Ecuador: 27th January - 22nd February

Galapagos Islands

From San Agustin I made my way down to Quito in Ecuador. After a day or two sorting out some "business" (mainly e-mails), I jumped straight on a flight to Baltra in the Galápagos. I wanted to take a week-long cruise around the islands, and wanted to do it as cheaply as possible, hence I hadn't booked anything in advance but simply turned up in the islands to try and get a last minute bargain deal. When I arrived in Puerto Ayora, I visited a couple of travel agents and was offered a pretty good deal on one of the cheapest boats, the Yolita, which was departing on thursday (it was now tuesday). After a bit of haggling to get an even better deal, I signed up for the trip, an eight day tour taking in most of the central Galápagos Islands.

The following day I did a diving trip up to Beagle Rocks where we saw a few hammerhead sharks, and lots of Galapagos sharks and White-tips. Then on thursday morning I walked out to Tortuga Bay, half an hour from Puerto Ayora, to get my first glimpse of the amazing Galápagos wildlife. There were plenty of marine iguanas on the beach; they had no fear of humans at all and it was possible to get close enough to touch them (not that I wanted to touch them, but I could have!).

So that afternoon I joined the rest of the passengers and boarded the Yolita. First off though we had a trip inland on Santa Cruz to visit a lava tunnel and then a giant tortoise farm. The tortoises can weigh up to 300kg, measure 1.2m in length and live for well over 100 years, maybe more than 200. They are thought to belong to just one species, Geochelone nigra (or elephantopus), with 14 different races or sub-species, three of which are believed to be extinct. This one here is enjoying a passion fruit.

The Yolita, my home for the next seven nights. She had her faults, like a somewhat erratic electrical supply, an extreme tendency to rolling that meant dolphin sightings were exciting moments (because everyone rushed to one side of the boat...), and the fact that my bunk was only four and a half feet long, which meant I ended up sleeping on deck every night except one where it rained (but that's where I wanted to sleep anyway). By the end of the week, I wouldn't have exchanged her for any other ship in the Galápagos fleet.

Click here for a map of the islands we visited onboard the Yolita.

At midnight, after a few drinks in Puerto Ayora after dinner on the boat (which was superb, as was all the food on the Yolita), we set off for our first port of call, Rabida island, which has a red beach and lots of sea lions. After visiting the island we spent an hour snorkelling, along the rocky coast. This is a marine iguana feeding underwater.

And this is a very inquisitive turtle.

After lunch we sailed, or rather motored, further to a beach on Santiago island. Here there was a big colony of sea lions playing around on a picture-postcard beach. Also lots more marine iguanas and some mini lava tunnels in the volcanic rock that formed the island.

The baby sea lions were just too cute. Luis the guide warned us not to touch them, no matter how friendly they seemed, because if they got human scent on them then their mothers would reject them and they would die.

So that evening we motored on to Bartolome island, home to the famous pinnacle (Have you seen Master & Commander? No, I haven't either but apparently the pinnacle can be seen in that film, hence I can call it famous!). You can just about see the pinnacle in the background on the right hand side.

The Yolita gang, version one.

Galápagos penguins are the only penguins to be found in the northern hemisphere. Albeit only a few kilometres north of the equator!

Nate takes a nap with a sea lion on the back step of the Yolita

In the afternoon we took the dinghy for a trip through the mangroves. Unfortunately just as we reached them, the heavens opened and we all got absolutely soaked. Had I not been worried the whole time about my expensive camera gear that I was desperately trying to keep dry, it would actually have been a lot of fun sitting there, soaking wet, paddling quietly through the mangroves, watching rays and turtles swim past. Hang on, did I say quietly? Oh, I forgot, Rogers was on board.

That night was the last one for six of the passengers, so it was party time on the top deck of the Yolita until the wee hours. A good time was had by all, due in no small part to Matt's 96% proof Bolivian firewater. A bad time was had by all the next morning as the hangovers kicked in, due in no small part to Matt's 96% proof Bolivian firewater...

Next morning we were back on Santa Cruz, on Bachas Beach, with six new passengers and lots more friendly sea lions...

...and also lots of these amazing frigate birds with their big red throats.

More snorkelling in the afternoon, with plenty of sea lions doing their amazing underwater acrobatics for the camera.

Some big schools of small fishes too. Also lots of sharks, swim-throughs and underwater caves to explore.

Big schools of surgeon-fishes were everywhere.

PA from Sweden amazed us all by catching one with his bare hands and biting its head clean off. No I´m joking, he found it floating past the boat. I think...

After lunch we were on North Seymour island for another beach visit. More sea lions, and lots and lots of crabs.

Following day we were on Plaza Sur in the morning and then on Santa Fe island in the afternoon. The local residents were not too bothered by our arrival.

This is a Santa Fe land iguana, bigger and more yellowish than the land iguanas found elsewhere in the Galápagos. One of the most amazing things about the Galápagos is how each island has developed its own unique flora and fauna depending on the prevailing conditions. On Floreana island, which is composed of the conjoined lava flows from five volcanoes, each volcano developed its own unique species of giant tortoise. The most famous example of this kind of speciation in the Galápagos are of course the finches, which Charles Darwin studied in 1835 and which provided him with strong evidence towards his theory of evolution that he had in fact been formulating for many years before visiting the Galápagos.

That night we motored across to Española, the most remote island we visited on the Yolita. Another example of speciation are the red and green marine iguanas, found only here. The red and green colours help camouflage them against the algae that forms their diet.

A mockingbird.

Bryce winds up the locals.

Say "cheese".

Darn it, those things are just so cute.

The iguanas are as unbothered by me as the sea lions

After a few days you kind of get desensitized to how amazing the animals are in the Galápagos. Where else in the world could you get so close to a completely wild animal like this marine iguana?

Blue footed boobies are found on many of the islands but in greatest numbers down on the southern islands of Española and Floreana. Their mating dance is hilarious to watch and quite cute. First the male flares his wings out like this and makes louds noises. If the female responds favourably then there follows a period of dancing where male and female slowly circle each other, raising first one foot then the other while making more loud noises. Finally, the male will offer a "present" of a twig or leaf, and, if the female accepts it, he's pulled.

Another marine iguana swimming to shore through the crystal clear Española waters.

Paradise and a dinghy.

Luis the guide gives another of his sometimes informative but always amusing evening briefings, whilst the sun sets spectacularly outside.

When we reached the island of Floreana, three of us from the Yolita did a dive from another boat, the Guantanamera. We saw more sea lions...

... turtles...

...and lots more sharks, like this big Galápagos shark. Notice there's a whitetip at the bottom of the shot too.

Yolita gang, version 2, heading for a wet landing on Floreana.

Some flamingoes on Floreana.

One of the millions of crabs on the Galápagos.

Rogers jumping off of the Yolita. I wanted to get a video of me doing this but just as I was going to hand my camera to someone else, the crew banned us from jumping any more because too much water was splashing up into the lounge and soaking them!

Me and Rogers. I'm sad because it's our last sunset onboard the Yolita.

José the cook made us a lovely cake for our last night's dinner.

Giant tortoises at the Charles Darwin Centre

For our last morning we were back in Puerto Ayora and the final activity of the cruise was a visit to the Charles Darwin research centre. Here we met Lonesome George, an 80(ish) year old giant tortoise of the subspecies Geochelone nigra abingdonii, believed to be the last survivor of his kind. Tortoise numbers in the Galápagos were decimated in the 19th and early 20th centuries, first by whalers and sealers who found them a perfect food source due to their ability to survive without food or water for over a year in the hold of a ship, and later by introduced animals such as goats, who overgrazed the tortoises food sources, and black rats who ate their eggs. Attempts to get George to mate with females of the closely related subspecies Geochelone nigra becki have so far been unsuccesful and so when George dies, the world will have lost another species. These guys here are another species of giant tortoise being studied at the Charles Darwin centre.

Sad farewells. The young-uns from the Yolita at the end of the tour. From left to right; me, Kristel and Peter from Holland, PA from Sweden, Bryce, Matt & Rogers from the USA, and Likke from Czech Republic.

Matt gets interviewed by Ecuadorean TV. Certainly telling them what a great time he had on board the Yolita, and what a great guide Luis is...

After the Yolita tour, I spent a few more days in Puerto Ayora to do some diving. I saw loads of stuff, such as dozens of whitetips...

... lots of barracuda...

... big beautiful schools of golden rays...

... including overhead in a great silhouette shot...

...and also plenty of hammerhead sharks, although I never got to see a big school coming in overhead, which is what I really wanted to see. Guess I'll just have to come back some time on a dive cruise to see that!

After everyone else had gone, the hardcore remained; me, Kristel, Peter & Bryce enjoying a beer at sunset in Puerto Ayora.

Back on the Mainland

After two wonderful weeks on the Galápagos, it was high time to high tail it back to Quito. I'd spent longer than planned in the Galápagos, and with so much stuff on my South America agenda, time was already starting to press. But there was still time for a couple of day's sight-seeing around Quito. This is a view of the Plaza de la Independencia in the Old Town.

One thing I wanted to do in Ecuador was climb the (not very) active volcano Cotopaxi, but decided that, with time at a premium, and with its altitude of 5897m being only two paltry metres higher than my previous highest ascent (Kilimanjaro), it was best to skip it and wait till I got to Bolivia to break my altitude record. So instead of an ascent on foot, I decided to do a descent on a mountain bike. A lot quicker and less hard on the lungs, although definitely harder on the backside. Unfortunately, as you can see from the photo, the weather at our starting point, the car park at 4500m, was less than perfect and Cotopaxi decided to keep its beautiful slopes hidden under a thick layer of cloud.

A view of the magnificent perfect cone of Cotopaxi. Well, it's there, right there, right behind all those clouds... Just to make things worse, our guide told us that they'd had perfect blue skies every day for the last few weeks, and this day was the first one with clouds for ages.

After Quito it was down to Riobamba to ride the Nariz Del Diablo train down to Alausí. The tourists sit on the roof for the eight hour journey down past Alausí, down the vertical face of the Nariz Del Diablo itself (via a double switchback in the track) to Sibambe and then back to Alausí. As the train leaves Riobamba, there are magnificent views of another of Ecuador's mighty volcanoes; Chimborazo, the highest mountain in Ecuador (6310m). Interesting fact about Chimborazo: because the earth is not spherical but bulges out towards the Equator, the summit of Chimborazo is actually the furthest point of the Earth's surface from its centre.

Some kids at one of the stops on the train's route. It was Carnaval time and in South America that means water, lots of it, as everyone tries to get everyone else as wet as possible. All great fun but makes for some anxious moments when you're out on the streets with all your expensive electronic equipment.

The train ride was great for the first few hours, from Riobamba to Alausí. But then so many extra people got on there that there was suddenly just far too many people and far too little space up on the roof. I wouldn't go so far as to say it was dangerous (well, no more dangerous than it had been to start with) but it definitely wasn't much fun up there. Here the train is descending a shallow valley just before reaching the Nariz Del Diablo.

As the locomotive crossed this bridge, there was a sudden loud grinding noise and lots of shuddering. The train came to a stop. Some men jumped out of the engine and examined the situation for a while. They then decoupled the locomotive from the train and drove it slowly the rest of the way across the bridge, to the accompaniment of more extremely loud and worrying grinding sounds. They then got our their sledgehammers and proceeded to batter the rails at various points for a good half hour. At this point they brought the loco back across the bridge (no unhealthy noises this time) and then brought the first carriage across. It wobbled horribly as it crossed the bridge but made it across without incident. They then let the remainder of the carriages roll across the bridge to join up with the loco (we were on a bit of a hill); I held on tight but ready to spring off in an instant if the carriages should start to tip over. But my worries were unfounded and those remarkable Ecuadorian railway engineers and their sledgehammers had solved the problem good and proper.

After leaving the train back in Alausí I got a bus straight down to Cuenca. I spent one night there and then was about to head to the bus station to go straight down to the Peruvian border, when I bumped into Rogers and Bryce from the Yolita, along with their friend Sam. They talked me into staying longer to visit a few more of the sights around Cuenca. The first of these was an old Inca fortress called Ingapirca; to be honest we got there and the whole site looked so unimpressive that we decided to skip the $6 entrance fee and just walked around the perimeter, and surrounding area, instead.

On a cliff face near to Ingapirca is the Cara Del Inca - Face of the Inca. Do you see it? This picture lacks scale - the face is about fifteen metres high.

The next day we took a trip out to Parque Nacional Cajas. The 29000ha park contains over 230 lakes. This is one of them...

And there's another in the background behind me. We walked for a few hours through this kind of terrain, got lost, and found our way out kind of by accident I guess.

The boys admire the beautiful landscape of PN Cajas, and look in vain for the trail.

Waiting for a bus back to Cuenca. The following day we left Cuenca to head down to Peru. We took a bus to Machala then had to spend a few hours waiting for a night bus across the border to Piura. We spent this time watching Liverpool beat Barcelona 2-1 at the Nou Camp. Happy days.

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