Posted 9:10 AM by MelanieandSteve
QUITO, ECUADOR, 3-10 June

ADIOS GALAPAGOS, HELLO QUITO: Since last time, we returned to mainland Ecuador for a week of fine food, fun sports, and feeling like we were the center of the world in Quito.

EL MARISCAL, NEWTOWN: In Ecuador at the Equator, being at the center of the Earth was a regular motif. So we went with that theme while we were there. In El Mariscal, or New Town Central Quito, we stayed at a hostel called "The Center of the World" in the middle of an out of this world night life and an array of cafes and restaurants with all of the world's ethnic food options (Mexican and Mongolian were two favourites.)

FROM CENTER OF THE WORLD TO MIDDLE OF THE WORLD: We met up once more in Ecuador with friend John whom we last saw in Lima. We all took a trolley to "Mitad Del Mundo" (Middle of the World), a monument and museum allegedly marking the actual Equator.

MIDDLE OF NOWHERE: An hour outside of the city in the middle of nowhere there were two Equator-celebrator destinations. They were two hundred latitudinal meters apart and each claimed to be on the actual Equator. "Mitad del Mundo" was a prominent stone monument standing on a painted line with a sign saying it was the Equator. The place was momentous in that it took just a moment to see it and be ready to go. The place was monumental in that it was a monumental failure in fixing the right spot. Sometime after they erected the monument and set up souvenir stands all around it, they figured out the Equator was not even there.

PROVEN PLACE: About two hundred meters North was the more humble Inta-Nan Solar Museum. Often overlooked or unheard of by travellers, this place had its own painted line marking the Equator, but this one was in the right place (according to GPS). To diffuse any doubts, this one had do-it-yourself Equatorial experiments. There was a moveable sink we could fill up with water and watch it drain out in each hemisphere and watch Coreolis take its effect. We tried balancing an egg on its end. Away from the Equator this can only be done during Equinox. Steve did a back hand-spring landing one hand in the Spring and the other in Autumn, and he followed with a bi-seasonal back flip.

ROCK`N SOCCER:

GETTING INTO THE GAME: Three times is a charm and we went to our third and best yet South American soccer match at the international Ecuador-Argentina World Cup eliminations. Far from the stadium, the streets were splashed with fans in yellow jerseys or wrapped in Ecuadorian flags. We dressed up in team colors too, and set out with friend John to try to get in. The game was sold out so we went seeking street scalpers. We paid three times true ticket prices to get in but it was still less than we expected.

PACKED PRE-GAME: Hours before kick-off, the stadium was already standing room only and the aisles were so packed we could barely walk through. Once we edged into a good place to stand, we stuck there like glue. Goal-side, leaning against the stadium wall, we got a great view.

PRE-GAME PRIDE: The stadium was practically day glow. Almost every single fan wore the bright yellow team colors, and seated spectators spread out fifty meter yellow banners over their heads. There was a small sliver of Argentine visitors standing in their own section in light blue. People launched remote control blimps and home-made hot air balloons and they chanted and sang team songs.

AND THE CROWD WENT WILD: Once the game started, the excitement never subsided. Tension mounted when in the first half not a single goal was scored. Then when Ecuador finally got the first goal, the crowd went out of control. It was all hugs and kisses, confetti and streamers and unstoppable screamers. Ecuador took the game 2 to 0 and that led to a partida party (game party) all over the city.

THE LONG JOURNEY HOME: The congested city was completely cabbed out and the busses were booked full as well. So we started a long hostel-ward walk. Halfway home was the Marriot with our friends Nori and Scott, so we met them for a Mongolian Bar-BQ feast.

INTENSE-CITY IN THE CITY: With night fall, the streets grew more intense as some ecstatic fans could not contain themselves. One jumped up on a stranger`s car leaving a deep dent. Others loitered around toasting the team. Armed swat cops tried to keep the peace but we had a sense that things could grow volatile, so we walked the other way to seek out a safe place.

WAITING OUT THE EXCITEMENT: After a long dinner out in a hole in the wall haven, six hours had passed since the game. Still the streets were full of fans. Soon in the street, we felt our throats tighten and we noticed that everyone around us was coughing, and it became clear that teargas had been released nearby. Fortunately, we were only feet from our hostel so we retreated into its sanctuary for the night.

BIG LOSS ON THE BIG SCREEN: Two days later the sports craze continued but with different results. Coverage of an away game of Columbia versus Ecuador was featured in venues all over. Our sports bar with big screen TV was packed hours pre-kick-off. As soon as the game started disappointment set in. In a matter of minutes, Columbia scored, and a sober scoreless game for Ecuador followed. Columbia trounced Ecuador 0 to 3, and no teargas was necessary on that uneventful night.

A VISIT TO QUITO`S ECUADOR PRISON

VISITING HOURS: We decided to visit Quito's prison. We learned the names of two Americans that were serving eight year sentences for smuggling, and we stopped in to learn something about life in foreign Prison. Life in lock-up was nothing like we expected.

CLAIMS OF CORRUPTION: These guys made no claims of actual innocence but did feel their trials without translators or attorneys present were really a farce. They asserted that judges could easily be bought both in verdicts and in setting of sentences.

PRISON FIVE STAR STYLE: Whether or not they were right about judges being bought we do not know, but it was clear that comforts in prison were a cash-based commodity. Good cells could be leased. A couple grand got a rich prisoner a luxury suite. For just over a thousand dollars, our guys got a cell with a kitchen, TV, and stereo. There were no stereotypic striped uniforms. Prisoners wore what they wanted. In the prison's rich section, there was a soccer court atrium where they had Bar-BQs, vendors of sweets and cigarettes, and a scrumptious looking pastry shop. Near it was a woody atmospheric restaurant where prisoners and their guests could purchase pizza or pasta. One visitor came in with her kids and also her pet poodle. The guys we visited joked that life here was like living in a five-star hotel. They added that the prison allowed over-night conjugal visits and that pay-offs to guards could get them almost anything they wanted brought in (such as cell phones which were officially not allowed.)

NOT EQUAL IN ECUADOR`S PRISONS: We learned life was not luxury for those with no cash. Other than rather un-choice food, Ecuadorian prisoners get nothing for free, no toiletries, no blanket nor even a bed.

GYM:

FELIZIDAD CON FITNESS: We joined a gym for a week and we loved every minute of weights and work out. Super high-pressure hot showers were a particular treat (a commodity most backpacker hostels lack).

PICK POQUITOS:

TWO TIMES ATTEMPTED THEFT: We were twice victims of attempted pick-pocketing on crowded trolleys and busses. On one sardine packed trolley, no sooner had Mel warned Steve and John to watch out for pick pockets than she let down her guard as she got jostled about. She lost her balance and had to grab onto a rail. In to time, the man by her side removed a safety pin securing her pocket and unzipped its zipper. Before he got anything, Mel grabbed his hand and confronted him publicly, Steve warned him to lay off his "esposa", and a stranger threw the man off at the next trolley stop. Then the next day on another standing room only bus, someone tried to get into Steve's camera case, gladly with equally empty results.

OLD TOWN:

BIG EXPECTATIONS, LITTLE OLD TOWN SQUARE: We took a trip to old town with inflated expectations based on guide book recommendations and other peoples` representations of amazing architecture and style. The Old Town certainly was sweet, but its main square was small and unexceptional. On its side, the beautiful former Archbishop’s Palace was filled with disappointingly bad quality fast food.

PRESIDENTIAL PALACE: Next door was the lovely but still sort of plain Presidential Palace. A slew of rifle-bearing cops stood in front all wearing camouflage clothing, but we could still see them. At the entry, ornately uniformed blue and gold soldiers silently stood. We learned that the cops in the cammies were recent additions to keep the peace since a month before the President who was accused of corruption was replaced.

TERRYING IN THE REST OF OLD TOWN: Outside the square, we wandered the old streets by some colonial cathedrals. One was gilded inside with seven tons of gold. We got lost in a maze of markets that had everything from clothing to kitchen sinks. And when we called it a day we ended with one last old town treat sipping milk from a freshly cut coconut.

NEXT TIME NORTHERN HEMISPHERE: Like migratory birds, we left fall behind and flew North for the Spring seeking Venezuelan adventures.

HAPPY BIRTHDAYS TO: Jeni F., Michele W., Tyrone T., Henry P., and John S..

Posted 8:27 AM by MelanieandSteve
GALAPAGOS ISLANDS, ECUADOR, 22 May to 3 June

LIFE IS SWEETO BACK IN QUITO AFTER GOOD TIMES IN GALAPAGOS: Since last time we spent one day in Quito, Ecuador, and thirteen days in the Galapagos Islands of Ecuador. There, nearly two hundred years ago, Charles Darwin began to formulate his theory of evolution upon observing their totally unique and varied flora, fauna, and volcanic landscape.

CANCIONITO IN QUITO (Little Song in Quito): We had just one night in Quito before flying to Galapagos. We stayed near the airport outskirts of town and hung out at a hole-in-the-wall restaurant that had six small tables, four local regulars, and one big screen TV. Despite the tiny unlikely venue for karaoke, the patrons passed around mics and took turns making mediocre music. The curious locals talked to us lots and then basically begged us bring on the music with them. We entertained their questions but we refused to entertain the cafe with a song.

AMERIQUITO: Quito seemed to exhibit U.S. influences in several ways. Ecuador´s official currency was the U.S. Dollar. There were several fast food stands and cafes with names like "American Deli" or "American Cafe". We saw lots of familiar franchise like 31 Flavors, Burger King, and KFC. The big grocery store had lots of home brands, and we pleased our palates all night with one of our most missed American greats, Pace Picante Sauce, which we have not seen anywhere else since leaving the States.

7 FOR 5 FLIGHTS FOR DAYS: Early the next morning, we flew from Quito to the Galapagos, 1000km off the coast, completing a long series of seven flights in just five days. We were ready to stay put in one relaxing place for a while.

CLIFFS, CACTUS, AND SAN CRISTOBAL: On the islands when we reached the sea port, only minutes away from the airport, we were already impressed. We saw several sea lions, many had slithered on board anchored boats and were basking in the sun. Jagged black lava cliffs were capped with green cactus trees; and a large pterodactyl-like pelican glided over.

HIGHLANDS AND HIGH HIKES ON THE ISLANDS OF ISLA SANTA CRUZ:

EL CHITO TORTOISE RESERVE: We started our island excursions with a hike in the Highlands. We shared trails with tortoises as large as 250 Kg (550 LB), the largest on Earth. The massive creatures with dinosaur faces and elephantine skin were almost unmoved by our presence. Some basked in the mud, one blocked our whole trail, and others chowed on grasses and papaya. Two big ones were great entertainment when they got in a fight. One slowly wound up and rammed the other hard from behind. Then both stopped to rest before a much delayed response. Then the rammed one got up and rambled around to the rear of his assailant to became chaser, not chased.

LOS GEMELOS: Also in the highlands were Los Gemelos (literally "The Twins"), two mountain top craters about 400 meters wide formed when volcanic crusts collapsed. They were about 200 meters apart and were matching circular side by side depressions, now full of flora and foul.

LAVA TUNNELS: We hiked through a half kilometer lava tube. It was created when flowing lava cooled at its outer extremities forming a cylindrical crust inside of which hot unexposed lava stayed fluid. After the insides flowed all they way out, the hollow cave was left.

HIGH HIKES ON ISLAND ISABELA:

FERRY RIDE TO A PLACE WE COULD RIDE: We took a two hour ferry boat ride to the largest island, Isabela, to the city of Vilamil, the smallest of the three main Galapagos cities. There we had plans for a horse ride, a hike, and a good time in town.

SUPER SWEET SANDY BEACH TOWN: In the tiny beach town of Vilamil, we meandered along quaint sand-covered streets lined with sunny cafes and lots of good eats. We strolled on the sea shore and saw our first marine Iguanas sunning themselves on the rocks. We dozed off on the beach and awoke just in time for a sweet sunset. We liked this town best of all towns on the Islands.

CABALLOS AL CUMBRE (horseride to the peak): In the morning, we saddled up horseback and headed up Volcano Negro. At the top we rode along a crater that was miles across and the second largest crater in the world. We walked on two lava flows on Chico Volcano that had erupted only three decades ago. The two flows were visibly different in composition, color, and kind of flow. They occurred only six years apart but one was brown with mineral rich lava and the other was dark black. Nine of the thirteen Galapagos Islands come from volcanic eruptions and like the flows we saw here, each was entirely unlike any other.

BACK ON THE "BIG CITY" ISLAND SANTA CRUZ:

LAS GRIETAS: A day later we were back on the main Island of Santa Cruz. There, a water taxi ride and a long hike over white sand beaches and inland over interesting lava rocks led to Las Grietas. These were lava fractures where freshwater and sea water formed narrow steep cliffside channels. They could be passed through only by swimming so we cooled off during a dip with big rainbow colored fish.

THROUGH DARWIN´S EYES: CHARLES DARWIN´S DIARY AND HIS RESEARCH CENTER: Throughout our South American travels, we have enjoyed reading excerpts of Charles Darwin´s notes from visiting the same places. We studied some of his notes from a Galapagos visit in 1835 on the Beagle. Then we visited the Charles Darwin Research Center museum where displays discussed many of the same things Darwin observed.

TORTUGA BAY IN THREE K: A three kilometer walk through lovely cactus and lava flows in a forest of tropical arid zone plants led to Tortuga Bay (Turtle Bay). The fine, white sand beach was surrounded by dunes where sea turtles go to lay eggs. White waves and riptides kept swimmers out of the surf, but a calmer cove nearby was secluded by mangrove trees. As we set about beach combing, we saw fish jumping off the shore and Green Sea Turtles popping their heads above water. Frigate birds soared like kites with angular pterodactyl-like bodies. Pelicans perched right beside us, and marine iguanas sunned on the sand.

JURASSIC FLAVOR: The big bony frigate and pelican birds, the lizards and iguanas, and the mammoth tortoises we had seen so far on this island made the Galapagos seem very Jurasic.

A LOSING CRUISE:

SANTA CRUZING FOR OUR CRUISE: The only true way to see the Galapagos Islands is by boat and we spent the remainder of our Island days on a yacht. On Santa Cruz Island, when we started our search for a vessel, we had one piece of advice. Friends Scott and Nori who had gone Galapagossing before us admonished "Don´t go on the yacht called Free Enterprise." Few details accompanied the warning and when this was the only boat to fit our schedule, we signed up and hoped for the best. Unfortunately we got a hard earned lesson learned on the value of reliable references.

THE BIG LONELY BOAT WAS TOSSED AT SEA: A tiny dinghy boat taxied us to our yacht. We passed nearly all other yachts and boats, left the calm inner bay, and entered soupy seas. We wondered why our yacht was so far away. We did not know then that our captain had parked far away to avoid harbor patrol inspection - a red flag we did not yet see waving.

BOARDING OUR BOAT AND BARELY MAKING IT: Our taxi pulled up and we struggled to climb on board as the waves knocked us dangerously about. Nobody met us or even helped hold the dinghy next to the yacht. Top heavy with backpacks, our boarding was quite scary and a dangerous foreshaddowing of a week of poor safety standards to come.

GREETED NOT ON THIS YACHT: On board we got no greeting, no orientation, and no safety briefs. In fact when we looked for assistance we found no one as most of the crew had gone to the shore. We were greeted, however, by passengers who had already been on for three days who told us how the whole crew had nearly quit the night before when the domineering captain unilaterally decided not to pull into port as planned. He finally had to give in when the passengers joined in the protest, but that was when he parked so ungodly far from the port.

MURPHY WAS AN OPTIMIST / BAD BOAT BULLETS: We stayed with the yaght hoping it had only gotten off to a bad start. As it turned out it only got worse. To quote fellow passenger Kim, "Murphy, famous for his law that ´If it can go wrong on the boat, it will´, was an optimist." There were too many sea-going horror stories to recount all in detail, but a non-comprehensive list included the following:

*AN UNNECESSARY SEA SICK FIRST NIGHT in the soupy seas when the captain anchored so far off shore to hide from the harbor patrol

*THE UNCOMFORTABLE BOARDING in choppy seas felt totally unsafe.

*A THIRSTY FIRST NIGHT WITH NO POTABLE WATER though an endless supply was included in the price.

*A BROKEN GENERATOR. So there was no air conditioning or hot water though this was one problem we were informed of in advance.

*4 AM WORK ON THE GENERATOR included banging loudly on metal pipes.

*ITINERARIES CHANGE DUE TO SHIP´S DISREPAIR: Crew tried to take entire islands off our list of places to go thanks to fixing the ship. Passengers successfully banded together to demand some destinations.

*NON ENGLISH SPEAKING GUIDE: Our contract included an English Speaking guide, but apparently the ten or twenty words that the guide we got knew made him "qualified".

*THE OLD ENGLISH SPEAKING GUIDE QUIT BEFORE WE ARRIVED: Our guide had a black eye from a fight with the old guide.

*OUR GUIDE GOT DRUNK and kept everyone up one whole night. In the morning he was too hung over to take us on our scheduled excursion.

*THE FRIENDLY FOOD SERVER QUIT BEFORE WE ARRIVED: We heard stories of how good he was every time we got grumpy service from the dinghy driver who reluctantly took over restaurant services.

*UNCOMMUNICATIVE CREW: Itinerary would often change at last minute. The crew consistently failed to inform us and we would get ready for one thing and find ourselves guessing whether we were going somewhere else.

*ONE DINGHY MOTOR BROKEN: One of the two dinghy boats had a broken outboard motor. We often saw it being towed by the other.

*THE OTHER OF TWO DINGHIES HAD A LEAK that visibly streamed in water.

*CREW OFTEN OVERLOADED THE LEAKY DINGHY with up to fourteen passengers and simply scooped out the flooding in water with a bailer bucket. Sometimes boat would be so overloaded that water would come over the bow in waves.

*DINGHY DID NOT HAVE LIFE JACKETS on board at all except when we were in a place where officials could see us. Then we were forced to wear them.

*IRRESPONSIBLE DINGHY DRIVER would not look where he was going and when we snorkeled, more than once, he came dangerously close to people with the out board propeller still running. Once he hit a girl´s head with the boat.

*COCKROACHES CRAWLED in our cabins and on the tables.

*TOILETS OFTEN WOULD NOT FLUSH so hours of build up of twenty passengers´ pooh made malodious odors.

*THE WINCH FOR THE ANCHOR WAS BROKEN so crew members had to haul it by hand.

*BOAT NAVIGATED AT NIGHT WITHOUT LIGHTS, unsafe and illegal.

*CAPTAIN PHYSICALLY DISPLAYED INAPPROPRIATE BEHAVIOR with Melanie.

*CAPTAIN PRACTICALLY KIDNAPPED US TO WRONG PORT: On our final day, he told us we were going to Port Ayora where we started the cruise. For the same reasons of fear of inspection, he took us instead to the opposite side of the island where there was no town or port authority. Having learned from his near mutiny by passengers one week before, he simply went the wrong way without telling us first. We had to catch a one hour cab across the island to town.

*CAPTAIN WOULD NOT ANSWER QUESTIONS: When Steve tried to confront the captain, he put up his hand and refused to listen or talk.

*FREQUENTLY STRANDED ON THE BEACH: On land excursions, dinghies would drop us off and forget to come back to get us. We had many long waits on shore waving our hands and whistling.

*CREW WOULD LOUNGE 24 HOURS A DAY IN PASSENGER AREAS watching Spanish TV and playing pretty annoying music.

*** *** BUT as all the passengers often said among defeated sighs ... "THE FOOD WAS ALRIGHT".

BAD BOAT EXPERIENCES COULD NOT BEAT THE BEAUTIFUL ISLANDS:

INDEFATIGABLE ISLAND SPLENDOR: Besides the food being good, the splendor of the islands had an insuppressible magic. The English name for one island Santa Cruz was "Indefatigable" and the name was appropriate for the untiring treat the islands turned out to be.

STILL LIVING IN THAT SMALL WORLD, EVEN IN A PLACE OUT OF THIS WORLD: REUNIONS WITH A COUPLE OF COPA COUPLES: On board our little twenty-person capacity boat there were two couples we knew from our travels. Virgina and Graham were friends from Copacabana in Rio De Janiero Brazil and ironically we knew Dan and Kim from a different Copacabana, on lake Titicaca Bolivia. Familiar faces along with a friendly looking group of other passengers put a brighter side on our bad boating start.

OFF THE BOAT, ALL WAS BETTER: The excursions to the island were amazing. Hikes and snorkeling exposed us to a world of wild life and magic beyond our best expectations.

ANIMALS LIKE NOWHERE ELSE: The geographical separation of these islands from the main land has caused physical differences in the animals. Differences have even developed between each island. For example, finches had more rounded beaks on one island where insects were large and meaty while finches on other islands had more needle nosed beaks where their food hid in holes.

LION AND LAMB PLACE: Possibly because humans have only encountered the Galapagos relatively recently (about 400 years ago), animals here have not developed natural defenses to humans such as fear or physical violence toward us. We could swim among sharks, walk barefoot on islands inhabited with snakes and iguanas, walk right up to tortoises and play in the surf with sea lions.

SAD RESULT OF APPROACHABILITY: Unfortunately the docility of creatures can be their own worst enemy. Once, the beautiful tortoises were poached horribly and near extinction. Tortoises live 150 years long and can live for months without food, so sailors would string hundreds up live on the ships as a refrigeration-free way to preserve fresh meat.


WILDLIFE ENCOUNTERS:

WILDLIFE HIGHLIGHTS: Animals in the Galapagos tended to go about their business regardless of our presence. Mating rituals and dances, play and chowing on food took place as if we were not even there. Two great wildlife highlights for us included swimming with sea lions and watching the booby birds dance.

*SEA LIONS: friendly and curious. On some islands they would play with us in the water. If we dove under, they dove with us to mimic our every move. One tickled Mel´s toes with its whiskers and then licked her foot under water. Steve snorkeled with one and watched it tease a marine iguana by repeatedly pulling it down by its tail and then letting it swim toward the surface. We were glad they played more gently with us.

*BLUE FOOTED BOOBIES: Blue footed booby birds had webbed feet so blue they looked like plastic snorkel fins. They loved to show of their big blue booties in a unique dancing ritual. Two birds would face each other and solemnly step side to side lifting each foot up high like a clown with big feet. Then they would take turns fanning their feathers and arching their backs and tails toward the sky. All the while males whistled airily and females honked obnoxiously. The rituals must have worked well for them because we saw lots of boobies sitting on nests of eggs or chicks.

OUR WILDLIFE ENCOUNTERS INCLUDED:
*MARINE LIFE
--*Crapis Crapis bright red tide pool crabs
--*Ghost Crabs crawling on the sand
--*Huge red starfish
--*Dolphins surfing the bow of our ship, jumping out of the water and cruising belly up.
--*Phosphorescent Plankton glowed in the night water
--------When fish or dolphins swam at night it looked like underwater shooting stars.
--*Galapagos Sharks, Bull Sharks, and White Tipped Sharks.
--*Dense schools of colorful large fish we could dive into.
--*Dense schools of small silver fish that would nibble our legs.
--*Four foot long large fish in Red and in Rainbow.
*BIRDS
--*Blue Footed Boobies
--*Penguins sitting on seaside rocks and also swimming right with us as we snorkeled.
--*Flamingos, pinker than we saw in Bolivia
--*Mocking Birds so thirsty from the arid climate they drank water from Melanie`s naval.
--*Swallow Tail Gulls with red eyes and feet.
--*Blue Eyed Galapagos Doves with bright blue eye makeup.
--*Hawks: predatory birds with no natural predators.
--*Blue Herons swallowing whole sea crabs.
--*Red Beaked Tropic Birds with brilliant white bodies and long tail feathers.
--*Frigate Birds that puffed up their red waddles like large balloons
to attract white breasted females.
--*Albatross flying with 9 ft wingspans and sitting on nests like large ducks.
--*Petrels that dance on water without landing
--*Masked boobies that looked like visitors to a masquerade party.
*REPTILES:
--*Tortoises up to 550 pounds, the largest in the world.
--*Sea Turtles
--*Snake skins molted and left on land
--*Sea Serpent swimming beside our yaght.
--*Iguanas and Lizards:
----*Land Iguanas up to three and a half feet long.
----*Marine Iguanas swimming, sunning, and seeking underwater algae for food.
----*Colorful Land Lizards practicing mating rituals right in front of us.
*FLORA:
--*Several species of Cactus
--*Sharp spiny cats claw bushes
--*Palo Santo trees whose bark repels mosquitoes
--*Guava fruit both endemic and introduced.
--*Mora (black berries), an introduced problem species
--*Mangrove trees lining the beach shores
--*Darwin Nothanmus bush bright green, endemic, and unique to the islands.
--*Mollugre ice plant, one of the first plants to re-grow after lava flows
*PESTS: OK, not so exciting
--*Mosquitoes
--*Cockroaches

GEOLOGY WAS HIGHLIGHT ALSO: Island exploration included:
*Steam Vents still fuming
*Lava Tubes large enough to walk through and some too small to crawl in.
*Views of a volcano that erupted within the last two weeks.
*Craters from natural depressions or collapses in lava crust
*Craters at the tops of volcanoes
--*some craters under water viewed from above,
--*some craters fully exposed,
--*one crater we snorkeled in among very heavy currents.
*Las Grietas lava fractures and narrow canyons
*Non Volcanic islands.
--*Four of the islands came from tectonic plate shifts
--*these had no mountains or cone shapes.
*Colorful lava sand beaches:
--*Green beaches formed from Olivine rich eruptions
--*Black sands formed from Obsidian
--*White beaches made out of corrals
--*Red beaches from iron and other minerals.
*Blow holes where powerful waves trapped in tiny shore rock crevices shot up meter high geysers.

ISLANDS VISITED: We visited an inner ring of islands seeing several of the big thirteen Galapagos islands. They included:

*San Cristobal with the capital city of the Galapagos though not the biggest city. There we walked the visitor center museum and went out in town for a taste of civilization we had not had for a few days.
*Santa Cruz: The island with the largest city and population.
*San Isabel with the smallest and most quaint of the three main towns and great volcanic views and hikes.
*Arabi with hiking on red sands
*China Hat named for its shape
*Bartoleme with great view point over an underwater crater.
*North Seymour where frigate birds puffed their chins and sterile iguanas grew large but would not breed.
--*this was one of the few non-volcanic islands
*Las Plazas where a puddle of blood evidenced the birth of a sea lion that morning.
*Santa Fe with rocks naturally shined by lazy oily skinned sea lions.
*Isla Los Lobos where we swam with four fun sea lions that loved to dart at us and swim away.
*Espanola with unique red iguanas that fed on red algae and mocking birds that drank from our hands.
*Islet Tortuga named for its tortoise shape. It had high currents for snorkeling.
*Floreanna with post office bay where old sailors sent stampless post
--*subsequent travelers could pick the post up and deliver it for free.
--*We deposited a post card of our own
--*and we picked up a few to deliver in the States when we get home.
--*Here we also snorkeled at Devils Crown an underwater crater
--*An inner lagoon had lots of flamingos.

SKY LIGHTS: At night we could see the stars better than ever without any city lights to pollute them. Uniquely so close to the Equator we could see the Southern Cross usually only seen from the south, and the Big Dipper usually only seen from the north all in the same sky.

GOOD FORTUNE TO BE AT GALAPAGOS: We were so blessed to have experienced the precious qualities of the Galapagos.

NEXT TIME: from Ciudaditos (tiny towns) of Galapagos back to big ciudad Quito.

HAPPY BIRTHDAYS TO: Colin H., Bill F., EJ V., Jon M., Sophae., Maryna C., Annika C., Lucianno L., Margaret M., Megan S.,
and HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to Judy and Scott.