Quilotoa Take Two Part 2

Hola! so if anyone was reading about my trip to Quilotoa, this is where I left off so let's continue shall we? when we arrived to Quilotoa it was cloudy and it appeared as if it was going to rain but that wasn't going to stop us from going down the crater and back up. I was a bit nervous at first because I remembered how much I struggled the first time I had toured Quilotoa but this time round going down wasn't as challenging as I remembered. There were slippery spots because of loose earth and our thighs were trembling by the time we got to the bottom but it was fun and the lovely surroundings made it all worth it.

The trail down doesn't look steep or long but trust me, it looks tamer in pictures than in reality.

We made it to the bottom of the crater and enjoyed the surroundings even though it had started drizzling.

I don't know what kind of hostel this is but I would not want to spend a night in there, there were several tents pitched around the area so I suppose some people camp out in the crater.

We thought the drizzle was going to pass but unfortunately it started raining heavily and we had to start our climb up quick before the path became really muddy. The first time I was at Quilotoa I went up on a horse but this time round I decided to challenge myself physically and go up by foot.

I am not lying when I mention how tough it was climbing up. First of all we were at high altitude and there was no sufficient air so breathing was a problem, the path was steep at some places so you really had to exert yourself and the fact that it was raining didn't make things easier. I was panting like crazy  and I wasn't the only one. Just imagine gasping for air and feeling like you can't get enough so you pant even harder trying to suck in as much oxygen as you possibly can..........yeah, that was how it felt. It got to a point my very lovely husband even carried me on his back before he got too tired himself, I could have easily taken a horse up but I was determined to make it on my own.

There was an Argentinian girl in the tour group who got so exhausted and sick that she just stopped and couldn't move any further she almost cried saying she wanted a horse to help her get back up but all the horses had already been taken and there were none available. My husband being the lovely gentleman that he is decided that we couldn't go further without helping the girl so him and this other Colombian guy got on each of her side and held her as we continued with the trek. In the end she felt better and we all bonded within the group as we made the best out of a difficult situation and managed to share a few laughs along the way.

Finally we made it up to the top of the crater and you should have seen how happy and relieved everyone was, especially knowing lunch was to be served up next.

Exhausted but super happy

That's it folks after lunch we headed back to Quito and everyone just blacked out in the bus and slept through most of the ride. It was a day well spent if I must say so myself.

Random Thoughts of The Day:

It's been raining in Quito every day which makes for very cozy nights but during the day it sucks especially when you want to be out and about.

In Quito you will find communities of Cubans, Dominicans, Colombians and Venezuelans but each tend to keep to themselves, hang out among themselves and even eat at their own restaurants.

I had forgotten how much the sun burns in Quito especially in the afternoon when its the brightest, I have been walking around with a hat for protection. I wonder what the rate of skin cancer is over here.

At first traveling with my husband used to be tricky because we have different personalities and couldn't seem to agree on alot but now we have reached a point where our different personalities actually work in our favor as we compliment each other really well. Traveling together has become more fun and entertaining.

Quilotoa Take Two Part 1

I was trying to figure out which site in Ecuador to re-visit as a day trip from Quito since at this point I feel like I have been to most if not all the popular sites that would make really good day trips. My husband hadn't been to the very pretty crater lake Quilotoa so we ended up settling on that. There are many tours to Quilotoa and they cost $40 per person so we decided to go with a tour group and not have to worry about transportation and getting back to the city in the evening.

Our tour had about 14 people which wasn't so bad but we ended up getting a very talkative tour guide who just went on and on even when everyone was dosing off since the tour started so early in the morning, the guy just kept talking without a break! Our first stop was at a traditional market where all kinds of fruits were being sold dirt cheap then we moved on to an animal market where pigs, sheep and several farm type animals were on sale. That place stank so bad of animal excrement and you had to be very careful not to step on some of it. To be honest with you, the markets didn't do much for us (my husband and I) but there were several people from the tour group who were so fascinated. I guess we have been to so many markets that they all start looking similar at the end.

That can't be the most comfortable position for these poor sheep, can it?

After the two market stops the guide told us that we were heading to a traditional village to see how the indigenous people of Ecuador live. Seems like the local indigenous families work with tour groups who stop by their homes for viewings and in turn the families get tips from tourists. The area where we went to visit the homes was at high altitude and was really cold that's why you see the poncho on the guy in the picture below and the warm blanket and sweater on the wife and the daughter.

Inside the homes the families share their living space with guinea pigs, traditionally known as cuy. This particular family we visited had about 70 guinea pigs in the house! apparently they also help generate heat especially at night when it's super cold outside. They were so cute and reminded me of tiny rabbits for some reason.............cute as they looked I don't know about sharing living space with them though.

I got to hold one of the guinea pigs and it had the softest feel that just made you want to keep holding it. They don't bite although at the back of my mind I just kept thinking to myself "I seriously hope I don't catch anything from a scratch or an accidental bite."

PS: These guinea pigs are eaten on certain special occasions. I found cuy more popular in Ecuador and Peru.

After visiting the traditional homes, it was finally time to head to Quilotoa. It seemed like we had made many stops along the way so when the guide mentioned that the next step was Quilotoa everyone was excited although I was a bit worried about altitude sickness and braving the challenging feat of descending down the crater lake and ascending from it.

That's it folks, watch out for Part 2. I feel very sleepy and tired right now so my concentration is off but I will continue where I left off in Part 2.

Do Overs & Such

Hola!!!! guess who is back? or better yet guess where I am currently? it's a long story but in short.......I am back in Quito, Ecuador! who would have thought?! when I left Ecuador almost a year a ago I said I was never coming back yet here I am. I think the theme of my life at this point should be "never say never."

I am actually enjoying myself over here and the best part of it all is I get to share my do over with my husband. So what have I been up to over here? catching up with a few friends I had maintained contact with, eating plenty of fruits that I would otherwise not find in the US, enjoying the salsa clubs, sightseeing and basically taking it easy.  I have been so lazy about updating the blog but I will try to do better, I haven't been taking as many pictures because most of the time I keep forgetting but here are a few that I have taken so far.

Catching up with my friend Elena and hitting the salsa clubs was so much fun.

These two can dance! my friend Elena and one of my husband's friends........fun times!

My host family from when I first landed in Ecuador, we go way back and have kept in touch through out.

Every sunday there is Ciclovia whereby the main streets in parts of the city are closed off to traffic and only available to pedestrians. You can walk or bike for great distances without worrying about any traffic. This is one of the things I had missed about being here.

That's it folks, I will post more updates later so be on the look out and I promise to do my updates more justice.

Cost Breakdown For My Galapagos Trip

A trip to the Galapagos isn't the most cheapest but there are ways you can manage to cut costs depending on how you want to tour the various islands and how long you want to stay. Without further ado here goes my cost breakdown:

Tour Expenses - Since Galapagos was meant to be my birthday treat, I wanted to have a stress free trip and have someone else plan the itinerary for me as I followed along enjoying the ride. Having worked at a travel agency here in Quito, I was fortunate enough to get a discount of $100 so I ended up paying $400 for a tour that normally costs $500 (better than nothing right)? the tour price included: excursions, 3 meals a day, hotel stay, transfer in and out of the airport and a guide. I chose the cheapest tour which lasted 4 days and 3 nights, perfect length of time for me because I didn't want and I couldn't afford to be gone for too long. 

I opted for a land tour meaning I would be staying in a hotel and only taking boats to whichever island I was to visit. The other option was to take a boat tour meaning I would be staying on a boat and only stepping on land for any excursions included in the itinerary. Let's just stay staying on a boat for majority of the time wasn't my cup of tea, I wanted the flexibility of being on land so that I could do my own thing and go wherever I wanted during my free time. 

NOTE: The boat tours are more pricey, the cheapest is about $600 but the advantage of these tours is that you get to visit more islands. For my tour I only got to visit two islands, Santa Cruz and Isabela which happens to be the largest island.

Flight Prices - Everyone including the owner of the travel agency I worked at in Quito told me that flights to the islands are usually pricey and $400 would be the cheapest price I would get. I went online and true to what I had heard, most flights were charging $400 and upward between Quito and Galapagos. I had even checked the Prices from Guayaquil to Galapagos but they were not any cheaper (Guayaquil is closer to Galapagos) I almost gave up hope until I came across a flight for $275 through expedia.

The map below gives you an idea of how far the islands are from mainland Ecuador.

Photo courtesy of google

Island Expenses - I had to pay $20 for a transit card at the airport in Quito, without this transit card you can not be checked in. At the airport in Galapagos I had to pay an entry fee of $100 which is mandatory for everyone, of course its cheaper for countries that have certain relations with Ecuador. When I visited Isabela island I had to pay an entry fee of $5 as a foreigner (nationals pay $2).

Total Price - Minus personal expenses I spent $800 and this price included: Tour, flight, transit card and entry fees. My personal expenses were not much and only added up to about $20 

Lessons Learned

There are two airports at the Galapagos so you can fly either to Baltra which is the main airport or San Cristobal. Most flights do fly to Baltra and from Baltra you can take a boat to the island of Santa Cruz which is the main starting point for a lot of tours and has more accommodation options.

Photo courtesy of google

Galapagos is an one hour behind continental time in Ecuador so be sure to adjust your watch.

Contrary to what I had thought before, you can actually do Galapagos on your own without any tours. Santa Cruz has many accommodation options and serves as the main base for a lot of tourists. Once you book your hostel/hotel in Santa Cruz, you can take day trips to explore other islands by yourself and return in the evening.

From talking to some tour guides I found out that there are four islands that you can visit by yourself without a tour guide: Santa Cruz, Isabela, Floreana and I believe San Cristobal. You would need a guide for the others because they are protected islands. If you decide to visit one of the four islands by yourself then you would pay about $25 for a boat ride, I believe the price varies depending on how far the islands are. 

Had I known what I know now I would have loved to visit a couple more islands. 

If you don't want to do the islands by yourself you can buy tours in Santa Cruz, each tour costs between $100 - $130 depending on how far the island is, these prices can really add up if you are visiting various islands so that's why it's better to buy a packaged tour. I found out packaged tours are cheaper to buy in the Galapagos because you are buying directly from the tour companies.

Bottom Line -  I think it all depends on how much you are willing or able to spend, how long you want to visit and of course good planning. Take into account that yes you can do Galapagos on your own but some expenses do add up so its always good to compare different options and see the cost that each option bears. 

Exploring Santa Cruz

Today I had another tour but this one was focused on Santa Cruz island where I am currently staying at. Early in the morning we headed to a private finca where we got to see tortoises living in their natural habitat, the guide instructed us to make sure we had socks on or carry them with us if we had sandals because we would later on need them. I really didn't know what to expect but as soon as we got to the finca I understood what he meant. Turns out we had to wear boots to protect our feet from the elements and since these boots are available to the public, socks do indeed come in handy! unfortunately I chose to wear shorts not anticipating flies and ants so I ended up getting several bites on my legs. 

The finca was really pretty and the area looked so lush with green vegetation everywhere, the guide was telling us that since the area is situated in the highlands, they get more rain and its easier to practice farming. Despite the sun not being too hot, it was really humid and I was sweating buckets! I am not kidding you when I say that sweat was actually dripping from my face and I looked like a hot mess to say the least, a dripping hot mess.

We got to see tortoises in their natural habitat which was pretty cool and some of them where not shy because they are used to humans so you could feed them while not touching or getting too close to them. Apparently they are very sensitive so if you have sunscreen or cream on your skin and touch them, they could get sick from the chemicals. 

We toured around the area and even got to enter some caves that were created by volcanic activities which was pretty cool. Speaking of cool, inside the caves the air was very fresh and the temperature was cool which felt good after coming from the humidity outside. The caves were not so extensive but it was still interesting checking them out.

Look how green everything is, it was very beautiful and the picture doesn't really do the scenery justice.

Later on in the afternoon I got to visit Tortuga Bay which is a beach that has the softest sand I have ever experienced. Walking on the sand felt so good and folks were telling me that it never gets hot even when the sun is out in full force so you can comfortably walk without feeling any heat from the sand. Getting to the beach was quite a walk but when I got there it was all worth it plus I did get some exercise in so all that walking wasn't so bad.

I walked up and down the beach and hang out just enjoying the scenery, it was very tranquil and there were not too many people around. This one couple from Argentina struck a conversation with me and  they ended up keeping me company. Speaking of Argentinians, I have encountered so many during my trips and the couple was even telling me than in all of South America, Argentinians tend to travel more as backpackers so you will run into them a lot. For them its very common to take some time off work to travel for extended periods of time.

Below is a picture of the long walking trail to Tortuga Bay, who can complain about having to walk for almost an hour on this trail? it's very pretty.

Iguanas just chilling on the beach without a care in the world.

It started raining on my walk back to the main part of town from Tortuga Bay but I couldn't resist taking a couple of pictures.

That's it folks, today was more laid back which was fine by me considering how active yesterday was. This is my last full day in Galapagos before heading back to Quito tomorrow, it's been fun although my skin is now paying for it thanks to the intense sun exposure but it was all worth it.

Random Thoughts of The Day:

Argentinians have a distinct accent that's just different, they use the shh sound a lot which I think sounds kind of cute. Here are a couple of examples to give you an idea of what I am talking about, they pronounce plaza as plasha and subir (to go up) as shubir.

Did you know you can determine the sex of baby tortoises? how do you do this? by the temperature that the eggs get incubated. To get females the eggs have to be incubated at 26 degrees celsius and to get males the eggs have to be incubated at 28 degrees celsius.

Chatting with tour guides will usually teach you some interesting things. I was chatting with the tour guide who took us to the finca to see tortoises and he was telling me that the residency requirement to live in Galapagos came into effect in 1998. Prior to that anyone could land on the island and live without restrictions but to conserve the islands the government decided to restrict population thus introducing residency requirements. All the people who lived on the island prior to 1998 were automatically given residency and anyone coming in after that time could not automatically become a resident of the island and they were limited to the amount of time they could stay on the island. This included Ecuadorians as well.

Apparently the government gave the residents land for free prior to 1998 when residency requirements came into practice so everyone has land and everyone has a job so you will never see beggars on the streets or worry about being robbed. Most people work in the tourism industry which brings in good money plus a lot of them have converted their land into income generating ventures.

Since my hotel room is situated across from the sea, I get to sleep to the sound of waves every night. Today I was moved to another room which doesn't face the sea but the upgrade makes up for it. The room is huge! you should see the bathroom also, it has too much space. Its a very cute room and even the TV is clearer, not that it matters since I haven't really spent a lot of my time in the room.

A Year Older In Galapagos

Aaah! so today is my special day because it just happens to be my birthday. I can't believe that I am in my mid thirties! I am celebrating my 35th birthday today and when I think about it, I have 5 more years before I turn 40. I remember being in my twenties and thinking turning 30 was so old, honestly I don't feel any different from how I felt in my twenties. I remember one of my former Spanish teachers being so surprised when I told her I will be turning 35 this year, she exclaimed, "you are turning 35? you don't even have wrinkles!" my reply to her was, "but I am too young for wrinkles." Seriously, isn't 35 too young for wrinkles? I certainly think so.

Today I wanted to do something special so I had arranged to go on a tour of Isabela island which happens to be the largest island in the Galapagos. Isabela is situated 2 hours from Santa Cruz where I am staying so our tour group had to leave really early in the morning because it was a full day tour. We left at 7 in the morning and I was surprised by the number of tours that were taking place at that hour, I guess they all start in the morning so as to take advantage of a full day.

From Santa Cruz we took water taxis that were transferring tourists to their main boats which would take them to Isabela. I can only imagine how much those guys who work on the boats make because there were so many tourists.

Our tour group was quickly situated in our boat and it was snooze time for me. At first the boat ride was really uncomfortable for me because the waves that we were hitting were giving me a funny sensation in my stomach, but I had taken a motion sickness pill prior to boarding so that helped me not throw up. The crew in the boat even had plastic bags handy just in case anyone felt like throwing up. After a while I got accustomed to the motion of the boat and had a pretty good nap actually.

We arrived at Isabela island without any incidence and the guide explained to us that we would spend the whole day exploring the island and visiting the main attractions before heading back to Santa Cruz. At Isabela we had to pay an entry fee which was $5 for foreigners and $2 for Ecuadorians. 

The first thing that was noticeable at Isabela were the number of seals around. There were many seals just chilling on the beach and on the various benches around, they were not scared of people so you could take however many pictures you wanted of them. We were warned not to touch them or get too close because even though they are super chill and not aggressive, if you get too close to them they could lunge at you. Young kids especially are the most vulnerable so parents had to be very careful and ensure that their kids didn't get too close to the seals. They were super cute though and I thought it was really sweet that they had freedom to move around and no one messed with them. Apart from the seals there were also many Iguanas which we were told were also not aggressive. They did look scary though but the guide was explaining to us that they are very docile despite their intimidating looks.

Two penguins that seemed to be playing with each other, they were so cute!

We ventured further into the island where we saw flamingos and visited a tortoise breeding center. As I had mentioned before, there are aggressive efforts aimed at increasing the tortoise population on the various islands in the hope that they will be restored to the same population that existed before humans landed on Galapagos. Those darn humans, right? 

We learned an interesting fact about flamingos and their relation to the flamenco dance from Spain. Turns out that flamingos stamp their feet on the ground underneath water so that the organisms around can float to the surface to be eaten, they stamp their feet moving in circles. How is this related to the flamenco dance? the Spanish observed these movements thus the flamenco dance came to be. That's what the guide told us so I am going by his words, it does make sense though if you observe the flamenco dance and the movements of the flamingos.

We continued exploring the island and learning new things which was really interesting. Later on in the afternoon after lunch we got an hour extra to lounge by the beach and relax, with the oppressive heat I was only too happy to find a spot under a tree and chill, watching the activities around me. After the free hour was up we headed to the dock where we took the boat back to Santa Cruz. 

That's it folks, it was a long day of learning and exploring and I did enjoy it even though the heat did a number on me. My day was well spent and I am glad I chose to spend my birthday in Galapagos. I had a nice quiet dinner of one and treated myself to the sweetest cocktail on the menu in a bar nearby before calling it a night. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

PS: Internet sucks on the island and its a struggle writing this blog, see how dedicated I am at keeping you folks posted?