Sean, Author at Two Wise Nomads

Stylish Salento and Medellin

We had a nice relaxing morning sampling some of the local coffee, wondering around the village and then booking our horse ride up the river. We got picked up at 1.10 and driven about a kilometre to the stables just outside of town (close to the Paremo trek office). Both our horses were amazing (compared to the older horses we usually get). There was only the 2 for us, 3 with out guide. We set off on the road for a fairly steep decline to the valley floor below. Our guide only had to make a noise with his lips (much like calling a cat) and the horses would break into a trot. It was quite hard work going down the steep road – I could feel the blisters building already where my thigh was rubbing against the saddle.

We reached the bottom of the valley after about 30 minutes and then headed into the river. It was a lot of fun riding up the river, at times heading into quite deep water. The horses were incredible – they obviously know what they were doing. After about 30 minutes walking up the river we started to head back to town, however this time it was up stone and mud paths. It was amazing how the horses coped climbing the very steep and slippery paths and before we knew it we were back in Salento, although on the opposite side of town. My horse was keen to get home so any opportunity and he was off. We were back at the stables in 90 minutes of a 2 hour ride, but that was great as our guide could see we could ride so he sped it up. Damn, my legs hurt when I first got off. Dits was a lot better. Our legs were taking a pounding with the hiking and now this. Best we go book in our mountain biking ride!

We went back to Salento Bikes and told the guy we were in for the single track downhill – he had spent some time trying to talk us out of it the previous day when we popped in. He even showed us a video. However he piped down when we showed him a video of Manly Dam. 150k ($A70) pesos each for ride. W e turned up the next day at 1.10 (after another fantastic feed at Brunch – my soup was a 3 course meal). The ride to the start of the ride was interesting, mainly because the van would suddenly lose all power. Our driver had to turn the car off and wait a while. The exactly same ailment befell our taxi on the drive up to the Teleferico in Quito. Weird.

We arrived at our destination – La Alegria single track. Rated hard and as a black diamond track by Trailforks. Nothing like a challenge. The first part of the track was on pine needles through a pine forest – with a smattering of eucalyptus trees. It was slippery!! Things were made a lot more difficult as well as the brakes were the opposite side to what we were used to. It was challenging but sort of fun. We both came off a few times so our guide knew what to expect. It was just so different to anything that we had ridden. After about 20 mins the terrain changed to paddock which was a lovely reprieve. We cycled through a fair bit of farmland with plenty of animals. It was the clam before the storm. The last 2 kms were slipping clay on tracks that were v shaped crevices. I went over my handle bars twice (the brake issue) but still loved it – it was the old story of ‘speed is your friend’. It’s just takes a fair bit of getting used to going sideways all the time. We made it to the bottom in 46 minutes, over our target of sub 40. They had a championship here a month or so ago in which the winner did 17 minutes. I have no idea how. Starva says I was the second fastest of all time (in the 55-64 age bucket!).

We did originally have plans for doing 2 runs but they amount of physical activity we take undertaken over the last 5 days just made it a bad idea. We would kill ourselves if we tried it again. So it was a quiet night ahead of our early departure to the airport and our flight to Medellin.

We caught the 750am bus to Pereira airport for our 11.55am flight to Medellin via Bogota. We arrived at the airport just after 9 so we got put on the earlier 10.30am flight which meant we got to spend 3 hours in the Avianca business lounge in Bogota. It was lovely – good internet and unlimited good food. Medellin was a lot greener and a loft wealthier than I was expecting – as it turns out it was just where we were staying – 574 Hotel in the Astorga area. The hotel was lovely with the guy at the frond desk being really sweet.

I had my Ayahuasca experience booked for the next day so I had to go meet my guide Orion, at a coffee shop at the Estadio Metro Station at 730pm. We decided to grab the metro there until we bumped into Maya (of Bogota fame) who said to avoid it. The line of people waiting was incredible. Most office people do a 730 to 5pm shift so starting out our journey at 530pm was not a good idea So we started walking until the rain forced us into a taxi. And traffic. We made it with 15 minutes to spare. Orion was there with his nurse partner – he is a doctor that does Ayahuasca experiences on the side. He believes completely in its healing properties. He asked what I was hoping to get out of it – a lot of people do Ayahuasca to treat mental and even physical issues. Mine was simply about going on the journey. He questioned Deryn a bit as to why she was not doing it, telling her it would be good for her.

I met Orion the next morning at 8 at the North bus stop (off Caribe metro station) and after a 40 minutes drive we arrived at our location. It was an incredible experience for so many reasons and I would happily share the note I wrote about it. Just reach out and ask.

I was back home by 3 and met Deryn who had been on a city centre walking tour with Maya and friends.

I’m sure exactly what I expected from Medellín but it is a noisy, chaotic South American city. After meeting the doctor who was taking Sean away for his Ayahuasca treatment I was comfortable he was in good hands so I signed up for the Free Walking Tour.

It was excellent. It gave me better understanding of Medellin and it’s Paisa people. We visited many of the attractions in Downtown Medellín – Botero Square was my favourite with all his statues in one square, but the most interesting part was learning about its transformation. Medellín has gone from one of the most dangerous cities in the world (economic suffering, crime drug trafficking, civil unrest) to being recognised as one of the most innovative. Poor and high crime areas have been revamped and transformed into beautiful areas. Low income neighbourhoods boosted with library, parks and community centres. The guide asked how many of us had family who were happy for us to be here. Several of us put up our hands. He said 3 years ago no hands would have been up.

Taylor had told us about a great local she had met when she travelled through Medellin 2 years earlier so we decided to meet up with him. He was a blast, so full of energy. We could see why Taylor enjoyed him.

The next day it was off to the famous, previously infamous, Comuna 13. Once one of the most violent spots on the planet. Now its a massive tourist attraction. I do wonder how the locals cope with not being able to move most of the year as the place is packed with walking tour groups. Like ours. Our guide was terrible so we bailed out once we got to the escalators (HK is the only other city in the world that has them). The upper levels were great. Plenty of buskers, food sellers and atmosphere. On the journey down we passed our tour group so had to take evasive action to avoid detection.

The next day we decided to take the gondola from the Acavdo Metro stop to Arvi and the national park up there. The metro in Medellin really is amazing. It transformed the city when it was built in 1995. It is a breeze to navigate with basically 2 lines – a north and south and an east to west. The gondolas run off various stops and head into the hills. Medellin won the worlds most innovative city in 2012 for the work that it is doing to integrate the different social classes and hence reduce crime. We had a brief walk around the park looking for a lake that was meant to be nearby. After 45 minutes of walking we gave up – nothing was signposted with a maze of paths making it impossible to find the lake. We headed home and wandered up to the funky Lalinde area for an early dinner and some cards in one of the many bars. For once we were the last to leave (it was a 10.30pm close!). We were off to Guatape tomorrow. We both felt like we had not really given Medellin a fair crack. It was probably because of the location – a wee bit from the city center and the nightlife spots and also because we were shattered from all the physical activity in Salento.

And, finally a dog …

Salento – Los Nevado National Park 4 day trek

We had a day to chill before we headed off on our trek in the Los Nevados National park. We decided to walk to the two Miradors to enjoy the view and get in some altitude ‘training’ :). The walk to the view took all of 10 minutes but it certainly was impressive. It really is a beautiful part of the world. Apparently Salento was a bit of ghost town 15 years ago due to the number of FARC guerillas in the area; it is now a bustling tourist destination (local and overseas). We certainly would not be doing our trek. We had a local coffee – Salento is also known for its coffee with a lot of Arabic coffee grown in the area.

We headed off to the Paremo Trek office at 4 for our trek debrief. Fortunately for us, another trekker had just turned up which meant we could now do the 4 day trek for the price of our planned 3 day – as there was originally only 2 of trekking we had to pay for all guide ourselves, adding a third meant his costs were now shared 3 ways. She was Katrin from Switzerland. We were told to be back at the office at 7am the following morning.

We met our guide Freddy (aka Chuko – means Jesus) the next morning and got given some snacks for the 4 days as well as our lunch for the day. A bit of a challenge to find some space in our fully laden backpacks (we took our little ones – leaving the big packs back at the hotel). We then headed off for a hearty feed at a local cafe before loading ourselves into one of the many Colombian ‘Willis’ jeeps for a hour drive to the start of the trek in the Cocora Valley (2390m). It was here that we were meant to encounter lots of the famous Quindío palms – they can grow up to 300ft tall. While we certainly saw plenty of them, we didn’t walk amongst them as expected. It was a bit chilly at the start of the trek but it soon warmed up as we climbed, and climbed and climbed some more. Once we got above 2800m the trees thinned and we started to encounter the paramo de frailejones – weird looking cactuses out of a Dr Seuss book. It was here that Chuko gave us some of his cocoa & baking powder mix to provide energy. It was akin to sucking on chewing tobacco but it worked.

We finally made it to our “finka” for the night around 3pm – La Argentina at an altitude of 3400m – it had taken us nearly 6 hours to cover the 13km but in that we had climbed an incredible 1461m!. To say the hut was basic was an understatement but it had served the family living there for many generations so it was certainly good enough for us. There were plenty of animals around – cows, sheep, pigs, chickens, dogs – including a couple of shivering Chihuahuas!!. The family’s main revenue used to come from cheese making but now it was from hosting tourists. They built a room alongside the house to sleep up to 14 tourists in double bed bunks – thankfully there were only 7 of us to we got to have a double bunk each. There was no lights in the room – head torches were a must. The shower was magic if somewhat cramped.

When not in the sleepout, the time was spent sitting on a raised bench above the wood fired stove and kitchen bench to enjoy the warmth. It was certainly cosy with all of us in there. We all got given a bowl of lovely potato soup before settling in to watch the quarter final of COPA America. I snuck off for an hour kip before the Colombia v Chile game at 615. It was very pleasant watching the game and our hyper-busy hostess preparing dinner. The old owner popped in from a day out on the farm for dinner and to say hello. Dinner consisted of more potato soup and then a plate of beans, avocado, fried plantain(banana) and rice. Lovely. We gave up on the soccer at half time (Chile ending up winning on penalties) and headed to be at 730. It had been a tough day – Deryn had found it particularly so but had soldiered on like the trooper she is.

It was a restless night sleep with the wind howling, dogs barking, cows mooing and roosters crowing. I was also a bit dehydrated which did not help. We were told breakfast was at 630 so get up at 6. I was in the kitchen waiting for brekkie at 6.20 but only got anything at 650. Colombian time! Breakfast was potato soup (of course), rice, scrambled egg and a cracker. Plus a cop of cocoa tea followed by a coffee. It was past 8 before we got away for another tough day of climbing.

We basically climbed for the first 4 km to nearly 4200m – 800m in 2 hours. Brutal. We had a brief stop at the farm called Buenos Aires – no idea why these weird names – before continuing our climb. It was pretty cold and cloudy so we did not get to see the Paramillo del Quindío (4,750 meters) volcano but thankfully that was it for the climbing which meant we could start to enjoy the splendour of our remote landscape. Chuko was great at pointing out some of the stunning plants in the area as well as the odd bird. We were going to walk to base of the volcano but after climbing the hill on part of the journey, all decided to flag it. The cold wind combined with the distance put us all off. Plus we had a long day tomorrow.

It was a gradual decline until to Buenos Aires finka at 3800m – it was visible about an hour out – it was a long hour given how tired we were from the 2 days of climbing. I was also continually piddling as I was drinking so much water to avoid the dehydration from the previous day. I stopped 7 times during the day!

The farmhouse was situated in a beautiful valley with a lot more flat paddocks around it. The kitchen was a lot smaller than Argentina but a lot neater, the toilet even had a lid!. We all enjoyed the shower again, knowing there was no shower the following day. The kitchen was a bit small so we all ended up having a bit of a kip (and read) in the dorm before dinner. It also gave us an opportunity to try out the beds and to add another 3 blankets on top of the mattress to soften it. So for me it was 3 blankets below and 3 on top – Deryn had 4 on top – it really did get that cold overnight. We walked 11.4km climbing 888m in just over 6 hours.

Dinner was some lentil soup, followed by some fried chicken, avocado, fried plantain, some beetroot & onion mix and rice. Delicious. We were all in bed by 7 reading and asleep soon after. It wasn’t as cold as the previous night but we had the pleasure of the roosters deciding 430am was a decent time to start crowing. Including the rooster who lived on the roof above my bunk. Breakfast of course included a hearty potato soup. We managed to get away by 7.45 am with another climb of 250m to start the day. We now entered the National Park proper after our first 2 days of walking through privately owned farms. The trekking was a little easier then previous days as a lot of our gear was being transported to our next stop on a mule. It meant that Deryn and I only had 1 light bag between us – which I carried of course being the perfect gentlemen. After the 90 minutes of the climb, it flattened out and we really started to enjoy ourselves. The views were incredible and many of the paramo were in flower – the flowers showed why they are the same family as the sunflower. The varied landscapes made us all very glad that we had opted for the 4 day hike over the 3.

We finally made it to Laguna Otun (a lake) around 1. Chuko gave us each a bar of chocolate to celebrate the achievement and then cooked us lunch over a little gas stove. Powdered mash potato and vegetables – just add water and cheese. It was lovely. As was the coffee.

Our descent to El Jordan was brilliant. Chuko took us on his many shortcuts, some of them involving traversing incredibly steep banks, climbing over fences and crossing many streams. We also got to walk through some cloud forests with its NZ like palms and ferns. It really was magic and made all the hard work of the last 2 and a half days well worth it. We also got to share some of NZ’s favourite past time with Chuko. After 19.5km and over 9 hours, we made it to El Jordan. While we had only climbed 752m that day, we were shattered. I had won the days piddling contest with Katrin – 13 to 12. The farmhouse was lovely – although the owners were certainly a lot less friendly than our previous hosts. The views were incredible. The lack of a shower was compensated by some beers and spectacular views. Dinner was awful. Boiled spud, dry chicken and some rice.

It was a much milder night with fewer disruptions so we all had a better nights sleep. Jeez, I can’t wait to sleep in a decent bed again! We got away our earliest yet at 7.20am – I guess Chuko wanted to finish early. Again it was a very pleasant walk (no hills to climb!!) and it wasn’t long before we started to encounter other trekkers – initially heading down – but soon more and more doing a day hike out o El Cedral. It was a long weekend in Colombia so it was busier that normal. It took us 3 hours to reach the Otún Quimbaya Fauna and Flora Sanctuary with its large, and busy, campground. We had a brief stop before pushing on to finish the last 6km. A lot of it was walking down a riverbed which thankfully was not too wet which meant it was comparatively easy. Certainly the walking poles came into their own in terms of providing balance. We made it to El Cedral by 12.10 – we covered the 14.3km in just under 5 hours. A bit too quick as our car had not yet arrived. He showed up at 12.30 at which point we agreed to pay 100k pesos ($50) between the 3 of us to get him to drive us straight back to Salento rather than the Pereira bus stop. The public holiday meant the bus station would have been a nightmare.

As it turned out the drive was brilliant. It involved navigating some pretty narrow and steep mountain roads – at one stage the 4 wheel drive car could not get traction on a particularly steep bit of road and had to back up and try again. We drove though some very fertile areas with plenty of onions and avocados being grown. We arrived back in Salento by 3 and went straight to Brunch for some incredible burgers. We said our fond farewells to both Chuko and Katrin before heading back to our hotel for a long shower and a change of clothes. After catching up with the world we headed down to the one Indian restaurant in town for a disappointing curry. The airy room and a soft bed was brilliant. Over the 4 days we walked 59km, climbed an incredible 3200m over 29 hours. Deryn and I both agreed its was the toughest tramp we had ever done.

Bogota – City of colour

It was an early start the next morning and before we knew it, we were in our hotel in Bogota. The Arche Noah Boutique Hostel in the funky La Candelaria zone of the city. This was in the old part of the city which had incredible colours and graffiti everywhere. Our original room (the family room) did not have a private bathroom. It’s a function of age that you need your own toilet in the room. Anyway after some negotiations we landed a room with a toilet and an external window. Amazing what we now regard as luxury. We went for a stroll to admire the incredible graffiti that fills the place. Quite amazing. A lot of them are done by famous artists. Importantly we also found the party street which we parked for later.

We headed back to the party street after a kip. We got offered some hash ice cream which we declined. The drug scene here is interesting. It is legal to possess 1gm of cocaine and 5g of pot, however it is illegal to buy or sell. So what happens is someone will sell you a beer that comes with the substance as a gift. The beer costs more than it normally would. We then headed home for some cards, I got myself a bottle of Columbian rum called Ron Viejo de Caldas – not bad and Deryn had a vino. We got a bit enthused so headed out around 9 to party street and a few more Vodka & soda’s before getting home around midnight.

We had the Bogota Bike Tour booked for 10.15am so we could have a leisurely start which was just was well. It turned out it was a public holiday, so a perfect day for a bike tour as the city closes a whole lot of roads to cars on public holidays. It was raining for the start of our tour but as Bogota has a highland climate most days get some rain so we went with it. We headed to Bolívar Plaza first and then into Santa Fe, Bogota’s red light district. I tell you what, at 11am on a Monday morning it is a very sad place. Looked destitute. We then arrived at a local coffee shop that produces some of Bogota’s finest coffee. We got shown around the shop before we got to try the coffee. Perfect – especially after the previous nights shenanigans. It was then a decent ride – stopping to look at some of the amazing graffiti- before we arrived at a local cafe to play Tejo – the national game of Columbia. You basically lob a 1kg bit of round granite at a circle of little white triangles surrounded by clay and headboard. The idea is to hit the triangles or land in the middle of them. It was fun. Our guide was trying really hard to hit a triangle but did not manage it. I did, as did another guy and girl. Just saying. I obviously did not hit it properly as he showed afterwards what happens. It contains gunpowder and hence makes a bit of noise. I reacted more violently than everyone else to the noise. We arrived back at the shop at nearly 3.30 – much longer than the apparent 4 hours. It was a really good day and something we could really recommend. We are going to try hard to do bike tours when we are in a larger city – if not, then a walking tour. We have enjoyed every one that we have been on.

The next morning we set off on a planned tour of a few museums. We started with the highly rated Gold Museum – a historical guide on how the previous metal, as well as copper and silver, as been an integral part of Columbian history. To be honest it was a bit over-powering. After an hour of looking at some quite incredible artifacts, fatigue set in so we headed off to find the Art Museum which had a interesting exhibition on show. Unfortunately it was closed. No idea why. We did pass the Santuario Nuestra Señora del Carmen (a church) on the way to the museum so popped in for a look. The colours were incredible.

Given we now had some time up our sleeve we decided to head up Mount Monserrate gondola. It was a nice walk there through the university zone of Bogota. It was a 45 minutes wait to get on 1 of the 2 cabins operating – they pass each other mid mountain. The views on the way up were great – if you are quick or lucky enough to be near the front getting into the cabin. Up top was nice but then having to wait another 45 minutes to get back down again sort of took the fun out of it all. We ended up staying on the same side on the way down so go the same view! All in all we could have given this a miss.

We headed back to our hostel for some r&r before around 4 heading to the party zone once again to get revved up for a big night. We headed back to the hostel for some cards and booze but didn’t really get the chance to play cards as we got talking with the owner Tim (a Brit who is trying to build an empire of hostels in Columbia – walked out of a corporate job in London 18 months earlier) and a lovely English girl called Maya who was starting her adventures. We were disciplined in making sure we were in bed by 11 because of our need to travel to Salento in the morning.

Our flight departed at 1pm so we were at the airport nice and early, not being sure on the traffic in Bogota as we had arrived on a Sunday. It was a 50 minute flight, followed by a 15 minutes cab ride with a slightly mad driver to the local bus stop to grab a bus to Salento. It was a bit crazy at the bus station but we managed to get 2 tickets and be one the bus with a couple of minutes to spare – otherwise it was an hour wait until the next one.

It was a beautiful drive to Salento though very green, mountainous terrain. It was a bit of a walk to our hotel – Hotel Salento Real Eve Cafetero. The hotel was lovely and Salento had a really nice vibe. We went for a walk along a lovely colourful Main Street – the streets in Columbia are numbered Calle one way and Carrera the other – makes for easy navigation). We then grabbed a meal of the local favourite – trucha (trout) in the main square. Delicious!

Galapagos – Bachus, North Seymour (7&8)

It was sad waking up knowing it was our last proper day in the Galapagos. Although Deryn and I agreed we had seen virtually everything we had wanted to see. We all boarded the zodiac for a leisurely couple of hours chilling on nearby Playa los Bachus. It would have been magic except for the mossies that were out in force when we first landed (the bites itched for 4 days!). Nice to be on a beach again.

On returning to the boat, we headed to the channel between North and South Seymour for some snorkeling. We moored the boat and then jumped into the zodiac to head up current before all drifting to the North Seymour side of the channel. It was amazing. Firstly it was deeper than we had been before and we got to see some sharks, including a couple of Galapagos Sharks that looked a lot like little Great Whites. We also passed a dead seal floating in the water which everyone saw except me. I’m actually glad I didn’t. A couple of Spotted Rays glided underneath us which was also very cool. It was sad to be fishing our snorkeling for the last time, knowing it’ll be a rare opportunity to be so close to many of these creatures again.

Following this we dry landed on North Seymour to walk amongst the nesting and mating Frigate’s and Blue Footed Boobies. It was amazing. There we so many of them with chicks, quite a lot of Boobie twin chicks. They had absolutely no fear, you could literally hold your iPhone 20cm from them and they wouldn’t budge. The male Frigates look for a good spot for a nest, build it and then sit with their red gullet puffed out letting the females know that we was available and check out their attributes. And with a house. We also got to see some hawks and get very up close and personal with sea lions.

It was the back to the boat and a short trip to the port next to the airport. All the staff got dressed into their uniforms so we could thank (and tip) them. They really had been amazing. Whenever we left the boats, they would go in and tidy our cabins. Manuel would also offer Deryn a wine class at 5.30. We also thanked our guide Franklin, who had been so impressive with his knowledge and passion of wildlife and geography. Smart, funny man.

We all had to be off the boat by 8am to allow the crew to prepare for the next tour. We all agreed that calling the tour 8 days was mid-leading. 7 days was more accurate as we then had to spend 3 hours at the airport waiting for our flight. I had a hotdog and chips at the airport – smart move having a fast food restaurant at the airport as most people would have a junk food craving after the fresh food frenzy that is the Galapagos experience.

Once again we stopped off in Guayaquil for 45 before arriving at Quito around 4. Dits and I were a bit bummed that we had not planned it better and stayed at an airport – our flight was 9.30am. We expected it to take over an hour to get to our hotel, but it was barely 30 minutes. The hotel we had booked was magic as well – the Kaia Hotel. It had the best internet we had encountered in Sth America so we loaded up on all our current TV shows. We had a nice Mexican which I followed up with some chicken and chips from a dodgy chicken shop on our way back to the hotel. I reckon I was still in a junk food deficit.

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..