Blogs from Ecuador, South America - page 4

Each winter in North America, millions of residents of the United States and Canada flock to warm weather locales in the southern United States—either to their second homes or rentals—in states such as Florida or Arizona. As a resident of Vermont, I too seek a brief respite from winter’s two-fisted punch of snow and cold, but I don’t want to become another clichéd “snowbird” going to a familiar place surrounded by bland condo developments and chain restaurants. I don’t want to be a captive to the familiar. I don’t want to sacrifice curiosity for comfort. I don’t want just warmth, but cultural enrichment. My winter escape from the frigid winds that sweep through the Green Mountains of Vermont is South America, in particular the country of Ecuador, where I have visited four times. Most recently in ... read more

I'm back on the grid after 5+ days in the Enchanted Islands without internet. I've been taking notes each day but so that this blog actually gets done I'll put them all together into one or two posts. It may be long but I promise lots of beautiful pictures! How to describe this experience...magical, fun, amazing views of volcanos and blue waters, delicious, mostly healthy food, friendly, helpful crew and very knowledgeable and passionate guide, and most of all the giant tortoises, sea lions, sea turtles, dolphins, iguanas, lizards, colorful fish, boobies and so many other birds. By charter bus, plane, local shuttle, and dinghy ride we traveled from Quito to the Galapagos and boarded the Carina, that was our home for the 7 days at sea. Juana was our leader and naturalist. I had a ... read more

This is a magical place. By plane, school bus and motorized boat we traveled from Quito to Coca and then to Yarina Ecolodge on the Madura River. This river connects with the Nopa River and both go into the Amazon. Before boarding the boat we walked into Coca to the market. Grubs were being sold on the street, a staple of the local diet. No takers from our group but I hear they're delicious. Medicinal herbs and mixtures are sold there by women who are learning to be shamens. Alfredo showed us cures for arthritis, covid kidney stones, and asthma from trees and plants in the Amazon. We ran through a rainstorm to the boat which took us to the lodge. Luckily the boat had drop down plastic sides. The rain stopped as we got close ... read more

When I was awakened by my reliable alarmophone at 0645 (so I could don my bathrobe before my juice and coffee arrived at +/- 15 minutes of 0700), I again felt the resurgence of enthusiasm about the cruise that had began the previous evening. Cruise Day 8, Tuesday, January 10, 2023 would be another day at sea. The events aboard ship have numerous daily activities; but, in lieu of shore excursions, the singular or weekly events seem to be held on our days at sea. Two astronomy professors have been on board for pretty much the entire cruise and offered two presentation on Cruise Day 8 which I found very interesting – Guided Tour of the Solar System and James Webb Telescope. In the late morning, a Military Meetup was attended by 40-50 veterans. Each attendee ... read more

This is a trip my traveling buddies and I have talked about for years. I always thought it was too expensive, and I wasn't sure that I'd like being on a boat for days. Covid changed that. When we booked this trip through Overseas Adventure Travel 2 years ago, it was Covid times and prices were way down. That helped and the 'why wait' feeling has been coming on a lot these days. Covid taught us that you never know what's going to happen next so use each day to its fullest and take advantage of each opportunity when it comes along. So, here I am leaving on the Ultimate Galapagos & Ecuador's Amazon Wilds trip tomorrow. Terry, Cheryl, and Naomi are my travel buddies this time. We'll be missing you, Roberta, Sandy, Ruth, Carol, and ... read more