FROM QUITO TO PARADISE ....

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STILL IN QUITO TRYING TO WITHDRAW ALL THE MONEY .....
I haven't made it to the Galapagos Islands yet, but I'm hanging in there. The banks in Quito are very South American in their attitude. Although I'm supposed to be able to draw up to $5,000 daily from my account, there is a daily withdrawal limit which the banks here have placed on the type of Visa card that I have, which is $200 per day. I only found this out after walking from one bank branch to another over a period of days. The ATM's aren't very well maintained here and are often on the blink. If you then stand in line with the locals for 45 minutes, the tellers will then tell you to go out and try again. When that doesn't work and you've stood in line again to repeat what you told them the last time, they consult with the bank manager, who tells them to tell you to go find another bank! Had just about exhausted the number of banks on the South American Explorers Club list before I found an ATM which will give me $200 at a time. Mind you, it too has had two days of downtime. So the only way to get out to the Islands with cash to keep me going, is to daily withdraw this amount and cross fingers each day that it is going to work. I still have to take out $800, so won't be on the Galapagos before at least Wednesday.
I want to spend 3 weeks on the Galapagos Islands and went in to book my flight for Thursday or Friday. They were both full so I was told. Cursed and swore to myself with smile plastered on my face and thinking "more delays!" Then something made me ask if the flights for tomorrow were full and in true South American fashion, was told that; No - there were vacancies on the second flight out tomorrow. Here, if you don't ask, you don't get and sometimes even if you do ask, you don't get!
So have been rushing around doing a lot of last minute things this afternoon and packing because I need to be at the airport at least 2 hours before flight. Have read and been told that there are a lot of "bumpings" with this airline, but since they have the upper hand (no competition), I want to give myself the best chance of getting out to the Islands before I leave Quito for Chile! Something tells me that they won't re-imburse like Air Iberia did.
Once at the Galapagos Airport on Baltra Island, one has to find the local bus which takes passengers to a ferry for the boat ride across to Santa Cruz Island and then another bus for the 45 minuteride to the small town there. Haven't made a booking for a room yet, because of the hurry, but the gen. seems to be that once in town, you just go from one hostel to the other until you find one that suits you. I hope it's as easy as it sounds, but won't hold my breath, because nothing goes exactly to plan in S.American countries.
If I couldn't speak a modicum of Spanish, I'd be up the creek without a paddle, because almost no-one here will own up to speaking any English.

It’s now early evening on Thursday and I’m sitting in a small Internet Cafe writing this to you. And through the open doorway, I can see the sun setting out over the ocean, the evening breeze is soft and tropical, the frigate birds, penguins and small boats are coming home to the harbour for the night. And just to make it more special, I have just been for a stroll along the Malecon (= the beachfront walk) to watch the sea lions playing in the water and snoozing on the beach! It doesn’t come any better.
Early Wednesday morning and I was waiting at the airport for my plane. Just as well that I have some Spanish, because both flight arrival and departure screens were down and the flight announcements are only in Spanish and not very clear to hear. The flight to Galapagos was 3 1/2 (one hour of which was spent sitting in the plane at Guayaquil Airport while it was being refueled). This is the norm - there are no direct flights out to the islands. We came in to land on the small uninhabited island of Baltra where the main island airport is. It´s a brown rocky island surrounded by an ocean which is teal blue and dark sapphire blue in the deeper parts.

The Immigration procedure is thorough (in case you are bringing in food or anything else which might affect the animal or plant life) but the atmosphere is very relaxed - in fact it all takes place in a very large shed and the baggage collection? You collect yours from the pile of baggage on the ground outside and then load it onto a small bus which takes you the 10 minutes overland to the channel on the other side of the island. The shallow emerald green canal is crossed on flat bottom boats and also takes 10 minutes. The island on the other side is called Santa Cruz and is where the main tourist infrastructure is. This second journey takes 45 minutes and crosses the whole island to the port on the other side. The landscape changes as you travel - from barren rocks, low scrubby bushes and a few Opuntia cactus trees, through the centre where it becomes hilly, the plants are more plentiful and greener, and finally down to the ocean on the other side the plant life is verdantly green and the trees grow larger with beautiful flowers. The most common ones are Regina Delonix (very hard to grow at home) which have spectacular red flowers with yellow hearts and stamens and are true tropical trees.

I spent one night on Santa Cruz and it is a beautiful island, especially in the tourist area, but the problem for me is the amount of tourists!! And of course the prices are high - I know that everything has to be shipped over from the mainland and this costs, but it’s also because there is a captive market of rich tourists etc. who come here to go on a $4,000 and upwards boat tour as well. I arrived late in the afternoon and hadn’t a booking, so was lucky to get a room in a small hostel for $20. In the search for a hostel, I came across the locals' evening game of volleyball on the seafront. They have it most nights and if you want a seat, you have to go early before the other tourists. The game was a serious matter, but they seemed to be having fun at the same time. I explored the shops and the beautiful port as the sun was setting. In certain parts of the seafront, there are mangroves, some of which are being regenerated and other parts which have small kiosks and even a small upmarket hotel built on stilts over them. The penguins and frigate birds are amazing to see so close up and the balmy tropical evening light is beautiful.

Breakfast was on the terrace with an ocean view, in the company of two small bright yellow finches and their baby and one very friendly black dog. After sharing a little of my breakfast, I wandered across the road to investigate the source of much noise I'd been hearing. The local fishermen were cleaning their catch of the day. It is a daily occurrence and there must have been at least 20 very large pelicans squabbling and stalking around the men waiting to be fed the cast offs. They were so tame the tourists can get real close to them - I guess hunger is a great leveller.
After this entertainment, I hiked out to the Charles Darwin Foundation, learning about and watching the Giant Tortuga Tortoises and the Land Iguana breeding program. Their work is making an impact on the depredations to the various islands by introduced goats, cats, dogs and pigs gone wild. Before they started their work, some of the native animals and birds had already become extinct due to the actions of these animals, and to some extent, the local population. Now through education and the worldwide help of environmental scientists, etc., the Foundation is having an impact on these problems and has brought fauna and birds back from the brink of extinction. They are also battling introduced diseases of plants, etc which act as both protection and food for the animals and birds. All super interesting and I'm so glad I had the chance to see it all.
A lot of the small houses and some hotels here are very individual in their design. They are often very 'Gaudi' in their style, with lots of curving lines (even the stone fences are not straight on top). And their colours are bright and tropical. Their cemetary illustrates this.
The fence is rendered white, with curving lines on top and round holes cut randomly into it. Even the tombstones are quirky.
By lunchtime I'd discovered an unusual coffee house in the residential section - Casa del Lago (House by the Lake). It has two levels - ground floor has a small stage for visiting musos, a very small bar, lots of flowers around the windows and doors, and the most marvellous coffee! The upstairs is reached by a wrought iron circular staircase and has great views on all sides, a small rustic balcony and lots of books on shelving for exchange. The house specialty is local highland grown organic coffee, brewed with added cardamom seeds and cinnamon sticks. A square of the local organic chocolate is then placed in the cup with coffee poured on top. Absolutely divine. I pinched the reciple of course and plan to make it in my little stove-top coffeemaker when I get back.

In the afternoon, I caught the motor launch over to this island. What a journey -straight out into the deep ocean and the journey was super rough. The waves were deep rolling ocean swells, with white caps on them too. The boat, powered by two 200hp diesel engines, would crest the top of a wave and then slam down on the other side - for TWO WHOLE HOURS. I wasn’t sick (because I kept my eyes firmly fixed on the horizon the whole time), but it was very uncomfortable and my back didn’t like me next morning. However it was worth the trip over here. This island is much less touristy and although it is the Capital of the Galapagos Islands with the Government infrastructure, it has more of a fishing village atmosphere in a tropical setting. When we arrived at the small jetty, we were met by the Customs and the Customs Clearance tags put on our bags in Santa Cruz were checked and removed. As I climbed from the launch onto the landing, I found that we were being greeted, island style, by several sea lions that were lying around no more than 2 feet from us.

Island life is great and the small island hospital here has probably never seen a patient with an ulcer. Although the locals work hard, when they aren’t working they’ve got their priorities in the right order. Weekends, nothing much is open here. That's when the locals are busy doing nothing and keeping their hammocks in shape while I’m still trying to get out of ‘the early morning riser’ habit.
I was woken up very early this morning by the Navy running past, and so decided to walk down to the beach front - the sun was just rising, the waves rolling in over the black basalt rocks and for the resident sea lion colony, it was business as usual. I couldn't see the HUGE dominant male, but he was out there somewhere, patrolling his harem to keep out the eager young males. And they were on the outskirts of his harem, waiting for opportunity to present itself whilst keeping a wary eye open, in case he spotted them. For marine animals with so much bulk and no legs, when disturbed about something, they move really fast! The 'littlies' were calling to their mums; "I want breakfast!" but their mums were more interested in laying around or sleeping. They were not going to cooperate by rolling over - at least not without a helping shove or two. As for the unfortunate young ones who mistook an older male for "mum" - you've never seen such a turn of speed, as they tried to put distance between themselves and the very annoyed pursuers.
Having seen how nasty they can get and how fast they move, I follow the rules on the signs all along the beachfront; "Keep at least 4 metres away from the colony and if swimming, keep an eye out for the big ones in the water." Although, yesterday I saw a young Japanese couple sitting on the old rock jetty taking photographs of a young sea lion pup. They were in the middle of the colony and she was patting the pup and being photographed. Some people are SO DUMB! It clearly says on the signs; "don't touch the pups because their mothers may reject them afterwards and they will starve to death". The sad part is that I have seen one poor little fellow, very thin and in poor health, stumbling after the different mums, asking to be fed and being pushed away by them.

San Cristobal is the capital of the Galapagos Islands and therefore a lot of the work here is either in the fishing industry, or Government Administration. It does have an airport, but this has been closed for 2 or 3 months in order to repair the runway for the large planes, hence the ferry (or the more expensive private small plane charters) are the only way for people and supplies to get here at the moment. There is also a University here and many churches, although the main religion is Catholicism as in most of South America and Spain. I reckon the 'still being built' Pentecostal Church has the spirit of the islands down pat - improvisation. It is simply a concrete shell without glass in the windows and doors in the doorways and has a crushed black volcanic rock 'floor'. At the moment the furnishings consist of a small microphone, many stacked plastic chairs, a motorbike in a far corner and a hand-painted sign detailing when the services take place and a very large BIEN VENIDO (WELCOME) sign at the door. This must be a truly tolerant place, because I have also seen a small Jehovah's Witness meeting house, a Church of England, an Adventist church and the obligatory large Catholic church, etc., among others.

There is even a small naval force and a naval frigate at anchor in the bay with the raising of the flag on their jetty every morning. All quite civilized and good humoured really and the force goes to church Sunday evenings - marching up the hill to the service and then singing Ecuadorian songs in good voice on their return journey. They were the reason I was woken up at 5.45am this morning - with the sound of many feet pounding the pavement in perfect unison, to the Sergeant's shouted commands of; "dos - tres - cuatro, cinco, seis"!!

Speaking of waking up, I've forgotten to tell you about my accommodation here. It was after 4pm when we got here, and I hadn't booked a room in advance because I had a contact here and thought it would be simply a matter of ‘popping in’ to see him when I got off the Ferry. The ‘mice and men ‘ must have been out chasing ‘the best laid plans’ because the office was closed, so I called in to the Tourist Information and they gave me a map. Well I was tired and my map-reading wasn't successful, so I connected at the first Internet Cafe and chose the first address I could find. Then I caught a taxi there. (No normal taxis for this island - they're all 4 seater Toyota Hilux traybacks and don't ask me why).
The hotel was US$18 per night and no breakfast - but it did have Cable TV - like you can eat Cable TV!!

Next morning I went out wandering early to find breakfast and also a cheaper room. While I was eating, admiring the ocean view and practicing my Spanish with the owner, she found out I was looking for a room and said that a friend of hers had a small casa to let. Did I want her to ring her friend? Mariana (the friend) came down on her bicycle and we went back to look at it. She owns a small local bar and the casa used to be her office, but has now been turned into simple accommodation. For US$15 per night, I have a small cottage about the age of Kylie's and mine with 2 small bedrooms, a bathroom, a lounge and a tiny kitchen. There is no hot water, which is normal here in all but the more luxurious houses (and there aren't many of them) but the water isn't very cold anyway.
I can cook my evening meal if I want and Mariana has a friend (Leonora) across the road from me who has a very small cafe and provides really good, but cheap, home cooked meals. So here I am, all comfortable and private, but with Marianna to have coffee with when I feel like it and Leonora's company when I have breakfast and lunch.
Oh, and I'm learning sign language because Leonora cannot speak or hear. She lip-reads and uses official sign language and is taking a course which will enable her to teach sign language to the 30 or so other people on this island who cannot hear or speak.

Mariana is on the local committee for the New Era Foundation which until very recently was a 'not for profit organisation' and uses volunteers to teach English, French and a few other classes to the local people. Last Monday night she took me there and introduced me. I stayed for the 3 night classes from 6 to 9 and and am now doing some teaching, as well as well as helping out where needed. So that's the icing on what is really a beautiful many-tiered cake and I really like it here!!!

Oh yes, (the candle on top of the icing?) - the University of San Francisco. Leonora's sister Ruth took me with her yesterday when she went out there. It's beautiful and sits right in front of a small but stunning beach. I was introduced to the young American lass who is in charge of course production and information and tourist visitors. I was stunned when she offered me a paid position to teach English as a Profesora de Ingles!! I told her that I would only be here for two more weeks and she came straight back with "Well, we have another intake of students in September - what about that one".
The criteria are very easy to fulfill; one needs to have a TEFL certificate and 2 years classroom experience. For this you teach 2 classes per day, one from 7.30 to 9.30am and the other from 6.30pm to 8.30pm. The pay is USD240 per month and they have accommodation for the teachers as well as a kitchen and dining room upstairs with a lovely view over the ocean. They actually prefer older teachers because the younger ones are often busy partying and moving around the islands. After talking to her, I met one of the 'Profesores' who is from Australia and out here on a 6 to 12 month Cultural Exchange Visa which the University arranged for him. He told me he is 60 and that he got this job through the Home Tutor Scheme, where I first started teaching English so many years ago. I have certainly filed this one awayfor some future time.

I took a full day tour to the other end of San Cristobal with the students and their 4 professors from a University in Georgia USA, who are visiting here for 2 weeks.
The day started at 5.45am with breakfast in the Uni. dining room (for that read breakfast on the upstairs terrace overlooking the sea). Then a stroll into town and onto the motor launch which took us along the island up to a natural park at the other end. Tourists are only allowed there with a guide, which ensures that they don't wander off the track, SIT on the huge old turtles, drop their rubbish, carve messages on tree trunks, 'bark' at sea lions up close - YES REALLY! and other odd habits that so many tourists seem to have.
The journey up was good and very scenic. It's often hard to see the bird colonies on land because you have to be in guided tours and the birds tend to nest on the cliffs facing the sea. But on the boat you can get in really close to them. When we landed, the guide took us on a 2 hour hike inland to see where the big old turtles spend their time. Thankfully, it is coming into cool (and cloudy) season, because it was a very small and rough track and quite hot. Our guide was a local and a graduate of the University in Quito with excellent English and really good knowledge of environmental issues, endemic plants of these islands and local anecdotes as well. The bird life is so tame if you stand still for even a second, they land around you and come really close. There are a lot of small, bright yellow finches and pure yellow butterflies and also a few jet black ones too. After the return 2 hour hike while the professors were still struggling back along the track, the girls and I talked and one of them said to me; "You're kind of like a real trouper - can we swap you for one of our Professors?" and another one said "Yeah, you rock!". That's probably the first compliments I've had from teenagers in a long while.
With the professors' arrival, we hopped on the boat and motored along to a nice spot, where the guys unfolded a polished wood table and filled all the space on top with food. This impressed the students no end, because they all seemed to be starving after their hike.
After lunch was demolished, we motored to another spot where the kids got in the water and snorkelled around with the marine life. Since we were in the deep ocean with a swift running tide, there are hammerheads and Galapagos sharks around and even the odd male sea lion, I watched safely from the boat and the professors were content to let the guide look after the students too. After all, the sea is a beautiful saphire blue when it's deep water and more turquoise as it gets shallower and there is always something interesting to watch in the sky.
On the return journey, we stopped off at a pristine white sand beach for a stroll and poke around in the volcanic rocks and then left when no fewer than 4 inflatable boats full of tourists in life vests pulled into shore too. They'd come from one of those very large, very expensive tour boat which cruise the islands - travelling at night on to the next island and exploring during the day.

It was nearly 5pm when we came into our small harbour. The professors decided to take a taxi back out to the University because they were so tired. The students walked back and I wandered along the Malecon, to see what was new.
There is always something different going on among the boats; with the water taxi's picking up or delivering tourists and sailors, new arrivals from other islands, foodstuff, etc for the shops being unloaded and carried back into the jetty, boats and the occasional ship being refuelled.
And you never know quite what you will see among the sea life also. What with sea lions hopping on to small dinghies at anchor to sunbathe, big turtles floating on their backs in the waves, even a sea lion playing games with someone's sunnies. He was picking them up from the ocean bed with his nose, carrying them to the surface, flipping them up into the air and then playing with them as they dropped down through the water again. They have a really good sense of humour also. One night there was a young woman standing on the pontoon waiting for a water taxi. A big sea lion was swimming around it and then suddenly, he launched himself out of the water, caught the top edge of the pontoon with his front flippers, balanced there for a few seconds while the water from his leap upwards was falling on her and then pushed himself back off from the pontoon and swam away again. She was really startled and and ran back up the ramp. He just swam around until his next victim wandered down to get closer to the water and then repeated the procedure. He was definitely doing it deliberately because I've seen them easily jump out of the water and onto the pontoon when they want to sunbathe and he did it a total of 4 times while I was watching.

Last night I was walking out to the beach in front of the University just before sunset and passed the spot on the beach which has 4 hammocks strung out from a central pole under a palmleaf roof. Three of them were filled with other young volunteer teachers where I am teaching. They each had a beer in one hand and were lazily swinging away with Jack Johnson playing in the background. Since they invited me to join them (and I just happened to have taken along my wine to drink by myself on the beach), what could I say? So we watched a beautiful sunset from the comfort of our hammocks, while the sea lions came in from the water to settle down for the night.

And in case you're wondering, I have since bought my ferry ticket from San Cristobal back to Baltra Island to connect with my Quito flight on the 10th of June.
But I will be very sorry to leave here and haven't entirely ruled out coming back to work some time in the future.

More later from my island paradise ....

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[Dan]

Coming back?
How about an update?