Galapagos - Baltra and Santa Cruz Island

Friday, January 14, 2011

We land at Baltra island, a WW II US military base and our boat waits at the end of a five minute drive. Sea lions and sea iguanas are greeting us the wharf as we wait for our panga ride out to the boat. In no time at all we are under way to a nearby mangrove bay to look for sea turtles from our two pangas. In a little while we cut the outboard motors as the pangas work their way into increasingly narrow channel and our 'driver', Israel,

takes out a single oar to navigate the twisting channel. Michael asks all of us for a quiet time of about five minutes to appreciate the surroundings so both boats fall silent. I hear only the swoosh if Israel's oar as he gently pulls us forward. Then the soft exhale as a sea turtle surfaces, swimming towards us. Soon the rustle of mangrove branches as a lava heron picks its way along the tideline. Little sounds seem magnified by our solitude. The quiet time puts all in a tranquil frame of mind, and takes away some of my first day apprehension - putting me in the hear and now.
  

Back on the boat, the group is pretty subdued , I think there is a concern about seasickness and nobody is drinking before they get their sea-legs. There are, in fact, one or two green faces as we get underway to our evening anchorage.

Around Quito

Quito is proud of being the center of the Earth, literally. We drove a bit north during our city tour today and visited the monument on the equator that commemorates the scientific verification of the equator's location in 1744, by Europeans who thought this would be the best place to do it (no jungles). Being here at zero latitude and at 9,200 ft makes for some interesting effects. The sun is intense - overhead quickly and bright clear sky combine - tropics in the mountains. What time does the sun come up? 6:00. What time does the sun go down? 6:00. Every day, all year long. The altitude makes this a constant springtime with pleasant weather all year. We get to the equator monument and find out that the elevator is out of order. No, someone corrects that to say it is just not working and closed for maintenance. So, most of us walk the nine flights for the view. It was not as tough as I thought, but I know all day long that the altitude is affecting me. A little buzzed with a slight headache.

Quito is a large city; 45 miles long, but skinny "like a worm" due to the limits of the mountains on both sides. Active volcanoes in the distance. Wonderful old section of the city with an insanely gilded cathedral interior. Alas, no pictures permitted.

Michael just had to hula hoop

Got to run out to dinner with our group - sixteen travelers. Packing tonight and off for Galapagos early am, and I fear no internet for a week. I will survive.

Ecuador Trip Planning

There is just about a week before I leave, and I think I am in pretty good shape with my plans. Weather looks to have some rain pretty much wherever we go, and we will be from sea level to 9,200 feet, so there will be a lot of temperature variation and clothing covers all possibilities. Just went to the chiropractor, also got prescriptions filled and bought Peet's coffee for the trip. Ecuador uses dollars as its official currency, so that's nice. Electrical plugs are the same as US - also very nice.

As always, I have fretted over what equipment to bring along on a trip. It seems like I always rethink what to bring along. I am now back to using the larger camera, with a waterproof point-and shoot as a backup and for underwater pics. New 7" tablet computer is a lot lighter than what I had used before. The tablet does have a few limitations, but I can work with them (I hope). This time, I will try something new and 'geo tag" photos with exact GPS coordinates using a little Sony device. That should help me keep track of where I took them. Charging batteries today for all this stuff.

• PENTAX K-7 SLR CAMERA
• LENSES: 100MM MACRO / 12-24MM ZOOM / 16-45MM ZOOM / 55-300MM ZOOM
• SONY GPS LOGGER
• PENTAX OPTIO W90 WATERPROOF CAMERA
  
• SAMSUNG GALAXY TAB COMPUTER
• BLUETOOTH KEYBOARD
• BLUETOOTH HEADPHONES
• BLUETOOTH TRAVEL SPEAKER
• BACKBERRY 9700 CELLPHONE
• AA BATTERY CHARGER
• USB CHARGE WALL ADAPTER

I Couldn't Make This UP

In doing some pre-trip research, I came across the flag of Ecuador which displays a handsome, but strangely intricate coat of arms that made me go right to Wikipedia, and so I quote:

"In the background of the oval shield is the mount Chimborazo, while the river originating from its base represents the Guayas. They both symbolize the beauty and wealth of the respective regions (Sierra or Costa). The ship on the river is named Guayas as well. In 1841 it was built in Guayaquil Caduceus representing trade and economy. On top a golden sun surrounded by the astrological signs for Aries, Taurus, Gemini and Cancer representing the months March to July to symbolize the duration of the March Revolution of 1845 and was the first seaworthy steamship built on the South American west coast."

(gasp)

"The condor on top of the shield stretches his wings to symbolize power, greatness and strength of Ecuador. The shield is flanked by four flags of Ecuador. The laurel on the left represents the victories of the republic. The palm leaf on the right side is a symbol of the martyrs of the fight for independence and liberty. The Fasces below the shield represents the republican dignity."

By the way, here's what we know about the three stripes on the flag:

"The flag retains the three main colors of the banner of Gran Columbia, the South American republic that broke up in 1830; the yellow color represents sunshine, grain, and mineral wealth, blue the sky, sea, and rivers, and red the blood of patriots spilled in the struggle for freedom and justice."

(When I was a school kid I thought that drawing the Stars and Stripes was challenging - counting stripes and whatnot. We are SO lucky.)