Outpost-60626: March 2011

Welcome to my island

We spent the last week of February in Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. What a super fun trip!

Arrk! Where's my Mommy?

Please click on these and all photos to see large and lovely closeups. We are amazed at how great these came out!

The highlight of these islands is the amazing flora and fauna, found nowhere else on earth - and the inspiration for Darwin's "Origin of the Species" and theory of evolution.

Our nicer-than-expected cabin - with balcony

To visit, you have to stay on a boat (ours was way nicer than we imagined) and each day, you wake up at Oh-dark-thirty (wait, isn't this a vacation?!?!?) to board a Zodiac in groups of 16 to visit these truly amazing animals in their natural habitat.

Returning to our boat

Before we even got on the boat, there were sea lions lounging around the docks.

Take me home!

Baby and Mama

Most islands had hundreds of sea lions napping and sunning on the beach, nursing their adorable 2 month old pups, and generally ignoring us as we marveled at their adorableness.

And their limitless ability to completely ignore us.

The marine iguanas, and the lizards, were everywhere as well. Thank goodness these species are all relatively harmless.

The famous blue-footed boobie lives here, and we were lucky enough to see babies being fed by their parents. Check it out - blue feet, as advertised!

Blue-footed boobie feeding baby (yes, she's regurgitating)

There are dozens of Darwin finch species, frigate birds, nazca boobies that don't have blue feet, mockingbirds.

Walking along the carefully controlled paths, it is overwhelming looking at the lava rock formations, the beautiful plants and flowers, the abundance of animals and birds.

One of the gorgeous places we snorkeled

We snorkeled most days, which was clear, warm and lovely light blue. The sea lions would occasionally make a mad dash through a group of swimmers.

It was truly heaven on earth - the remoteness, the controlled access to the islands, the completely uninhabited islands.

Sunset our first night

Mark and I made a point to try to see each sunrise, sunset, and to stargaze on clear nights.

There was always a short nighttime lecture by our fabulous guides, all of whom are born on the islands.

Kathleen was so excited to see a Galapagos hawk, she only took one picture. Guess you'll just have to visit.....

One island is populated and houses the Charles Darwin Research Station, where they are working diligently to save specialized species of giant tortoises, and to maintain the islands' biological uniqueness and natural beauty.

Some of the giant tortoises being studied at Darwin Center

They breed them - these teensy tortoises are already 5 years old

Our last morning we were taken ashore to a pristine beach for one last snorkel and sea lion romp.

As we approached, I thought I saw tire marks in the sand. How on earth?? But no, lots of Mommy sea turtles had climbed ashore to lay their eggs the night before.

We loved our visit to the Galapagos!

QUITO

On way up - kinda scared

We flew into Quito, Ecuador, and decided to spend 3 days there prior to the islands. We loved Quito, too! We took a big ski-lift (teleferico) up above the city our first day, to see the geography. Quito is the 2nd highest airport on earth, and the city is long and narrow, crammed between two volcano ranges.

Heading back down - OK, we're still alive

Kathleen was scared on the way up in the teleferico, but a little better coming down!

View looking down to Quito. Those are clouds above us. Tiny white square thing under antennas is teleferico car.

Centro historico Quito

We ate at fabulous restaurants in Quito, enjoyed the freedom to wander around their gorgeous colonial OldTown, saw one really spectacular church, and accidentally visited an archeological museum that was among the best we've seen.

We went outside the city to visit "The Middle of the World" (the true equator) and encountered a site we weren't expecting - a very dedicated group called Quitsato, working to teach people about astronomy and natural sciences related to the equator. Here's their website: Quitsato

The middle of the world. El Mitad del Mundo.

It's just a tied-up llama!

We stopped at a little roadside rest stop and had lovely views of lakes and mountains outside Quito.

Otovalo is a famous market full of lovely locals selling their mostly handmade items.

It started to pour rain while we were there.

But we enjoyed it nonetheless.

We walked up to a lovely waterfall.

Not wedding reveler

Wet sheep who did not attend 3-day wedding

An indigenous family was winding down their 3-day, non-stop wedding party near the waterfall.

Wedding reveler

Next day we went to a small rainforest called Mindo.

We hiked up a mountain path through private land owned by ranchers, and shared the road with various frisky animals.

Above are rainforest plants from outer space.

Once at the top, we took another high-rise terrifying ride on a little cable car (called a tarabita) strung waaaay up over the jungle.

On the other side, we were rewarded with a hike to another waterfall.

In the photo below, the teensy little white thing in the middle is the cable car, on its way over to pick us up from the hike. (click on it to see...)

I think it was entirely rational of me to be scared on this!

On our way back down, it rained a bit, and we enjoyed the lovely sounds of the forest.

When we returned from the Galapagos, we had one more morning to hang out in Quito. We rented bicycles, and rode from one end of the city to the other on the longest street in town which had been closed so people can walk, ride bikes, stroll, enjoy. Colleagues were trying to pilot this in Chicago a couple of years ago, so it might be happening there by now. In Quito, it's called cyclopaseo. In other South American countries, it's called paseo doming, or via paseo.