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Galápagos Expedition:
Highlights of our Apr-May 2010 trip
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Note: The entries in this blog are in descending order, starting with the first entry (before the trip) and finishing with our return.
Apr. 18, 2010
Packing and Last-Minute Details
I’m currently downloading some music off a couple new CDs (Editors, Imogen Heap) to add to my iPhone before we leave on Thursday. I’ve spent a few days gathering all my electronics and related parephernalia (cameras, new video camera, binoculars, back-up hard drive, batteries, power strip, and cables for everything including my laptop and phone, which will go in last minute) and just realized that I might want to take along some clothing as well!
I’m getting through my list—bills paid, emails answered, cards and other correspondences sent, and nearly all tasks related to upcoming jobs (arranging travel, hotel, car, and sending handouts, checklists, and other details) are finally done, done, DONE!
I also have to pack for my speaking engagement in Moncton, NB two days after we get back—I actually leave 12 hours after I get home from vacation so everything has to be pretty much ready to go. There are so many details preparing for a trip like this, and even with as much travel as I do, it’s easy for something important to slip through the cracks.
Apr. 22, 2010
The Vacation Begins
At the airport. We’re all checked in, through security, and online at the Albuquerque airport, an hour from our departure to Atlanta, then off to Quito after a rather long layover. The gate agents know me here, and were surprised that a) this isn’t a work trip and b) that I have my husband along. (He’s semi-asleep with headphones on, but it’s still nice having a companion along.)
No news, no photos yet. I suspect I’ll post a few photos on Facebook, maybe even here, but check my Mobile Me Gallery for updates. Itinerary and map at the end of this blog.
Apr. 23, 2010
Greetings from Quito
Day One: Decompression. Very smart move to come in a day early. I don’t even know if that was intentional, or if it was just the day they had flights available. But it allowed us to sleep in until we woke up (10:30 for Jerry, an hour or so later for me) and do absolutely nothing all day.
Well, not exactly true. We did spend a couple hours out by the pool (above) reading—Jerry: Timequake by Kurt Vonnegut; Me: Little Bee by Chris Cleave. Soft breeze, sounds of the waterfalls in the pool and music on the PA system.
Off the pool area is a health club and walking through, I impulsively asked about a massage. I ended up going in for an hour and a half, and it was wonderful. I rarely realize how much tension I’m holding in my shoulders until someone starts poking around in there. Boy, did I need that. A hot shower—to not only wash a long day of travel off me, but also the past few months—and I’m feeling human again. Sweet.
Room service and some excellent dinner. Jerry got a salad with balsamic vinegar (no oil) and spinach ricotta ravioli in a creamy pesto sauce. I had the Ecuadoran grilled jumbo prawns on rice with coconut sauce and lime, a side of grilled veggies. Fantastic!
Tomorrow morning we meet up with our tour group and spend the day touring Quito. Sunday is an early day, meeting up with the group around 6:30 (luggage outside our door by 5) and then we fly to the Galápagos for our first day of the cruise.
Apr. 24, 2010
City tour of Quito
Our house is almost exactly 6000 feet above sea level. We have lived in New Mexico for 30 years. Yet we’ve both been aware of the altitude here (9000'). We were told to stay hydrated and drink some coca tea, which helped get rid of our altitude headaches.
So today, we took a tour of Quito, downtown and surrounding areas. At one square, we were met by a number of families, mostly mothers and daughters, selling these beautiful woven scarves. (I bought a number of scarves from this young girl and her family.) I’m happy to be able to add several new photos to my slide show (the photos of children that run before my presentations and during the breaks), and proud that my collection now includes kids from something like 40 countries on five continents.
The tour also took us to el mitad del mundo, where there was a monument marking the line of the equator. There was a mini-museum there, as well as a number of shops where I bought a couple of little souvenir patches and took a
few pictures of weavings—and more people. Meanwhle, here’s a picture of Jerry standing on the equator. (There is a line right under his feet.) Such an interesting trip!
Apr. 27, 2010
Day 3 in the Galápagos
Sitting in the ship’s lounge looking at sky and sea and sand, a couple islands off the starboard side. Quiet. For the moment, the only other people in here are reading. I decided to forego the morning excursion and sleep in, eat a proper breakfast and just relax.
We’ve been going nonstop since we got here and this morning is a nice break. What we’ve seen so far is almost beyond words. From the sunrise Zodiac ride (left, the view through the break in the rock cliffs of Kicker Rock) to watching sealions, sharks, flying fish, and a lone pelican in the spotlight on the water off the ship last night, it has been a most amazing trip.
The geology, plants, birds, marine life, and land critters have been absolutely astonishing. There’s an
almost prehistoric feel to the place. (The frigate birds, especially, remind me of pterodactyls.) This place is teeming with wildlife, and when the brochures say we’ll get up close and personal with them, they’re not kidding. (Here is a sea lion pup who approached a few people in our excursion group.)
I have more photos than I can get to right now and besides, there is no Internet connetion out here in the middle of the Pacific. (The Galápagos straddle the equator about 600 miles from the coast of South America. No phone connection either.) There’s a computer on board, but it’s expensive, clunky, and slow. And even the Mac Geeks with heavy-duty multi-platform experience have been struggling with Windows Vista Español.
Mini-Gallery: Española Island
Jerry and I did separate tours on this island—he did the long walk and I did a shorter one. The rocky path for most of this walk was pretty wicked (see first photo below). My ankle started getting pretty tired about halfway down this trail, so I decided to turn around and hang out on the rocks by the beach, surrounded by a gazillion marine lizards (second photo).
I’ve just started looking at some of the photos we each took on these excursions and decided that until I set up the gallery (larger size photos), here’s a mini-selection of some of the things we saw that day. (Jerry took the majority of these photos .)
The rocky path.
Marine iguanas for company.
Sea lions snoozing on beach.
Nazca boobies.
Nazca booby and chick.
Cliffs on Española.
Piles of lizards everywhere!
The lovely sally lightfoot crab.
Cliffs on the long walk.
Blowhole by the cliffs.
Waved albatross mating ritual.
Closeup of an albatross egg.
Jerry claimed that seeing the albatrosses (yes, that is the plural) was a highlight of his vacation. These are the largest birds on the Galápagos, with a 7-foot wingspan. We were told that they can live up to fifty years and that they mate for life. They fly for weeks to return to their breeding grounds and had just come back to Española island days before we were there.
And how cool is this: He got to see their bill-clicking mating ritual, as well as parents brooding eggs which, according to the naturist guide, had not been there earlier that day. (The Nazca boobies and albatrosses were beyond the sights on my shorter walk so I especially appreciate his wonderful pictures.)
An epiphany of sorts
It’s been really nice to have a break from work. I still feel the past few months in my nervous system, and I realize that it may be a little while before that changes. Nonetheless, I’m sitting in the lounge on the ship, very relaxed. I haven’t worn makeup since we got to the islands, haven’t even tried to style my hair (humidity takes care of that), and I just realized I have my tee-shirt on backwards.
Nice.
I’m surprised that I’m not really missing contact with the world. I’m anxious to share the photos, videos, and experience with family and friends, but all this can wait, as can anything related to work. I’m starting to realize that I no longer want a life I can’t get away from once in a while. For now, I’m perfectly content to watch the sun reflect off the ocean and just sit. And be.
Apr. 28, 2010
Maybe the coolest thing in the world...
I’m standing in water a little above my waist off this sandy beach on Bartolome Island, getting ready to put on my snorkling mask, and a Galápagos penguin swims up to me, circles around me a couple of times, and swims off. It was inches away, checking me out. You really can’t get much closer to nature than that. Truly one of the most magical moments of my life. Above is a picture of one of the islands’ penguins, maybe even my penguin, standing on a rock ledge not far from the beach.
Another of my favorite birds
OK, all dumb jokes aside, one of the main attractions to these islands for me has been the blue-footed boobies, pictured at right. I just love the apparent expressions on their faces and promise a load of pictures in my photo gallery as soon as I can get them uploaded. Jerry took both of these pictures while I was experimenting with my video camera.
Apr. 29, 2010
A world of critters
I finally got to see one of the famous Galápagos tortoises, here (left) on the trail we took off the beach on Isabela Island this morning. This was a juvenile, about 15 years old. I have a video which I will eventually post as well. (I’m still learning that camera, so it’s not a great video, but one I had to stop shooting because he was practically on my foot by the end.)
We also saw hundreds of birds (I tried to get one to land on my camera as some like to do, but to no avail), as well as a number of 3-4' long land iguanas. The handsome fellow to the right is the one I believe named Manuel. Each male has his territory and the guides have named these guys, some they recognize as being in the same area year after year, so a lot of the males have been named by the naturalists who work the cruise lines.
Hot and buggy!
We have seen such a variety of landscapes from one island to the next. Yesterday, Bartolome, one of the youngest islands, and little more than rock and lava, looked like another planet (left). No visible vegetation and only very small, primitive life surviving on what appears to be solid stone. Other islands have cactus forests or low plants, and each one seems so different from the next.
Today, on Isabela, it was more like a jungle, at least where we were (right). Walking through high plants for the first time. We ran into some flies and mosquitos yesterday (though both of us were slathered with insect repellent so bothered much less than we certainly would have been!), but today there were also gnats, wasps (not aggressive but I still get nervous around them), and enormous (but apparently harmless) black carpenter bees.
We had a wet landing (and return) in rough surf, but we’re getting better at getting in and out of the Zodiacs, the only way to or from the ship. The sand on this beach was sharp, volcanic bits that seemed to get everywhere, so it was nice to clean up afterwards. There was an afternoon outing on Fernandina Island, but I just couldn’t work up the energy to change, reapply the sunscreen and insect repellant, and walk around in the heat. (Or, more accurately, humidity.)
Seems dumb to pass up anything but the fact that we both ended up falling asleep suggests that might not have been a bad idea.
Apr. 30, 2010
Feeling the withdrawal
I was up in the lounge after this morning’s excursion (a ride on the Zodiac around Santiago Island) and a couple of friends were up there checking their email. There is a pokey, expensive wi-fi service on board, but I’d decided to just stay off-line until I could get on with my phone or get back to the hotel this weekend.
I’m rather embarrassed at how hard it was to NOT jump online, or buy just a few minutes to check email. It actually feels like withdrawal, behavioral habits I haven’t indulged for five or six days now. A little disturbing, one voice in my head saying, “Resist,” while another announces, “Resistance is futile.”
I’m rationalizing: There’s not much I can do from out here in the middle of the Pacific (although clearly some requests could at least be acknowledged). So I’m having to deal with the possibility of missing my big opportunity because I wasn’t online every minute of my vacation—and letting that be OK. A very interesting reflection this experience is turning out to be.
May 3, 2010
Back in Quito
Our flight doen’t leave until 11:30 tonight—the only ride Delta offers out of Ecuador for the time being. We got back to the hotel yesterday evening and while there was one last excursion offered, I just couldn’t work up the energy for shopping. I don’t need anything, and the last thing I’m up for right now is haggling.
I ended up spending the entire day in the hotel today. I think the altitude was bugging me, or maybe I’m just plain tired. When I did get up to go out and walk around, it started to pour, so I was very happy that the Marriott let us stay in the room until dinner time. Nice.
In retrospect: A few thoughts and recommendations
This week in the Galápagos was physically demanding, even for people in much better shape than I. So while I would heartily recommend a visit to these incredible islands, there are a few things to consider.
I don’t know if I mentioned, but the ship we were on did not dock during our cruise. Ever. From our initial boarding procedure to our return to the airport, with all excursions in between, all travel to and from the ship was via these large inflatable Zodiac boats.
If the seas are calm and the dock or rocks aren’t wet and slippery, even the dry landings can be a bit clumsy. (Our first excursion out, I stepped off onto a very slippery bit of lava rock and skinned my left knee, the one that was just healing from my March 13 tumble!)
Some of the landings were in pretty rough surf. Wet landings were OK when I could dry off my feet and put on socks and shoes. (Also important to get the sand off—this is sharp volcanic “sand,” more like small rocks and very painful and likely to cause blisters if they get between your feet and your shoes!)
The weather was hot and very humid, as would be expected of islands on the equator. Add physical exertion and, in many cases, steep inclines and very uneven terrain (lava rocks and boulders), and you’re in for a good workout. Worth every bead of sweat, but be aware, it can be exhausting.
Swimming: There are a lot of animals in the water, so this is another great way to get up close and personal with nature, but be aware that the water is colder than you might expect in a place that gets so warm. It’s refreshing and beautiful, and I’m a little sorry I didn’t spend more time in the water than I did.
A lot of web sites and blogs recommended good insect repellent. Jerry found some non-DEET citronella cream with sunscreen. We are normally bug magnets —mosquitos for me, gnats and flies for him— and although we were surrounded by insects, neither of us were bothered by them landing on us or biting. This was a first, and made the excursions much more enjoyable than they would have been otherwise.
A number of people who were on the cruise left us yesterday after our flight from the Galápagos touched down in Guayaquil. They were headed for Lima and a few days at Macchu Pichu. A wonderful experience, I’m sure, though we were grateful to just be able to rest when the cruise wrapped up!
Warning for environmentally sensitive folks!
One disturbing thing, understandable as it may be: When our plane landed on Baltra Island in the Galápagos, the flight attendants opened up all the overhead bins and went through and sprayed pesticide, going down the aisle the entire length of the plane.
Jerry and I have gone to great lengths to avoid chemicals in our lives, especially things like pesticides in our home. There are enough toxic agents everywhere and we don’t want to compound what we run into in stores, on walks, in the air, or wherever.
I thought this practice had been abolished years ago. In all the research I did in preparation for this vacation, I didn’t see anything about this. (Don’t know what I might have done or been able to do, but this really caught me by surprise.) So this is the only caveat I’d offer, other than the amount of exertion and, to some degree, agility, to get around some of the islands, in an otherwise enthusiastic endorsement of the Galápagos as a vacation destination and learning experience.
Kudos for Celebrity Cruises
I’ve been on more than a dozen cruises on a number of different cruise lines and I have to acknowledge Celebrity as the best I’ve experienced so far—at least as far as the Celebrity Xpedition was concerned.
The crew was wonderful—knowledgeable and helpful, the room small but comfortable, the meals excellent. I especially appreciated the all-inclusive nature of the trip, not having to sign for sodas or bottles of water. Alcoholic beverages were included as well. (Interestingly, we never once saw anyone remotely inebriated. Nice.) There was a genuine commitment to comfort and excellence and talking to other experienced cruisers, this company set the bar pretty high for future on-the-water vacations.
Departure pending
We’re in the VIP lounge of the Quito airport. Our flight leaves one hour from now. I’ve never been a fan of red-eye flights, especially on ones with seats that don’t recline. Still, hoping to sleep a bit and, certainly, to get home safely and easily.
Good move!
A red-eye is never a great idea for me. Even if I can sleep on the plane (and I did this time), it’s twisted, uneven sleep that never leaves me feeling rested. When we got to Atlanta at 6-something a.m., it took an hour to get through customs and re-check our bags. We got our boarding passes for our 5:50 p.m. flight and headed out to the hotel shuttles with our carry-on luggage.
I had deliberately scheduled a delayed departure, anticipating how we’d feel after flying all night—so much for being in roughly the same time zone all week! The thought of having to wait another 4 hours, even in the Delta lounge, just didn’t make sense.
I had booked a room at the Hilton for the previous night —the only way to guarantee we’d actually have a room when we got there so early in the morning— with a late checkout. A few minutes later we were in a nice, cool room with big, soft beds (the beds on the ship were very narrow and much harder than the pillow-top we’re used to) and both of us were out within minutes.
Smart move. A long stretch of really good sleep, lunch, and back to the airport to catch our flight home.
Itinerary
Map from Wikipedia
Sunday, 4-25-10: Baltra and North Seymour Islands
Monday, 4-26-10: Kicker Rock, Port Baquerizo, San Cristóbal and Suarez Point, Española Islands
Tuesday, 4-27-10: Cormorant Point amd Baroness Lookout, Floreana Island
Wednesday, 4-28-10: Bachas Beach, Santa Cruz Island and Bartolome Island
Thursday, 4-29-10: Urbina Bay, Isabela and Espinoza Point, Fernandina Islands
Friday, 4-30-10: Egas Port, Santiago Island and Dragon Hill, Santa Cruz Island
Saturday, 5-1-10: Charles Darwin Research Station, Santa Cruz Island
Sunday, 5-2-10: Return to Quito
Monday, 5-3-10: Red-eye return to Albuquerque, arriving 5-4-10
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