Galapagos to Machu Picchu
Ollyantaytambo, Peru

I haven't blogged for a little while; we've been so occupied with fascinating experiences in Peru the last week or so.

Just to follow up briefly on Jen's comments on the Galapagos; it really was a fabulous week we had there. The four dives I did ranged from somewhat interesting (dive 2 was so-so) to downright amazing (watched tons of sharks on dive 1, including Galapagos sharks and an inquisitive juvenile Tiger shark). One of my highlights was definitely seeing hammerhead sharks for the first time on dive 4; YES, I did see five hammerheads, contrary to what Jen or Scott may tease me about not having photographic evidence.

Unfortunately, Jen's camera, the Canon S400, did fail last week, producing a bizarre "E18" error. Some online research revealed that this is apparently a very common error with these Canon cameras, and is caused by a failure in the lens motor. I thought that Canon's quality was pretty high, but it's a shame that there are apparently many hundreds of cases where this lens motor fails in the S400, conveniently just after the warranty expires. So now we don't have a backup camera, which is a bit of a bummer.

I'll let Jen talk about the details of what we've been doing since we've left the Galapagos, but for now I'll say that we've been fascinated with what we've seen of Peru so far that we're considering staying here for the last two 'free' weeks of our trip. Exploring the Lake Titicaca region was fantastic, and we also really enjoyed our time in Cuzco and the Sacred Valley.

Scott and I also had a fantastic experience with another successful adoption of the Companion Flag at a local school here in Ollyantaytambo yesterday. There will be a whole article on this first Companion Flag adoption in South America soon both here and on the www.companionflag.org website.

Today though, I and our tourmates are preparing to tackle the Inca Trail tomorrow, which will be the beginning of the popular but fairly challenging four-day trek up to the Inca city of Machu Picchu. A bit of pain is promised, but so are superb views along the way. Jen isn't doing the trek itself, but will be joining us in four days at Machu Picchu after spending a few days with Rochelle exploring Cuzco a bit more.

Not having much in the way of background on the Inca civilization has resulted in us being more than just a bit fascinated by the history and culture that is prevalent here. We're sure to be learning a lot more over the next few days as well! Jen will probably write more soon, but I'll be online again after completing the Inca Trail. I hope I have enough battery power and memory cards to last me until Machu Picchu!

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More Galapagos Adventures
Lima, Peru

We are now just a few hours away from boarding our flight to Lake Titicaca. Hopefully that will give me enough time to finish writing about our Galapagos Experience.

After leaving Puerto Ayora, we had a bumpy sail down to Floreana Island. One of the most southern islands, we had to go across current for 6 hours (starting at midnight). Most people had patches or took some motion sickness medication. I am so lucky that I am not prone to sea sickness, and was able to have a very comfortable sail the entire trip.

Winston went diving early in the morning at Enderby Island, and after his return, we all went on an excursion to Punta Cormorant on Floreana. Here the olive beach sparkles with emerald green light, due to the semi precious stones on the island. Of course, Juan Carlos told everyone that "nothing" can be removed from the islands even though many people probably would have been tempted to collect these beautiful green rocks.

We saw more sea lions on our way to the other side of the beach. There we were told to stay away from the water, as the shore was infested with stingrays. Sure enough we could see the black diamond shaped creatures all along the beach as we walked. We also saw a couple of sharks, so the no swimming warning was certainly very much respected.

This beach is also known as a turtle nesting area, and though we did not see any turtles around, we sure saw all the indentations and sand dunes they left. I remembered that this was one of the hottest part of our visit to the islands. The sun was scorching and we were very ready to get in the water.

We sailed to nearby Champion Island and got to snorkel as Winston went on another dive. This time there were plenty of sea lions in the water with us. The water was much colder than before, so I think we were only in the water for no more than 15 to 20 minutes. It makes me shiver just to remember the chill of the water. However, once the sea lions came to join us, most of us were too intrigued to watch them to remember the cold. In the water, were also schools of sturgeonfish and hogfish (they have large bumps on their foreheads).

After lunch, we went to Post Office Bay back on Floreana. Back in the 18th century, a wooden barrel was placed here so that sailors could drop off letters, and pick up the ones that were on their way. This way they could keep in touch with loved ones at home as they were gone months to years during any voyage.

Although the postal service in Ecuador is quite efficient now, tourists still use this post office for fun. Many of our travel mates wrote themselves or their friends post cards and brought them to the barrel. It was fun to listen to the destinations for some of the postcards that were already waiting to be picked up. Many people took a few postcards from their home countries so that they could mail them when they get home. What a neat idea, eh?

We went for a short walk afterwards and watched crabs and birds on the beach while the crew enjoyed some well deserved time off playing football (soccer) on the beach nearby. That evening we had another choppy ride. This time we were all warned at dinner time for people to take their medication as we were off at 8pm. This time we were going perpendicular to the current, so there was an interesting sideways swinging motion the entire evening. It was like rocking a baby to sleep.

We arrived at Espanola Island the next day. We had all been anticipating this island as we had heard of the abundance of bird life here. Landing at Suarez Point in the morning, we were welcomed by sea lions jumping in and out of the water. Just off the jetty were several red-backed marine iguanas, and 2 male blue footed boobies trying to get the attention of one female.

The blue footed boobies are very interesting birds. I became quite fond of them, with their piercing unblinking yellow eyes, straight narrow beach, white body, and bright blue feet. They are quite big birds, about the size of a big duck or small goose. Their mating ritual is hilarious to watch; firstly, the male sticks his tail up towards the sky, then he proceeds to slowly lift his feet up one at a one. He also whistles and spreads his wings. The lifting of the feet though, was the most amusing to watch. They look so silly doing the little charade, yet they have such a very serious look at the same time.

Walking along the path, we had to be careful not to step on any of the boobies that were nesting directly on the path. We are not sure why they did not find a more secluded place, but it was great to have such close contact with them. We were able to take photos from just inches away, and sometimes get a peek or two at eggs.

Not too far from the boobies, we entered the Waved Albatross colony. These birds have a permanent smile on their face, and with a beautiful yellow beak, light yellow to white head and full brown bodies, they are indeed beautiful birds. Most of them had nests below the shrubs, but we did encounter a few that were right on our path. In fact, we saw a poor mother sitting on the path, while her egg laid just a few inches away, broken. Juan Carlos explained to us that they were not very smart birds. Because they have to rotate them every so often to even them out, when they are on an uneven path such as the one we were walking one, many times they end up cracking their eggs.

We were hoping to watch them land, as we know that they cannot land gracefully, but alas, no albatross was landing near us that day. We did end up at a beautiful cliff and watched them glide above us as they took off from the cliff side. Here we also got close glimpses at the Swallow-tailed Gull. A beautiful bird with bright red around the eyes, red legs, grey and white body, they sure glide very nicely in the air. Apparently this is the only nocturnal gull. The red around their eggs are fluorescent at night, as is the white tip of their beak so that their young can see them when they feed at night. It is so interesting how evolution has created similar birds, yet with such different behaviours.

Further on, we came upon a beautiful blow hole. This was also the area of the Masked Booby, our first encounter with these birds. A relative of the Blue Footed Booby, these birds were all white, and have a very dark black stripe across their eyes. Their young look so cute with their fluffy white features. Whenever the blow hole would send a stream of water in the air, we would be presented with a beautiful rainbow. It was certainly a beautiful place to spend a few minutes.

On our way back to the beach, we passed by even more blue footed boobies nesting, and got to be quite good at imitating their whistles and hisses. In fact, there were so many of them that we really had to watch where we were going, as they blend in quite well with the rocks whey their heads and feet were all tucked in. Then they are just brown, with patches of white. It was a very hot day; many of the boobies were sleeping with their beaks open, to let in the air. It was so tempting to put my finger in the little gap, but of course that would only lead to trouble. Several members of our group have already been hissed a few times by some boobies when they ventured too close.

We went on our final snorkel trip to Gardner Bay (Winston went diving again). No sea lions this time, but we saw a ton of fish. Many species of parrotfish, trigger fish, blemies, damsel fish, one shark, sturgeonfish, angel fisht, etc.

In the afternoon, we went to visit a beautiful stretch of white beach, all lined with sleeping sea lions. I think we were there for over an hour, all of us watching these mammals and photographing them. Some bulls gave us a bit of warning here and there, but most of them were just snoozing. Many little ones were swinning nearby, and every so often, they would get out of the water onto the beach, and starting barking for their mother. Sometimes the mother would reply, and the young one would go over for milk. When there is no reply, often the young one would come up to us and start sniffing. Of course, we did not smell much like its mommy so it would move on to the next person.

We also got to watch a couple of blue footed boobies fishing. These birds are fun to watch when they feed. They fly up high looking down below in the water, and when they spot a fish, they will suddenly turn towards the water. Just at the very last second before they hit the water, they retract their wings and dive bomb directly into the water. It reminds me of a rocket falling into the ground. That was how straight their body became. It is fascinating how precise they are when they fish like that.

The next morning we visited Santa Fe Island. We had a very smooth sailing the previous night, as we were cruising up with the current. Here we saw land iguanas. These are yellowish, with an almost permanent smile on their faces. The species on this island is not the biggest. They all sit below prickly pear trees and wait for them to fall.

I cannot remember if I described the marine iguanas. These ones vary in size, from tiny to very large. They have very prehistoric looking heads, we could almost visualize what a dinosaur looked like. With large spikes all along their back, and skin that molt, they sure look very ancient indeed. Marine iguanas tend to sleep together, or mostly on top of each other to keep warm. They also spit all the time, to remove the salt, we were told. If you get too close, you could be a victim of their spit. Yours truly did receive a few. Extremely smelly.

Land iguanas on the other hand, are more independent. Because they all feed on the prickly pears, they are in competition with each other to get food. At night, they sleep under rocks or in burrows below the ground. They become fat or skinny depending on whether it is dry or wet season (more nutrients in the cactus). It was such a necessity to have a naturalist with us; we would not have learnt as much if we were just walking around looking at the animals on our own without any explanations.

The sea lions on the beach here were very friendly. Many of us were sniffed by pups; their whiskers are quite ticklish even though they were thick. It was fun though. We were careful not to touch them because our smells would turn their mothers awa from them. Still it is so hard to resist the temptation to pet them as their heads were just inches away from our feet.

Just before lunch, Winston went diving again, this time at Gordon Rock. Apparently he saw hammerhead sharks, among other things, but of course I will have to let him write about that. Unfortunately our camera somehow stopped functioning just as he went on that dive, so I think it was a frustrated Winston down below with the sharks with a camera that would not work. So of course, we tell him that it is only his word that he saw the hammerhead sharks, but with no photos, he does not really have any proof.

In the afternoon, we visited South Point, a small island. Here we spent most of our time watching the different birds, especially the red-billed tropicbirds, and swallow-tailed gulls. We were hoping to see the bachelor sea lion colony, but there were only 2 bulls there when we arrived. Of course, both were sleeping soundly, and it was funny that there was a little lava lizard walking across the belly of one of them.

We saw schools of Yellow-tailed Mullets below in the water, and not long after that, we saw the bodies of two sharks. The sharks did not stay long though, but there were many birds flying directly above them, so Juan Carlos thought that they probably just made a kill.

On the way back to the jetty, we were shocked to see a sea lion that was missing his back fins. It looked like he was attacked by a shark, and in a lot of pain. It was very sad. We also saw another big bull sea lion by the jetty that had a huge shark bite on his body. It is sad, but I suppose it is just part of the food chain.

Just before sunset, we were rewarded with sights of whales, and jumping dolphins. What else could we have asked for to finish off our last evening? It was fantastic. Sunset was also beautiful.

Our last morning was spent on Seymour Island. Here we saw more blue footed boobies, and the Frigate birds mating. The male frigate birds had a giant red balloon that they inflate when they are calling for a female. They also make funny rattling and rumbling noises. It was a sight. It was also a treat to see many young blue footed boobies. We even saw one being hatched. They are funny little weak looking birds.

Well, that about sums up our wonderful trip. Given the chance, we would come back again. We had great weather, a great crew to take care of us, and just a fantastic time.

Back in Quito, we met Ossy and Amber, friends of Bob and Eileen (our neighbours in Seattle) and we all had a fantastic time at lunch, getting to know each other, and eating beautiful sushi. Yummy. Our flight to Lima was very smooth, and it was great that 9 of us from our Galapagos trip is continuing on the same trip in Peru.

On that note, I have to saw Hasta Luego for now. I am not sure when we were get online next. We will be staying with the Uros people up in Lake Titicaca tonight, and somehow I doubt they will have internet connection in their reed huts.

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Wonderful Galapagos
Quito, Ecuador

We just have a few more hours before leaving Ecuador, and all of us are still glowing with excitement from our week long trip to the Galapagos Islands. We highly recommend that everyone takes the opportunity to visit. Not only did we see so much wildlife, at very close range, we also had a blast cruising on our yacht.

We spent 8 glorious days on a trip organized by GAP (based in Toronto), with a total of 16 passengers, and 7 crew members. Our yacht, the GAP Adventure I was comfortable, very clean, and we were served delicious meals. We did have a change of a few tourmates halfway through the trip as some people were only on the 3 or 4 night trip.

Arriving in Baltra Island (after a 45 minute stop in Guayaqil), we were all eager and ready to see our first signs of wildlife. We did not have far to go. As soon as we were taken to the wharf, we already saw brown pelicans, blue footed boobies and frigate birds. The yacht has 2 pangas (dingy) that are used to transport us to shore everyday, or on snorkelling and diving trips. We got quickly got used to getting on and off the pangas, being ready on time for shore/snorkelling trips, and listening to the bell when meals were ready. We often joked that we have indeed become Pavlov's dogs.

The first day was a relaxing one, spending time on Batras Beach over on the north end of Santa Cruz Island. We caught our first glimpses of sea lions, a couple of flamingoes, marine iguanas and Sally Lightfoot crabs (pretty orange colour). The schedule on the yacht was quite set, with a few changes in times here and there. Breakfast at 7, first shore excursion at 8, snorkelling at 11, lunch at 12:30, siesta, afternoon shore excursion at 3, then dinner at 7. It was incredibly easy sleep early after spending sunny days on shore and on the yacht.

We sailed to Bartholome Island our second day, and before heading to shore, took a panga ride to look for the Galapagos Penguins. We did see some, but they sure swim fast. We were told that these were the 3 smallest penguins in the world. Getting on shore, we hiked up to the top of the volcano there. Along the way, we saw many lava lizards, and funny cactus plants. On our way back down to the panga, we saw sea lions and penguins swimming in the bay below, as well as White Striped King Angelfish, and a big marine iguana. It was quite exciting.

It was even more fun when we went snorkelling and saw a penguin swimming, many sea turtles, and schools of fish. I must admit, the water is a bit chilly, but once you see the animals, you forget about it. On the other side of the island, we saw schools of White Tipped Sharks, waiting for baby turtles to hatch. It was a bit unnerving how close to shore they were swimming. Nearby, we also got to see some nesting Pelicans, and Ghost crabs (these crabs have eyes that stick up on top of their shell; very funny looking).

In the afternoon, we sailed to San Salvador Island, and walked on the black sand beach. There were many resting sea lions and marine iguanas to make us happy. We also begun to recognize the smells of the sea lions. Let's just say that after 7 days, we and all our belongings smell like one. A walk around the island also showed us the fur sea lions (also called Galapagos Seals). We didn't see any other fur sea lions on our trip other than on this island. There sure were plenty of sea lions though.

The walk was very interesting. We also got to see yellow warblers, mocking birds, lava heron, spitting marine iguanas, painted locusts, Galapagos Dove (beautiful bird with red legs and blue eyes), more crabs and our first bull sea lions. These fellows are much larger than all the other sea lions; apparently they can grow up to 600 pounds! They are very easy to spot as they have a huge bump on their forehead, make a loud barking noise, and sit up high and proud.

The next morning, we visited Rabida Island, with beautiful red sand. There was a salt lagoon here, but we did not see any pink flamingoes. There are plenty of pricky pear cactus on the island, as well as sandalwood trees. It was interesting to see that most of the sandalwood trees appear dead (no leaves). Juan Carlos, our naturalist, explained that it prevents them from losing water to the atmosphere that way, as the islands are very arid and desert like.

We saw an area of nesting Pelicans. Large nests were made on top of shrubs, and the pelicans take turns guarding their nests. None of these pelicans had hatched any eggs yet. These brown pelicans look beautiful with their chestnut plume (only those in the mating process have that colour). We really enjoyed the sea lion pups here; one walked right across me, almost touching my feet. Many of us have also been barked by several bull sea lions as warnings to not get too close.

We got to snorkel with a couple of very playful young sealions here. It was so much fun to watch them twist and turn both under and above water. In fact, they are quite curious little guys. Several times they swam so close to me that the pup and I would be looking at each other eye to eye until just 6 inches away before they would swim away. It was certainly a very awesome experience indeed. We never could get enough of these fun little creatures even though we saw them every day!

In the afternoon, we went on a panga ride to the western side of Santa Cruz. Below us in the water, we could see different rays, sea turtles, sharks, and a variety on fish. On small rocky islands, there were plenty of blue footed boobies and brown pelicans. We knew that we would be seeing blue footed boobies up close later in the trip, so did not make too much effort to take photographs of their brightly coloured feet (web).

That night we travelled to Puerto Ayora, at the southern end of Santa Cruz as we had to get a refill of fresh water. The next morning, we said goodbye to 6 of our travel mates and got ready to meet the new ones. While waiting, we got to visit the Charles Darwin Research Center. Here the most famous tortoise is Lonesome George. He is the last one remaining of his species of giant tortoise, and they have tried to mate him with other females of similar shape, but apparently genetically they have not been a match; thus no descendants for George. These tortoises are known to live a long time, though since they outlive human beings, historically the documentation have not been that accurate.

We also got to see the baby tortoises; they start off being very small, but by age 5, are also strong enough to survive in the wild on their own. At the research center, there were areas for male and female tortoises. The females were aged between 10 and 20, and have not yet been matched with males. The males on the other hand, were probably all over 100 years old. These males were sent by zoos or pet owners around the world decades ago when the Research Center put out a call with a reward for Galapagos Tortoises to be returned to the area. We could see that these males were used to human beings as they let us get very close when they were feeding. In fact, Juan Carlos scratched one on the neck.

It was very funny to watch them feed. Eating mostly green leaves and stems, sometimes they seem to just insert the leaves in their mouths without chewing. They get green stains all over their face, and growl at each other if they fight for the same branch. The females were much smaller than the males. These tortoises have interesting shells; they range from very high domes to very low saddlebacks. There are 14 species altogether, though 2 are already extinct, and then there is just George.

After lunch, our new tourmates joined us, and we went back on shore for a bus ride up to the highlands of the island. It was interesting to see the different zones of vegetation. The coast is quite dry and barren, with cacti and sandalwood. As we drove further up, we could see signs of farmland, with cattle and egrets, vegetables, and lush green ferns.

We walked around a farm, and got to see 7 giant tortoises in the wild. Three of them were in the mud pools, though one was quite awake. The other two were fast asleep, and I wasn't sure if I even heard the big guy snore. We got to eat wild passion fruit and guave that Juan Carlos picked for us, and enjoyed seeing all the different finches on the trees. The rare Galapagos Rail (a funny bird that walks on the ground) was very interesting. So many times I thought a mouse was running below a bush, but it turned out to be the rail.

At the end of the excursion, Juan Carlos brought us down a lava tube. These were created ages ago when the lava melted the ground and formed its own cave on its way to the sea. It was quite dark and wet below, but luckily they installed dim lights so we could still see a bit. We had to clamor over many uneven rocks, and at one point, we all had to get on our hands and knees to get through a very low opening. We did come out on the other end a bit muddy, but still presentable. It was a fun little adventure.

I have to go get our laundry now, so will have to continue days 5-8 later. Hasta Luego!

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