Finally Hitting the Water

Got up this morning bright and early.  After getting the cameras ready for the day, I went out in search of breakfast.  I found a little bakery open that had water and banana bread, so that would have to do.  Juan Carlos was supposed to meet me at my hotel at 8 am and take me to the meeting point for today's tour.  I was sitting outside the hostel waiting for him when 8 came and went.  So, I WhatsApped Alethea and told her he wasn't there, and she promptly replied that it's 7!  Okay.  So, my watch is staying on mainland time instead of island time.  I have to remember to add an hour to everything while here, then.  Island time is one hour less than home, not two, so when my phone gives me local vs home, that's how I'll know if it's switched.  In the meantime, add an hour.

So I went back to my room and watched some Netflix until time for Juan Carlos to actually get here.  He showed up a few minutes before and walked me just down to the corner and introduced me to my guide who introduced me to the actual tour provider who took me, a family from Ambato (two sisters and their two adult kids), and a Pan Am'er from Spain onto our boat for the day.  A Pan Am'er is a person who is traveling the PanAmerican Highway.  This guy shipped his vehicle from Spain to Montevideo, Uruguay.  He has been driving around South America, down into Ushuaia (but did not go on to Antarctica), and back up through Patagonia, Peru, and parking his truck in Quito for the flight to the islands.   Apparently, the family from Ambato had never snorkeled before, so we went to Playa Escondido first.  Not much to see there, but a nice place to teach people to snorkel.  It was a good spot to test out the water tightness on my camera, which was water tight in her condom (an Outex underwater housing that looks like a condom when put on), and to test my new snorkel equipment, which worked well.  So I walked around the beach and took some pix of some Sally Lightfoot crabs and other things.  

I took this swimming marine iguana before we got off the boat with my phone.  I didn't want to use the camera yet in case there was an issue with the housing.

Lava gull

Adult Sally Lightfoot Crab

Lava Heron

I noticed my straps weren't tight enough on my camera and that I was getting a condensation spot on my outer lens.  I was afraid I would have to open the housing to fix the smudge when I got back on the boat, but by the time we got back to the boat, it had cleared itself.  I missed the picture of the pelican, though.  I also learned that I prefer to use the camera without the condom if I'm not in the water.  I should have brought a second body and lens or gotten the smaller condom.  I'll know better next time.

We had some fruit (cut up oranges and bananas with strawberry syrup) for snack, looked at a few puffers who came up to the boat, and headed to our first snorkel site.  

When we pulled up, the angel fish swarmed the boat.  They were everywhere!  I got in the water first because everybody was afraid it would be cold.  It was just a tad chilly, but I acclimated quickly.  I was only wearing my rash guard.  Some of them were in wetsuites.  Our guide wanted everybody to stay together, which was a problem for me because I kept being kicked by the folks who didn't know how to snorkel.  So, I didn't really stay with the group, but close enough to not cause a problem.  The Pan-Am guy and I kinda stayed off to the side so we saw more clear water instead of bubbles and feet.  Lots of king angels, yellowtail surgeonfish, parrot fish and others.  Sooo many starfish, and I think the Pan-Am guy said he saw an octopus, but I'm not sure and I didn't see one.  It did look like some coral was starting to try to grow on some of the rocks.

Hogfish

There are at least 5 starfish in this picture.  They were everywhere!

One type of chocolate chip starfish

The king angels swarming the boat

Isn't this a beautiful specimen?

A small school of dusky sea chub

Blue-barred parrot fish

Yellowtail surgeonfish

More yellowtail surgeonfish

Redlip (?) parrotfish.  I know it's a parrotfish, but I'm not sure of the type.

Pyramid (?) starfish with yellowtail surgeonfship swimming over

This is how packed this area was with these fish.  Most were king angels and yellowtail surgeonfish

This little guy seemed to be hiding!

After snorkeling here, we got back on the boat and had some bread and butter and jam with tea before heading off for the next spot.  We trolled a line on the back of the boat, but didn't catch anything.  When we got to the next spot, nobody other than me wanted to get back in the water.  Our guide said other than sea lions, most of the rest of it was about the same as the other spot, so I just put my knock-off go pro on across my chest and left the camera on the boat.  

We started off over a bait ball.  Periodically a bigger fish would swim through and they act just like in the Tampa aquarium!  It was neat to see in real life.  I wish I could swim under water.  I would have liked to disrupt the bait ball myself.  

Then we headed over close to the rocks where the sea lions were hanging out.  OMG!  They came right up to me!  My guide kept moving me closer to them. I finally came up and asked him if we were allowed to be this close, and he said yes, so...  At first, I was a little afraid.  I mean, they are pretty big and I'm not the strongest of swimmers.  But they clearly just wanted to see how close they could get to me without touching.  They weren't at all interested in being aggressive or even in playing rough.  They just wanted to look at me and swim around me.  One of them hung upside down and looked at me, turning it's neck right side up once in a while.  Several swam under me and circled each other while swimming in front of me or beside me.  A couple of them caught a fish and watched me while they ate it.  One decided to get really close to my face and have a staring contest, eye to eye!  And one swam under me while rolling then came up and jumped over me!  My guide pushed my butt down further under the water to make sure I didn't touch him.  We aren't allowed to touch the wildlife.  I was laughing so hard and having so much fun, and I'm sure the noises I was making was attracting them more!  I felt like a little kid.  Even clapped my hands together a few times!  (Later, I learned that bubbles attract them, and my laughing and clapping was definitely making bubbles!) Then suddenly, all the sea lions started heading out of the water, and the guide grabbed me and pulled me onto the rocks.  A zodiac started coming around and getting people out of the water and taking them to their boats.  Apparently, somebody saw a big shark.  Our guide wasn't sure if it was a bull shark or a galapagos shark, but it wasn't one of the little sharks that hang out with people.  We were also in an area where baby sea lions have been recently born, so there is blood in the water that will attract both of those types of sharks (and others), so the snorkeling was over for everybody.  This was one of the best experiences of my life, and I hated for it to end.

After getting back on board, we had lunch of fish, rice, and chifles and watched the sea lions on the rocks.  We also watched the blue-footed boobies.  I had seen many of them on the mainland, but on the sandy water it's not so evident how they reflect the colors below them on their white chests.  These guys looked like they were glowing torquoise!  Absolutely gorgeous!  I tried to get some pictures, but they just aren't even decent.  I have a hard enough time taking bird pictures on terra firma.  On a rocking boat, it's just not happening!

We got back, and I went back to my room and took a shower.  Started downloading pix and learned that I did not actually turn on the go pro for the sea lions.  I could have sworn I checked it, though, and it said it was running.  Regardless, I didn't get a single bit of the bait ball or sea lions except some phone shots I took from the boat.

I did get decent shots of the sea lions taking up the bench on the pier and some iguanas sunning themselves.

Hopefully, I'll have better luck with the penguins and maybe have another opportunity with the sea lions.

Arriving to the Galapagos and Shaking a Creep

I got up this morning in Guyaquil a little after 6, before the alarm went off, and got ready to go.  I ordered breakfast this time.  Big mistake.  First, they have to take you next door.  Then it was scrambled eggs and a funky cheese sandwich.  No fruit.  No black tea, but there was a jasmine herbal bag.  The watermelon juice was good and the scrambled eggs were okay.  I've had better.  Headed to the airport after breakfast.  Breakfast there would have been more expensive, but at least it would have been tasty.  Oh well.  Live and learn.

I found the line to get the Transit Control Card (TCT).  It looks like any other airline ticket counter.  I waited in line then gave the guy my passport.  He filled everything out for me, getting most things right.  He just left out part of my name, but nobody seemed to care.  You must run every bag you plan to take to the Galapagos with you through a scanner, where they look for seeds, dirt, and other things that might contaminate the islands.  My bags cleared, and I decided to check my carry on case, since there is no layover.  Kinda hard to lose it with only one stop.  So, they zip tied it closed.  My backpack with my camera and other electronics was left unsecured.  After checking my bag and getting through security, I bought a bag of chips and a soda pop for much more than I should have, even considering airport prices, but hey, they're imports here and imports are taxed heavily, a tax paid by the consumer.  Almost $15 just for a large (not family sized large, just 174 grams) bag of Lays and a 410 ml bottle of Coke without sugar.  

I got on the flight and learned that I didn't need to do that because I bought premium seats on this set of flights since they were only a couple of dollars more, and they fed us lunch in the good seats!  Nothing great, just a ham and cheese sandwich and a small bag of Ruffles.  I ate my sandwich and left my Ruffles closed and hoped they would let me bring both bags of chips into the islands!

My seat mate waffled between sleeping and trying to carry on conversation with me.  He just seemed a little “off” to me.  No big, though.  It was a short flight.  When we landed, he stayed close to me, even getting my suitcase off the stand it was sitting on for me before I could lift it off.  I couldn't even shake him when I went to the ladies room.  It was like he waited for me to come out!  He made sure I knew to get a ticket for the bus instead of just paying the driver on the bus, and then he sat beside me on the bus to the ferry.  On the bus, he started asking questions that crossed the line – things like what hostel was I staying in, so I just told him I had somebody meeting me on the other side of the ferry (which was the truth, as my tour guide hired me a personal driver to pick me up there).  It really didn't seem to help.  He kept on.  He didn't even take the hint when I started turning away from him and snapping pictures out the window.  After several tries, I did get a shot of the "Iguana Crossing" sign.

First looks at the Baltra side of the ferry terminal.

He made sure my suitcase got loaded onto the same ferry I was on (and him,too), but I squeezed between a couple of other people so he couldn't sit by me on the ferry.  I did feel like a local when everybody started yelling out the color and size of their cases so the dock workers would load them on the right boat.  I was good and loud with “Pequenia morada!  No, la otra!  Si, esso!”  The luggage went on the same boat we were in, which was very overloaded, past maximum occupancy (not even counting the captain) and with the luggage just kind of hanging on the edges.  I'm not sure how we didn't lose at least one bag!

When we were unloading on Santa Cruz Island, I had my backpack over one shoulder, like I normally carry it, and he decided to adjust the strap and grab my other arm so it would go over both shoulders.  Not cool!  But rather than turn and potentially cause problems on the boat (on which I wasn't terribly stable to begin with), I just kept walking, thinking I would get my suitcase after somebody took it off the boat for me.  Unfortunately, this guy was the one that took it off, following after me!  So, I got my bag, and I saw my driver.  My tour guide had sent me a picture of him and his name, and I also saw him holding a sign but I was too far away to read it.  I yelled, “Wilson!” and headed toward him.  He seemed to catch on because he yelled back, “Beth!” and came quickly to collect me, grabbing my suitcase, and clutching my shoulder like an old friend while tucking his sign away so it wasn't very obvious.  I don't know if he got it or if he was just putting the card away since he no longer needed it and he just responded in kind, but the creep then backed off.  I don't have the Spanish to convey my relief to him and the safety he provided, but I did let my tour guide know.  This was only the first of the times I was really happy I went with a local tour guide, and specifically the one I chose.  Before anyone asks, I used Galapagos Surf Discovery, and I highly recommend them!

Wilson took me to the place where the volcano crater collapsed without any eruption, Los Gemelos.  A huge sinkhole!  I tried, but my camera didn't have a wide enough angle lens to get the whole thing.  Even having lived in Florida, where sinkholes are an everyday occurence, this one was impressive!  

Wilson was chilly, and it was a bit moist and cool out, so after showing me a few things about the formation and surrounding flora, he went back to the truck while I finished the hike.  Saw some pretty birds, but couldn't get any decent pictures of them because they stayed behind the trees.  The flora was pretty thick, and the ground was wet, so I didn't get very aggressive on trying to get to a focus point.  

After I finished my hike, he took me to see the tortoises.  He gave me a choice of two different reserves, and I chose the one with the shorter walk to and through the lava tunnels.  Go me!  Lazy forever!  Driving to the reserve was amazing!  So many tortoises!  Just in the field with the cattle and the cattle egrets!  He stopped for several and taught me how to tell the difference between the males and females.  (The females are smaller and darker and have shorter tails.)  He stopped for a gargantuan one, too, but I couldn't get a good shot of him because there was so much other stuff in front and the focus never would take.  He said they eat all of the corn, ears and the whole plant and he showed me the low bamboo fences they lay to keep the tortoises out of the corn fields.  Big enough bamboo logs that the tortoises cannot get over them!

When we got to the reserve, we put on gum boots and shloshed through the field, stopping at a couple of big guys munching on the grass.  Our guide, David, spoke excellent English and told us the other way to tell the males from the females (flat vs concave lower carapace so the male can get on top).  Kinda hard to look for that one when they're walking around, though!  He also told us that these tortoises live to about 175 years.  He says it's difficult to age them until their upper carapace smooths out, at around 100 years, and no longer has any big dents in it.  In another part of the island, there is a different species of tortoise that has longer front legs and longer necks because they live on more arid turf and have to reach higher to forage.

She is under 100 years old, just a young un'!

He said they eat and then they just leach out the vitamins and nutrients from the grass without really digesting it.  After they have their nutritents, they just expell a “grass ball” as poop.  It's a big grass ball, too!  When David kicked it open, you could see that the grass inside was still intact!

Because they're cold blooded, they like to lay in water to regulate their temperature.  We couldn't see his head and was wondering how he breathes, so David took us around and showed us how, if you looked really closely, you could see his little nose up under the carapace elevated just above the water.

After that, we went by a pond and talked about poison apple trees that are good for the tortoises, but will kill humans.  And we went to the lava tunnels.  I've seen a bunch of lava tunnels, and these weren't really anything special, except there was an owl at the entrance of the second one!

Common gallinule that was at the pond.  Not sure what the difference is between the gallinule and the moorhen, but Google tells me the moorhen doesn't live in or visit the Galapagos Islands.

Lava tunnel

Barn owl in the lava tunnel.

After that, Wilson brought me to my hostel (Hostal Sir Francis Drake in Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island) and made sure everything was good for me to get checked in before he left me.  The hostal was great.  Hot water, comfy bed, but the internet sucked, which is to be expected on the islands.

Tomorrow, I will finally get in the water!  Alethea with Galapagos Surf Discovery has arranged for Juan Carlos to meet me at my hostel and walk me to where I meet my group, making sure to hand me off to the right group!  She says it can get confusing since all tours meet at the same place, and she wanted to make sure there were no hitches for me!  I'm sure I could have navigated it on my own (like I normally do), but it was nice not having to!  A lot less stress already.

Revisiting Puerto Lopez and the Ecuadorean Coast

After a full day of flights (Gulfport to Charlotte, then Charlotte to Miami, and finally Miami to Guyaquil) I finally made it to Ecuador.  I boarded my first flight around 7:00 am Central time, went into the Eastern Time Zone, and finally landed around 10:00 pm Central time at my temporary destination.  I don't think any of the flight attendants spoke Spanish, and it was important on that last flight because most of the passengers didn't speak English!  At least neither of the two flight attendants that came to my part of the plane spoke Spanish, and anytime a passenger spoke to them, they just shrugged their shoulders.  Usually on flights that have multinational passengers, any announcement made in one language is followed by the same announcement in at least one other language.  Not the case here.  I found myself doing the best I could to keep those around me informed of what was going on.  This was especially important when one older Kichwa lady in traditional dress could not read her boarding pass and didn't know what seat she was in and when several people were confused about what food and beverages were offered for free and what ones were offered for sale.  I was exhausted by the time we got landed in Guayaquil!  I caught the shuttle to my hostal and got a restless night of sleep.

Up early the next morning, and got a shuttle back to the airport so I could pick up my rental car.  Didn't do it last night because it was dark by the time I got there, and it's too hard to see livestock on the road after dark in Ecuador.  After presenting my prepaid voucher, that said I could use my credit card or travel insurance, they said I had to purchase their insurance on the car or I could not rent it!  What a scam!  But, it is what it is, and I needed a car!  So, I bought the insurance for more than the rent on the car was!  The dude taking me to the car did an inspection and recorded every little scratch or ding on it!  God only know what is going to happen when I take it back after being in Puerto Lopez for a few days!

So, with tears in my eyes (like Arlo Guthrie) over the price paid, I got in the little silver Chevy Joy and headed out.  I will have to say they seem to have learned to mostly drive within the lines in Guayaquil.  There were only a couple of times that it seemed there were 5 lanes of traffic where there were only 3 lanes marked.  Having made it through Guayaquil, I stopped at a roadside fruit stand and picked up a pound of grapes for breakfast and a guanabano for later.  I forgot I was driving a stick, and promptly killed the engine when I stopped without pressing the clutch.  The lady at the stand and I had a good laugh about that.

As I passed by the shrimp farms outside of San Pablo, I finally saw the flamingos!  Bruce and I would drive slowly in hopes that the flamingos eating the shrimps would be close enough that I could get a picture, and it never happened.  Lo and behold - when I'm driving by myself - there they were!  In the pond right beside the road!  So, I pulled over by the "no parking" sign (a sign with a big E in a circle with a line through it), got my camera out and snapped a few pictures.  I figured if a cop stopped by, I could pretend I didn't speak any Spanish and did not know what that sign meant.  I've successfully done it before.  And besides!  Since when did they not allow parking along that stretch of road!  Almost as surprising as the "No Littering or you'll be fined" (No tirar basura - MULTA) signs along the Via la Costa in Guyas Province!  Too bad those didn't last once Guyas was behind me!

Also, the Ruta del Sol was so full of potholes that it reminded me of the road toward Montecristi, where we dented a rim one time!  The Ruta had always been one of the better roads!  But, as I got to Solango, I saw that they were fixing it.  Apparently, they started in Jipijapa and are working their way south fixing it.  They've also put in a few new roads, and there are now more ways to get to Manta than just along the coast or through Montecristi!  Who wuda figured!  But, Manta wasn't really on my radar for this trip, so I didn't check out the new roads.

So, I got to my hotel, and I've got to put in a shameless plug.  This hotel is owned by a friend, who hooked me up for my visit.  But DUDES!!  I had never been in any of the rooms, just the restaurant before.  These rooms are wicked awesome!  He put me in an ocean view room on the ground floor, and it was nothing short of AMAZING!  If you ever go to Puerto Lopez (and I strongly recommend that you do), the Victor Hugo Hotel is the bees knees!  Tell them that I sent you!  It won't get you a discount, but they might get a kick out of it!

I've done all the tourist things:  Playa Los Frailes, Agua Blanca, Paseja de monos, Isla de la Plata, whale watching (which isn't in season right now), and the others, so you can look at past posts to see about them.  I came into town this trip to see frinds, so I won't bore you with those details.

I slept most of the rest of the day that I arrived and spent the next day at my friends' house.  Saturday, they came and picked me up, taking me to La Rinconada on the Manbi/Santa Elena border for lunch, where I had my favorite, arroz con cameron (rice with shrimp).  I don't think this restaurant was there when we lived there.  I remember the little street going to it, but I don't remember the place.  It's quite snazzy and has an overlook down to the ocean.  You can walk down the steep area, but we didn't do that.  I'm old and there was a baby with us!

After lunch, my friends made arrangements to take me to the turtle hospital for Parque Nacional Machillila.  He has a friend that works there, so he called and made arrangements to take me in.  It was awesome!  Not just sea turtles, but also fresh-water turtles!  We got to pet them, too.  Some of these guys are here for cold shock, but most are in for injuries, including broken bones under the carapace.  You would think this would be mostly accidental, but Juan said that they are actually intentionally hit with oars, poles, and other things, hard enough to break the bone behind the neck, similar to our collar bone, which is the most common injury he gets.  I mean, come on, guys!  Really?!

In the evening, we had ice cream and talked at my hotel before all heading to bed for the night.  I have missed these guys since I left Puerto Lopez, and I will miss them again.  The older kids are amazing; the parents (my friends) are fabulous; and the baby is just so happy!

Ecuador has been experiencing some issues with electricity recently.  The country relies almost exclusively on hydroelectric power, and they have been experiencing a drought, so they have had rolling blackouts.  While I was there, they had some rain up in the mountains.  Since I've been there, the electricity has been out in Puerto Lopez until 8:00 in the morning, so I've been sleeping in.  On my last day on the mainland, the lights weren't turned off!  I had been up for a while, functioning in the half dark, when I realized the AC was on, so I tried the lights, and they worked!  Since the lights were still on, I got dressed and mostly packed and had breakfast early.  So, I left earlier than planned and decided to make some stops along the coast to see how things had changed.

I walked along the malecon in Puerto Lopez and took pix of the things I saw yesterday while my friend was driving, like the gigantic statue of fishermen catty-cornered from the Banco Pinchincha!  

And Puerto Lopez's letters!  They have 2 sets (one in the center of town and one on the south end), and many of the cabanas on the beach have their own set!  They even have a paid parking area, too!  

This set (in the center of town) is difficult to see because there is so much going on around it!

Even the pier has letters now!

The frigate birds and pelicans still hang out around the area where they unload the fish.  This is a femal because it has a black head and white throat.  Juveniles have a white head, and adult males have a red throat.

The guys that sell things on the beach have expanded, and fishing on the beach is now permitted.  This guy sells poles and other things you would need to bring in your catch!

They still have the tours for snorkeling and to Isla de la Plata, Isla Salango, and all of the other things they did before, but they have added kayaking and paddle boarding.  It has developed into a whole touristy town that even has a whale tail statue!

The beach cabanas line the whole central portion of the malecon now instead of just a few scattered along, and the beach chairs and covers are always on the beach instead of only being brought out for special occasions.  

I also noticed that the people don't look so drawn anymore, either.  The town seems to have flourished and the people have more of a spring in their step and a less stressed look overall.

I stopped on the south end of town and got a last shot of Puerto Lopez.  The building at the top of the hill is still empty.

Olon has also made some changes, but the orphanage in Montanita is still hanging on the hillside.  The road to get there is now blocked off to the general public, though, and the Montanita surfer dude has some fresh paint.  I didn't go down into Montanita.  It looked pretty much the same as I drove by.  Eddie's place in Olon has a for rent sign on it, so I guess he isn't selling street tacos there anymore.

In one of the little towns (El Entrada?) where there used to be deep drainage ditches on both sides of the road, those ditches have been filled in.

The little road we always cut through to bypass downtown San Pedro is now paved, and the gas station in Ballenita can only be accessed from that side of the road.  That interchange by the gas station, turning to San Vicente toward GYE, now looks like an interstate.  Going to Guyaquil, it's a cloverleaf.  I made a U turn to go to the bathroom, had to drive back through San Pedro's outskirts to get turned around, and then almost missed my turn because I was looking for it on the left, where it used to be, but it was a clover leaf from the right.  I also stopped to try to get the car washed, but there was no electricity with the rolling blackouts.  I hope the Puerto Lopez dirt doesn't get considered extra dirty and cost $100 for cleaning.

Another change is that in most places, there isn't so much trash on the side of the road.  In Guyas Province, they actually fine you for littering, so I saw very little litter in Guyas.  They should probably start doing that in Santa Elena and Manabi.

Bruce's favorite little church on top of the hill with all the stairs is gone.  I think they leveled the hill and put a great big gas station there.  There's a new Petro-Ecuador refinery on the Via la Costa on the Santa Elena side not far from where it was.

I managed to get to the airport and turn in the car with no issues.  They gave me my full deposit back.  I decided to have McDonald's in the airport before calling for the shuttle to my hostal and ran into Donald and Daisy Duck who were also ordering (with the help of their handler).  They were kind enough to let me have a pic.  I ordered a chicken club meal, forgetting the Ecuadorean bacon is not crispy.  It was a little disappointing.  But, I wasn't expecting much from Mickey D's anyway.  Should have gone with the Big Mac.

I finally made it to my hostal, and got the pictures downloaded and the SD card cleared.  After a nice, hot shower, I got repacked and ready to head to the islands to start the tourist portion of this trip!  Galapagos Islands, here I come!