June 2019 - Two Wise Nomads

Galapagos – Isla Fernandina, Isabela & Santiago (5,6)

Day 5 – Tagus Cove and Punta Vicente Roca.

It was an early start for a 630am kayak around the bay – made even earlier by an out of zone iPad that woke us up at 520am. It was pitch black so we knew something was wrong. It was lovely paddling around the bay as the sun rose over the nearby volcanoes – crabs were the main attraction with the odd sea lion, turtle and dolphin.

After breakfast we did a dry landing on a local beach and climbed the hill overlooking Lake Darwin – an inland tidal lake that at low tide is a good 6ft above the ocean. Again we marvelled at the fearlessness of the local birds with a mockingbird literally jumping on us as we walked past. There was also a fair bit of graffiti from private boats that were allowed to visit the area up until 1992 – mostly just a carving or the painting of the name of the boat and the year it visited. The earliest we could find was 1836. Nowadays you have to use an official guide and hence private boats no longer visit.

Afterwards we set sail to Punta Vicente Roca on the north west coast of Isla Isabella. Again it was magic sitting out front of the boat seeing what aquatic life we could see. We were incredibly lucky this time as a couple of blue whales cruised alongside us for 5 minutes. We also saw a sunfish 20 minutes before arriving at our destination – they only come to the surface to warm up, spending most of their time in the depths (up to 2km down) eating jellyfish.

We moored below some impressive cliffs (part of a collapsing volcano) and went for a snorkel. While the visibility wasn’t great, the number of turtles were incredible. It was actually a bit scary having 6 or 7 of them in really close proximity floating around you. There was quite an impressive array of fish in the area as well. After lunch and our usual siesta everyone bar me went out for another snorkel. I stayed behind and read in the sun. After getting a bit hot I decided to go fro a swim and asked if I could dive off the bridge of the boat. I was given the OK and as I was about to dive in, 2 hammerhead sharks cruised by. The skipper told me they were friendly so I did my usual belly flop near them. While I felt confident they would not be interested in me, I didn’t waste time getting out of the water. The rest of the team came back excited about their snorkel with 3 sea lions.

Around 4.30 we got on our way for our long sail to Buccaneer’s Cove in Isla Santiago. We crossed the equator on the way and had a celebratory glass of champagne to mark the occasion. The sunset was amazing, as was the incredible view of so many of the volcanoes that make up Galapagos. It really is a very special place. Deryn was a bit nervous of the expected rough seas as we rounded the top of Isla Isabela so was in bed with sleeping tablets by 7.30pm. Sleep being the best way to avoid sea sickness.

Day 6 – Santiago Island – Bucaneer’s Cove and James Bay

We arrived at Bucanner’s Cove around 2am – while it was a reasonably bumpy journey it was more up and down rather than side to side so wasn’t too bad. It was the usual 7am breakfast followed by a kayak around the cove at 8am. The landscape was amazing with the layering of rock and larva giving testament to the many eruptions over the millennia, combined with sheer cliffs and rocks perilously balanced on top of each other. There were a few caves we could explore before the wind forced us back to the boat.

We then went for a snorkel, sooner than we normally would because another boat had arrived carrying 40 guests and we did not want to share the water with them. The water was much warmer which meant a lot more fish but very few turtles and marine iguanas. We returned to the cave that we had explored earlier in kayaks to be delighted with some sea lions frolicking amongst the multitude of fish. One of them eating a sea slug with teeth you wouldn’t want to be too close to and also a sting ray at the bottom of the cave. We spent a good hour in the water which was testament to its warmth.

It was then back to the boat for our 90 minute journey to James Bay, still on Santiago Island. Lunch consisted of a whole baked bass which was a bit too real for me. We had a quick turn around after lunch for our walk as again it was a matter of avoiding the other tourists. James Bay briefly had a salt mine until it became a national park so there was evidence of its previous inhabitants – one of the first time we have seen evidence of man on our trip. It was a lovely walk around the island in which we got to see some recently introduced Iguanas, Galapagos fur sea lions, a hawk, heron and some American oyster catchers. It was the hottest weather we had encounter since we had been in the Galapagos so we jumped at the chance to swim along the beach and then the 400m back to the boat. We had our snorkels but no flippers so it was a fair bit of exercise although the swim along the beach was easy because of all the sea life, not so heading out to the boat as it was deep water. Franklin boated alongside us, as he said, to scare away the sharks. I reckon he was messing with us.

We then headed off on our 7 hour sail to our next destination so it was back to our favourite spot out the back of the boat to lay in the sun and read and/or kip. This really is the life.

And finally an image shared by our mate Rob Prugue, which sums up Twowisenomads.

Galapagos – Isla Isabela (3, 4)

It was nice to wake up in the bay of Punta Moreno, surrounded by towering volcanoes. It was a dry landing on black volcanic larva – Franklin was quite stern in his instructions about paying attention to where you walk as it does not take much to fall into a crevice or step on sometime. It was like walking on the surface of the moon. There was a couple of lagoons in which we saw some flamingoes, pelicans and a Galapagos shark. We returned to the boat for lunch and set sail to Bahia Elizabeth.

We arrived at Bahia Elizabeth around 2. We boarded the zodiac and spent a couple of hours snaking around the mangrove filled lagoons. There were quite a few flightless cormorants, pufferfish, penguins and turtles. We stopped in a little enclave and sat there in silence for 10 minutes watching the many sea turtles glide in. Thankfully there were few mozzies – a benefit of the very little rain that the Galapagos gets. Our peace was disturbed by another group of tourists and their very descriptive guide.

We spent the night anchored in Bahia Elizabeth before heading to Urbina Bay at 5am (still on Isabela Island). We arrived at Urbina Bay just before breakfast. We were all in the zodiac at 7.45am for a wet landing on the nearby beach. We had a short walk around the bay that was notable for being underwater until 1954 when the whole bay lifted by 8ft. We saw plenty of finches, cuckoos, some tortoises and for the first time, land Iguanas. We got to snorkel (minus flippers) off the beach before being back on board by 10am for our journey through the narrow straights between Isla Fernandina and Isabela to the beach of Punta Espinosa.

The journey was magic. Sitting up front of the boat in the sun reading while watching Manta Rays, Bottlenose Dolphins, Brother Whales, turtles and the odd clicking Frigate. We timed our arrival for low tide so we could snorkel at a nearby beach where the Marine Iguanas would be in water feeding off the algae. It was incredibly special swimming amongst literally hundreds of Iguanas – often using their long claws to cling to algae covered rocks at the bottom of the sea while feeding. The abundance of fish and turtles feeding at the same time were almost, although not quite, ignored.

In the afternoon we crossed back to Punta Espinosa for a walk around the headland. The number of Marine Iguanas warming themselves in the sun was amazing. At times they formed trains of Iguanas, nose to tail all on top of each other. The quiet was punctuated every now and then as an Iguana ‘sneezed’ out a projectile of salt water. We were also fortunate to see a couple of Galapagos hawks feeding on a sea lion placenta and also a couple of flightless cormorants building a nest out of seaweed.

We sailed to Tagus Cove for the night – a well known mooring for the many pirate ships that were prevalent in the area in the 1600’s. I was walking along the deck after dinner when I noticed a 6ft Galapagos shark gliding past the boat. Quite spooky. It was also the first night we stood outside having a look at the stars – being so close to the equator it was possible to see 80% of both the southern and northern hemisphere stars

Galapagos – Isla Floreana (2)

Breakfast was at 7am – and as good a meal was we had the previous night for dinner – before we all got into the zodiac and wet landed on the local beach. We encountered some Blue Footed boobies (meaning idiot), a couple of sleeping sea lions, crabs, lizards, locusts and near the end of the beach walk, feeding flamingoes. We then returned to the boat before heading out for a 45 minute snorkel. We had all hired half wetsuits the previous day which made for a mostly comfortable time in the water. We saw loads of fish but also a black and yellow eel and a fast moving sea lion. Deryn also saw a white tipped reef shark. It was then back into the boat for a short drive to the post office. It’s a barrel used by pirates and whalers to pass messages to each other, but today used as a bit of a gimmick in which we dropped off a couple of post cards and picked up two in areas that we were likely to visit in the next 6 months – in our case Sydney and San Francisco. The rule is that you have to hand deliver the postcards. We’ll see!

We were then meant to visit the high point of Isla Floreana where the pirates used to ge their water supply but instead decided to do the journey to Isla Isabela in the hope of seeing some Blue Whales – they had been spotted in previous weeks. It was a tough 11 hours of cruisng at nearly 8 knots to get to Punta Moreno. There were a few casualties with Deryn, Linda, Conrad and to a lesser extent Tim and Deb, being hit with sea sickness. We did see a couple of whales but not well enough to justify the day trip. We arrived at our destination at 11.15pm.

The Galapagos – Isla Santa Cruz (1)

As is always the case when you have to get up early, we had a restless night sleep. The agent was waiting for us when we checked out at 5.10am with a breakfast box – a cheese and ham roll, some fruit and a muffin. We picked up another 6 guests from the Marriott before winding through a deserted Quito to the airport. 2 of the guests were joining us on the Reina Silvia – an American, Linda and her niece Kelly. The Galapagos had a seperate check-in where all bags are scanned – we were warned on the way in about the multiple luggage scans as the Galapagos National Park is paranoid about any introduced species.

The flight to the Isla Santa Cruz Beltra Airport took 3 hours care of a stop over at Guayaquil. It was the first time I have ever stayed in my seat while leaving passengers got off and new passengers embarked. All visitors to the islands have to pay a US$100 Park tax and then wait for our luggage to be checked out by a sniffer dog. Of course our bag (we left a backpack behind in Quitos with all out winter gear and tramping boots) was the only bag out of 30 or so that attracted the attention of the dog. We had to follow a policeman into an office where the contents of our bag got thoroughly searched. Turns out a bag of cocoa leaves was the problem – they are illegal in Ecuador. We pleaded ignorance and thankfully were let off with a simple forfeiture of the offending leaves.

Our guide for the Reina Silvia, Franklin, met us and 4 other guests – Deb and her son Trey, and their former German au pair Caroline and her boyfriend Conrad. Our luggage was taken to the boat whereas we boarded a bus to head to a tortoise park for lunch. We also met our other guests – a young English couple on their engagement holiday (who had lived in Christchurch for 13 months)Tim and Kerri and a Canadian / English father (Barry) and son (Tim).

After lunch we walked around the park and marvelled at the many massive tortoises. Tortoises in the Galapagos are the worlds largest on account of the lack of predators. They were also completely unfazed by humans – a common occurrence for Galapagos wildlife. This was a theme we encountered in the rest of out time in the Galapagos – the amazing indifference the animals/fish/birds have to humans. This is as much about the local rules forbidding tourists to interact with the animals as it is about the enforcement of those rules. Where else in the world can you photo close ups of animals with an iPhone? It really is special.

After lunch we drove to the tortoise park and the Charles Darwin Research centre. The different species of tortoises {mostly illegal pets} were visible – the long necked saddleback and the more common round back. We also got to see the embalmed Lonesome George – the last of a unique species of tortoise that they unsuccessfully tried to breed before he died. There is a very large breeding program for tortoises as they try to repopulate the species after hundreds of years of pirates and whalers using them as their primary food source. They believe between 200 and 500 thousand tortoises were taken from the islands.

We then got to wonder through the town before boarding the Reina Silvia. Our room was below deck and backed onto the engine room. At least the noise – measured by the SPL Meter app on my iPhone to be 67 decibels – was consistent so sleep was possible. However for me it was only after 2.15am when the boat started its journey to Isla Floreana. Other below deck passengers that had front cabins, while further from the engines, had to cope with waves banging against the side of the boat as it moved through the night. As expected we did get used to it!

Surprising Quito

On our last night we met a lovely Dutch couple while playing cards in the dining room of Casa Verde and spent a few hours drinking and chatting. It made getting up for our bus trip back to Quito a bit difficult. Our local taxi driver Adolphi was very disappointed that he was only driving us to the Banos bus stop and not Quito. So much so that Deryn and I agreed that he could in fact drive us all the way to Quito, saved us from hanging around the bus stop.

Our hotel Real Audiencia was in the heart of Old Quito, which made wandering around the old town very easy. Quito felt very different to the other South American cities we had visited – a weird mix of very old, run down but tidy, loads of cops and tourist police (made you feel safe, mostly) and some of the most intriguing looking people we had encountered to date. We spent the first afternoon exploring the old town’s squares – the Plaza Grande and Plaza San Francisco. We then headed to the Basilicia del Voto National – a church whose spires dominated the eastern skyline of the old city.

We paid $2 to check out the cathedral – OK – and then paid another $2 to climb the towers. The views of the cathedral from within the towers were amazing – we wasted $4 – and then you got to walk across the the roof of the cathedral, following which you could climb 3 flights of incredibly steep stairs to the top of the spire. Like climbing ship stairs. Just a a lot higher. Definitely worth doing. Dinner was our most expensive since Cusco at $32. Hell’s teeth.

We did a 3 hour guided walk of old Quito the next morning. The tour started at the Community Hostel – a really buzzy, nice place. We wished we had stayed there – everyone was so friendly. The first stop of the tour was the local market with numerous stalls visited and sampled. The rest of the tour was more historical but really, really good. A nice mix of history, culture and even economics. After a lunch in one of the many dodgy looking chicken places, and a kip, we headed back out to explore some of the stuff we had seen in the morning but wanted to see more of.

First on the list was the Casa Gangotena – the best museum I have ever seen for making history real. After a bit of a battle with a big group of students, we found our mojo and enjoyed a hour of trying to figure what the hell was going on in these lifelike scenes. All the signs were in Spanish – except the names of course. We also took a fair few photos after being told we were not allowed. Tsk. Tsk. It was then a quick viewing of the Salvador Dali exhibition of a whole load of his sketches. He was one weird, organ obsessed fellow. We had dinner in a pub in the old town’s party zone which was a wee bit spoiled by my dodgy chicken. Two bites and I knew it was wrong. No after effects thankfully.

We moved to the Swissotel on Friday morning as part of our Galapagos package. We got there early so was told to go have breakfast (second for the day) while our room was being prepared. Nice. We then headed up the TelefericQo – Quito’s gondola up the east side of Pichincha Volcano – to a height of 4000m. Our taxi to the start did not have the grunt to get up the steep last km of the road so Dits and I had to get out and walk. Not easy at 3100m. Compounded with this was the fact that it was overcast with rain up top. However we soldiered on, paid our $8.50 and had a gondola to ourselves. It was a spectacular climb, even with the last 5 mins being completely clouded over. The top was shrouded for the first 30 minutes before the cloud lifted and we got to see some of the spectacular scenery. Once again the ever popular swing was sampled – best yet! We could not see the other 5 or 6 volcanoes but it was still magic. Even after getting soaked in the hail downpour. We had our own gondola again on the way down – dodgy looking gringos perhaps?

We walked some of the journey back to the hotel – not the most attractive area actually. Then it was cards and our free Mojito, followed by a buffet in the executive lounge. We gorged before crashing nice and early on account of our 5.15am pick up in the morning.

And now some Quito observations – they sell motorbikes with TVs, beds an fridges. Like Harvey Norman with a motorbike section. They have triple length buses. And coffee comes in a concentrated form that looks like soy sauce. You mix it with hot water. There are many desperate looking Venezuelans. Mostly selling lollipops on the side of the road. One traveller we met said the border crossing from Colombia was a tragic sight. She said there were literally hundreds of Venezuelans, some in UNICEF first aid tents, all desperate to escape.

Banos de Agua Santa

Had a great night sleep to the sound of the swollen Rio Pastaza roaring in the background. We walked the 2km into town and spent an hour or so exploring its centre. I think it’s clear you don’t come to Baños to experience the architectural wonders of the town. It’s all about outdoor adventures.

In the afternoon we got a $10 taxi to the Casa Del Arbol at the top of the mountain above Baños. It’s area is renown for the many swings perched on the edge of cliffs, giving you spectacular views of the area while swinging. Deryn enjoyed it more than I did as it made me feel a bit sick. FFS – getting older is pain! We also had a cursory go on the flying fox before starting the walk down.

The walk entailed a couple of kms on the road before heading off into a very steep muddy path down the mountain. It was hard going but quite spectacular views of Baños and the very rural environment made it worthwhile. The 10km walk took us 90min. We grabbed an early meal at a steak house – chicken for me and fish for Deryn. We then headed to the local hot pools at the base of the Cascade Cabellera de la Virgen Falls (someone saw the Virgin Mary there a few years back). $2 entry fee and another $1 to ‘rent’ a head cap. We were told to shower before getting in the pool by a stern matron who was immediately obeyed. The first pool was hot spa temp but the second one was considerably hotter. I loved it while Dits found it a tad too hot. I then jumped into the cold plunge pool which to say was invigorating would be an understatement. However the hot pool after that was a breeze.

We both felt amazing afterwards and agreed it needed to be a nightly occurrence. Dits unfortunately was hit by the Ecuadorian tummy bug in the middle of the night. Now being fhe champion she is, she agreed to go ahead with our planned biking trip along south of Banos to all the waterfalls, fishing at the Pailon Del Diablo (Devil’s cauldron) The waterfalls were not bad – certainly a lot of them – but even more impressive were the number of zip lines running across the valley. We counted at least 10 – some of them look decidedly dodgy so given Dits was not feeling well, we decided to give them a go next time we passed by.

It was a 12 km to Pailon Del Diablo, the best bits of the road were on the old road that bypassed the single lane tunnels in which bikes were not allowed. It was cobblestoned with amazing views as it snaked along the mountainside. There were 2 entrances to the falls – Dits and I went down one and I then did the other by myself as Dits was fading fast. We grabbed a truck back to our hostel – they line up like taxis outside of the falls and for $12 (can fit 6 bikes) they take you the 12km back to Banos. As there was only Deryn and myself we had to pay the full $12.

The next couple of days were spent doing very little while we waited for Deryn to recover. Plenty of reading and sleep. We headed into town a few times to grab some food, headed back to the hot baths and booked our canyoning trip. Deryn thankfully had recovered in time for my birthday so we found a cool bar in town and got on it. Felt very, very old the next day.

Unfortunately it rained for our last 3 days in Banos so all our planned outdoor activities were canned. We were up early for our canyoning so when it was cancelled decided to walk to the other side of town to the Balneario El Salado hot baths. It was a fair hike but worth it in the end. It was nice and quiet when we arrived but after an hour the hordes of arriving school kids soon had us on our way. A quick scan of the local cemetery and then lovely meal at a Rasta Vege joint before heading back to La Casa Verde for our last evening in this cool little town.

And then there was this tail..

La Paz – highest capital in the world

Well, as is often the case, a few hands of cribbage with me supping on whiskey and Deryn on Bolivian wine, turned into a bit of a bender. Once the mini-bar acquired booze was finished we headed into town to a local Thai resultant for a feed before finishing the night in the Red Lion pub to watch a local band. Deryn kept forcing Irish coffees down me believing it would stop me keeling over.

I was in better shape than Deryn next morning for our flight to La Paz. Once again the flight was incredibly easy and it wasn’t long before we were in the Hostal La Posada De La Abuela in the artisan area of La Paz, just around the corner from the witches market. A great location. We explored the area before getting an early night to recover from the previous night’s excesses.

We arranged a taxi to take us to Tiwanaku the next morning – while more expensive than a bus (about $80), it meant we had the freedom to come and go at our own pace. The drive to the ruins took about 3 hours – with nearly half of that just getting out of La Paz’s and El Alto. We made the decision that we would catch the Mi Teleferico (cable car) back to our hostel to avoid the worst of the traffic.

The Tiwanaku dominated a large area of the southern Andes around 500 to 900AD. The ruins included temples, a pyramid and some amazing sculptures. The huge stones used in the construction (weighing up to 25 tones) were transported from quarries over 90km away. Insane. Also the quality of the carving (straight lines of the H’s) shows a incredibly sophisticated society. The belief is that a severe drought eventually led to the demise of the empire. While impressive, it didn’t quite match up the quality of the many Inca ruins we had seen.

We got dropped off at the first station of the Mi Teleferico on our way home. We had to change lines twice – each time getting off and buying another 3B ticket (60c) – before we arrived back at our local station. It was incredible. Firstly we got to go above the El Alto market – South America’s largest outdoor market. The scale of the market was unbelievable – it stretched as far as the eye could see off every street. We then got to drop down onto La Paz with amazing views of this unique city.

The next morning it was an early start to get down to the Higher Ground Cafe where we were being picked up by Gravity for our Death Road (Yungus Road) mountain bike ride. The trip didn’t start well when our guide Nate said he had expected us the previous day. It wasn’t a major hassle though as they just needed the shop to load more bikes and gear which delayed our start by 30 minutes.

Death Road was cut into the side of the Cordillera Oriental mountain range by Paraguayan prisoners in the 1930’s during the Chaco War. The road was the only connection between La Paz and the Yungas region. Between 200 and 300 people were killed every year and as late as 1994 a car was going off the edge on average every 2 weeks. The worse accident was in 1983 when an overcrowded bus went off the edge killing over 100. A new road was finished in 2006 so now the old road is mostly used by mountain bikers (25,000 a year), although 30 bikers have died since 98. Including a Kiwi who was riding with Nate only 3 months ago.

We started the ride at 4730m. The first 22km was on the new sealed road (so we basically just bombed it). We then voted to get back on the bus for the 10km uphill bit before starting the Death Road proper. It’s 33km to the town of Coroico (1200m) at the end of the road. It was a shame that the top half of the ride was shrouded in cloud because we did not get to appreciate the views – or the sheer drops!! While not technically difficult (half our group had not mountain biked before), you still had to be careful because of the sheer drops off the side of the road (some more than 400m) and that the road narrowed to about 3.5m wide at times – how big trucks and buses drove along this road is beyond me. Rails were put on some dangerous corners a few years ago by the parents of a child that was killed on the road. Nate, and Gravity, did a great job in managing the group although, as I pointed out to Deryn, we could have done the whole thing easily in a third of the 6 hours it took our group with the many stops and rests on the way. The quickest is apparently 47 minutes which you would need to be mad to attempt to beat. Nate was also asked by a group of Americans to guide them on riding up the road. He declined.

The ride finishes at the La Senda Verde Wildlife Sanctuary. It’s a sanctuary set up by a couple of locals to care for animals rescued from trafficking. It has lots of the impressive Bolivian parrots, spider, howler and squirrel monkeys, capybaras and even a tapir (which Deryn was lucky enough to see!). When booking the ride we had also booked the Tree Hut at the sanctuary, deciding it would be nice to stay the night rather than get the Gravity bus back the same day. What a great idea!

We did a walk around (the noise from the parrots was amazing) before having dinner and heading to bed in our tree house. It was magic sleeping in the ‘wild’ and waking up to the noise of the birds and howler monkeys. Sitting out on out little deck and watching the Spider monkeys was also cool, including a few that got very close and personal. We then did a tour with Sally, a Brit who was volunteering there. The size of the place was impressive although it appeared that they were doing it a bit tough – Sally confirmed this saying that they are just not getting tourists staying like they used to. Our guess was that the state of the accommodation would put a few people off. We hired a taxi to take us back to La Paz. The new road itself was impressive and thankfully the weather was good so we got to see a lot of the scenery that we missed on the way down.

We spent the afternoon walking around again before getting enthused and heading into a bar for some Pisco Sours. We then caught the Mi Teleferico again to see how it looked at night – still impressive – before finishing the night off in the local English Pub playing cribbage again. On that front Deryn now leads 38 to 35 games.

We had a 545am taxi to get us to the airport for our 7.56am flight to Quito, Ecuador via Lima. Deryn left her glasses and headphones in the hotel room (that’s 2 lost headphones with mine left in Rurrenabaque). The perils of early morning departures. We had arranged a taxi to meet us at the airport for the 3 hour drive to Banos de Aqua Santa, the hillside town near the Tungurahua volcano. The name of the town reflects the healing powers of its many hot springs. We finally arrived at the La Casa Verde Eco Guest House around 3.30pm. It had lovely views of the surrounding hills and fast flowing Rio Pastaza.

And again we finish with a dog. Or a Banos dog lookout to be more accurate