Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands, 2004

As I stood in front of the Grand Hotel in Quito, Ecuador waiting for my guide to arrive for a city tour, I found myself shivering from the balmy cold weather. “I can’t believe it gets this cold so close to the Equator” I said to myself. When my guide, Nancy Pelaez arrived, she explained that Quito, situated in the Andes Mountains, is over 9,000 feet above sea level and can get quite cold at night. “In Quito, you can have all four seasons in one day” she said. “You probably won’t require that jacket later this afternoon” she added with a grin. With that, we embarked on a full day tour that would include colonial Quito, with its ornate cathedrals, the newer parts of the city, and a trip to the “middle of the world” monument on the Equator.
 

From left, the Cathedral of Santo Domingo, the Presidential Palace and the Arch Bishop's Palace.

Our first stop was the plaza and Cathedral of Santo Domingo. The church, which was built between 1581-1650, features a beautiful bell tower and is literally partially built over a side street with a tunnel underneath. The plaza features a huge statue of local hero Marsical Sucre, and is a gathering spot for street performers and vendors.
Next, we found ourselves at the beautiful Plaza de la Independencia, or Grand Plaza. “The Spanish always built Grand plazas in the middle of towns where all the important buildings were built and the most important people in town lived” said Pelaez. She was certainly right about this plaza. In the center of the Plaza with Ecuador’s flag flying was the Presidential Palace (Palacio del Gobierno). To one side of the Palace was the Cathedral, to the other side was the Arch Bishop’s Palace and Mayor’s residence. Opposite the President’s Palace was Quito City Hall. The architecture in the whole colonial area was almost breathtaking: painfully detailed building facades with hand carved columns, window molding and door casings. “All of old town Quito has been placed on the World Heritage Preservation Site list” said Pelaez.

From left, a couple of shots of the Plaza de la Independencia, and right, the Monastery of San Francisco.

Walking from the Plaza de la Independencia, our next stop was the Plaza and Monastery of San Francisco, which was built in the 1400s. After lunch on the terrace of the Monastery, we ambled up El Panecillo, a hill at the edge of the colonial section, in Pelaez’s Volkswagen Bug. Perched atop El Panecillo is a huge cast iron statue of the Virgin Mary trampling on Satan. The view from El Panecillo offers some of the best bird’s eye views of Quito.

La Mitad del Mundo	Left, Carla Tapia demonstrates water flow at the Equator and me practicing with the poison dart blow gun on the right.

Our next stop was one of the most visited sites in the Quito area: La Mitad del Mundo (the Middle of the World) Monument. A “must see” tourist attraction, the 96 foot high monument is topped by a brass globe and overlooks a village of shops, restaurants and museums, such as the Ethnic Museum, the Solar Museum and the French Pavilion. It sits on the site identified by a French explorer over a century ago as the Equator. The site is completed by a bright red line painted on the Equator where one can stand with one foot in the Northern Hemisphere and one in the Southern Hemisphere. However, in recent years it has been discovered that the French got it wrong. “The Equator is actually located about 100 yards from the monument” said Carla Tapia, a guide at the fascinating Inti-Nan Museum which sits on the actual site of the Equator. Tapia did several demonstrations of actions that are unique to the Equator such as balancing an egg on a nail head, and showing that one weighs less while on the Equator because of less gravity. Perhaps the most fascinating demonstration was Tapia draining a portable sink. While on the Equator, the five gallons of water she poured into the sink drained straight down. She then moved the sink into the Southern Hemisphere and again pulled the plug. This time the water swirled in a clock-wise motion as it drained. Tapia then moved the sink about ten feet into the Northern Hemisphere and again drained it. The water this time swirled in a counter clock-wise motion as it drained. “This activity is only possible on the Equator” Tapia said. Tapia’s final demonstration was not directly related to the Equator: use of a poison dart blow gun used by the indigenous inhabitants of Ecuador. “It is customary for people who use this blow gun to wear the indigenous head gear” Tapia said as she placed a feather head dress on my head prior to my shooting at a cactus.

                      Above, three shots of the Otavalo area and some of its residents.

   The following morning we drove about two hours from Quito to the small town of Otavalo. The scenic drive through the Andes Mountains was breathtaking with numerous picturesque views. At Otavalo we visited the famous Sunday morning market at which local Indians sell their handmade crafts and other goods. The Indians were dressed in their traditional clothes consisting of calf-length white pants, a type of sandals, a poncho and felt hats. Almost all of the men also sported long pony tails. The women were dressed in beautiful hand made embroidered dresses with long dark skirts. “The Indians dress like this every day, not just in public” said Pelaez. After eating a piece of home made apple pie in the famous Otavalo Pie Shop, I bought a nice Panama hat. “Most people don’t realize that Panama hats were actually created in Ecuador” said Pelaez. “U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt discovered them here and had them made in mass when the Americans were building the Panama Canal” she said. “Since they are light weight and durable, they were perfect for the workers building the canal, so that’s how they got the name ’Panama hats’” she added. After a brief visit to another small village nearby, Cotacachi, it was back to Quito to prepare for my two hour flight to the Galapagos Islands.

The Galapagos Islands

After landing at the Baltra Airport and paying my $100 Galapagos National Park entrance fee, I boarded a ferry to Isla Santa Cruz and caught a bus to Puerto Ayora, the jumping off point for most Galapagos tours. After checking into the Hotel Fernandina, I visited Charles Darwin Station and saw several species of giant tortoises, including “Lonesome George,” the only surviving turtle in the Isla Pinta subspecies. “$60 of your park entrance fee goes for species preservation, which is the main focus of Charles Darwin Station” said Javier Cando, our guide for the week.

Cando explained that goats, dogs, cats, rats, donkeys and horses were introduced to the islands by humans. “These domesticated animals were introduced by humans but have been disastrous on the turtles habitat” said Cando. In addition, sailors over a hundred years ago would catch the giant turtles for long voyages. “The turtles can live up to a year without food or water, so sailors would catch them for long voyages in order to have meat to eat before refrigeration was invented” said Cando.

 The following morning, we rode a bus to the center of the island as Cando gave a brief history of the islands, including the fact that they were formed from volcanic rock and are semi-baron. “Four species of cactus live on the islands” Cando said. “We have different micro climates in the Galapagos” he added. For example, on Isla Santa Cruz, the south side of the island is very wet with lush vegetation, while the north side is dry. Our final stop on the island was to the Lava Tubes, which are caves formed by underground lava flow, and the giant football stadium-size “sink hole” caused the same way. As we headed for the Yacht Frigata, Cando explained the introduction of species on the islands over the past several thousand years. Since the islands are volcanic, all species were introduced over time. “We think the turtles got here on floating vegetation” he said. “They came here on a one way ticket” he added with a laugh.
There are three types of species on the Galapagos Islands: endemic, native and introduced. Endemic are the species which arrived from the mainland but evolved over time. Native are the ones from the mainland which didn’t change and introduced are the ones brought by man, such as dogs. “There are three species of iguanas on the islands, two land and one marine” Cando said.
 

One of the many Lava Tubes I was able to walk through!	A cactus plant on the Isla Santa Cruz. The stalk resembles a Southern pine.	A Lava Lizard on the Isla Santa Cruz.

Onboard the Frigata we had just enough time to unpack and settle into our cabins before we began our odyssey around the Galapagos Islands. But first, lunch was served by the boat’s outstanding crew. Also, at this time we were introduced to Bolivar, a sort of assistant guide who was in his mid sixties, and who had apparently lived a full and eventful life. The cheerful and funny Bolivar, along with the great boat crew, were a stark contrast to the mediocrity and seemingly tiredness of our guide Cando. The cook and server would often serenade the 18 passengers, much to their delight! And Bolivar would often tell tales of days gone by, which would always bring delirious laughter from the guests.

                                                                                                                               The Yacht "Frigata"

After lunch, Cando explained that in a couple of hours we would be reaching Isla Santa Fe, a small baron inland inhabited by tall opuntia cactus and the Santa Fe land iguana, the only species of its kind in the world. This was also our first encounter with Fur sea lions and the large Galapagos crabs. We also had about an hour for snorkeling.

While the islands virtually straddle the equator, the water was surprisingly chilly. “The coolness of the water is caused by currents from the south” said Cando. At dark, we pulled up anchor for the overnight cruise to our next stop: Espanola Island. As I laid down in the bunk at bedtime, I was surprised that I never got sea sick and that I slept pretty soundly, even though the boat was being tossed about by a restless sea.

 “Get ready to see some really nice boobies” Bolivar joked in broken English as our dinghy approached the landing on Espanola Island. While we did see hundreds of blue-footed boobies on the island, the first thing we saw were a slew of iguanas sunning themselves on the beach and on nearby lava rocks, and numerous sea lions. Absent natural predators, almost all animals on the Galapagos Islands are unafraid of man. As we followed the trail inland, many times we were forced to step over iguanas who were sunning themselves in our path. On one occasion, while sitting on the beach, a huge sea lion and her pup waddled out of the water an plopped down beside me. Before I could get over the initial shock, the sea lions were asleep! Another species that pretty aggressively sought out human friendship was the Hood mockingbird. While sitting on the beach, at one time I had four of the birds on my lap. “They are begging for fresh water” explained Cando. “Fresh water is scarce on this island. But if they come to depend on humans for water, it will be harmful to the species, so please don’t give them any” he added.

Blue-Footed Boobies                            Hood Mockingbird                              Two Albatross birds

As we headed further inland, we came across a large clearing in the scrub tree forest. “This is an albatross airport” Cando joked. Just as he finished explaining that the huge albatross needs to get a running start in order to get airborne, and also to land, one of the great birds landed in the clearing with a thump. “The albatross is one of the Galapagos’ most spectacular birds” Cando said. Further along the trail we spotted several lava lizards with their red spots, swallow tailed gulls, oyster catchers, red billed tropic birds and more mockingbirds. Finally we came upon a colony of both masked and blue footed boobies. Several of the blue footed boobies were incubating eggs and I noticed that while some of the birds sported turquoise colored feet, some actually had a greenish color. Just past the booby colony was the famous Isla Espanola “blow hole,” apparently an old lava tube in which the ocean waves force water out of the top of the rock and up to heights of about fifty feet. As I made my way back to the dinghy landing, a baby sea lion slid up next to me and nuzzled me as if to say good bye.

Isla Espanola Blow Hole                            An Iguana (in front!)                      A huge Pelican

After another overnight boat trip, I was awakened by the ship’s bell beckoning the passengers to prepare for diving and snorkeling around the Devil’s Crown, a volcano cone rising from the ocean just off Floreana Island. As our dinghy made its way to the drop off point, I spotted several birds nesting on the crown’s rocks including pelicans, herons and lava gulls. But the most spectacular sight were the thousands of brightly colored tropical fish and sea turtles swimming around the crater and the nearby coral reef. Soon after jumping into the water, I noticed a strong counter clockwise current around the crown. While I simply floated along with the current and viewed the beautiful scenery below me, along with several other people, Bolivar became concerned that we were swimming in a different direction than he had asked us to. “Make snorkeling this way” he yelled from the dinghy in broken English.

After an hour of snorkeling, I boarded the dinghy for the first wet landing on Floreana Island we would make. Not far from the beach our party came upon a huge lake full of flamingos wading about. “Floreana is one of only two islands in the Galapagos which has fresh water” Cando said. Further up the trail, we came to one of the few sugar-white sand beaches in the islands. Just off the beach were several sea turtles swimming about. “There are many sea turtles in this area” Cando said.

Sending mail at Post Office Bay!

Our next landing on Floreana would be at the famous Post Office Bay. Over two hundred years ago, passing sailors placed a rum barrel on the beach as a place to leave mail. Passing ships would stop and leave their mail, and would take mail with them which was addressed to any port of call they would be visiting. “The mail system was not very fast, but it worked” explained Cando. “And it continues to work to this day” he added. I placed two post cards in the barrel (not the original) and picked one up for a family in Tennessee, which I mailed when I returned home. Both of the cards I left arrived in Birmingham, Alabama within a month. After finishing the day hiking on Floreana, It was back to the yacht for an over trip back to Baltra Island-Galapagos Islands Airport.

On the short flight back to Quito, I pondered my last day in Ecuador, which I anticipated with excitement. Having never seen a bull fight, I had purchased a ticket for one the next day. Upon arriving at the huge stadium style bull ring which seated at least 45,000 people, my excitement soon turned to disappointment. The large bulls were placed in the ring and were surrounded by about six assistant matadors who would enter the ring from side entrances and wave a red cape at the bull. When the bull would charge, the matador would exit the ring and another across the ring would enter and wave his cape, sending the bull charging back across. When the bull became tired, a man on a horse with armor would enter the ring and spear the bull.

“The horse is blindfolded so that he can’t see the bull” a woman seated next to me said. Only when the bull was tired and wounded would the matador enter the ring. After several minutes of running the bull about the ring, and strutting about in a fashion which reminded me of a bantam rooster, the matador would finally kill the bull with a fatal sword to the back to the neck. “What is the sport in this? Why don’t they put the matador in with a fresh bull?” I asked myself as I left both disappointed and disgusted.

My final stop of the trip was at the Quitsa-To Museum, which is dedicated to the importance of the ancient Incas in discovering the location of the Equator. “The Incas discovered the exact site of the Equator and the equinox and solstice lines over 1,000 years ago” said the guide at the museum. “The ancient Incas built Sun Temples on important spots on the equinox and solstice lines. When the Spanish conquered the area, they destroyed the temples and built great cathedrals on the same sites. That is why all but one of Quito’s great cathedrals are built exactly on a solstice or equinox line” he added as he demonstrated his point by superimposing a city map on a model of the lines.

“What a great trip” I thought to myself on the flight home. I had lived yet another “adventure of a lifetime!”
 

Here are a few more pictures of the Quito area.  Click on the thumbnail to enlarge.

These are pictures from the Galapagos Islands.  Click on the photo to enlarge.