I Love the Smell of Hoatzins in the Morning

 It was quite a trip to the Sacha Lodge. We were met at the airport by a representative who gave us boarding passes. There was a half-hour flight to Coca, where we were collected and brought to the Sacha offices, given a snack and life vest, and piled onto a large covered motorized canoe. We motored for 2 hours up the Napo River, a tributary of the Amazon. The boat had to zigzag continuously because the water was low and there were many things floating that were best to avoid. We passed several small communities and one flaming gas pipe; the only wildlife we saw clearly were egrets. 

When we landed, we (there were 14 other people with us, all related or friends or something and very loud) got into real canoes and were paddled to another landing, where we disembarked and walked a mile to the lodge. The one very very old woman in the group got a kind of rickshaw, for which she was extremely grateful. 

We finally got to the lodge, which is stunning. We were given a welcome drink and introduced to our group's guide, Alejandro (Alex). There is a British couple and an Australian couple in our group; the very vocal others are not with us, tg. We chose wellies for the muddy walks (I of course had to return mine for different sizes a couple of times, as good as Zappos) and then went to our luxurious cabins. Lovely AC and a big balcony overlooking the jungle. 

Because our flight was delayed 3 hours (construction at the Quito airport closed the whole thing down), we were offered a night walk. First came dinner, steak and swordfish, quite delicious. Then we put on our wellies and bug spray (which didn't really help, just fyi), and went out into the darkness. I spotted a gigantic frog almost immediately, which gave Alex entirely the wrong idea about my wildlife abilities. We saw poison dart frogs, many creepy but non-fatal insects, and spiders of all sizes, including the scarily-named scorpion spider. It was incredibly hot and we got many mosquito bites, but oddly they don't itch much after the first hour or so. 

Ben and I decided to forego the morning excursion, which began at 5 and included a visit to an indigenous village. Instead, we

slept in a bit and then went for a refreshing swim in the pool, fenced-in so we would not be eaten by piranhas. We saw hoatzins (which Peter studied during a miserable stint in Venezuela) and an agouti and many blue morpho butterflies. Ben got to view a family of monkeys cavorting outside his cabin. 

Meanwhile, Phil arose at 5, had a massive breakfast, and headed out in a canoe with several others to go to a parakeet lick. They had to view it from a distance, so there are no photos.

After that, they went to a local village -- or rather, a small settlement where a couple of women agreed to interact and teach about their lives. Phil got to blow a poison-arrow dart (mildly successful) and eat a smoked grub (entirely successful, in that he did not vomit), see how the local beer is brewed, and taste a variety of non-insect-life treats. The trip was long and very hot; he enjoyed it but I don't regret staying behind. 

After a long rest, we set out in a canoe through the black water creek which was quiet (tho nothing is ever really quiet here). We took a short walk to see some owl monkeys hanging out in a hole in a tree, then continued to an endless staircase that led up a gigantic kapok tree to a platform in the canopy.  

Up there we saw a flock of chestnut-eared aracaris, who courted each other for a while. 

On the way back, after dark, Alex spotted eyes, and we paddled to find a baby caiman hiding in the shallows. Very exciting!

Dinner, then bed. Tomorrow up at 5.

Hummingbirds and Chocolate

So, two big excursions from Quito. The first was to Otovalo, Ecuador’s craft town. Many thanks to Kaz's friend Kris for the suggestion! Our driver, Paul, who we thought was named Raul for 2 days, picked us up and made us eternally grateful we weren't behind the wheel within the first five minutes. It was a 2 hour drive through the Andes mountains. We stopped at a viewing point for a snack that Paul had arranged for us and looked in awe at the Imbabura volcano and lake below as Paul explained the zillions of microclimates that Ecuador boasts. We drove through many of them.

Otovalo was charming. The huge central square was entirely craftspeople -- mostly real crafts, not pseudo-crafts. We bought a slightly embarrassing number of items, including a woven wallhanging for the new master bedroom, and then had lunch at a very nice restaurant just off the square.

Paul drove us to the  Peguche Waterfall, a sacred spot on the ancient Inca road, through which the equator runs and where the last Inca king used to bathe. We learned how the local shamans, even today, perform cleansing rituals using guinea pigs. Sadly, the guinea pigs die, but the patients feel much better. Under Paul’s direction, to cast out evil spirits we splashed in the pool where the king once bathed. No guinea pigs were harmed.

Twice, once in Otovalo and once at the waterfall, Phil was interviewed and videotaped by schoolgirls practicing their English. He acquitted himself admirably.

Back in Quito at 7, we headed out to dinner at a rooftop restaurant with a stunning view of the city. All the churches, of which there are more than one can count, are illuminated after dark. Our meals were excellent -- we continue to marvel at how good the food is all over Ecuador.

Friday we got up early and met Paul to head to Mindo, the place where there are, apparently, more bird species than anywhere else in the world. Real dedicated birders stay in the town and hike out at 5 am to see the best birds. Paul had his own ideas. He stopped at a place where we viewed dozens of tanagers of various sorts, a barbet, and toucanettes, and then got

to feed at least ten different kinds of hummingbirds, including the biggest kind and the smallest kind, and two I especially liked, one with a long long tail and one with a sort of bottlebrush tail. As we fed them, they paused to sit on our hands with their teeny tiny feet. It was a lovely, almost transcendent experience. 

After that, we headed to a butterfly garden, which was as butterfly gardens are quite charming. Many butterflies in all stages of development, all sizes and colors.

Then we went to walk up in the hills for an hour. Moments in, Ben spotted an agouti, and not long after saw a small flock of curassows. Then, it being the cloud forest, it started to rain. We had reached our turnaround point, a sort of 

pigpen, so we sheltered there as it pelted down and watched a number of unidentifiable birds flit about the treetops in the rain (thanks to Peter for the amazing binoculars!). 

We walked back damply and stopped for a lunch that included a yummy cocoa drink. Paul revealed that he is a conspiracy theorist -- we started with evolution (at which point I began feeling rather uncomfortable) and moved on to UFOs and then the Freemasons and the Illuminati. I decided that I would pretend the whole conversation never happened; otherwise, he was a charming and very informed guide.

We headed to a chocolate factory that made very bespoke chocolate (only sold at two shops in Ecuador). We learned all about the making of chocolate and had an extremely thorough tasting, from 100% cacao to 60% and with various additions, and hot cocoa and cocoa tea. I was offered a chocolate mask for my skin and jumped at the chance, not realizing how I would be pilloried if photos of the results ever got online (you see where this is going, right?). 

We got back to Quito at nearly 7, and Ben and I went out for a cocktail (Phil was a bit under the weather). We hadn't known that Quito, which shuts down after dark, has a weekend personality. Every street was a block party with music and dancing and stuff for sale. We had a long talk with a very hetty artist from Colombia who created marvelous items in copper and aluminum wire, and Ben bought two wire insects. (He did not get the praying mantis, for which Phil thanks him.)

In the morning, we will say goodbye to Quito, but we will return for an overnight after our sojourn in the rainforest.

Up in the Andes

It was a multi-vehicle trip. Taxi to the ferry to the bus to the plane. All went without mishap, remarkably, and we arrived at our lovely hotel/apartment in plenty of time to have delicious empanadas for lunch and then to the most beautiful and important church in Ecuador, the Church of the Companions of Jesus, a 17th century Jesuit structure in the extreme Baroque style in the Old Town. Every inch covered in gold leaf. Quite excessive.

Then we rested and went to dinner. Phil was all about eating the guinea pig, so we found a restaurant that offered it. It was roasted but not served whole, thank god, and was actually tasty -- flavored, as all the best things are, with guilt. The other dishes were also excellent, even without the guilt.

In the morning we slept late. I suffered a major altitude headache, and also had gone half-deaf four days earlier from an excess of wax (sorry, delicate reader!). So the hotel sent a doctor ON A HOUSE CALL OMG and he fixed me. I was quite unable to pay him, see a little later in the blog. 

Then we set out for Casa Museo Maria Augusta Urrutia. This was a house built in the 16th century, but purchased in the 19th century by the wealthiest woman in Ecuador. She was so rich, in fact, that her husband had to be imported from Colombia, because I think in Ecuador at that time one had to marry in one's class, which was determined by wealth. She was a benefactor to the poor, especially children, of the town and owned about half of it. Our guide was giving his first tour in English, and though there was quite a bit of it we didn't entirely follow, it was enjoyable. He said something odd as we entered Maria’s bedroom; it turned out that the ghost of Maria hangs out there, and once slapped a visitor who tried to steal her ivory mirror. Now the guides all announce their entrance and assure her they mean no harm.

We had a lovely lunch afterward and then visited the Franciscan monastery, where we saw several beautiful cloisters and the painting of the patroness of the city, the Virgin of Quito, from 1734, on which the statue that towers over the city was modeled. And finally we stopped off in the Metropolitan Cathedral, where we missed the Last Supper with guinea pigs painting because it was on the ceiling. But we will see it later.

Another rest, another truly delicious dinner, and we finally found an ATM that would accept our cards. For those of you planning to visit Ecuador: it is a cash-forward economy, but they make it nearly impossible actually to get cash. Most ATMs are affiliated with small banks that will not accept foreign cards, though they claim they will.

Big trips for the next 2 days! 

Days of the Iguanas

Our free day in Puerto Ayora began with special Phil omelets in bed, as all free days should. When we were rested and fed, we took a taxi to the Galapagos Tortoise Reserve. We met a bunch (school? murder?) of tortoises there, one of which was 140 years old. At the reserve we walked through lava tunnels, which were like caves but not as scary. 

Later we grew experimental and had Blue Booby margaritas, which were better than they look, and we shared a fried scorpion fish, also better than it looks.

We started out early for our excursion the next morning. Different guide, similar bus to the same canal, a dinghy better designed for the aged and infirm, and a rather luxurious boat. Although our tour company had told us we were going back to the biting fly beach, which irked me, they were wrong. We got to snorkel off the boat, and oh reader, it was magical. We saw a shark, a green turtle, enormous schools of tiny silver fish that flashed in the sun as we swam through them, fish of all colors and sizes. Just spectacular.

We had a tasty lunch and set out for South Plazas Island. There we were greeted by many many adorable baby sea lions cavorting in the waves and somehow not being smashed to bits on the black lava rocks.

We walked around the island, uninhabited but for iguanas, other lizards,  and so so many birds. We saw  swallowtail gulls having sex, and tropicbirds, which we mocked Ben for identifying because the name was so dumb (oh look! There’s a tundra fox! Hey, a deciduous rabbit!). But of course he was right.

Our guide pointed out the cactuses growing in fenced off plots and explained that the cactuses were threatened because there were too many iguanas eating them because the Galapagos hawk no longer flew there and ate the iguanas because people had settled there with cats and dogs that interrupted the hawks’ flight patterns. Ah, the delicate balance of nature! And we are the bad guys, as usual.

Ninety minutes back to the harbor, beer, rest, exotic cocktails, and dinner. We walked out on the pier to watch baby black-tipped sharks swimming in large numbers in the blue light below. Then early to bed in preparation for our morning flight to Quito.

Birds & More Birds (and Some Iguanas)

Puerto Ayora, on Santa Cruz island, has a very different vibe than Isabela. Isabela's town, Puerto Villamil, is a kind of funky cross between a small beach resort and a frontier town. The roads are unpaved. People applaud the sunset. There are many bars. There is one ATM, and it doesn't work, and everything is done with cash. 

Puerto Ayora, on the other hand, is full of people. It seems to be 95% tourist offices, 3% minimarkets, and 2% restaurants. We arrived at our fabulous cottage -- 3 stories, 3 bathrooms, a pool -- and set off shortly afterward for Tortuga Bay, which turned out to be a 6 mile walk along a nice paved path (though HOT) past woody cactuses and various fruit trees to a gorgeous beach where swimming is prohibited because of giant waves and dangerous currents, then more walking to a cove, Playa Mansa. There we saw marine iguanas and a blue heron, and many people including us swam in the gentle waters before heading back. We dined at a charming bistro with excellent food and crashed early. I was both sunburned and blistered, but a good sleep with AC revived me for the 6:30 wakeup required for our tour to North Seymour island.

We met our small group, consisting of some French people, some Dutch people, some Los Angelenos, and us, and boarded a bus that took us to a rubber dinghy that took us to a large sailboat. Sadly, we didn't sail, but we motored to the island, where we took another dinghy (scary, dangerous clambering in and out) and then walked a mile and a half with our park guide. He was great, very informative. 

We saw scads of birds. There were frigate birds (not magnificent, just great -- I call them hetty frigate birds), many of them with their red puffy throat thingies puffed out, as it is mating season. There were brown pelicans. 

There were many blue-footed boobies, so called because they are really silly. They were doing their mating dances, which were ridiculous. There were numerous land iguanas, babies and grown-ups. Two of them got into it over territory, hissing at each other and clicking with their throats. 

After North Seymour, we motored (after more dinghy excitement) to a beach. During the ride, we were served a marvelous lunch of fresh grilled tuna and beers. On the beach some of us snorkeled -- Ben saw a ray, and we all saw lots of big striped turquoise fish and littler fish. Phil, on land, saw huge red Sally Lightfoot crabs. There were many, many biting flies -- painful bites that raised welts but quickly subsided. On the return, we had a champagne toast with snacks. Just wonderful.

When we got back, we rested briefly, then headed out to what has become Our Bar, the Rock. We had cocktails and then went to dinner at a designer hotel restaurant on the beach -- great food. Later Ben and I had a beer at the Rock and watched the entire town gather for a musical extravaganza at a park on the harbor, featuring music of all kinds (some very bad) and dancing, And then to bed — with no wake up time planned, tg.

Mountains and Ocean

The boys climbed a volcano today. I did not. They left at 7 (though awakened far earlier by an over enthusiastic rooster) on a bone-rattling transport vehicle with 30 others and drove to the start of the 10-mile hike, but when they got there another guide asked for 2 volunteers to join his group, which had lost some people. For no extra cost, they got to drive to the top of the volcano and then hike down into the caldera, which was full of weird formations and volcano lizards and all sorts of things the others didn't get to see. It was still a tough 4+ mile hike, but the guide was great, the others in the group were interesting, and they got back early.

  In the meantime, I found a place to rent snorkel gear and walked a mile in the blistering sun to Concha de Perla, a local snorkeling site. I met some friends along the path (and smashed my head a little on a mangrove tree, no blood no foul). At the little dock I jumped in and was rewarded with the sight of innumerable fish of all sizes and colors. It was spectacular. A huge marine iguana vomited profusely next to me on the dock, which was a little startling.

 Back at the hotel we met up, lunched, and set out again for Concha de Perla. My descriptions were so rhapsodic that the boys felt they had to try it out. Ben was immediately enthralled, and he and I were lucky enough to see a green sea turtle and a polka dotted puffer fish. Phil watched a Galapagos sea lion clamber onto the dock, amble over to a bench, climb up, and take a nap.

After a plunge in the ocean and sunset cocktails on the beach (may I recommend the passion fruit mojito?), we dined at a rather fancy place where we were the only customers. The food was excellent—I had something called cazuela, a fabulous casserole of plantain, ground up peanuts, and shrimp. Then early to bed for a 9 am flight on the 9-seater plane the next morning.

Galapagos Ho!

We made it to Guayaquil after many many hours of travel, most of it en route to JFK airport. Our

shuttle from the JFK parking lot turned out not to exist, but we made the flight on time. At Guayaquil, our shuttle to the hotel also did not exist. Still, the hotel was pleasant and had room service and air conditioning to combat the 90 degree heat. We slept a bit and rode back to the airport, where we went through some lengthy (and expensive) administrative stuff dealing with not destroying the islands with foreign plant or animal life.  We got to see an entire adorable professional soccer team passing through the airport on their way to a game, eliciting many cheers and photos from adoring fans and the media.

We were upgraded on our flight to the Galapagos, which was random and pleasing, and when we got to the airport on Baltra we were greeted by a very large land iguana, no doubt hired for the occasion. Then we got to watch some happy sniffer dogs checking all the luggage (again) for outlawed vegetation and animal products.

From Baltra we hopped on a terrifyingly tiny prop plane to Isabela with a

Swedish family of six (three generations!) and flew loudly and low over islands and sea. Our hotel sent a shuttle, which existed though it was actually a pickup truck, and we checked in, admired the flamingos on the lagoon outside our window, turned up the AC, and went to eat fried fish and beer. 

Then on to the Tortoise Sanctuary, where we learned how long it takes Galapagos tortoises to copulate and what eats them, besides Charles Darwin and Herman Melville (Melville found them the tastiest of tortoises, but Darwin thought they were sub par).  

We stopped at the beach for a walk, caipirinhas and mojitos, and a stunning sunset and watched footage of Fordham's occupation back in the hotel before a basic but delicious dinner.