The Giant Glalapagos Tortoise

They have legs like a tree stump.  A tree stump with toes.  With toes and toenails.  They are awkward and lurchy and a little bit slimy and perfectly lovely.  They are gigantic.  They are sweet. They are contented to eat and sleep and graze and perhaps wallow in the water a bit.

Photo Of The Day -- Galapagos Day 5

This is Sally.  Sally Lightfoot Crab.  

She's unique in the Galapagos, and she seems to get along with everyone ~ 

We see her hanging out with the Iguana's; 

And with the Sea Lions;  pretty much everybody likes her.

On an island where much of the wildlife has unimaginative names like Golden Iguana or Marine Iguana or Galapagos Hawk, she definitely stands out.

We were told they were named after a famous Caribbean dancer ~ I think she must have had lots of personality.   She sounds like someone I would have liked to meet.

I know I certainly enjoyed meeting her namesake, 

the Sally Lightfoot Crabs.

Photo Of The Day -- Galapagos Day 4

At first glance it looks like the rock is topped with foliage, but, no.....

 It's Iguana's.  The rock is literally carpeted with Marine Iguana's.  

And one lone Galapagos Hawk.

Photo Of The Day -- Galapagos Day 3

It's Galapagos Penguin Day

Cormorants wake up and take to the water early.  Today is no exception, we are up and have sunscreen applied and have breakfast and are aboard the Panga's by 6:30.  That's 6:30 in the morning.  The sun has barely risen in the sky.   The coffee Mr. C knows I desperately need and has thus delivered to me while still in bed has barely kicked in by then. 

We take the Panga to Moreno Point on the shores of Isabella Island, where, again we are delighting in the ever-abundant wildlife.  We see Pelicans and Boobies diving for fish, sometimes so close to the boat we are splashed by their grand entrance into the water.  It was highly entertaining.  We see Pink Flamencos and fish in the lava ponds; It's our first sighting of Blue-Footed Boobies (there's an interesting story about how they got their name  -- not the blue-footed part, that's pretty obvious); We see the flightless Cormorants in the water.  They are just weird.  Not quite a bird, not quite a penguin.

But the highlight of the day are the Galapagos Penguins, 
just hanging out with their Marine Iguana Buddies.  

Our guide says we are "lucky today" to see them, 

as they do not usually make such a presence.

  

But for us they seem to be striking a pose. 

We think we are lucky, too.

 They are the star of the show today.  But the combo with the Marine Iguana's is just the topper for me.  

These islands are just amazing!

Photo Of The Day -- Galapagos Day 2

Baby tortoise(s) and Pink Flamenco's.

And me in rubber boots. 

All in one day.

The Galapagos Islands are amazing.

Do you know why they're pink?  Why are some "pinker" than others?  Because they feed (pretty constantly, it was hard to catch them with their head out of the water) on "shrimp-like" critters that are pink.  The "pinker" the critters, the more color the birds take on.

Do you know why they stand on one leg?   Because they can.  

No, just kidding.  Because it helps them regulate their body temperature.  Sort of like when you or I stick a foot out from underneath the covers at night 'cause we get too hot.

Now, as for me in rubber boots, that's another story.  Stay tuned.

Photo Of The Day -- Galapagos Day 1

If you're like me, I thought the big thing in the Galapagos Islands was all the animals.   
I was wrong.

The big thing about the Galapagos Islands, it turns out, is not the animals.  It's the abundance of the animals (they are simply everywhere); and the fact that they are not afraid of humans in the least.   

It's the proximity to the wildlife that's the big thing ~ you can literally reach out and touch them ~ (except of course, you can't touch them, because that's not allowed; because then you would be teaching them to be afraid of humans).  I can't tell you how many times I nearly tripped over or stepped on some poor unsuspecting creature along the path.  We are visitors in their world, for sure.

You don't even need a zoom lens on your camera to get photo's like this one.......

Setting Sail for the Galapagos

Today we left lovely Quito, Ecuador, and flew to the Baltra airport on the Galapagos Island of Santa Cruz.   We are excited to begin this adventure, and we are pleased to meet our bunk-mates for the week. 

We are a small group of 14, and we feel fortunate that some of those we've met along the way (old, grumpy, and bossy!), both in our Quito hotel and in the Quito airport, are blessing another boat with their presence instead of ours.  

We have a darling young couple from Melbourne, Australia aboard; a very nice Canadian family, with daughter who has spent some time in Ecuador with a host family; an interesting, intelligent couple from Belgium, although she's quick to point out that she's French!; and whom are relocating to the US very soon;  a very warm wonderful couple from Sydney, Australia (she has a delightful sense of humor); and a guide from South Africa who's also an Ornithologist.  So what are the odds of having a bird expert aboard??  Oh, wait.  It's the Galapagos ~~ it's like bird heaven.  So I guess the odds are actually pretty high. (In case you're wondering, an Ornithologist is somebody who studies the branch of science devoted to birds; including bird songs and flight patterns, as well as physical appearance.  I think he's gonna' be a handy guy to have around this week). 

All-in-all, an intelligent, stimulating, well-educated, and well traveled group.  And terribly pleasant.  We could not be more pleased.

I'm wondering how any of the (mostly uninhabited) islands have an airport ~~ and then they tell us it was a US airbase back in the day, 'cause we thought we needed it positioned there to protect the Panama Canal back during WWII.   God bless the USofA.   

Our boat is the Cormorant, named after a species of bird that's native to the Galapagos, and is unique because it has, through time, lost the ability to fly.  We will see them this week, they look more like a penguin than a bird.  Our guide says they spent more time diving (for fish) than flying ~~ and it's a good example of "use it or lose it!"

 

We are tendered out from the dock to the yacht on the "Panga's".  Otherwise known as  Zodiac's, Rubber Boats, Rubber Dinghy's, Tenders.  We will spend allot of time on these little wonders over the next week.  (The life jackets are mandatory in Ecuador.  At least they match the Panga.)  We're not the only boat in the bay, you might notice.

And the yacht is beautiful, even if she has lost her ability to fly.

The table is set and beckons to us ~ just like at my house.

Our cabin is lovely ~ but this is the best part ~ 

The door that leads to our balcony.

It looks to be a fabulous week ahead.

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A Month in South America

We are headed for a month in South America ~ Ecuador, Peru, the amazing Galapagos Islands and the Inca’s fascinating Machu Picchu, concluding with a stay in the Amazon Jungle.  Here’s the map of the coming week’s journeys.

This is a big passport stamp for me!

So come with us!   Come follow along ~ I think the wildlife pictures are going to be amazing.  Plus you will get to see me in jeans and hiking shoes with a backpack ~ henceforth unheard of!

Here’s the basic itinerary:

Day 1-4:  Quito, Ecuador.   This gives us time to acclimate, to unwind from the journey, and to explore  little bit of Ecuador before we go ~

Day 5-11:  600 miles off the coast of Ecuador to the 

Galapagos Islands.  We’re cruising in a small 100 foot yatch with just 8 staterooms; so it's us & 14 of our new closest friends (that we haven’t met yet) from around the world.   We’ll follow Darwin’s footsteps here, experiencing some of the most amazing and undisturbed wildlife in the world.  Plus they cook for us on the boat ~ I'm already planning to hang out in the kitchen a bit.  I guess it's the galley, though, right?!

Day 12:  Back from the cruise to stay overnight in Guayaquil, Ecuador  -- just to see something different before heading to Peru.

Day 13-14: Fly to Lima, Peru

Day 15-16:  Fly to Arequipa, Peru (with the intent of starting to acclimate to those hellacious altitudes -- ).  There's a famous Monastery here, even made a spot in "1,000 Places" (my travel Bible).

Day 17-18: Bus to Puno, Peru;  and Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world.   They actually have islands made of floating reeds on this lake that house entire villages. I'm fascinated by this concept.

Day 19-22: Train to Cuzco, Peru.   Lots of ruins around here, and some day trips out to outlying areas. And this is where we'll take our cooking class for this trip.

Day 23:  Train to Aqua Calientes, Peru -- for Machu Picchu -- definitely the highlight of our trip!

Day 24-25:  Train back to Cuzco.  A couple more days to hang out with the locals and finish off our list before ~

Day 26-27:  It’s Jungle Pants Time – Fly to Puerto Maldando, then go by boat into the Amazon Jungle.

Day 28-29:  Fly back to Lima to catch our flight home the next day.

Day 30:  Sad plane day.  (It's always sad to have to go back home after these wonderful trips!)

Please join us!   Come along with us, I'll take you there!   At the bottom of this page there's a spot you can "follow along" ~ sign up if you haven't done this!   You'll get an email when there's a new post that way, so you won't miss any of the interesting sights and sounds of this fantastic journey on our sister continent.  

(You'll get a confirmation email that you'll need to return -- this assures that less-than-honorable bloggers can't just sign you up without your knowledge or approval).

Then you'll be able to ask questions, post comments, share your own experiences at all these locations ~ I would love to have that interaction with you all.

I'm all set, except to purchase my floppy equator hat, which Mr. C seems to think is a requirement.  

Other than that, I can't wait! 

New @ Repelling

I'm flabbergasted at what it takes to get ready for South America.  

  
We've been a few places, but nothing has required prep like this:

Evidently there is much to repel on this continent.

We've had our Tetanus and Diphtheria shots; and our Hep A & Hep B combo shots; (but we are still looking forward to the final "booster" this week for those ~ lucky us, we're taking the "accelerated" version). Whichever arm is offered up as sacrifice for this treatment is hugely sore for the next few days.  Like somebody punched you full force.   (Mr. C is offended that his golf swing was affected).  Then on day 2 or 3 the stomach starts to react. Yucky.   

Just about the time that all starts to settle down, we visit the County Health Department for Yellow Fever shots.  After a private consultation with a travel-savvy expert nurse (a personalized hour-long session, complete with maps of the disease "hot zones" in each country ~ impressive!) we walked out with everything under the sun but Yellow Fever shots.  Turns out they are sort of dangerous after age 60 (organ failure, that kind of thing);  in the same percentage range as you are likely to catch it you are likely to react to it.

Hmmmm.......  That's certainly food for thought.   Our jungle stay is actually our last 2 days of the trip, so we are thinking we would be back to our home hospital by the time symptoms might present; the nurse agreed.  (By the way, just to be clear, I've got a couple of years yet to think about the Yellow Fever deal before the age of 60.......)  

The fun thing is that, instead, we walked out with things like live culture Typhoid Fever pills, which we take first thing in the morning on an empty stomach.  Nothin' quite like a little Typhoid for breakfast.  Especially before coffee.

And Malaria pills.  And Altitude Sickness information and education and pills.  And Traveler's Diarrhea information and more pills (yes, this is actually what they call it.).   And sea sick pills (for the Galapagos Island cruise).

Along with sunscreen and Deet mosquito repellent for skin and Permethrin repellent for clothes ~ How do I get this all into my one suitcase?  

Oh, and my poor tummy.   It's not really so happy about all these live cultures hookin' up and throwin' an uninvited party down there.

We are sort of wishing we'd started some of this a little earlier, but then......then I realized it would just mean that we are this miserable for a little longer......

Luckily, and on the brighter side, I have home-made chicken stock in the fridge.   Maybe that's what's for dinner this week.....

And thank goodness for our Canadian buddies who are in Peru right this very minute, sending back glowing reports of what they're seeing and doing and experiencing.......so we are assured that once we get there, all this painful preparation will be worth it.

Right now I'm not looking forward to roasted Guinea pig.

Prepping for Peru

We are leaving soon for a month in Peru and Ecuador, including  the Galapagos Islands ~ as usual, we are booking it all ourselves. This happens to be the question I'm asked the most, by the way, "How do you do that?"  So I'll attempt an answer here ~ 

This is a different kind of trip for us ~ lots of outdoor trekking and hiking ~ so there's some prep to be done.