Galapagos Travels

Losing a day in Buenos Aires because of our cancelled flight was compensated by the lovely nature and service provided by Ana, our hostess at Giorgio’s B&B. We had door to door cab service to a nicely renovated top floor apartment in a 7-storey building on a busy street in Buenos Aires.

On our first night Ana took us and another couple from New York to a Milonga where we had a tango lesson and a chance to practice this very difficult dance. Tango is in the DNA of the Portenos (people from Buenos Aires) as evidenced by the number of milongas, tango shows, and this how-to diagram on the sidewalk.

The next day happened to be national census day (every 10 years, just our luck), and everything was closed from 8am to 8pm even McDonald’s and Starbucks. With nothing to do, we went to the park where we joined throngs of people enjoying the day off. How could they be counted if they weren’t at home? We wandered around famished until we came across a vendor selling sausages. We were first in line!

We wanted to visit the Casa Rosada (Pink Palace) and see the balcony where Eva Peron delivered her impassioned speeches to her beloved public. When we arrived, we noticed the flag at half mast, and a thin line of people filing past the palace.

All became clear when we saw the banners and discovered that Nestor Kirchner, former Argentine President and husband of current President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner had died of a heart attack during the night, and Argentina was about to enter three days of official mourning.

Later that day, the long line-ups, flowers and supportive graffiti demonstrated Nestor’s popularity. In contrast, the rise in Argentina’s world credit rating showed that international business felt differently.

There is a lot to see in Buenos Aires, and we could only experience part of it. We admired the Floralis Generica, a large stainless steel sculpture that opens and closes its petals using solar power.

We visited the Recoleta cemetery where tombs resemble mini high-rises and tourists wander through the lanes looking for the Duarte family tomb where Eva Peron currently rests.

We toured the Evita museum that is housed in a former women’s shelter established by Eva Peron. The museum tells her short life story and gives a sympathetic account of her rise to prominence using film, photographs and artifacts, including dresses from her famous wardrobe. This was followed by a lovely lunch in the restaurant attached to the museum.

Buenos Aires has some famous coffee shops. We visited Cafe Tortoni, possibly the oldest in the country and still a favourite of older Portenos even though these days tourists tend to outnumber locals.

We were sad to leave Buenos Aires as we were just feeling at home there. On the other hand, after just two weeks of Argentine Malbec, steak and media lunas (croissants), my waistline was saying it was time to go.

More photos of Buenos Aires from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sataylor/sets/72157625302943287/

Since our last post, we have braved the rushing waters of the Iguazu Falls, danced the tango at a milonga, witnessed a country in mourning, paid our respects to Evita and enjoyed our first visitors to the Galapagos. Let me show you Iguazu Falls first.

That is the Devil’s Throat, the most impressive section of the Iguazu Falls, a series of waterfalls located mostly in Argentina but also in Brazil. We spent an entire day in the national park on the Argentine side visiting the upper, middle and lower areas of the falls.

On the advice of a park employee, we saved the adventure boat trip for the end of the day. According to my guidebook, 5000 cubic metres of water falls per second into the river 70 metres below. Some of this water landed in the boat.

After a dry change of clothes and hot coffee, we hung around for the start of the Luna Llena tour, a trip back to the Devil’s Throat but under the light of the full moon. That’s where I tried my hand at night photography but let me tell you that taking pictures of fast running water in the dark with no tripod is no fun!

The next day we walked through the town of Puerto Iguazu and along the Iguazu river until we reached the Parana river and the tri-country border of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. I was happy to be on the Argentine side where we lunched on a restaurant terrace and took in the view.

The following afternoon we headed to the airport to return to Buenos Aires where we would have almost a week of city life. Hah! We had just boarded the plane when the captain informed us that the clock didn’t work. Thus began 4 hours of waiting to see if a new part would arrive that evening. Hopes were dashed when we saw OUR crew board the last flight out of Iguazu. Things turned out okay though. The airline put us up in a 5 star hotel complete with a buffet dinner, and we got to meet some nice folks from the United States.

More photos from Iguazu: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sataylor/sets/72157625425173082/

We’re now in Argentina for Sally’s IAMSLIC conference in Mar del Plata followed by a short holiday.

To get to Argentina, we first had a long stop-over in Guayaquil (scene of recent police strike) so we took the opportunity to walk along the malecon when we arrived in the early afternoon. Among the attractions along this new area are many sculptures, small food outlets and a tropical garden complete with Jurassic Park like dinosaurs. We also saw a tall ship rigged out for river dinner cruises.

Before taking the red eye out of Guayaquil to Santiago, Chile and then on to Buenos Aires, we were able to score some good java at a Juan Valdez outlet that features hi speed wifi. Yeah! What a treat after dial up speeds in Galapagos.

Mar del Plata is known for its incredibly long coastline and numerous beaches. It was also an introduction to Argentina’s famous cuisine, asado (bbq meats) and wine. The wine is Malbec and the meat is delicious. Can one ever tire of excellent slow fire cooked beef, pork, sausage and chicken? Down here that is a definite maybe.

One day featured a city bus tour that included a stop at the inner harbour. Have you ever seen a southern sea lion? We did, and he was huge! A local dog was very curious until the sea lion’s girl friend showed up and warned him off.

Our final day saw us bus to Estancia Santa Isabel for a genuine asado. On arrival we were handed a glass of white wine and led through the entrance to a very large grassy area where appetizers and more wine awaited. Soon a group of horses and gauchos in riding gear approached and treated us to an exhibition of riding skills after which some of us got to be dragged behing a galloping horse on a cowhide much in the manner of a skim board on water. There is more friction on a cowhide than water………I can vouch for that.

Following this we moved inside for the main event… the asado. Several salads accompanied meats which were cooked on large skewers arranged teepee style around the wood fire. Included were two kinds of sausage, steak, pork and chicken. Hind sight says I shouldn’t have had so many of the excellent appetizers as I couldn’t do justice to the asado. Of course there was lots of excellent Malbec to accompany the feast.

You would think that everyone would be ready for a siesta by this time. No way! The DJ turned on the music and everyone was up dancing, spearheaded by the exhuberant Latin American group. Who said librarians were no fun?

Next is Iguazu Falls in the north and then back to Buenos Aires. See you there.

This weekend we did something different……..we did a day trip on Saturday rather than Sunday :). Our destination was Plaza Sur, a very small island off the E. corner of Santa Cruz. A 45 minute drive from Puerto Ayora to the Baltra ferry took us up through the rain clouds of the Highlands but once over the height of land, we had clear skies for the rest of our trip as the photos will attest.

The boat ride to Plaza Sur takes about an hour and fifteen minutes. As we were heading into the prevailing wind the ride was a little bumpy but not enough to make any of the 16 passengers uncomfortable. The return trip was much smoother. On arrival we transferred to shore via an inflatable dinghy and immediately saw that the rocky shoreline was occupied by a group of sea lions comprised of basking mothers and pups and the constant offshore patrol of the male beachmaster/harem owner. Slowly cruising back and forth, raising his head from the water, he gave short gutteral barks (ark, ark, ark) to continually announce to one and all that this was his turf.

In the immediate area we saw many land iguanas that advanced through our crowd to feed on pieces of cactus that our guide chipped off a fallen Opuntia. (He is not supposed to do that but he wanted us to see what they eat.)

Our walk took us through large patches of sesuvium, a ground cover which is red in the dry season and green in the rainy season. It turns red to protect itself from the sun in the absence of water. When it is green and blooming, its flowers are a further source of food for the land iguanas.

There is a drop off cliff on the other side of the island and this is where we saw nesting swallow tailed gulls or night gulls as they are also called. They rest all day and range out over the ocean for many miles at night hunting for food. The basking sea lions were there too, as were wheeling flocks of petrels who spend the day on the ocean, then return to their nests in the rocky highland where they are safe from maurading frigate birds.

Near the end of our trip, our captain pulled into a protected bay for some snorkeling where we saw schools of fish, a galapagos shark, frigate birds resting on shore and ghostly palo santo trees on the cliffs above.

Here are a few more photos from the day: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sataylor/sets/72157625005340691/

This Thursday we are off to Argentina for two weeks and will be posting from there. Ciao until then.

Twenty minutes and $2 for a cab and we are in the neighbouring village of Bella Vista and the beginning of a 4.5 km hike to Media Luna. Our walk climbed gradually for the first few km along a red volcanic dirt road that wandered through cattle pasture, banana and coffee plantations, papaya, and random avocado which overhang the road and threaten to fall on unsuspecting heads.

Sally was taking a photograph of a very large tree beyond the roadside fence. She had to step up a bit and peer through the barbed wire to get the shot. Suddenly she yelled and jumped backward and started swatting at her foot. She had stepped on an ant nest. Small ants, big bites. We quickly removed her shoe and brushed off the ants which were difficult to see and seemed to keep coming out of her shoe.

We continued past where the road ended and the narrow, slippery climbing began. After some attempt to avoid the mud, Sally gave up and benefited from the soothing mud treatment on the ant bites.

We started the day thinking that Media Luna was another volcanic crater, or in this case perhaps a half crater. No, it is actually a perfect cinder cone covered in myconia, fern and sedge and we only realized this when we broke through the low mist near the top of our hike and there it was. Media Luna…..half moon.

Visibility improved as we headed back, and we had clearer views down the mountain of Puerto Ayora and Tortuga Bay in the distance.

We finished our day back in Bella Vista where you may remember we were a few weeks back. OK, there was a motive, fresh cheese empanadas and spiked cane juice, well deserved we told ourselves.

For more pictures, see: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sataylor/sets/72157624916261339/

It’s back to work tomorrow. Unlike the majority of people at the station, I do not have a bicycle, so I walk to work. Here’s what I see during my 15 minute commute.

Sometimes Roger walks with me and then cycles home. We cut through the little park that has a basketball court and a playground.

We walk down the hill to Charles Darwin Avenue where there is steady stream of taxis (white pick-up trucks). This morning there is just a lone rider.

We turn left and head towards the Park headquarters and the research station.

We pass a small cemetery with lots of flowers, both real and plastic. I’m interested in seeing what the cemetery will look like in early November when they celebrate el Dia de los Difuntos (Day of the Deceased as it is called in Ecuador).

Most vehicles are not permitted in the park, so motorcycles are left at the gate. Roger eyes them enviously.

We walk along a new yellow and red brick sidewalk with thick vegetation on either side. On the way, we see finches, small lizards, and other people heading to work.

Typically there are one or two groups of tourists returning from an early morning visit to the station where they’ve seen Lonesome George and his cronies.

We pass the staff entrance to park headquarters. There are washrooms here for visitors, and across the road is a boat ramp with a view of the ocean and lounging marine iguanas.

Staff and volunteers wear t-shirts with the research station logo. I have five, one for every day of the week. I no longer agonize over what to wear to work.

Around a bend in the yellow (and red) brick road are the administrative buildings for the station.

A few steps further is the entrance to the library.

If you can answer these questions, you too can be a temporary resident of the Galapagos Islands. To make it easier, I’ve translated the Spanish.

1. Which of the following are introduced species and which are native to the islands?
– blackberry
– guava
– sea lions
– goats
– cats
– marine iguanas

2. What colour are the following bins?
– organics
– recycling
– garbage

3. Why should you not write on rocks, trees and walls?
a) it will damage the pen
b) it destroys the beautiful landscape
c) it’s a sign of a bad education

There were more questions but you get the idea…

Sunday has become our day for visiting the sights around Santa Cruz. This past week, we went on a boat tour of Academy Bay with another volunteer and one of the staff scientists and his family. Heading out of the sheltered harbour in a small lancha gave us a taste of travel at sea (made me wonder how I’d handle the 2 hour trip to Floreana or Isabela).

First we headed east to see “La Loberia” where the lobos marinos (sea wolves aka sea lions) hang out. We saw the animals from a distance while our craft bobbed up and down. Apparently, these same animals are the ones we see at the fish market. We were too far to take photographs but here are two of their cousins at another spot.

Next we cut back across the bay to the west side to “Canal del Amor” and “Canal de las Tintoreras”. The water was too low to venture into the love canal so we jumped off the boat and walked to see the tintoreras. What are tintoreras? Despite the fact that this could be a picture of minnow or maybe coi, they are in fact small white tipped sharks taking a snooze. Note the sign: Do not wake the sleeping sharks!

After seeing the sharks (and two manta rays) we followed the trail to Playa de los Perros, a beautiful beach carpeted with Sesuvium, an endemic plant that turns red during the dry season. Our guide was made of tough stuff, walking barefoot over lava rock and cactus spines.

Finally we headed back past the Sally lightfoot crabs to watch lava gulls and blue footed boobies from the boat. We had the option to snorkel but it being surprisingly cool, we declined. We were back in town by noon, just in time for almuerzo (lunch).

Last Sunday we did an outing on Santa Cruz organized by Martha who works at the Darwin Station. Starting at 8:30 we joined 7 other adults and three childern and drove up and over the highlands and down to el Garrapatero beach. It was an easy 10 minute walk from the parking lot down to a white sandy beach with mangroves, opuntia cactus, iguanas and a dry lagoon that is frequented by flamingos during the wet season.

Next stop was Primicias Ranch where for a $3.00 fee you get to wander around irregularly sloping fields among giant tortoises who go about their grazing like so many contented cattle. There is a large covered area where you can purchase everything from lunch (mmm fresh cheese empanadas) to souvenirs, clothing and postcards.

A short drive from the tortoises on the same property was a pretty amazing sight called a lava tube. A large hole in the ground announces the entrance which in this case had concrete stairs leading down to it. A lava tube is formed by a river of rushing lava. The outer surface cools more quickly than the flowing mass and hardens sooner. The inner part continues to flow until it empties onto the earth, leaving a hollow tube behind. The tube we visited reminded me of a cathedral as the ceiling was quite high and domed. It was an easy well lit walk except for one spot where you had to crawl on your hands and knees (see Sally).

On the way to our next sight we passed through a small town called Santa Rosa where they were celebrating… something. Because we had to detour off the main road through the town we decided to stop and look around. There was a horse race which we unfortunately did not get to see as it finished a few blocks away from the center of activity… apparently a safety measure to protect the crowd. What I saw part of though was a real cock fight. I say part of because the crowd around the ring was so deep you couldn’t see over their heads and down to ground level where the action was. Cockfighting remains a traditional event here and likely throughout Equador. The crowd was enthusiastic, and the birds were game.

The next sight was Los Gemelos (“the twins”) which are two pit craters formed by the collapsing of the earth’s crust and subsequent growth of vegetation. The air was wonderfully cool and refreshing in the highlands.

Our trip ended in the town of Bellevista where Sally discovered coconut and jam cake, and I partook of sugar cane juice laced with white lightening.

Last Sunday we took a short water taxi ($.60) across the harbour to visit Las Grietas which is a unique local swimming hole located in a narrow canyon . On the ride over we saw two boats being used as a haul out for the sea lions.

It is about a 25 minute hike over lava (everything is over lava here) to the canyon.

Some of the young dudes were leaping from the canyon wall into the deep water. We on the other hand swam and snorkled. A spectator who scrambled down to the water edge slipped on one of the boulders and lost her camera when it tumbled deep into the rocks. I didn’t understand what she said but it sounded familiar…………s**t!

On the way back we stopped at the fancy Finch Bay Hotel where we had lunch by the pool. The pintail ducks and gulls were allowed free access to splash about without the $10 access fee for non guests. It was the nicest duck pond I’ve seen and while an attendant was hosing off the pool edge where the feathered guests were recently evidenced, he wasn’t able to remove anything from the bottom of the pool (pond). We enjoyed our lunch and continued home.

A few more photos from the day: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sataylor/sets/72157624877853494/