hot volcanic rock carefully avoiding holes the female iguanas had dug for their eggs. This island is covered in iguanas… literally climbing all over each other. There are also sea lions dotted about the place, just lounging.
The next day we boarded another boat to take us over to Isla Santa Cruz, the most populated island in the archipelago. Once on Santa Cruz we headed out to the Charles Darwin Interpretation Centre where we saw yet another breed of giant tortoise and also the endangered land iguana. This was also the home of Lonesome George for 40 years, who sadly passed away last year. He was never interested in any of the females in his enclosure so he died the last of his species.
On our final day on the islands we headed up into the highlands to see the giant tortoises in the wild. We arrived at our destination, donned wellies and headed off into the muddy fields to find some tortoises in their natural habitat. We saw many, some cooling off in algae-covered lakes and others wallowing about in mud. When the giant ants got too much for us we headed off for our next adventure… crawling through the nearby muddy lava tunnels.
The lava tunnels were created when the surface cooled before the centre…there are tunnels dotted all over the Galapagos islands, some are so large you can walk through them, which is what we did until we hit a dead-end and had to backtrack.
In the afternoon we set off on a long walk to a beautiful beach at Tortuga Bay. The walk was about 45 minutes in sweltering heat, 30 minutes along a paved path then 15 minutes along the beach. Whilst walking along the beach we saw a baby black tip shark swimming around the shallows looking for crustaceans brought in by the tide. It was so beautiful.
We finally got around to the sheltered bay, dumped our things and jumped into the crystal clear water where we stayed for the next few hours, only getting out of the water to build a sand snowman (or snow woman as it turned out), a turtle and an iguana who made up our Galapagos family. Thankfully Jessica was on hand to ensure the accuracy of the animals’ features.
The next day was very sad as we had to say farewell to Jessica, our terrific guide for the week, and head back to Quito. Getting back into Quito was a challenge involving: a 40 minute drive, a 5 minute ferry, a 7 minute bus ride, a 3 hour flight that was broken up by a 30 minute stop on the ground in Guayaquil, a 2 hour van ride from the new airport in Quito (which had just opened a few days prior and was experiencing some teething problems like doors not opening and the like..), a second van for the last 30 minutes after our van overheated and left us on the side of the road… finally we got back into Quito around 6pm after leaving at 7am in the morning… a long day, but the Galapagos Islands are worth all that and more!
Next stop Colombia…
For pictorials, check out my Facebook albums:
Honduras & Nicaragua: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151379894297629.524408.538562628&type=3
Costa Rica: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151380281762629.524446.538562628&type=3
Panama: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151386770822629.525197.538562628&type=3
Galapagos: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151483083897629.532229.538562628&type=3
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Danielle
non-member comment
Sounds amazing Tory. I\'m sure you will have many more adventures in Columbia. A guy I know from there said \'Columbians don\'t get angry they just dance and make love\'.