08 December 2011
Unsuprisingly, I managed to sleep quite well on the flight, whilst Lynn didn't! I woke up about 2 hours before we were due to land feeling fairly refreshed.
The weather over UK and at Amsterdam was very overcast so we didn't see much until we were about to touch down. After a very long taxi, the aircraft arrived at the terminal and we all got off. The airport was decorated for Christmas and very busy. We managed to get some Euros and went to get a coffee.
Our next flight to London was due to leave 1 hour and 45 minutes later, so we didn't have long to hang around. We were taken to the aircraft on a bus, and once out of the bus could feel how windy it was. Once on the flight, the captain informed us that there were delays at Heathrow and we would have to sit in the aircraft at Schipol for 30 minutes. Some passengers were clearly unhappy with this news!
Finally, we took off and headed out across the North Sea to London. Once in the London area, the captain came back on the intercom and said that we would have to circle for about 30 minutes before we could land. It was a shame the cloud was so low as we were over the city by then. Apparently, when the weather is poor at Heathrow, including very windy, the number of flights that can land every minute is decreased. Usually, a flight lands every 20 seconds, but today it was every 40 seconds.
Once we had landed we were quickly off the aircraft and went to immigration and baggage collection. At immigration, we were able to use the new automatic machines and then went off to collect our baggage. One of the bags was damaged, so we stopped to report it the airline representative. Hopefully, we will get a replacement bag later.
We grabbed a taxi from the airport to the hotel, and despite the heavy traffic, the cabbie managed to get us there quite quickly. We checked in and then I went to find the car, but it had been moved whilst we had been away! With the help of the staff, I found the car and loaded one of our bags into it.
We both had a shower and freshed up, what a great feeling! After our long flight, my teeth felt as if they were furry too - urgh! After over three weeks of not being able to use tapwater to clean our teeth, it was a great to be able to do so in UK. A beer and a small meal later saw us heading for bed after a very long day/night.
Friday, December 9, 2011
Quito - Amsterdam
07 Dec 2011
Fantastic news, Lynn is feeling considerably better than yesterday, so, following breakfast, the first job was to pack our bags for home.were getting good at packing now, so it didn't take long to fill all three bags. That done, we decided to take a taxi up to the Mariscal area of the city. The Mariscal, the shopping centre of the newer part of the city, straddles a road called Amazonas and is full of small shops and an artisan market. It took the taxi driver some while to get us there, but the fare was still less than $2!
We wandered around the shops and then the artisan market before stopping for a coffee. The coffee in Ecuador is very good, which is hardly suprising as it is grown and processed in the country. A good cup will set you back about a dollar. Chocolate, another Ecuadorian export, is also very, very good!
We were back in the taxi to the hotel by 12.00 and I then popped out for some cash, last minute shopping and lunch from Subway!
We checked out sometime after 2.00 and sat in the hotel lobby and waited for our transport to the airport. It was somewhat delayed as traffic was particularly heavy.
Quito airport was a revelation today as we were at International departures! This was an area of calm compared with our previous encounters at the Domestic part of the airport and we quickly checked in and made our way through security. There were lots of shops to browse, but all very really very expensive.
Our aircraft arrived from Amsterdam on time and we boarded quite quickly onto a half empty aircraft. Soon we were leaving Quito and heading in the opposite direct to Amsterdam to the Pacific coast city of Guayaquil. Here the remaining passengers left the flight whilst we remained on board.
An army of cleaners then descended on the aircraft and started tidying up from the flight from Amsterdam. Meanwhile, the aircraft was refuelled for the flight home. With the aircraft doors all open, it was easy to feel how warm it was, 85 degrees at 6.00 in the evening!
The aircraft left on time, at around 8.00 in the evening local time, and we started heading back towards Amsterdam. Our route was to take us up the Ecuadorian Coast, then across Columbia and Venezuela, over the Dutch Antilles and out in the Atlantic Ocean. Later it would next cross land in West Wales, overfly London and finally descend into Amsterdam with a flight time of 10 hours 45 minutes.
The flight was fairly empty, so we occupied two rows of seats at the back of the aircraft, in order to be able to stretch out overnight!
Fantastic news, Lynn is feeling considerably better than yesterday, so, following breakfast, the first job was to pack our bags for home.were getting good at packing now, so it didn't take long to fill all three bags. That done, we decided to take a taxi up to the Mariscal area of the city. The Mariscal, the shopping centre of the newer part of the city, straddles a road called Amazonas and is full of small shops and an artisan market. It took the taxi driver some while to get us there, but the fare was still less than $2!
We wandered around the shops and then the artisan market before stopping for a coffee. The coffee in Ecuador is very good, which is hardly suprising as it is grown and processed in the country. A good cup will set you back about a dollar. Chocolate, another Ecuadorian export, is also very, very good!
We were back in the taxi to the hotel by 12.00 and I then popped out for some cash, last minute shopping and lunch from Subway!
We checked out sometime after 2.00 and sat in the hotel lobby and waited for our transport to the airport. It was somewhat delayed as traffic was particularly heavy.
Quito airport was a revelation today as we were at International departures! This was an area of calm compared with our previous encounters at the Domestic part of the airport and we quickly checked in and made our way through security. There were lots of shops to browse, but all very really very expensive.
Our aircraft arrived from Amsterdam on time and we boarded quite quickly onto a half empty aircraft. Soon we were leaving Quito and heading in the opposite direct to Amsterdam to the Pacific coast city of Guayaquil. Here the remaining passengers left the flight whilst we remained on board.
An army of cleaners then descended on the aircraft and started tidying up from the flight from Amsterdam. Meanwhile, the aircraft was refuelled for the flight home. With the aircraft doors all open, it was easy to feel how warm it was, 85 degrees at 6.00 in the evening!
The aircraft left on time, at around 8.00 in the evening local time, and we started heading back towards Amsterdam. Our route was to take us up the Ecuadorian Coast, then across Columbia and Venezuela, over the Dutch Antilles and out in the Atlantic Ocean. Later it would next cross land in West Wales, overfly London and finally descend into Amsterdam with a flight time of 10 hours 45 minutes.
The flight was fairly empty, so we occupied two rows of seats at the back of the aircraft, in order to be able to stretch out overnight!
Quito
06 December 2011
Quitos Birthday today - public holiday
Well after three weeks of being fit and healthy, Lynn woke up feeling very grotty this morning, grotty enough to stay in bed. I felt fine and went down to a solitary breakfast. The city is very quiet this morning, presumably sleeping off the partying from last night. It is also a Public Holiday to celebrate 'Navidad de Quito'.
Back in the room, Lynn tried to sleep in order to feel better, the healing process wasn't helped by the music from Carolina Park which appeared to start at 11.00 with some 'Heavy Metal' bands screeching at full volume.
By lunchtime, it was clear that Lynn still wasn't feeling any better, although her temperature had gone down a little, so we asked the hotel for a doctor. When I enquired about charges, so I could go to the cash machine, the hotel informed me it was free, all part of the hotel service. How good is that?
A female doctor eventually appeared and prescribed a couple of drugs and also gave a free injection to ease the fever. Hotel staff then offered to go to the pharmacy, but when they said that they were going just across the street, I went myself. Despite the Public Holiday, the chemist was open and fearing the worse financially, I got the presciption. Much to my suprise, the bill only came to $7 - I think I'm living in the wrong country! Cheap prescriptions, fuel at $1 a gallon, this is the place to be!
I managed to catch up with the backlog of blogging that had built up. The backlog had built up because there was no internet access in the jungle, none on the boat and none in the cloudforest, which accounted for 11 days.
Lynn continued to rest, but managed to eat a ham sandwich from Subway for lunch.
Later in the evening, I walked to TGI Friday for dinner by myself as it was the closest and easiest option.
At around 9.00 in the evening, there was a tremendous firework display in Carolina Park, and although we couldn't see the display, we could certainly hear it. We caught glimpses of it reflected in the windows of the building behind the hotel, and the echoes made it very noisy.
Fingers crossed, Lynn is showing signs of improvement, so hopefully after a good nights sleep, she will be fit enough for the long flight home tomorrow.
Quitos Birthday today - public holiday
Well after three weeks of being fit and healthy, Lynn woke up feeling very grotty this morning, grotty enough to stay in bed. I felt fine and went down to a solitary breakfast. The city is very quiet this morning, presumably sleeping off the partying from last night. It is also a Public Holiday to celebrate 'Navidad de Quito'.
Back in the room, Lynn tried to sleep in order to feel better, the healing process wasn't helped by the music from Carolina Park which appeared to start at 11.00 with some 'Heavy Metal' bands screeching at full volume.
By lunchtime, it was clear that Lynn still wasn't feeling any better, although her temperature had gone down a little, so we asked the hotel for a doctor. When I enquired about charges, so I could go to the cash machine, the hotel informed me it was free, all part of the hotel service. How good is that?
A female doctor eventually appeared and prescribed a couple of drugs and also gave a free injection to ease the fever. Hotel staff then offered to go to the pharmacy, but when they said that they were going just across the street, I went myself. Despite the Public Holiday, the chemist was open and fearing the worse financially, I got the presciption. Much to my suprise, the bill only came to $7 - I think I'm living in the wrong country! Cheap prescriptions, fuel at $1 a gallon, this is the place to be!
I managed to catch up with the backlog of blogging that had built up. The backlog had built up because there was no internet access in the jungle, none on the boat and none in the cloudforest, which accounted for 11 days.
Lynn continued to rest, but managed to eat a ham sandwich from Subway for lunch.
Later in the evening, I walked to TGI Friday for dinner by myself as it was the closest and easiest option.
At around 9.00 in the evening, there was a tremendous firework display in Carolina Park, and although we couldn't see the display, we could certainly hear it. We caught glimpses of it reflected in the windows of the building behind the hotel, and the echoes made it very noisy.
Fingers crossed, Lynn is showing signs of improvement, so hopefully after a good nights sleep, she will be fit enough for the long flight home tomorrow.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Bellavista Cloud Forest - Quito
05 Dec 2011
After a very peaceful nights sleep, I was up just before 6.00 just as it was getting light.We had arranged for an early morning bird walk and everyone was ready by 6.15. We didn't get far initially, just the car park where we found several Masked Trogon and Toucan Barbet.
Walking around the grounds of the lodge, we also saw two types of Woodcreepers, Cinnamon Flycatchers, Blue-winged Mountain Tanagers and White-sided Flowerpiercers. We also briefly climbed up a track to a viewpoint which turned out to be the lodge campsite! The view over the mountains was outstanding.
Back at the lodge, it was time for a shower and breakfast.
After breakfast, Lynn and I walked up the road for a while. We didn't see any birds, but did photograph several very pretty butterflies and some flowers. At the lodge, there are lots of hummingbird feeders, so there is a constant flow of these beautiful birds coming in to feed. The smallest, a bee hummingbird, never even lands at the feeder.
We then went back to the lodge where Lynn set up tripod and camera in our room with the windows wide open, whilst I went for a more adventurous walk by myself. I walked about 2 kilometres up the road, and then turned off onto a track. I followed the most obvious track which took me onto the top of a ridge in a grassy sort of field where cows had clearly been grazing recently. The views from here were magnificent.
After a while, I found a new signpost which showed that I was on the wrong path, so I had to backtrack all the way back to the road. After hunting around, I found the 'Yumbo' trail and headed into deep primary rainforest. There were lots of birds around, but mostly very difficult to see. After about 20 minutes, I branched off down another path heading toward a waterfall. The path was marked as difficult and was steep, slippery and all downhill. Toward the bottom of the path rope handrails had been installed as the path was near vertical. Finally, at the bottom, I found a beautiful waterfall and took the chance to splash some icy-cold water on my face as I was somewhat warm and sweaty.
After a few photos, I set up back up the path. I hauled myself up the ropes and then started uphill. Even though the altitude was a bit less than Quito, it was still hard on the lungs. Rounding one steep corner, I came face-to-face with a Chesnut-crowned Antpitta, it quickly scuttled off into the undergrowth. As the path was so poor, I had but my camera away - shame! Shortly afterwards, I was very pleased to see the road as I knew it was an easy 2 kilometres downhill from there.
After lunch at the lodge, we packed again and got ready to leave. Our small party of 'Brits' had managed to persuade the drivers that we wanted to travel together so that we could consign the noisy Americans to a different minibus!
The journey back down the mountain dirt track wasn't too unpleasant and we eventually reached the main road again and started wind back uphill. We encountered some major roadworks at one stage and sat outide a very basic restaurant for about 15 minutes. I couldn't (and probably wouldn't want to) tell you what was being cooked up right in front of us. Certainly the cut of meat was unidentifiable, suffice it say that it was probably pork.
Back in Quito it was rush hour and fiesta was still ongoing, so traffic was a nightmare. We finally got back to the hotel after 5.00.
Neither of us was feeling particularly hungry, so we went to the nearby Japanese restaurant again. The noise from the music in Carolina Park was spectacular again. We also saw several more 'party buses'cruising around.
After a very peaceful nights sleep, I was up just before 6.00 just as it was getting light.We had arranged for an early morning bird walk and everyone was ready by 6.15. We didn't get far initially, just the car park where we found several Masked Trogon and Toucan Barbet.
 | |
| View at dawn from our room at Bellavista Lodge |
Walking around the grounds of the lodge, we also saw two types of Woodcreepers, Cinnamon Flycatchers, Blue-winged Mountain Tanagers and White-sided Flowerpiercers. We also briefly climbed up a track to a viewpoint which turned out to be the lodge campsite! The view over the mountains was outstanding.
 | |
| A rather blurry Masked Trogon |
Back at the lodge, it was time for a shower and breakfast.
 | |
| A very handsome Toucan Barbet |
After breakfast, Lynn and I walked up the road for a while. We didn't see any birds, but did photograph several very pretty butterflies and some flowers. At the lodge, there are lots of hummingbird feeders, so there is a constant flow of these beautiful birds coming in to feed. The smallest, a bee hummingbird, never even lands at the feeder.
 | |
| Bee Hummingbird |
We then went back to the lodge where Lynn set up tripod and camera in our room with the windows wide open, whilst I went for a more adventurous walk by myself. I walked about 2 kilometres up the road, and then turned off onto a track. I followed the most obvious track which took me onto the top of a ridge in a grassy sort of field where cows had clearly been grazing recently. The views from here were magnificent.
 | |
| View from the top of the mountain |
After a while, I found a new signpost which showed that I was on the wrong path, so I had to backtrack all the way back to the road. After hunting around, I found the 'Yumbo' trail and headed into deep primary rainforest. There were lots of birds around, but mostly very difficult to see. After about 20 minutes, I branched off down another path heading toward a waterfall. The path was marked as difficult and was steep, slippery and all downhill. Toward the bottom of the path rope handrails had been installed as the path was near vertical. Finally, at the bottom, I found a beautiful waterfall and took the chance to splash some icy-cold water on my face as I was somewhat warm and sweaty.
 | |
| Cloudforest waterfall |
After a few photos, I set up back up the path. I hauled myself up the ropes and then started uphill. Even though the altitude was a bit less than Quito, it was still hard on the lungs. Rounding one steep corner, I came face-to-face with a Chesnut-crowned Antpitta, it quickly scuttled off into the undergrowth. As the path was so poor, I had but my camera away - shame! Shortly afterwards, I was very pleased to see the road as I knew it was an easy 2 kilometres downhill from there.
 | |
| Blue-winged Mountain Tanager |
After lunch at the lodge, we packed again and got ready to leave. Our small party of 'Brits' had managed to persuade the drivers that we wanted to travel together so that we could consign the noisy Americans to a different minibus!
The journey back down the mountain dirt track wasn't too unpleasant and we eventually reached the main road again and started wind back uphill. We encountered some major roadworks at one stage and sat outide a very basic restaurant for about 15 minutes. I couldn't (and probably wouldn't want to) tell you what was being cooked up right in front of us. Certainly the cut of meat was unidentifiable, suffice it say that it was probably pork.
Back in Quito it was rush hour and fiesta was still ongoing, so traffic was a nightmare. We finally got back to the hotel after 5.00.
Neither of us was feeling particularly hungry, so we went to the nearby Japanese restaurant again. The noise from the music in Carolina Park was spectacular again. We also saw several more 'party buses'cruising around.
Quito - Bellavista Cloud Forest
04 Dec 2011
We were up well before 6.00 and were at breakfast shortly afterwards. We abandoned two of our bags at the hotel and slightly early, our transport arrived to take us to Bellavista Cloud Forest Lodge.
There were already two German ladies on the minibus and the driver said we had to pick up four more passengers. We drove out of the city centre into a residential area where the driver had great difficulty finding the correct address for the pick-up. Eventually, we found it and two Americans climbed into the minibus, one of whom then directed the driver to another address, where we waited for another American women to get in. From here, were went to yet another address for a fourth American. By now we had been in the bus for close to an hour and were running late.
As we headed north out of Quito one of the American women starting talking, loudly - she never stopped! We discovered in the space of the next 2 hours her entire life story, her family relations, every job she had ever done, boyfriends she'd had. She didn't like Quito, where she was teaching English and the air was too thin for her. She was so pleased we were descending so she could get more oxygen! I wanted to suggest that if she shut her mouth and stopped talking she might get more oxygen (and give us some peace).
North of the City, we crossed the Equator yet again, this time into the Northern Hemisphere. The Ecuadorians have built a sort of theme park on the Equator called 'La Mitad del Mundo' or 'The Middle of the World'. There is a large monument here to celebrate lattitude 00 degrees. I believe that in fact it has been found to be 7 seconds of a degree to the south of the line, about 240 metres away, but who cares!
From here our route took us over a low pass and then followed a very deep valley down through the foothills of the Andes. Eventually, after about 90 kilometres, we reached a dirt road turn off and started heading back up hill to the lodge. The road climbed for 14 kilometres on an unsurfaced road high up into the hills. About 30 minutes later we reached the lodge.
The lodge was built by an Englishman and his partner about 20 years ago on the site of an old cattle and horse farm. The vegetation is starting take over again which surrounds the hotch-potch of buildings all built from local woods. We were accommodated up a very narrow circular staircase in the Mirador Suite. The room had a lounge with a couple of sofas and large sliding windows, a small kitchenette, and bedroom with large sliding windows and a shower room. There were no curtains and there was nobody to overlook us!
All the rooms are different at the lodge, some in the main building, some in two houses a 100 metres away and some about the restaurant.
We had a second breakfast, and decided that whatever the Americans were doing, we would go in opposite directions as we were so fed up their constant gabbling - we'd never see any birds with them around.
Two guides offered to different walks in the cloud forest, the Americans elected to go to their rooms and the rest of us, some we had been on the Galapagos Voyager with, split into two small groups and set off into the forest. Lynn stayed at the lodge to do some static bird-watching and photography.
All the trails were very narrow, some quite steep and many very slippery. The cloud forest is very different to the Amazon basin forest as the trees are lower and more light reaches the forest floor, thus there is more vegetation. It felt very 'jungly'.
We were lucky and saw Toucans, fly-catchers, warblers and best of all Masked Trogon, a very bright red bird. After a couple of hours we returned to the lodge for break and lunch.
The restaurant was built as a geodesic dome with the dining room and bar on the ground floor, 3 guest rooms up a spiral bamboo staircase on the first floor, a further 6 beds on the second floor reached by a ladder and three further beds even further up the ladder at the top of the building!
After lunch, some of our group from the Galapagos, were returning to Quito after their brief day visit to the lodge so we said goodbye to them before our small group headed down the road for another walk. we walked about a kilometre down the dirt road and then climbed back up 500 metres on a very steep, narrow track to the lodge. At first, the bird life was almost non-existant, but towards the end of the walk we saw lots, including Woodcreepers and Woodpeckers.
Back at the lodge, we sat outside and watched the Hummingbirds on the feeders. There were at least 14 different species, some so small they were barely bigger than a bee. They are quite unworried about their audience and everyone was trying to get good photos of them. They are a difficult subject as their wings are beating so fast and they dart around so much.
At dinner, the Americans seemed determined to drown out any conversation, the only people to attempt to compete with them were four German ladies! We headed back to our room to read, catch up with blogging and then went to bed.
We were up well before 6.00 and were at breakfast shortly afterwards. We abandoned two of our bags at the hotel and slightly early, our transport arrived to take us to Bellavista Cloud Forest Lodge.
There were already two German ladies on the minibus and the driver said we had to pick up four more passengers. We drove out of the city centre into a residential area where the driver had great difficulty finding the correct address for the pick-up. Eventually, we found it and two Americans climbed into the minibus, one of whom then directed the driver to another address, where we waited for another American women to get in. From here, were went to yet another address for a fourth American. By now we had been in the bus for close to an hour and were running late.
As we headed north out of Quito one of the American women starting talking, loudly - she never stopped! We discovered in the space of the next 2 hours her entire life story, her family relations, every job she had ever done, boyfriends she'd had. She didn't like Quito, where she was teaching English and the air was too thin for her. She was so pleased we were descending so she could get more oxygen! I wanted to suggest that if she shut her mouth and stopped talking she might get more oxygen (and give us some peace).
North of the City, we crossed the Equator yet again, this time into the Northern Hemisphere. The Ecuadorians have built a sort of theme park on the Equator called 'La Mitad del Mundo' or 'The Middle of the World'. There is a large monument here to celebrate lattitude 00 degrees. I believe that in fact it has been found to be 7 seconds of a degree to the south of the line, about 240 metres away, but who cares!
From here our route took us over a low pass and then followed a very deep valley down through the foothills of the Andes. Eventually, after about 90 kilometres, we reached a dirt road turn off and started heading back up hill to the lodge. The road climbed for 14 kilometres on an unsurfaced road high up into the hills. About 30 minutes later we reached the lodge.
The lodge was built by an Englishman and his partner about 20 years ago on the site of an old cattle and horse farm. The vegetation is starting take over again which surrounds the hotch-potch of buildings all built from local woods. We were accommodated up a very narrow circular staircase in the Mirador Suite. The room had a lounge with a couple of sofas and large sliding windows, a small kitchenette, and bedroom with large sliding windows and a shower room. There were no curtains and there was nobody to overlook us!
All the rooms are different at the lodge, some in the main building, some in two houses a 100 metres away and some about the restaurant.
We had a second breakfast, and decided that whatever the Americans were doing, we would go in opposite directions as we were so fed up their constant gabbling - we'd never see any birds with them around.
Two guides offered to different walks in the cloud forest, the Americans elected to go to their rooms and the rest of us, some we had been on the Galapagos Voyager with, split into two small groups and set off into the forest. Lynn stayed at the lodge to do some static bird-watching and photography.
 | |
| Tutu flower - much loved by hummingbirds |
All the trails were very narrow, some quite steep and many very slippery. The cloud forest is very different to the Amazon basin forest as the trees are lower and more light reaches the forest floor, thus there is more vegetation. It felt very 'jungly'.
We were lucky and saw Toucans, fly-catchers, warblers and best of all Masked Trogon, a very bright red bird. After a couple of hours we returned to the lodge for break and lunch.
 | |
| A rather distant view of a Plate-billed Mountain Toucan |
The restaurant was built as a geodesic dome with the dining room and bar on the ground floor, 3 guest rooms up a spiral bamboo staircase on the first floor, a further 6 beds on the second floor reached by a ladder and three further beds even further up the ladder at the top of the building!
 | |
| A Hummingbird |
After lunch, some of our group from the Galapagos, were returning to Quito after their brief day visit to the lodge so we said goodbye to them before our small group headed down the road for another walk. we walked about a kilometre down the dirt road and then climbed back up 500 metres on a very steep, narrow track to the lodge. At first, the bird life was almost non-existant, but towards the end of the walk we saw lots, including Woodcreepers and Woodpeckers.
 | |
| Booted Racket-tail - a very small hummingbird |
Back at the lodge, we sat outside and watched the Hummingbirds on the feeders. There were at least 14 different species, some so small they were barely bigger than a bee. They are quite unworried about their audience and everyone was trying to get good photos of them. They are a difficult subject as their wings are beating so fast and they dart around so much.
 | |
| Violet-tailed Sylph - a spectacular hummingbird |
At dinner, the Americans seemed determined to drown out any conversation, the only people to attempt to compete with them were four German ladies! We headed back to our room to read, catch up with blogging and then went to bed.
Galapagos Islands - Quito
03 December 2011
My 60th birthday! After a very peaceful night at anchor in Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz, we all woke up refreshed, but sorry that we were going to have to leave the boat. We did our final packing and went to breakfast, where Lynn organised all the passengers into singing 'Happy Birthday' to me - very touching! The Captain even came to congratulate me!
Not long after breakfast, our bags were loaded on a dinghy and taken ashore. After saying a final goodbye to the crew, we too were loaded into the dinghys one last time to go ashore.
On the shore, we were reunited with our bags and loaded onto a bus for our journey back to the airport at Baltra. On the way, we stopped a twin collapsed volcanic craters for a look. They were quite an impressive sight. Then it was back on the bus and onward toward the airport.
As before, we had to get off the bus with our luggage and load ourselves, and baggage, onto the small ferry that sails between Santa Cruz and Baltra islands. At the far side, it was off the ferry, make sure our bags were loaded onto a lorry then jump on a small bus up to the airport.
At the airport, we again collected our bags and headed for the chaos of check-in. To be fair, it could have been a lot worse and after about 30 minutes we were safely ensconced in the departure lounge waiting for our flight to arrive.
The flight was on time, and this time we didn't go via Guayaquil so it was a much quicker journey back to Quito where we were met by someone from the Andean Travel Company.
Our trip back to the hotel was somewhat difficult as there were parades going on to mark the foundation of Quito. This festival goes on for a couple of weeks reaching its peak on 06 December.
We went out to dinner to Tony Romas for ribs and shrimps, the restaurant was quiet but the food very good. On the way back in the taxi, we drove past Carolina Park where dozens of giant statues of Hummingbirds had been erected. All were decorated in different colours and hoards of people were wandering around looking at them. On the roads, in addition to the usual traffic, there were loads of 'party buses' cruising around. These buses often had a band on the roof, passengers in the trucks and more on platforms suspended from the back of each lorry. There was very loud music from a concert in Carolina Park too.
Once back at the hotel, we could still hear the concert so we closed our window and put the airconditioning on. Sometime after midnight the concert ended!
What a great birthday, breakfast on a boat in the Galapagos Islands, lunch on a plane crossing the Andes and dinner in the middle of a fiesta in Quito - one to remember!
My 60th birthday! After a very peaceful night at anchor in Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz, we all woke up refreshed, but sorry that we were going to have to leave the boat. We did our final packing and went to breakfast, where Lynn organised all the passengers into singing 'Happy Birthday' to me - very touching! The Captain even came to congratulate me!
 | |
| Male Frigate bird over the Galapagos Voyager |
Not long after breakfast, our bags were loaded on a dinghy and taken ashore. After saying a final goodbye to the crew, we too were loaded into the dinghys one last time to go ashore.
 | |
| Female Frigate bird over Galapagos Voyager |
On the shore, we were reunited with our bags and loaded onto a bus for our journey back to the airport at Baltra. On the way, we stopped a twin collapsed volcanic craters for a look. They were quite an impressive sight. Then it was back on the bus and onward toward the airport.
 | |
| The road from the summit of Santa Cruz, Baltra Island in distance |
As before, we had to get off the bus with our luggage and load ourselves, and baggage, onto the small ferry that sails between Santa Cruz and Baltra islands. At the far side, it was off the ferry, make sure our bags were loaded onto a lorry then jump on a small bus up to the airport.
At the airport, we again collected our bags and headed for the chaos of check-in. To be fair, it could have been a lot worse and after about 30 minutes we were safely ensconced in the departure lounge waiting for our flight to arrive.
The flight was on time, and this time we didn't go via Guayaquil so it was a much quicker journey back to Quito where we were met by someone from the Andean Travel Company.
Our trip back to the hotel was somewhat difficult as there were parades going on to mark the foundation of Quito. This festival goes on for a couple of weeks reaching its peak on 06 December.
We went out to dinner to Tony Romas for ribs and shrimps, the restaurant was quiet but the food very good. On the way back in the taxi, we drove past Carolina Park where dozens of giant statues of Hummingbirds had been erected. All were decorated in different colours and hoards of people were wandering around looking at them. On the roads, in addition to the usual traffic, there were loads of 'party buses' cruising around. These buses often had a band on the roof, passengers in the trucks and more on platforms suspended from the back of each lorry. There was very loud music from a concert in Carolina Park too.
Once back at the hotel, we could still hear the concert so we closed our window and put the airconditioning on. Sometime after midnight the concert ended!
What a great birthday, breakfast on a boat in the Galapagos Islands, lunch on a plane crossing the Andes and dinner in the middle of a fiesta in Quito - one to remember!
Santiago and Bartolome Islands
02 December 2011
Our overnight journey south across the Equator again was long and rough with the boat pitching and rolling all night. In the morning we found ourselves in calmer seas anchored close to the small island of Bartolome. This island is relatively new, and mainly consists of volcanic cones with little or no vegetation on it.
Straight out of bed, we clambered into the dinghys and went out looking for Galapagos Penguins. There is a small breeding colony on Bartolome and we found them fairly quickly. We all mananged to take a few photographs from the dinghys before the penguins flung themselves into the water to start their daily feeding session.
Back on Galapagos Voyager, we had breakfast and sorted ourselves our for our next expedition. Meanwhile the boat had moved closer to neighbouring Santiago Island.
We had a 'wet landing' at Sullivan bay on the island and went out to explore the lava formations. It was very hot walking around on the lava, not from the lava, but from the sun! There were ropes of lava, pools of lava, spatter-cones and collapsed lava bubbles, all very interesting, but very dry and arid.
Back on the beach at Sullivan Bay, we were very pleased to go snorkelling to cool down. As usual, there were plenty of reef fish swimming around. Some of our party saw a turtle and one lucky soul saw a penguin swimming underwater.After cooling down in the water, we headed back to the boat for an early lunch. We have a long sail ahead of us this afternoon back to Santa Cruz.
After lunch we got back in the dinghys and had a 'dry landing' on Bartolome. A walkway has been built from the shore all the way to the summit of the volcano. It was quite a steep climb, but the views on the way up and from the top were well worth it. After several photo stops, we headed back down to the jetty, got on the dinghys and headed back to the boat.
Before we had even reached the boat, it had pulled up the anchor and come across to meet us. Once on board, the dinghys were hoisted up onto the boat and we headed off.
Our route took us from Bartolome, around to the north of Baltra, through the sound between Baltra and Seymour and then down the east coast of Santa Cruz. Most of us sat in the loungers on the middle deck and kept our eyes open for whales, dolphins and birds! Whilst we didn't see any of the first two, we did, as usual, have an escort of frigate birds follow us most of the way. They cruise just about the boat and exactly the same speed. One eventually came and landed on edge of one of the dinghys, right alongside us!
We had a final evening briefing at 6.30 and said our goodbyes to the crew and then ate dinner whilst the boat was still sailing. Fortunately, it was a fairly smooth sea!
Not long after dinner, we anchored up in Santa Cruz harbour from where we had set off a week previously. There were offers to run us ashore, but everyone declined as we had packing to do. As usual, everyone headed from bed fairly early, know that it would be a quiet and stable night moored in the harbour!
Our overnight journey south across the Equator again was long and rough with the boat pitching and rolling all night. In the morning we found ourselves in calmer seas anchored close to the small island of Bartolome. This island is relatively new, and mainly consists of volcanic cones with little or no vegetation on it.
 | |
| Penguin watching on Bartolome |
Straight out of bed, we clambered into the dinghys and went out looking for Galapagos Penguins. There is a small breeding colony on Bartolome and we found them fairly quickly. We all mananged to take a few photographs from the dinghys before the penguins flung themselves into the water to start their daily feeding session.
 |
| Galapagos Penguins |
Back on Galapagos Voyager, we had breakfast and sorted ourselves our for our next expedition. Meanwhile the boat had moved closer to neighbouring Santiago Island.
 | |
| Galapagos Penguin |
We had a 'wet landing' at Sullivan bay on the island and went out to explore the lava formations. It was very hot walking around on the lava, not from the lava, but from the sun! There were ropes of lava, pools of lava, spatter-cones and collapsed lava bubbles, all very interesting, but very dry and arid.
 | |
| Lava Ropes with vegetation trying to take hold |
Back on the beach at Sullivan Bay, we were very pleased to go snorkelling to cool down. As usual, there were plenty of reef fish swimming around. Some of our party saw a turtle and one lucky soul saw a penguin swimming underwater.After cooling down in the water, we headed back to the boat for an early lunch. We have a long sail ahead of us this afternoon back to Santa Cruz.
After lunch we got back in the dinghys and had a 'dry landing' on Bartolome. A walkway has been built from the shore all the way to the summit of the volcano. It was quite a steep climb, but the views on the way up and from the top were well worth it. After several photo stops, we headed back down to the jetty, got on the dinghys and headed back to the boat.
 | |
| Galapagos Voyager from Bartolome Island |
Before we had even reached the boat, it had pulled up the anchor and come across to meet us. Once on board, the dinghys were hoisted up onto the boat and we headed off.
 | |
| View from the summit of Bartolome |
Our route took us from Bartolome, around to the north of Baltra, through the sound between Baltra and Seymour and then down the east coast of Santa Cruz. Most of us sat in the loungers on the middle deck and kept our eyes open for whales, dolphins and birds! Whilst we didn't see any of the first two, we did, as usual, have an escort of frigate birds follow us most of the way. They cruise just about the boat and exactly the same speed. One eventually came and landed on edge of one of the dinghys, right alongside us!
 | |
| Male Frigate bird |
We had a final evening briefing at 6.30 and said our goodbyes to the crew and then ate dinner whilst the boat was still sailing. Fortunately, it was a fairly smooth sea!
Not long after dinner, we anchored up in Santa Cruz harbour from where we had set off a week previously. There were offers to run us ashore, but everyone declined as we had packing to do. As usual, everyone headed from bed fairly early, know that it would be a quiet and stable night moored in the harbour!
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