Coming back to Quito for the start of may was fun. I met a few british girls at the hostel and spent 4 days hanging out with them, eating out, going to pubs, wandering through the neighborhood. Jo and Rebecca told me about an 3 night amazon trip they'd gone on here in Ecuador that they adored, and after a little research I booked the flight for may 2 - 5. Yachana Lodge is a locally-sustaining reserve on 4,300 acres of protected rainforest. I left Quito on Friday morning and after a plane ride and then a canoe ride up the Napo River, I arrived at the lodge itself. In our first afternoon i spotted pygmie marmoset monkeys, parrots, and wandered up into the hills to check out the sunset over the river. That night along with my guide Juan and his girlfriend Gabriela, I went out on a night walk to spy on frogs, snakes and spiders in their icky glory.
The next two days consisted of long walks through the jungle seeing and learning about medicinal plants (amazonian coca, jungle garlic, wild lemon), birds, frogs and wild fruit. Juan showed me how to strip a palm leaf and turn it into a woven fiber bracelet! I visited the curandero (medicine man) who cleansed my ailments by blowing smoke at me, chanting, whistling, and waving a bouquet of wild lemon and ginger leaves over me. while we were there an owl came to perch on the porch of the house and gaze at us calmly; while Gabi told me how peaceful birds felt around the curandero a flock of toucans came in to say hello too! After we'd all been cleansed we went down to the yard to throw spears and blow darts. i was much more successful with dart blowing, getting 2 out of 3 into the papaya i was aiming for. On my last afternoon we saw a family of tamarind monkeys and Juan even caught a screeching baby for a photo op. I also walked down river to visit the school and community sustained by the eco-lodge, visiting the vegetable gardens, the school, the handcraft building and even some pigs who will one day get eaten. there was even a homemade butterfly house where a few lazy butterflies hung out sipping sugar water off of sponges. The food was great, Juan and Gabi were great and the lodge was really homey and rustic, but not too rustic. I was sad to make that long canoe ride back down the river on May 5.
Just a few days later, on May 8, I took another flight - this time for the Galapagos Islands. The plane landed on San Cristobal island and I met up with 7 shipmates and our guide Raul. Our sailboat, Sulidae, is a 100 year old Norwegian pirate ship, with room for 12 guests and a staff of 7. The accomodations were a little "rustic" but was much more charming than the boring fiberglass motor boats that sail around the islands. plus we had Carol, who prepared us the most amazing food in what was effectively a shoebox with a stove. Over 7 days we visited four of the main islands, San Cristobal, Santa Cruz, Floreana and Isabela, with stops to little islands off their coasts along the way.
One of the highlights of the tour was swimming with sea lions. The Galapagos Islands is the farthest north sea lions have ever migrated permanently; same goes for the galapagos penguins. They adapted to the warmer temps because they have no natural predators here and there is abundant amounts of food. We sailed to Isla Lobos where baby sea lions are protected from the elements and are extremely curious about the strangers who come slapping through with goggles and fins. My other favorite sighting were the marine iguanas that we saw on Isla Las Tintoreras. They can get up to 4 feet long and cluster in groups while sunning on rocks after swimming for up to an hour in the deep sea. We snorkeled a LOT, which was really great. there are some beautiful tropical fish, manta and sting rays, and on my last day there I saw a 4-5 foot long white tip shark!
And, of course, the turtles. We saw plenty of sea turtles while snorkeling, and even their nests on the golden beaches of Isla Bartolomé, but we got really up close and personal with the land tortoises, which are not only at the Charles Darwin Research Center, but in protected reserves on each island. Scientists are actively breeding the various races of land tortoises and they have actually come off the endangered species list because of it. There are three different species of tortoise on the island, and because it is so easy for them to find food, and they are relatively safe from predators, they can get up over 100lbs and live well into their 150s...
The cool science fact I learned about the Galapagos was that the tetonic land plate it is on is slowly shifting eastward towards mainland, but instead of crashing into ecuador, it is sinking below the South American land plate. There used to be even more islands in the group (circa millions of years ago) that have now sunk under South America and the islands that are here today will also sink below SA in the next million years. Luckily the islands are volcanic and new land masses are bubbling up out of the ocean in the west, slowly but surely. We hiked and rode horses across some volcanic fields and caldera rims and even crawled through an underground lava tunnel!
Sailing around for 7 days wasn't bad either. There were a lot of travelers my age on board and we got on really well, relaxing on deck, taking turns steering the boat, and even jumping off the prow together at sunset the last day. It was an all around amazing experience.
After Galapagos I made my way back through Peru, stopping for a few days in Lima, where the Flying Dog Hostel staff remembered me and made me free pisco sours, and then on to Cuzco where the city was in the middle of Corpus Christi celebrations! Parades of religious followers filled the street, dancing, playing instruments or carrying one of the 15 saints represented by churches throughout the area. there was an open air mass on the 22nd and the Plaza de Armas was just packed! I found a nice hostel that actually kept their word on hot showers, and I hung out with people there, and my last night in Cuzco, SAE hosted movie night.
By May 24 I was already back in La Paz, Bolivia. I was reunited with Jeremy, a traveler I'd met in Cuzco a few months ago, and along with my dormmate Helen and a group of guys we met, we all went to the outskirts of La Paz to see Cholitas wrestling. The concept is odd: traditional ladies with poofy satin skirts, multi-layered sweaters topped by a sparkly shawl, long black braids and a top hat get in a standard wrestling ring and fight it out. Sadly my camera spazzed out during a pre-fight fight, and the most interesting shot i got was that of the night's first dwarf wrestler. In reality the cholitas only fought one round, but it was the best one of the night. the crowd was active as well...a rouge ref got smashed in the back of the head with a raw egg, and a number of wrestlers took tomato hits.
I have been in Sucre since the 26th and even had a chance to visit the silver mining city Potosí. The Cerro Rico that has been plundered for over 400 years has reaped enough silver"to build a silver bridge from Potosí to Spain" - unfortunately since the mines are run by outside companies the city itself sees no profits and is really quite poor. I skipped the grueling 4 hour mine tour that most tourists do and enjoyed watching parades in the streets and stopped in at the museum chronicling the city's history. Now back in Sucre I have been, rather tragically, halted from traveling. The city is having a general strike (not sure why) and the airport closed in support on the day i was to head to Tarija, "the Andalucía of Bolivia." im disappointed in having to miss out on bolivian wine country, but next I'm off to Santa Cruz to visit the famous jesuit missions in the east...and who are we kidding, shop.
The next two days consisted of long walks through the jungle seeing and learning about medicinal plants (amazonian coca, jungle garlic, wild lemon), birds, frogs and wild fruit. Juan showed me how to strip a palm leaf and turn it into a woven fiber bracelet! I visited the curandero (medicine man) who cleansed my ailments by blowing smoke at me, chanting, whistling, and waving a bouquet of wild lemon and ginger leaves over me. while we were there an owl came to perch on the porch of the house and gaze at us calmly; while Gabi told me how peaceful birds felt around the curandero a flock of toucans came in to say hello too! After we'd all been cleansed we went down to the yard to throw spears and blow darts. i was much more successful with dart blowing, getting 2 out of 3 into the papaya i was aiming for. On my last afternoon we saw a family of tamarind monkeys and Juan even caught a screeching baby for a photo op. I also walked down river to visit the school and community sustained by the eco-lodge, visiting the vegetable gardens, the school, the handcraft building and even some pigs who will one day get eaten. there was even a homemade butterfly house where a few lazy butterflies hung out sipping sugar water off of sponges. The food was great, Juan and Gabi were great and the lodge was really homey and rustic, but not too rustic. I was sad to make that long canoe ride back down the river on May 5.
Just a few days later, on May 8, I took another flight - this time for the Galapagos Islands. The plane landed on San Cristobal island and I met up with 7 shipmates and our guide Raul. Our sailboat, Sulidae, is a 100 year old Norwegian pirate ship, with room for 12 guests and a staff of 7. The accomodations were a little "rustic" but was much more charming than the boring fiberglass motor boats that sail around the islands. plus we had Carol, who prepared us the most amazing food in what was effectively a shoebox with a stove. Over 7 days we visited four of the main islands, San Cristobal, Santa Cruz, Floreana and Isabela, with stops to little islands off their coasts along the way.
One of the highlights of the tour was swimming with sea lions. The Galapagos Islands is the farthest north sea lions have ever migrated permanently; same goes for the galapagos penguins. They adapted to the warmer temps because they have no natural predators here and there is abundant amounts of food. We sailed to Isla Lobos where baby sea lions are protected from the elements and are extremely curious about the strangers who come slapping through with goggles and fins. My other favorite sighting were the marine iguanas that we saw on Isla Las Tintoreras. They can get up to 4 feet long and cluster in groups while sunning on rocks after swimming for up to an hour in the deep sea. We snorkeled a LOT, which was really great. there are some beautiful tropical fish, manta and sting rays, and on my last day there I saw a 4-5 foot long white tip shark!
And, of course, the turtles. We saw plenty of sea turtles while snorkeling, and even their nests on the golden beaches of Isla Bartolomé, but we got really up close and personal with the land tortoises, which are not only at the Charles Darwin Research Center, but in protected reserves on each island. Scientists are actively breeding the various races of land tortoises and they have actually come off the endangered species list because of it. There are three different species of tortoise on the island, and because it is so easy for them to find food, and they are relatively safe from predators, they can get up over 100lbs and live well into their 150s...
The cool science fact I learned about the Galapagos was that the tetonic land plate it is on is slowly shifting eastward towards mainland, but instead of crashing into ecuador, it is sinking below the South American land plate. There used to be even more islands in the group (circa millions of years ago) that have now sunk under South America and the islands that are here today will also sink below SA in the next million years. Luckily the islands are volcanic and new land masses are bubbling up out of the ocean in the west, slowly but surely. We hiked and rode horses across some volcanic fields and caldera rims and even crawled through an underground lava tunnel!
Sailing around for 7 days wasn't bad either. There were a lot of travelers my age on board and we got on really well, relaxing on deck, taking turns steering the boat, and even jumping off the prow together at sunset the last day. It was an all around amazing experience.
After Galapagos I made my way back through Peru, stopping for a few days in Lima, where the Flying Dog Hostel staff remembered me and made me free pisco sours, and then on to Cuzco where the city was in the middle of Corpus Christi celebrations! Parades of religious followers filled the street, dancing, playing instruments or carrying one of the 15 saints represented by churches throughout the area. there was an open air mass on the 22nd and the Plaza de Armas was just packed! I found a nice hostel that actually kept their word on hot showers, and I hung out with people there, and my last night in Cuzco, SAE hosted movie night.
By May 24 I was already back in La Paz, Bolivia. I was reunited with Jeremy, a traveler I'd met in Cuzco a few months ago, and along with my dormmate Helen and a group of guys we met, we all went to the outskirts of La Paz to see Cholitas wrestling. The concept is odd: traditional ladies with poofy satin skirts, multi-layered sweaters topped by a sparkly shawl, long black braids and a top hat get in a standard wrestling ring and fight it out. Sadly my camera spazzed out during a pre-fight fight, and the most interesting shot i got was that of the night's first dwarf wrestler. In reality the cholitas only fought one round, but it was the best one of the night. the crowd was active as well...a rouge ref got smashed in the back of the head with a raw egg, and a number of wrestlers took tomato hits.
I have been in Sucre since the 26th and even had a chance to visit the silver mining city Potosí. The Cerro Rico that has been plundered for over 400 years has reaped enough silver"to build a silver bridge from Potosí to Spain" - unfortunately since the mines are run by outside companies the city itself sees no profits and is really quite poor. I skipped the grueling 4 hour mine tour that most tourists do and enjoyed watching parades in the streets and stopped in at the museum chronicling the city's history. Now back in Sucre I have been, rather tragically, halted from traveling. The city is having a general strike (not sure why) and the airport closed in support on the day i was to head to Tarija, "the Andalucía of Bolivia." im disappointed in having to miss out on bolivian wine country, but next I'm off to Santa Cruz to visit the famous jesuit missions in the east...and who are we kidding, shop.
photo #1: being cleansed by the local curandero 
photo #2: a hungry galapagos tortoise
photo #3: our pirate ship Sulidae
photo #4: a regal marine lizard
photo #5: a blue footed booby (seriously.)
photo #6: cholitas (non-wrestling) in Cusco during Corpus Christi
photo #7: before my camera crapped out at the wrestling ring