I can't believe it has taken me this long to get some time to write about my trip in late June to Ecuador. As I mentioned in my last blog, my good friend and coworker, Ryan, and I got assigned to go on the Galapagos / Ecuador FAM trip for work. We only had to pay for our flights which was nice. The trip was around 8 days (Wednesday - Thursday) and consisted of a land portion in Quito, Otavlo, and Magdalena, then onto the Galapagos Islands.
Day 1 - Arrival to Ecuador
Today we took a late flight from Lima to Quito. It's nice that in only 2 hours we could get to the capital of another South American city (flying from the states would have taken hours longer). Unfortunately, it was Rodrigo's birthday so we felt bad missing it, but we had wanted to get to Quito a day early to be able to have one extra day.
Day 2 - Free Day in Ecuador
Today we got up early and went to explore the city of Quito. We went up to the Teleferico and took a gondola up the mountain side to see the city from up high. Unfortunately, the day was pretty overcast so it didn't look as great as it would have if it was clear. Quito is surrounded by a number of volcanoes which makes it really beautiful. It's a big city (bigger than I had expected for some reason) so it was nice to see it from above. Ryan and I took a horse-back ride to enjoy the views some more and to check out a volcano that was covered by a huge cloud :( Oh well. The ride was fun though! Afterwards, we went back down to our hotel and took our luggage to our new hotel (Hotel Quito). We grabbed lunch, and worked most of the afternoon to catch up on emails.
Day 3 - Quito City Tour & Mitad del Mundo
Today we did a full-day tour of the main sites of Quito, as well as the equator. The historical center of Quito was beautiful. We got to see some monasteries, as well as saw one of the wisest historians (can't remember his name at the moment but he did talk to me :)). We then had lunch on our way out of the city, and then checked out the equator. It was really neat to do some activities playing with the center of gravity. For example, they showed us how water being flushed (or drained) on either side of the equator goes different ways. Very interesting to see in person! It's also very hard to walk in a straight line on the equator line - both sides are pulling you gravitationally ! It was a long day of touring and we were exhausted after getting back.
Day 4 - Otavalo Market & Arrival to Magdalena Community
Today we woke up early to get to the Otavalo market. I'm not much of a shopper, but at the largest market in South America, I couldn't help but go nuts! I bought a few purses, hair bands, scarves, and other trinkets :) It was huge! Afterwards, we also got to buy hand-carved wood boxes. The hand-crafted arts were so beautiful. They were expensive though! I can only imagine how many hours some of these life-size carvings would have taken with all of the detail that they had. We stopped for lunch at a local spot where some children did some traditional dancing and we ate guinea pig, chicken, corn, soup, and other food for lunch :) The children were absolutely adorable!
In the afternoon, we arrived to the community of Magdalena. This community has been working together with Klein tours in order to give tourists the opportunity to come out to "the campo" and experience life in the shoes of real locals. They are given the opportunity to do community work, including harvesting, painting, volunteering in schools, etc. Most tourists only stay 1 night, but the longer you stay, the more time you have to volunteer and just take in the beautiful landscapes. Each house is renovated (it was not the most "rustic" accommodations I've ever stayed in, but for some it may feel that way). They had electricity, hot water, and even wi-fi! That isn't rustic in my book... Upon arrival we settled into our rooms, and then took a hike up to get a view of the community as well as the surrounding volcanoes. From where we hiked up to, we could practically see Colombia (we were very far North in Ecuador). It was so cool to be so close to another country! We then had a delicious local dinner of trout, soup, and some juice and went to bed pretty early. They even gave us hot water bottles to put in our beds to keep from getting too cold :)
Day 5 - Salinas & Return to Quito
Today we woke up bright and early to get one more hike in before leaving for the train to Las Salinas. The train itself was kind of boring, but seeing the town of Las Salinas was pretty cool. It was interesting because the people there have more African roots and look very different from the typical Andean roots. Just an hour of being on a train, and we had entered a totally different culture!
We then had a long ride back to Quito where we slept most of the way. Upon arrival to Quito, we caught up on our emails and then had some dinner and packed up to get ready for our trip to the Galapagos Islands!
Day 6 - Arrival to the Galapagos Islands
We were picked up around 5am to go to the airport today. It was tiring but we were so excited that we didn't care! Our flight stopped in Guayaquil then arrived to the Galapagos. We stepped into the tropical climate and it was so exciting! We took a shuttle to a dinghy to take us to the ship. We settled into our room (a Junior Suite with huge windows out to the ocean) and then had our first delicious lunch on board the Legend cruise ship. Normally, the boat holds up to 100 passengers, but since it was the off season there was only 30-40 of us passengers on deck. Needless to say it wasn't crowded and we had lots of space on deck for us!
After lunch, we had an excursion to see the giant tortoises on Santa Cruz. They were amazing to see in person - huge! We also saw our first seals, as well as some local kids doing some traditional dances. It was a great first day. Dinner was also delicious and we slept like rocks :)
Day 7 - Egas Port & Bartolome
Today we had two excursions. In the morning we visited Egas Port where we walked around the rocky terrain and saw different birds, crabs, seals, and other animals. Afterwards we got to have our first snorkeling experience in the Galapagos which was amazing! We got to see sea turtles up close, and the seals came right up to us as well! It was a little scary but so cool at the same time!
After having lunch on the ship, we laid out by the pool before arriving to the next excursion. We went to Bartolome and climbed lots of stairs to get to the top of the island. The views from the top were breath-taking, especially for a crystal-clear day, with blue ocean and sky for miles. It was absolutely amazing! I got very burned this day (so close to the Ecuador it's hard not to). We had the opportunity to snorkel again, but we decided to walk along the beach and enjoy the view of Pinnacle rock. We also saw some penguins! So interesting to see them in a warm climate.
After dinner, there was a "dance party" with lots of salsa and bachata which of course Ryan and I loved! Most of the "tourists" didn't stick around because they didn't know how to dance so it seemed much more like a staff party + travel agents than anything. It was fun though :)
Day 8 - Dragon Hill & North Seymour
Today we also had two excursions. In the morning, we visited Dragon Hill in order to see the giant lizards. We also saw some flamingos and a variety of other birds. The dragons were cool but I didn't enjoy this island as much as Bartolome.
In the afternoon, after lunch, we had another opportunity to do "deep-ocean snorkeling" which was off the boat. We got to see some reef sharks as well as some seals and lots of fish of course. I really enjoyed this but thought we would have been farther out in the ocean. Ryan was hoping we would see some hammer head sharks but I am glad we didn't... haha
After snorkeling, we went to North Seymour which is where we had the opportunity to see lots of birds nesting, including the blue-footed boobies. We also saw a baby seal which was absolutely adorable! We also saw the blue-footed boobies doing their "mating dance" as well. One our the little boys in our tour group, who had been "flirting" with me throughout the whole trip, didn't leave my side during this tour and ended up holding my hand during most of the walk haha (he was 5 years old). He was absolutely adorable!
That night, we had our last dinner and toast. We talked some with our new friends we made on the cruise, as well as the "Russian" who had only complaints about the trip...
Day 9 - Bachas Beach - Santa Cruz
Hasta luego!
