THE GALAPAGOS

It seems to me when one travels for a while they begin to develop their own “style of traveling.” Some people study a place intensely beforehand. When they arrive, they point things out, complete with dates, authors, architects, artists and/or periods, with the excitement of knowing what something is and seeing it for the first time. I respect this, even envy it for its’ practicality and discipline. But my personal style is to arrive a blank slate. I consciously choose to study as little about where I’m going as possible. True or not, I feel my experience is more genuine when I encounter something with fewer preconceptions. When I leave and I’m on a plane or bus, I then like to immerse myself in literature and fact finding to help supplement and understand what I saw. Perhaps this style developed because I have a vivid and overly optimistic imagination and I’m subconsciously protecting myself from disappointment. Or perhaps it’s that I’m a tangible learner and don’t retain what I can’t touch and feel. Or, maybe, I’m just lazy. Nevertheless, it’s what works for me. And, in the Galapagos, I think my style is especially rewarded. No book can prepare you for the experience. Granted, the Galapagos is one of those places on earth in which it’s impossible not to have a good deal of preconceptions. Our imaginations conjour things for which our eyes have no reference. And our imaginations are given much to chew on in grade school. But, without review and in-depth study beforehand, it is startling how desolate it is on Isla Baltra, where we landed our plane. Later I learned that this is what most of the early people who landed in the Galapagos thought of it. And I experienced a little piece of what they must’ve felt discovering the islands for the first time (sin the panic of being stranded there). And that was the first in a series of visceral responses that, when linked together in context, made this trip one of the most unique and impressionable of my life.

We arrived with little more than luggage, a week and a battle plan for obtaining a last minute cruise deal that we could barely afford. Armed with directions from our Lonely Planet Guide, we took a bus to the end of Baltra and marveled at the turquoise water as we hopped on board a ferry to Isla Santa Cruz. They scuttled us from plane to bus to ferry back to bus with the efficiency of a well-oiled machine. Our vista gradually changed as we traveled across Santa Cruz, a “middle aged” and populated island, to Puerto Ayora from the dry desolation of Baltra to lush, damp and strange forests. I spotted a huge turtle walking down some farmer’s driveway! We found our hostel, dropped our bags and quickly proceeded to the recommended travel agency hoping to find and book a tour that began the following day. There was one boat with room available and it started and ended exactly when we wanted and it was a first class boat but with a big discount and it was really all just more than PERFECT! Sipping on overpriced mojitos that night while awaiting what was to come, we hoped our eight day cruise on board the “Yolita II” was as good as it sounded. Because the very action of booking this trip meant we would need to cut our “big adventure” short by two weeks and cancel our upcoming Spanish classes in Peru and Argentina. Goodbye Japan, the South Pacific and possible fluency and hello to The Galapagos Islands! I’ll digress about “choices in life, their consequences and what that says about you, your parents, your pets and your hair” at a later date.

Once on board, we found our ship to be that of a dream. Instead of the stacked bunk beds under deck that we’d imagined, we had a large room on the 2nd floor of the ship with a great view, a king size bed and regular size bath, larger than most in New York. Meals were three course. And they welcomed us with snacks after every outing, hot chocolate and cookies after scuba. Washington, our guide, posted our schedule for the day the night before. And pretty soon our attention span and mental capacity regressed to those of Kindergarteners. It was great to be in Kindergarten again. We took Dramamine that first day and avoided the fate of another family that could be heard wretching throughout the first night.

Each day we met a new island with it’s own unique blend of wildlife and vegetation or lack thereof. We began on the relatively young Island of "Rabida" which was a deep red, rocky, scorched and inhabited mainly by sea lions.



We did our first snorkel that morning in the middle of the open ocean just off some large rocky formation jutting out of the sea. It was my first time to snorkel in the open ocean and I kept looking around for sharks and then for everyone else and then for sharks again. My instincts for self-preservation are strong and overwhelmed my instincts for reason. With the waves pounding me closer to the rocks, gasping for air as my lungs gripped up from the cold, I was truly scared. Little did I know by the end of the trip I’d be swimming so close to reef sharks that their fins would brush my stomache.

Below are pictures, videos and highlights of the other islands we visited and things we saw:

“Chinese Hat Island”
(young island that looks like wet, hard lava w/ penguins (!) and marine iguanas….you could watch the marine iguanas eating algae on the rocks under water…this was a favorite island of mine for snorkeling….Bobby has footage of a sea lion chasing off a reef shark....Our first “wet landing” found us face to face with a newborn sea lion pup. OMG. Even Bobby began using words like “cute” and “monkey” and “cutelilmonkey” It was so cute that I was able to overlook the intense lingering odor I learned to expect near sea lion colonies that can only be the result of a diet of fish and a lacksedazical attitude about sewage. I mean really.)

chinese hat from Robert Kelly on Vimeo.

“Bartolome Island”
(desolate, rocky young island…the good ole U.S.A is responsible for the odd shape of the rock in the picture….they tested missles on this island back during WWII…)



Swimming with sea lions was my very favorite experience. They are so incredibly playful. If you free dive, then put your arms by your sides and spin, they spin around you. And if you just go under and look at them, they’ll swim right at you and duck out at the last minute. It’s thrilling.

Mangroves off of “Santa Cruz Island”
(Pelicans fishing, cranes, rays, sharks and lots of turtles…they mate here…the female will mate with multiple males over the course of hours…when she is exhausted, she hangs on to the mangrove roots and rests)



“North Seymor Island”
(Frigates....it takes the male about 30 minutes to inflate his red sack and hours to deflate it...frigates are really cool...they are the pirates of the air....their wings are huge and graceful and would be crushed if they dove into the ocean to fish...so they steal instead, Boobies....who fish quite efficiently, diving dramatically in large groups to overwhelm their prey...they look cute and funny on land but they are like arrows in the air.... and Sea Lions)



“Bachas Island”
(Flamingo lagoon)



“Santa Fe Island”
(Beautiful Island w/ crystal clear water and white sand beaches….lot’s of reef sharks hang around the rocky edges and our guide had us swim into a huge cluster of them….I didn’t know what was there until it was too late….Jesus may be able to walk on water but I found out I can lay on top of it {when a shark went underneath me and I felt his fin tickle my stomache}!!!)




“Espanola Island”
(Old and dieing island, home to the albatross)



“Floreana Island”
(Old island, Flamingos, snorkeling around “Devil’s Crown”....Miss scaredy pants sees 2 hammerheads swimming below…tried to show Bobby who was the one who actually wanted to see hammerheads but he missed them : ( ….barracuda, rays)



Soccer Game with the crew on "Post Card Island" (We won!)



Dolphins surround our boat on the way back to Puerta Ayora.



Needless to say, we had a fabulous time, saw amazing things and met wonderful people (shout out to our boat mates!). Seeing these islands and how they’ve moved along the tectonic plates over time from birth, to maturity, to death set my mind spinning in ways for which I’ve yet to find the right words. You’re literally able to touch the past, present and future at the same time. The world is an amazing place. And you realize just how much so at The Galapagos Islands.

AIRLINE MAYHEM and wild goose chases……

All was going perfectly Wednesday morning heading out of Banos and on to the next phase of our journey, The Galapagos Islands. We both woke up at 4am easily. Our driver was on time. And we got to the airport early. I’d reserved my tickets online but was unable to pay due to internet peculiarities. The email message from the agent said to pay at the airport. So, when we arrived, I used my very best Spanish.
Q: ?Disculpe, Senor, donde puedo comprar boletos de TACA, por favor?
A: Blahmasrapidoblah….a la derecha.
Thank God he pointed. Okay, so that way and to the right. We walked and looked but we saw no TACA signs. No hay problema. I’ll ask someone else. This time I strategically tried out the more friendly, informal address I’d noticed was commonplace, hoping to garner a more thoughtful, helpful and thorough explanation.
Q: “?Disculpe, amigo, sabes donde es TACA?
A:”Blahblahblahblhablahblahblah”…..
Hmmmm…..
Q: “Despacio, por favor, mi Espanol is muy mal”
….Phew! I had succeeded in at least illiciting pity and he seemed confident as he led us back in the other direction and took us to an odd random looking doorway.
Q: “Aqui?”
A: “Si”
Q: “Seguro”
A: “Si”
….Muchas Gracias and off he went. Bobby and I looked at each other and then to the unmarked doorway. It turns out we were directed to an airplane control center of some sort. They held my passport and made Bobby stay downstairs as I went up to the control room on the third floor for TACA. I could hear them directing pilots as I explained my situation to the perturbed man I’d interrupted doing an obviously important job of what I’m assuming was grounding planes from the way he was talking. He quickly explained that it was not possible to purchase tickets at the airport. We needed to take a taxi to the TACA office twenty minutes away. He jotted down the address and nudged me on my way with an assuring but firm nod at what could only have been a confused face looking back at him. But our plane leaves in 2 hours was what my blank face and dropped bottom lip read to the back now facing me. Shit! I rushed downstairs and we headed to grab a taxi. Rule 1: Never seek a taxi in Quito, Ecuador in desperation and without agreeing on the fare. We did try mind you. But he assured us he would use the meter and we’d yet to hear warnings about rigged meters. Traffic made the trip slow and when he finally pulled up to stop it wasn’t at the TACA office. “No entiendo, este no es TACA. Necesitamos TACA.” I showed him the address again. “No es mejor! (No, it’s better!)” he said. He obviously had relatives who worked at this travel agency and wanted us to get our tickets here. Great. With the meter still running and suspiciously fast, mind you, I explained: “No entiende. Tenemos un reservacion con TACA. Necesitamos solamente pagar. Ahora, por favor, a TACA!” He sped away. We arrive. TACA is closed, a beautiful new detail in this evolving nightmare. Galapagos is so close but seems so far away now. I can taste the salt water as we look longingly at the closed office, meter still ticking. Fifteen minutes later and with one hour before our flight, I explain the situation to the lady opening the gate. But we don’t fly to the Galapagos, she said. What, you don’t? No, we have no flights to the Galapagos. I look down at the crumpled post-it and its' scribblings of my reservation code # and airline. Very clearly I have written: “TAME.”

Fifteen minutes later we are back at the airport, $40 (our entire budget for the day) lighter and with 45 minutes to go. We enter the TAME stand, purchase our tickets and make the flight. Sitting there in the airplane with sweat dripping off of us, I can tell it’s difficult for my husband to decide whether to kill me right then and there or simply be happy we made it.

Baños Bike Clip

We don't have footage of us riding a bike on the actual main road because we were riding at high speeds, downhill, in Equadorian traffic which has the invisible third lane.. Sometimes the road goes under a tunnel and for bikes you take a separate path ( and breath for a sec). There were some nice views.

Baños

Foothills around Baños
Originally uploaded by automaticbobby

I liked this town a lot. I guess Katie has pretty much explained. We packed a lot of activity into a small amount of time there, including walking - mostly uphill. We rode mountain bikes on an actual mountain, which is actually a first for us. I also putted around on a four wheeler which was geared pretty low, I'm assuming for all the inclines. We'll post some of the video soon.

More importantly I hope to post some pics of the bizarre taxidermy we found in a museum above the iglesia (Lucy would get a kick out of this).

Go for the cascades and amazing views.

B

BANOS, ECUADOR

The rooftop café of our hostal was a pleasant surprise that first morning. In all seriousness, we didn’t see the sun our entire 2 weeks in Montanita. And when we climbed to the top floor, we were literally basking in sunlight. Our eyes adjusted to find we were flanked on all sides by magnificent mountains. Being in Banos is what I imagine it is like to be in the Swiss Alps. The setting is simply beautiful. After breakfast, we rented mountain bikes for the day and took the road to Puyo. It’s a dramatic descent from the mountains to the mouth of the jungle. I am not a mountain biker (or any kind of biker for that matter). It was painful and terrifying 65% of the time. But it was well worth it. We didn’t make it all the way to Puyo. We took too many stops and stayed too long looking at the amazing waterfalls along the way. I think I would be without legs if we had gone any farther. To get to the waterfalls, you usually had a 25 minute walk down the side of a very steep mountain. And a 25 minute walk down is about a 40 minute feel-the-burn-I-can’t-breathe-my-heart-is-stopping walk back up. Couple that with thighs already tingling from biking uphill and continued digestive problems and I think we did really good to get over halfway to Puyo! It was a beautiful day and the physical challenge was therapeutic after nearly the entire day before spent sitting in a bus. We caught an open air bus and road back to Banos as the sun set (Ahhh…..). Our second day in Banos was spent checking out the town and hiking the small trails that surround. We were quite sore and took it easy. That evening we tried out the “best baths” in town, Las Pinscinas del Virgen. The natural hot springs are just below the waterfall inside town. The walk to the pools was nice but the pools themselves were small and crowded with screaming children and old men in bikinis. In Costa Rica, Diana and Andy took us to an amazing hot springs complex with loads of natural pools. So I think we’d been spoiled because the two little hot pools they had just didn’t impress. They may be famous for their baths. But I think Banos has much more impressive things to offer. Though the experience did give us plenty of fodder and some good giggles. Bobby was finally able to satisfy his urge to be on a 4 wheeler our last day there. We drove up to Run Tun and checked out beautiful views of the Volcano Tungawhatchamacalit. I’m sorry, but there is just no way I’m ever going to remember it’s name. Earlier that day we toured the local church, gazed at its’ many paintings of local miracles and toured its’ museum complete with bizarre taxidermy collection. Overall, the people were as friendly as they were in Montanita. I noticed they used more formal language. We ate well and enjoyed the city but neither the architecture or the food impress like the grandeur of the natural setting. For me, this is what makes Banos so special and my favorite second stop on our journey.

-------------------K

ON THE ROAD to Banos.....

Bobby and I left Montanita in the wee hours of a Saturday morning after a late night of celebrations and goodbyes. We had an hour and a half drive to Liberdad where we needed to catch a 9 hour bus to Banos. When we arrived in Liberdad, we found the schedule changed and the bus no longer left at 8am but at 2pm instead. After some scrambling around and a quick look at the adorable port town that happened to be having a parade, we re-routed to Guayaquil via a 3 hour bus ride. In Guayaquil, the bus station was large and confusing. At first it seemed that we had again been ill advised. Discouraged but determined, we went ahead and bought a ticket to Banos though it didn’t leave until 4pm. Shortly thereafter, we did, indeed, find a bus that left immediately and got into Banos at a reasonable hour. And though we weren’t able to get a refund, we took our losses and purchased a second set of tickets. FINALLY, we were on our way to Banos! Rough morning that it was, the 7 hour bus ride was beautiful. Slowly the coast disappeared in the background and gave way to gentle hills and then huge mountains and volcanos. The view was spectacular. I’m proud to say I only had to use the bathroom once and the bus was already pulled over to get gas. They were almost on the road when Bobby stopped them to wait on me. It was a close call. But I’m glad I took the opportunity because we didn’t stop again for six hours! I strategically took only small sips of water when parched. And we horded our snacks, nibbling only when our stomachs were audibly growling. All we’d had to eat all day was a banana, a bag of chips and a snack pack of crackers and we were starving when we finally got to Banos. In our initial planning, we had time for breakfast and lunch. But all the re-routing left us running for last minute buses and on empty stomaches. So I’m not ashamed to say that DINNER was our first order of business when we finally got into town at about 8:30pm. After which, we collapsed. Calling ahead probably would have been a good idea. Check.

-------------- K