Quito, The Final Days

Thursday, December 10- Monday, December 14
Quito

We are all ready to head back to Vermont as we end this chapter in our lives. Unfortunately, Brad came down with a stomach virus on Friday which moved to Gayle by Saturday.  We almost made it through the four months without getting sick... we did have a chance to get out and do a few things.


The first day we took a tour of the city which took us around to many different sights and gave us an idea about the different parts of the city.

"La Basilica del Voto Nacional is the most important work of neo-gothic Ecuadorian architecture and one of the most representative in America." (Tour Guide)

We climbed up some steep stairs to a look out in one of the towers.

A view of the city between the towers to the Mirador El Panecillo. You can see the monument in the far back, The Virgen del Panecillo.

Looking out you can see old town in the front and the new section of town in the background.

A view of the Volcano Cayambe.

This sculpture is made from 7, 400 aluminum pieces put together.  It was inspired by the sculpture made by Bernardine of Legarda.  It stands on top of the Mirador El Panecillo.

A view of Cotopaxi in the far back.  We only got a few viewings of it- most of the time it was in the clouds.

In old town the streets are all narrow, curvy and many are steep!

Brad saying hello to some live art.

The Presidents Palace or Palacio do Gobierno.

Sites on the streets

The next day we visited the Museum of National Culture.

A traditionally dressed indigenous woman.  Each of the different groups have their own style skirt, blouse, shawl, belt and hat.

As in Peru, hats are an important role in Ecuador.  Each of the indigenous groups have their own style hat.  This is only a small portion of the different types.

There are also a variety of different ponchos worn by the men.  Again the type, represents the particular indigenous group.

Brad and the boys took the gondola up to the top of

Looking down into the city

A view from above

Galapagos: Isabella Island

Friday, December 4th- Monday, December 7th
Isabella Island, Galapagos

Today we went on a snorkel tour of the tunnels off of Isabella Island. The night before we tried to go to bed early to get a good night sleep to be ready to go at 7:30 the next morning. However, the place right next to our hostel was having a party and were playing really loud music until 3:00 am. So, we didn't get a great night sleep. The next morning, we woke up only to find that our food was locked inside the kitchen and we could not get to it. So, we had to go out and buy some other food. After eating, we got back and waited for our ride to the tour company were we got our wet suits, fins, and masks. The day before Asa almost got sea sick on the boat ride to Isabella, so we made sure to get the back seat. The ride felt a lot smoother but was still uncomfortable because we got soaked after just a few minutes.

When we got to the first place after an one hour boat ride we got on our fins, wet suits, and masks and jumped in. The water was shallower here- anywhere from 12 feet to one foot. After swimming around for a few minutes and seeing small fish and medium sized fish, we came to a big underwater cave or tunnel and our guide went under to check it out. He came back up and said that there were four white tip reef sharks. I was the first one in the group to look. The guide did a countdown from three and then grabbed your neck and shoved you under water to look at the Sharks. At fist it was just dark, but then my eyes got used to the darkness of the cave and I could see four bigger sized sharks around 6-10 feet. After everyone cycled through, we moved to the other side of the cave to look at them from the front. Again, everyone cycled through and looked at the Sharks before we moved on in search of sea turtles and penguins. We found sea turtles, but that was not as cool as the sharks because we had already seen them snorkeling when we were not on a tour. Right before we climbed back on the boat, we saw two penguins swimming by and we followed them until we came to a place with lots of other penguins before retiring to the boat.

During lunch, our guide was talking about how much humans were affecting the ocean. First of all, he was talking about hunting sharks. He said that doctors had just said that different parts of sharks were good for fighting cancer. So now, lots more people are hunting sharks. It is more of a problem to hunt sharks than some other animals because sharks reproduce very slowly. He also talked about how global warming is affecting the plankton population. The warmer water at the top does not mix well with the cooler water below. The plankton that lives near the surface can not get vital nutrients it needs from the cooler water below. Population of plankton has dropped by 40%. This means there is a shortage of food for whales, seabirds and other sea mammals causing them to starve and die in huge numbers. The effects of humans are very noticeable on the Galápagos Islands. Everything we do effects and changes the animal life in the ocean and on the islands.
-Eli

The bigger boats can not pull up to the dock so you taxi in on these boats.

Spotted manta ray from the dock, just after landing.

Marine iguanas sunning themselves on the deck of the hostel. No wonder why it is called Caleta Iguana!

An iguana sunning himself on the lava rock along the beaches.

Mating season in the Galapagos!

Pelicans are all over.

We stayed in the pink house.

Hanging out on the little balcony off our room.

A view from the balcony.

 

A turtle at the turtle breeding center on the island.  At this point, it is extremely hard for turtles to breed on their own and survive, so they have a center where they breed them and allow them to grow to at least five years before releasing them.  At  five years the shell has hardened enough to protect it.

Dinner at one of the restaurants.

 

The "main strip" on the island. Very mellow and relaxing!

We took a 60 minute boat ride to this spot on the southern tip of the island to snorkel.  Unfortunately, we did not have an underwater camera so we missed capturing all amazing animals: white tipped reef sharks, sea turtles, penguins, sea horses and lots of amazing fish!

Volcano lava formations.

Blue Footed Boobie. Look closely to see it's blue feet.

Penguin sunning itself after a swim.

Getting ready to leave the island after four days.

Back on Santa Cruz for a few days before leaving the Galapagos

Turtle refuge on Santa Cruz.  Turtles get bred at the Darwin Research Center and released back into the wild at five years old.  This turtle is about 75 years old.  They live from 150-200 years and continue to grow their whole life!

An older female sleeping with her head in the mud.

One of the pelicans had caught a huge fish and the other was fighting for it.