Heidi Connal

Liz looked around the explosion of clothes in our room and said, “Hm.  What am I going to re-wear today?”

We had breakfast and then a 2.5 hr boat ride to Santa Cruz Island. We shared the boat with a mother and daughter who were going to Santa Cruz so the daughter – deaf in one ear – could get treatment.  Though they didn’t speak English, the mother was kind enough to offer a seasickness remedy to Lina (spray perfume in your hand and smell it to dissuade the nausea). That was a rough ride for our still-recovering-from-stomach-bug group.

Darwin Center

On land in Santa Cruz we loaded up on a bus and drove to the Darwin Center to hear more about the reintroduction do the tortoises onto the various islands of the Galapagos. There was a lot to learn about the differences in shells between different islands and the efforts to reestablish populations on each island.

We met Lonesome George, who is the only living tortoise from Pinta Island and discovered in 1972, so he was at least 70 years old.  Maybe even 90. Initially he showed no interest in mating with the females in his den (was he gay? Asexual? Or just never knew how since he was alone for so long?), but eventually nests were dug.  Sadly, the eggs were sterile.  We asked if there was a way to extract sperm from a reptile: it can’t really be done, at least not the way mammals do it. The other option was electric stimulation. Per Pablo: “you attach the electrodes to the tortoise’s gonads, and zap zap PING!  You have sperm.”. Needless to say, no one cared to risk LG’s unique gonads. So Lonesome George may never be a dad and his tortoise DNA will go with him.  (Edited to add: George died one month after this entry, on 24 June 2012. I’m so glad I got the chance to see him.)

It was extremely hot that day, so many of us felt nauseated because of the outrageous heat. We walked back to town to eat lunch.  We had the option to hike for 50 mins to a gorgeous beach and shoreline. Liz and I opted for a nap.

Post Nap Sightseeing

Liz and I took some time to wander around town, shop, and watch the locals.

Dinner was on a balcony overlooking the water, then we went shopping for curios and artwork. We found some very gorgeous etched gourds and both bought one for ourselves.

As we did every morning, we woke up at 6AM for a 7AM breakfast for an 8AM departure.

Sierra Negra

We set off for our 7 hour hike on Sierra Negra, an active volcano on the south eastern end of Isabela.

It wasn’t a difficult climb, but it was hot and humid.  We took advantage of every bit of shade we could find; especially when Pablo would stop to talk. (And talk.  And talk. And talk.)  He quickly realized two things: (1) We wanted shade, and (2) We weren’t taking pictures of the birds.  He could pinpoint each and every type of the 14 Galapagos finches by their shape and often their sound.  But none of us were bird-watchers.  After 30 minutes of hiking he looked around and said, “No one is taking pictures. Ok I am not with bird watchers. No more finches.” Hilarious.

Pablo’s shared his personal story of the 2005 eruption of Sierra Negra. He was reading a book on the beach after surfing and felt the rumble.  Of course, he gathered friends and came up to the rim to see but rangers turned them away. The Park opened two days later to locals who wanted to watch the fireworks.  Pablo said it was “like a bar b q!”

This made me think of the other volcanos I’ve climbed or been to one way or another:

• Mombacho Volcano in Nicaragua
• Masaya Volcano in Nicaragua
• Concepcion on Isla Ometepe, Nicaragua
• Deception Island on Antarctica
• Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania
• Kilimanjaro in Kenya
• Waitomo in New Zealand

We had our lunches under a huge old tree before continuing into the lava fields.  This was especially interesting, as Pablo taught us the history of each area and we could learn to tell the difference from the lava fields of 1979 to the newest fissures of 2005.  The terrain was so strange – almost Mars-like – and Liz joked, “They could film a Star Trek here.” It looked alien, barren, and really cool.

She’s such a trouper.  To hear her tell it – “a volcanic rock grew out of nowhere”. Out came the band aids from Pablo’s bag. Between the bike fall four days earlier and this, the poor girl looked like she’d been in a war.

On the top of the fissure was “a very soulful place” said Pablo. He was right.  We all sat quietly and enjoyed the view.

Pablo suggested that we take 60 seconds of silence, then he walked to a quiet place and said “ok go”. We started giggling immediately.

Then – as if nature knew we were being naughty – it began to pour. We packed up and headed out.  A few hours walk – down the horse path this time – for a ten mile hike total.

Fun on the Beach

Our laughter in the bus all the way to the hotel. Liz and I both showered and headed to the “Bottle Bar” (Bar de Beto) for some celebratory drinks on the beach to enjoy the sunset and watch the iguanas parade out of the ocean and into the rocks of the little hostel next door.

Girl’s Night Out

Paola, Trish, Rohanna, Sara, Gail, and Fany joined us and our beach time turned into a fun girls’ night.  Drinks flowed and Fany told a scary story.

We all went to dinner at a place called El Faro to eat ceviche and paradilla and had a lengthy discussion about arranged marriages.  I can’t remember where we ended up on the spectrum, but we covered all the bases.

Our rooms at the Wittmer Lodge in Floreana were small and slightly dingy – and there was no cross-current.  So I woke up at dawn from the heat and went outside to take sunrise pictures.

Shoreline Walk to Bay

Pablo took us on a long, lovely hike along the coast to see crabs, volcanic rock, and other cool things.  The sun was very strong so of course I got a sunburn on the one shoulder that was always facing the sun.  Totally worth it, though.

Isla Floreana to Isla Isabela

We embarked on (another) two hour boat trip from one island to the next. This time to Isla Isabela.  It was long.  And bumpy.  As the days and boat trips move on, more and more of our group moves toward the back of the boat to manage the sea sickness.  It’s pretty difficult to think of anything else… until… WHALE!!!!

Then, just 20 minutes later, WHALE SHARK!  It’s like all our dreams of the night before came true.  I’m not exaggerating when I say I jumped in with all my clothes.

Despite the beauty of seeing hundreds of them together in Isla Mujeres, whale sharks never cease to be amazing in any setting.  They’re glorious.

La Laguna Hotel – Isla Isabela

We were delighted to get to Isla Isabel, where we’d be for a few days.  Our hotel was lovely and clean and AIR CONDITIONED – which was a huge bonus after Floreana.  We celebrated by taking a power nap after lunch.  Then we went for a walk along the coastline to the pier so we could hop a boat to explore the islands and see penguins.

Snorkel Trip

It’s a shame I didn’t bring my underwater camera, because we had a glorious snorkel trip from the shore.  We saw green sea urchins, spiny sea urchins, the other sea urchins that I can’t remember.  I also saw schools of salema fish and scorpion fish.  And for a while we hung out in a ravine to see marine iguanas swim by.  It was really extraordinary to watch.

BBQ Dinner

Dinner was at a little place down the street with delicious BBQ. We had – as we always did – lots of laughter.  One of the other two tour groups there was given their itinerary and got to sleep in until 9:00 AM.  NINE AM!!!  We teased Pablo since we were up by 6:00 every morning and he grinned, “There’s a reason this is called ‘Active South America’.”

As we are with every night, we were in bed and asleep by 9:45. Since, ya know, it’s “Active South America” and we had to wake up at 6:00.

Finally to the Galapagos!  We met in the hotel lobby at 6:00AM and were out the door by 6:20 to the aeropuerto for our flight to San Cristobal. The flight was uneventful and filled with westerners headed to the islands. We did make a stop… Somewhere… To let people off and other people on and to refuel.  And the most exciting thing was during refueling, when the flight attendant told Liz she needed to unbuckle her seatbelt while the refueling was happening. I’m sure there’s a logical reason for that.

San Cristobal, Galapagos

In San Cristobal we met Pablo, our guide for the next 7 days, who took us to out hotel to unpack and change. Then we went for a brief walkabout around the shoreline.  Here we saw our first of many sea lions and crabs. the sun was brutally strong and the weather hot. Neither of these things are complaints, since one can’t really complain about the Galapagos.

Lazy Sea Lion

Lunch was at a local spot with a starter of a hot vegetable soup – surprisingly tasty on such a hot day – and locally caught fish.

Mountain Bike Trip

Our afternoon excursion was a mountain bike ride from the top of a hilly area and down to the beach.  We started at the top of the hill at a small church, where Pablo gave us our first taste of his story-telling skills.  He explained the difference between species types:

1) Transported – brought onto the islands by settlers. Like guava or passion fruit

2) Native – came to the island by their own natural way. Can often be found on other locations as well (such as the mainland)

3) Indigenous – came to the island as “native” but evolved into a species specific to living on the island.

It was interesting to hear that guava and passion fruit – two fruits we associate with islands and the tropics – actually have a negative impact on the environment.  They take over the native vegetation and grow over it, essentially smothering the local plants.

After our talk and a few pics of the view, we got on our mountain bikes and spent the rest of the day cruising around San Cristobal.  I forgot how much I love mountain biking. I have a road bike in the city which is a lot of fun, but there’s nothing like riding over bumps with a mountain bike. It was great. Made me think of the cycle safari I did in Botswana in 2006. So spectacular.  What also made me think of Botswana is poor Fany, who hit a patch of gravel, skid, and flew off her bike – almost exactly the way I did in Botswana. She was as proud of her war wounds as I was of mine; maybe prouder since hers were much more expansive.

After an hour we parked our bikes at a beach way and spent time on a nice afternoon walk along the shore where we saw our first marine iguana and a number of sea lions.

Pablo is a plethora of information about the flowers, the birds, the sea lions, and the Galapagos in general.   He tells us everything and then tells us more, and as we wander around he also asks if we have questions he can answer.  We’re going to learn a lot on this trip – and I love that.

Despite our lengthy trip to the beach, our hotel was a short ride around a few corners. We showered and rested and then changed for a group dinner of chicken, fish, and what seemed to be the most delicious beer ever.

We tried to stay awake for as long as we could, but Liz and I were both asleep. By 9:30.

The Background:

I met my friend Liz in 2004 during a memoir writing class.  Since then, we’ve bonded about families, boys, running, books, relationships, cupcakes, and life.  Liz has become a wonderful friend and as hungry for adventure as I am.  This is our Galapagos Adventure.

Quito:

We flew in separately the day and night before and reuned in our hotel room in Quito – the Hotel Sierra Madre. We live 12 blocks apart in New York City but I hadn’t seen her since February because of our work travels. Funny that we had to go to a different continent to see each other.

We had a day in Quito to explore before meeting our Active SA tour group for dinner. So we decided a leisurely sightseeing day was on order. After sleeping in just a bit (hooray vacation!) we walked into the Mariscal district for brunch at the Magic Bean restaurant; a nice place with “proper” breakfast. They played country music and the waiters had Shel Silverstein quotes on their t shirts. Not really a “local” place, but it hit the spot.

Liz and I hailed a taxi to the Capilla del Hombre, a modern art museum on the outskirts of Quito (or at least the outskirts of our map). It was a gorgeous space; cavernous and stark but somehow still warm. The exhibit was entirely full of Eucadorian artist Oswaldo Guayasamín whose paintings were a mixture of misery and happiness – depending on the painting. And the space allowed for the huge size of the paintings. Some reminded me of Picasso’s La Guernica with their length and coloring.  But different. Photos weren’t allowed, but here are some other pictures of Guayasamín’s work:

We also walked up the hill to what appeared to be a private residence but was really a showcase for some sculptures and a few old cars. Odd, but it made for some fun pictures.

Car ornament

Next stop was into Quito’s old town. We wandered around the Basillica and took pics, the wandered onto the Plaza Grande.

Soon the altitude (10K ft) had kicked and made us especially exhausted, so we caught taxis back to Mariscal and ate lunch at a sandwich shop. the. Back to the room for a “siesta”. I figured I’d take a quick 20 minute power nap, and next thing I knew it was 3 hours later.  One more time: yay vacation!

Dinner with Active South America:

In the lobby we met Nick, our Kiwi Active South America contact who gave us our briefing and would get us to the airport the next day. We also met the rest of the group:

• Amanda – a Brit who lives in New Zealand and who works for active SA but is on holiday in SA for the next 3 months
• Lina – a Kiwi who works with and is friends with Amanda.  They’re traveling together.
• Rahana – a filmmaker from the UK
• Trish – a math”s” (that’s pural) teacher from the UK
• Jocelyn (aka Fany) – a sunny and smart 16 yr old from Ireland but who was born in France
• Paola – Jocelyn’s father’s work colleague who suggested to Jocelyn that they go to the Galapagos together
• Sara – A well-traveled German who’s spent many years in Hong Kong
• Gail and Dennis – a retired couple from Los Angeles

For dinner we ate at Estacion, a restaurant in the Mariscal that offers Ecuadorian cuisine. It was a great dinner and a nice way to get to know the group. I had the chicken stew, which of course had a local name but I have no idea what it was.  The amusing part of the evening was that our restaurant was located right across the street from a bar called The Dirty Sanchez.  This, of course, is where Liz checked us in on Facebook.

After dinner we were back at the hotel to repack our belongings into our official matching SA Aventures bags and to leave our extra luggage at the hotel.  Then to sleep. I was surprisingly tired for someone who took a 3 hour nap earlier that afternoon.