here´s a start!
Quito!
We will have more up asap, promise!
Showing posts with label Ecuador. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ecuador. Show all posts
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Quito.... still....
The last blog finished with us doing nothing all day.... I was extremely hungover, which is unusual, usually it´s the other way around! But Jen kept me alive and we had a quiet evening. Yesterday we went for a great curry with awesome garlic naan and then came to use the internet. The plan was to go to the Botanical Gardens and maybe old town in the afternoon. The plan was not accomplished when it started to rain so hard and then HAIL all afternoon! After waiting out as long as possible we hurried back to the hostel and enjoyed an evening of reading, hanging out, and of course, a few beers!
Today I left Jen in bed (we had a very sleepless night due to a puking, M&M eating, snoring roommate) and we plan to attempt the Gardens again and the Teleferico - a huge cable car to the top of a nearby 4000m mountain for a view over the city. Fingers crossed the weather holds up!
Today I left Jen in bed (we had a very sleepless night due to a puking, M&M eating, snoring roommate) and we plan to attempt the Gardens again and the Teleferico - a huge cable car to the top of a nearby 4000m mountain for a view over the city. Fingers crossed the weather holds up!
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Galapagos pics.... finally! There´s lots!
Now we have 2 cameras these are in an odd order...... Guayaquil 1st, then waterproof camera and then 400 more!:
Galapagone
Wow, time flew by!! Where did we leave off? Ah yes, day 1. Well, basically, we were on a 5 day/4 night cruise, and after day 1 our guide left on vacation and was traded out by a horrible guy named Daniel, who did not speak English. That wouldn´t have been so bad if he actually knew anything, but he was completely useless! He knew nothing, and made up everything else!!! You do get what you pay for though, so we should have expected some problems on our super cheap cruise. Other than that, things were fabulous! Great food, great day trips, and great company! Some of the highlights included panting blue footed boobies standing on eggs, smelly sea lions barking at each other, swimming with sharks, sting rays, turtles, and crazy fish, Oli being nibbled on by a large sea lion, and flying flamingos! Much much more, everything we looked at was amazing. It is impossible to sum it up with words, so enjoy the photos, please! One other highlight was our first trip (and 3 more!) to the local hospital!
On our third day, we were hiking along some volcanic rock and enjoying the scenery. Oli and I began fooling around, cutting each other off on the path, and in a typical Jen move, I tripped and chopped off part of my toe!! It wasn´t quite severed at that point, but it sure did bleed. Later, upon further investigation by Oli and our new friend Carolina (armed with tweezers), it was decided that the top part would need to be amputated at the hospital as it was not just the nail, but a large chunk of flesh encompassing the nail and more! So we wrapped it up, and the following day we were docked in the bay of Port Ayora. Clean hospital, lots of meds and painkillers, and half a toe later, we were ready for some Thanksgiving drinks! We all went to Limon y Cafe and celebrated until the wee hours of the morning, at which point Oli and I decided to head back for our last night on the Merak. We hopped on a water taxi and somehow it found our boat in the big harbor. Oli hopped off, and I followed. Now the following events were not the result of too many celebratory drinks and I feel like it was only a matter of time before it happened. I had one foot on the Merak and one on the water taxi, and suddenly the water taxi bounced back. I tried to leap for Oli´s arms, but I slipped, and after some struggling, there was darkness. And it was surprisingly warm! Somehow I found myself treading water in the pitch black of the harbor, with my bandaged toe becoming undone and my flip flops floating away into the night. Our cook came running up to the deck and tried to help Oli lug me up, and then they gave up and had the taxi do it. I was dead weight and slippery. Seconds later, wrapped in a towel, Oli and I sat on deck of the Merak and laughed to our hearts content.
We spent the following days in the Galapagos at the lovely Hotel España, drinking and dining with our new friends Clair and Cody. We were unable to do much during the day as I was not allowed to go diving or snorkeling or swimming or hiking or ANYTHING, per doctors orders. We relaxed and read and waited to get off that damn island!!
We are now in Quito, doing basically the same thing! We have been told by many many people that the city is incredibly dangerous, so we have not done as much sightseeing as we would have preferred. Yesterday, we hired a cab to take us to the equator, where we spied a shrunken head, large snake skins, and Oli´s new Halloween costume (he can tell you about it later). We then headed off to the Basilica, where we climbed entirely too many stairs and steps, and saw the entire city of Quito from atop one of the spires. Cody and Clair are staying at our hotel, so we have been drinking and dining and sightseeing with them. Last night we wasted away in a British pub, noshing on fish and chips and chilli con carne. Today we have done nothing, and it feels great!! Getting a bit thirsty.... :)
On our third day, we were hiking along some volcanic rock and enjoying the scenery. Oli and I began fooling around, cutting each other off on the path, and in a typical Jen move, I tripped and chopped off part of my toe!! It wasn´t quite severed at that point, but it sure did bleed. Later, upon further investigation by Oli and our new friend Carolina (armed with tweezers), it was decided that the top part would need to be amputated at the hospital as it was not just the nail, but a large chunk of flesh encompassing the nail and more! So we wrapped it up, and the following day we were docked in the bay of Port Ayora. Clean hospital, lots of meds and painkillers, and half a toe later, we were ready for some Thanksgiving drinks! We all went to Limon y Cafe and celebrated until the wee hours of the morning, at which point Oli and I decided to head back for our last night on the Merak. We hopped on a water taxi and somehow it found our boat in the big harbor. Oli hopped off, and I followed. Now the following events were not the result of too many celebratory drinks and I feel like it was only a matter of time before it happened. I had one foot on the Merak and one on the water taxi, and suddenly the water taxi bounced back. I tried to leap for Oli´s arms, but I slipped, and after some struggling, there was darkness. And it was surprisingly warm! Somehow I found myself treading water in the pitch black of the harbor, with my bandaged toe becoming undone and my flip flops floating away into the night. Our cook came running up to the deck and tried to help Oli lug me up, and then they gave up and had the taxi do it. I was dead weight and slippery. Seconds later, wrapped in a towel, Oli and I sat on deck of the Merak and laughed to our hearts content.
We spent the following days in the Galapagos at the lovely Hotel España, drinking and dining with our new friends Clair and Cody. We were unable to do much during the day as I was not allowed to go diving or snorkeling or swimming or hiking or ANYTHING, per doctors orders. We relaxed and read and waited to get off that damn island!!
We are now in Quito, doing basically the same thing! We have been told by many many people that the city is incredibly dangerous, so we have not done as much sightseeing as we would have preferred. Yesterday, we hired a cab to take us to the equator, where we spied a shrunken head, large snake skins, and Oli´s new Halloween costume (he can tell you about it later). We then headed off to the Basilica, where we climbed entirely too many stairs and steps, and saw the entire city of Quito from atop one of the spires. Cody and Clair are staying at our hotel, so we have been drinking and dining and sightseeing with them. Last night we wasted away in a British pub, noshing on fish and chips and chilli con carne. Today we have done nothing, and it feels great!! Getting a bit thirsty.... :)
Friday, November 28, 2008
You can´t always get what you want....
We flew to Baltra from Guayaquil, and met our group at the baggage claim. 3 Germans and 3 Aussies, as well as our fantastic guide, Cesar. We hopped on a bus and rode to the docks to get on board the Merak, our home for the next 5 days. We immediately sat down to an elaborate lunch, and were shown our cabins. Oli and I had requested the Marital room, assuming that with a double bed, there must be more room than the standard bunk bed cabins. WRONG!! The bed was slightly triangular, pretty small, and cave like, as the ceiling lowered towards the back. There wasn´t even enough room for both of us to stand in there! It was cozy though, and we had a little port window for some fresh air. We set off for the first stop, a small bay on Santa Cruz Island. We saw hundreds of sea lions! Little tiny babies searching for their moms, barking until their cries were returned. The dads stayed in the water, swimming back and forth. They sure smelled! There were lots of dead babies as well, ones who had been abandoned by their mothers and left to starve and then rot on the shore. So sad! Ahh more soon, this internet sucks. $4 an hour?!?!?!?
Sunday, November 23, 2008
How to Catch a 2 Toed Sloth
So we arrived in Guayaquil yesterday, and hopped in a cab to the lovely Dreamkapture hostel in the northern suburbs. Relaxed, wandered, had some lovely Lebanese food in the mall down the road! Back to the hostel to relax a bit more, read, write, and then down the street to this AWESOME mexican taco place! We are actually taking a food tour around the world, and have been pretty successful in not having ANY local foods in most of the places we have been!! This is not on purpose, mind you, but it is becoming an embarassing trend. Read a bit more, then bed time!
This morning we had a lovely brekkie at the hostel, then headed out to the Parque Historico, for a little zoo wander, where our quide explained how to catch a 2 toed sloth, and then to see the historical reproduction of the city from 1900. It was... a bit tacky. As were the plantation fields and servant´s homes. Ahh well. Then off to downtown, where we witnessed one of the creepiest things ever- the iquana park. Its just a park in the middle of town, which has been infested with huge jurrasic looking iguanas. Tons of them! Climbing over each other, over people feet, and up some peoples legs! Ugh. Oli decided to pet one, but didn´t look very pleased afterwards. We then walked along the riverfront promenade, the Malecon, and enjoyed the breeze. We attempted to go to the MAAC, the museum of Contemporary Art and Architecture, but after searching and searching for the entrance, we discovered it is closed on Sundays. WTF?! Then up the 384 steps of Santa Aña to see the colorful houses and shops, and then killer view from the top. Gorgeous!
We are now trying to wrap up some of our affairs before we depart for the GALAPAGOS!!!! We will be gone until December 2nd, on a cruise for the first 5 days, and diving for the rest of the time, fingers crossed! We will update you once we reach Quito! Miss you all, love you, and Happy Thanksgiving, you Yanks!!
This morning we had a lovely brekkie at the hostel, then headed out to the Parque Historico, for a little zoo wander, where our quide explained how to catch a 2 toed sloth, and then to see the historical reproduction of the city from 1900. It was... a bit tacky. As were the plantation fields and servant´s homes. Ahh well. Then off to downtown, where we witnessed one of the creepiest things ever- the iquana park. Its just a park in the middle of town, which has been infested with huge jurrasic looking iguanas. Tons of them! Climbing over each other, over people feet, and up some peoples legs! Ugh. Oli decided to pet one, but didn´t look very pleased afterwards. We then walked along the riverfront promenade, the Malecon, and enjoyed the breeze. We attempted to go to the MAAC, the museum of Contemporary Art and Architecture, but after searching and searching for the entrance, we discovered it is closed on Sundays. WTF?! Then up the 384 steps of Santa Aña to see the colorful houses and shops, and then killer view from the top. Gorgeous!
We are now trying to wrap up some of our affairs before we depart for the GALAPAGOS!!!! We will be gone until December 2nd, on a cruise for the first 5 days, and diving for the rest of the time, fingers crossed! We will update you once we reach Quito! Miss you all, love you, and Happy Thanksgiving, you Yanks!!
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