Ray & Shirley's Travel Experiences

We booked a tour prior to leaving the states will take us to Isabella Island to visit the wildlife and get some local flavor of these islands. We were picked up 6:45AM at our hotel by a local and walked to the pier where our adventure would begin. Boat rides are not my favorite way to travel, but thanks to Larry and the scopolamine patch he gave, I am confident we will make this 2 hour crossing with no problems. Interesting process that we get on a skiff with other local peoples who are ferrying over to Isabella with us. Not much to see along the way, just wide expanses of blue ocean.

We paid another 5 dollar entrance fee at the dock and jumped in an older diesel bus for the short ride from the dock to the other side of town where we are going to see Flamingo’s and another tortoise farm. Down this dirt road was a large pit, not sure if it was man made or not, however, down in the bottom, standing in about 4 inches of water were about 15 Flamingos. The males have a darker neck than the females, but both have very colorful peaks. They turn there head upside down and move the muck with there feet and make this whooshing sound with their peaks as they eat. We were fortunate to view a mating ceremony taking place across the marsh. Black tipped wings flapping, beak to beak, and their necks intertwined. Quite the site!

Next we walked several hundred meters to the Isabella Tortoise breeding center. Here we walked around the various cages, and pens holding a number of different species. The Ecuadorian government is doing a lot to keep these species alive and have had a 95% success rate getting them back into their natural habitat. We walked thru the light forested landscape with lava outcroppings and the occasional catus as we headed back into town on foot. This area was know as Puerto Jeli (English). We say many iguanas sunning themselves at different points along the path.

The beach was simply breathtaking with the lava outcroppings and the waves crashing ashore. Time for just a few pictures and then it was off to a local restaurant for lunch.

Larry and I washed down a lunch of fresh fish (Larry had rice) and fried plantains with a couple of cold beers. We headed back down to the port to take a tour of a nearby volcanic island to view a penquin and blue footed bobby sitting on the rocks. We docked on another part of the island and our guide walked us through this landscape of lava and many varieties of wild life. Abundant quantities of Iguana’s both large and small were everywhere. The juvenile iguanas were sitting right on the path just daring us to get close. They reminded me of the Geico mascot back home.

We saw a school of white tipped sharks in a small channel, a sea lion playing in the water. As we left this small uninhabited island of lava and headed back to port we circled a few boats where sea lions had taken up residency. Basking in all their glory, I wondered if it was us on display for them as they looked lazily at the tourists motoring by.

Shirley and Laura decided to brave the frigid water to get a glimpse of small fish and search for the elusive sea turtle that was spotted. Unfortunately they got caught in a strong current heading into the mangroves and Laura couldn’t swim out of it. Larry stripped off his shirt, emptied his pockets in his pants and jumped in to help Laura back to the dock. Once back, we headed back to our ferry to return to our home port. We haead over to Floreana Island in the morning.

Our tour included dinner, and we had ate both lunch and dinner at El Chocolate the day before. It was ok, just a limited menu. When we returned from our day trip we found out we were scheduled back to the same restaurant for the whole 5 days. This was unfortunate, so Shirley and Laura worked with the front desk person to get hold of our tour company and arrange for us to visit a different one tonight. Enjoyable meal, good company, and a great way to end our day.

Wow...what a beautiful city. We started off with our driver, Jorge, who took us to La Ronda in colonial Quito. Very quiet on this Sunday morning and very quaint. Next, we drove to the famous Virign statue in old town that has overlooks the entire city, an incredible view of Quito. We then went to old town to see La Basilica, Latin America`s largest gothic church. It looks like the Notre Dame with flying buttresses and steep twin towers but the difference is that Paris has the gargoyles staring down at you, Quito has the amphibious animals from the Galapogas Islands in their place. Our guide took us up into the "condor" tower where we had to scale a wooden scaffolding over the ceiling of the church while mass was taking place below. Then, we had to climb 3 very steep ladders (our friend, Larry, will not forget this experience!). We arrived at the opening of a 376 ft. spire that gave us amazing views of both old and new town and a straight on view of Virgin statue between the twin towers.

On to Independence Square, home to the president of Ecuador and beautiful government colonial buildings. We see the changing of the guard at the gate to the presidential office then off to watch a traditional cultural dance and music show right off the square.

It's off to lunch and the equator. We had lunch at the Crater which has incredible views of the volcano which erupted 2000 years ago and created the basin which you see today. The window view restaurant table was like sitting right outside in the clouds. We tried a national dish - fritada - which is roasted pork and it was delicious.

Off to the equator! On the way - we were given an opportunity to see and taste the other typical meat - Cuy but it was just too hard to think about eating a little guinea pig. We know this is a traditional, typical meat but we just can't seem to get past eating what is a pet back in America.

Standing on the equator

Final stop for the day trip is the dualing visits to the equator. The 1st visit is the Muse of the Inta - which is the real equator. Laura and I manage to balance an egg on the head of a nail and all of us try our hand at walking and balancing ourselves while walking with our eyes closed on the equator line. What an experience. It was like Ripley`s Believe It or Not. The 2nd stop was the monument that is a tribute to equator but is about 600 meters away from the true equator line. Talk about a big faux pas! Oh well, we had a great time exploring the city and one of the middle of the world!

As the day came to a close, I was given the opportunity to view the city from the roof. I captured these shots from the top of the Holiday Inn Express in Downtown. Great Day!

We arrived late last night and with all the flair of a plane load of international travelers arriving, breezed through immigration and customs, hopped a cab for 8 dollars and were dropped at our hotel within a hour of arrival! Had to be the fastest processing yet. And only 8 dollars for the 4 of us.

We are off to Otavalo to see the indigenous market. Longest road in South America is the Pan American Highway, this was the starting point of our travels once we got out of Quito. The day couldn't be better, clear blue sky and the volcanos are out in force today. Our guide today tells us that we are very lucky. We can see to the south and the north today. Roads are very curvy, but the countryside is a wonderful mix of pastures, forest and agriculture. The canyons are steep and the volcanos appear to jut straight up out of the ground. We spent the day above 9000 ft and at one point, while visiting the Laguna Cuicocha where we were at 12000'. We noticed the elevation as we hiked up a trail for a look across the valley back down on Otavalo and the other small towns.

This was a jam packed day as we headed to first the farmers market where everything live is sold, and then on to the market at the square in Otavalo. Beyond the traditional wares found at any of these markets in Central and South America, the images I remarked the most about were all the vibrant colors found in the hats, scraves, pochos and the like. Because Shirley is shop a shopper we scoured the outer edges and then wandered through the center of the square.

Off to the top of an active volcano to see Cuicocha near the city of Cotacachi to see a deep crater lake and a view of the valley. These are the most magnificent and majestic views with the snow capped volcanos poking out of these steeper hills and canyons. We ate lunch at a nice grill in Cotacachi and the girls had to shop for great deals on leather. It was a very slow drive back to Quito. Apparently this is the time of the year for the pilgrimage up to the original virgin statue of in a small town. There were people everywhere, walking on both sides of the two lane road. We looked up to the east and we saw mostly women, girls, boys and some men hiking up an almost vertical mountain. It almost looked like they were on their hands and knees!

We saw the neuvo international airport in the distance as we made our way back. I will admit that the one nice thing about the old airport is the closeness to the city. This looks to be about an hour outside the town. Progress....

We arrived late last night and with all the flair of a plane load of international travelers arriving, breezed through immigration and customs, hopped a cab for 8 dollars and were dropped at our hotel within a hour of arrival! Had to be the fastest processing yet. And only 8 dollars for the 4 of us.

We are off to Otavalo to see the indigenous market. On the way back we'll stop at the equator and do the obligitory tourist thing of straddling the 0 degree line. Looking forward to taking some great pictures with my new dslr. Stay Tuned!

We have been talking about this trip for a couple of years now. For me, it was all about getting out to the Galapagos islands and walk amoungst the wildlife as a 'once in a lifetime' experience. For the couple that we are traveling with it was also about stopping in Quito and seeing the Andes with all the color and excitment of the local people.

So as we began to plan the limited time we had and chose to travel go over the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. Over the years this has become our preferred time to travel internationally. It is a US only holiday that sees domestic travel rise, but international still managable. It wasn't easy at first breaking the news to both sets of parents and our child, but I think all have adjusted. Now that we have 3 grandchildren it can add just a twinge of guilt as we are boarding that flight to whatever destination we have chosen.

Last year it was the southern most island off the coast of mainland China, Sanya. The year before that I think I remember Honduras. The year before that Costa Rica. I remember one year sitting in a restaurant in a small city on the island of St. Marteen eating roast fish, island style! I can't recall the last time I had roast turkey for dinner during the holiday. Maybe that is why I appreciate the family get togethers over the Christmas holiday so much!

I am always amazed as the research starts how things get so twisted between the guide books and reality. Take for instance this trip, where we decided the day after arrival we wanted to go up to the town of Otavalo to visit the Saturday market. Instead of booking a tour that picked us up, guided us through the market, fed us a box lunch, and then put us back on a bus to the city, we wanted to hire a driver. Guidebooks galore talk about the cheap taxis and drivers all through Quito. I must admit that when we contacted a few ahead of time I was a bit surprised by how much higher these came back than the guidance. We'll make a decision and book something prior to departure since we get in so late the night before, but part of the experience of travel is expecting the unexpected!