Galápagos an Archipelago of Enchantment: PART II – My Favorite Sights Sub Aqua

Exploring above land was pretty amazing, but my true adoration for the Galápagos definitely lies beneath the oceans’ surface where we spent most of our time.  We did five days of diving, discovering Gordon’s Rocks, Seymour, Floreana, Mosquera, Daphne, Punta Cormorant, and Champion.  Every dive was unique, exceptional in its own right, and irreplaceable in my memory bank. 

Sea Lions

Sea Lions are extremely charming little creatures, they captured my heart and may just hold the top slot for my favorite animal in the Galápagos.  Diving with them is incredible, at both Daphne and Champion there were dozens of Sea Lions frolicking with us.  
They are very curious, and definitely a little mischievous.  They would bite our flippers, swim up and push their nose into our camera lens…and I’m serious here, literally pose for the camera. 
Their graceful bodies would spin and maneuver through our bubbles, often three or four are twirling around entwined with one another, playfully nuzzling and biting.  Incredible to watch, their favorite game was tossing rocks up and chasing them, catching them and tossing them up again and again.

Sharks & Rays

Perhaps the most sought after sea life in the Galápagos, Sharks and Rays - I’ll bite, it was extremely thrilling!  We saw lots of White and Black Tip Reef Sharks, a Galápagos Shark, tons of Hammerhead Sharks, Eagle Rays, Diamond Rays, Marble Rays, and a Manta Ray.  Unfortunately we weren’t graced with the presence of a Whale Shark.

I think the most thrilling was the Hammerheads.  We had a number of sightings; the largest shiver we saw was about 15 cruising a few meters below us.  There were also lots of times that they swam very close to us (within a couple meters) it was amazing to see their detail up close. 
The Galápagos Shark we saw from a bit of a distance, but it was large at around three meters.  Reef Sharks, particularly the White Tip were everywhere.  Looking at them straight on they appear to have a smile on their face, almost cartoon like.  We saw many sleeping (good chance to look at their face straight on), prowling, and my favorite was a little baby I spotted less than a meter long.

Diamond Rays were also abundant in our dives.  They are kind of eerie creatures, giving the impression they are watching your every move.  We saw them feeding on the bottom a number of times, and also saw them at cleaning stations where little fish eat the parasites off of them (we also saw lots of Sea Turtles at cleaning stations). 

One Marble Ray we saw was quite large, one meter in diameter; he was fantastic to watch swimming as he ripped his edges to move.  Eagle Rays were my favorite ray, their movement through the water was so graceful.  On our dive at Seymour we saw a school of 12 Eagle Rays elegantly voyaging past us, it was stunning.  Lastly was the Manta Ray, he showed up on our last day of diving at Gordon’s Rocks…just in time!    

Huge Schools of Fish

Another thing that is absolutely incredible in the Galápagos is its huge schools of fish; I am talking thousands and thousands here.  During most dives you are constantly surrounded by fish, but when you run into a solid moving mass, 10 times the size of yourself, it is pretty breathtaking. 
We had two striking encounters; the first was with a school of thousands of small Barracuda.  We slowly swam into the middle of the school and they formed a dome around us.  Looking up and to both sides they were encasing us within inches, as if we were swallowed by this massive sink hole. 

The second encounter was with a large school of Black Stripped Salema.  In these schools the fish were packed so tightly it looked like a giant black cloud moving through the deep blue.  As we swam into the nucleus the fish would part to let us in, and break at the top where our bubbles rose, revealing the sunlight high above their swarm.  Simply Beautiful.  It was also an incredibly cool experience because there were Sea Lions playing in the school of fish with us.

Octopus Mating

Last but not least, we saw two Octopuses mating.  Actually we saw three Octopus, two where mating and one was under the rock next to them…take what you will from that!  Male Octopuses have one tentacle that is shorter than the rest, this is their penis.  They entwine together and do the deed, it was a pretty incredible sight to see all these tentacles mingled and glommed together.  After the female Octopus has her babies she dies on top of them, in order to protect them.  I love our Divemaster Keke who pointed this out to us, something I would never even dream of seeing. 
  

Galápagos an Archipelago of Enchantment: PART I – My Favorite Sights on Dry Land

At the risk of sounding cliché, the Galápagos Islands are a truly magical place.  There are Sea Lions sun tanning on the sidewalks, Lava Lizards and Iguanas lazily sauntering about, and Pelicans covering almost every surface.  A series of volcanic islands, the landscape is stark and barren, a far cry from the typical ‘paradise’ depiction, however it possesses a certain nirvana uniquely its own.  Both under the sea and on dry land the encounters we experienced were incredible.     

Giant Tortoises

In the 1960’s the population of these grand creatures synonymous with the Galápagos dropped to near extinction, but today many subspecies are back up into the thousands because of breeding programs around the islands.  At one of the breeding centers we actually saw eggs hatching in a baby tortoise incubator.  Next the little guys are moved into one of many large enclosures where they will live and learn the skills needed to survive in the wild.  When the tortoises are ready they are re-released to the island of their subspecies origin and will carry on the life cycle naturally.  The islands have 11 subspecies, including Lonesome Gorge, who is the last surviving member of his subspecies from Isla Pinta.  He has been living at the Charles Darwin Research Center since 1972 - reproduction with another similar subspecies is the hope, but so far to no avail.

 

Marine Iguanas

Marine Iguanas are also unique to the Galápagos.  They survive completely off of algae and seaweed in the water and are surprisingly admirable swimmers, with long sharp claws for clinging to rocks underwater in heavy currents.  Although their abilities in the water are distinctive, it was on land that I loved these guys.

After a swim they saunter up on to the beach and collapse, usually in huge piles climbing all over each other.
Their dark skin absorbs sunlight to warm them up after their forays into the cold waters.  As if their smashed-in faces, spiky scales, molting skin, and salt-encrusted heads weren’t enough to love, they projectile snot excess salt from their noses! 

In fact they even have special glands that clean their blood of extra salt, which they ingest while feeding. 

Blue Footed Boobies

Watching huge flocks of Blue Footed Boobies fish is like watching diving in the Olympics.  Their grace is undeniable; nonchalantly cruising 20 feet overhead, in a split second they turn their bodies into projectile missiles barreling downward and explosively hit the water.  Their wings are arched until the very last millisecond when they tuck them back for the perfect entry with no splash and a flawless ripple.  They surface, and fly off a bit less gracefully, shaking out their wet blue feet.

We also saw a lot of other birds: Darwin’s Finches, Pink Flamingos on Isabella Island, Frigate Birds with their red chest pouch, and Herons at Tortuga Bay.

The Fish Station

Fishermen bring their daily catches to the fish station to fillet and sell to the public, for the lazier Pelicans and Sea Lions this is the place to be.  It’s quite comical, and a little scary, with dozens of Pelicans perched in all of the surrounding trees, on cutting tables, and storming the boats.  Every so often one will make off with a scrap, we saw one grab the freshly snipped tail fin and try to choke it down.  Every so often Sea Lions will also scramble up the rocks to await their piece of the pie, sliding on their bellies following the fishermen’s every move.  I’m sure if it wasn’t for the camera happy tourists all around the little guys would get a pretty swift kick.

Surfs Up In Montañita

As the North Shore is to Hawaii and Sayulita is to Mexico, Montañita is the surf mecca of Ecuador.  A small town of a thousand residents, it is situated on the Pacific Ocean in Southern Ecuador.  Waves pound heavily into the bay, with overhead breaks hitting the point on the North end of the beach. 

Days are glorious enjoying the warm, soft sand.  Dusk hits and exquisite sunsets take shape as surfers wrap up their sessions.  Night falls, and then soon beach fires and live music at Caña Grill get rolling.  

The village has perfected a chilled out vibe, the entire place an ethos of transient dominance.  Dreaded muskrat hippies line the dirt roads peddling jewelry, and creepily creative street performers abound juggling, break dancing, unicycling, and fire dancing.  It’s the perfect spot to slow down for a while, burn one down to forget your worries (or create some new ones), and fantasize about running away to join the circus…

Baños – Half Bullshit & Half Blissful

Los Baños is a small Ecuadorian town perched on the side of Volcano Tungurahua.  The volcano erupted in 2006 having a very devastating effect on the town; it spit fire again in 2008, but since has remained calm.  It was nice to get out of the city and slow down for a couple of days - take in numerous waterfalls and a 40 degree Celsius natural thermal bath.  The thermal baths were neat as they had a sign telling you the percentage of natural minerals in the water, supposedly a high concentration of healthy chlorates, sulfates, and magnesium.

The downside of this picturesque mountain town is that tourism is ruining it.  Basically every business here is a hotel, an outdoor adventure company offering the exact same tours, an ‘Italian’ pizzeria (strange, I guess somehow the word spread foreigners only like Italian food?), a spa, or a laundry service.  Each place is a virtual carbon copy of its neighbor, and despite the obvious competition, we found the service pretty much everywhere atrocious. 

One night dinner took nearly 2 hours to arrive, and when it did it was a tortilla with beans and un-melted cheese (we tried to deviate from the rumor tourists only like Italian and were sorely disappointed).  Even the beer took about 30 min to make it to our table, and the place was nearly empty… with no apology I may add.

Another near horrific moment occurred when I thought the laundry service had lost all of my clothes.  I had to return multiple times as I was told my clothes were still drying.  After the third trip back I wasn’t convinced so I asked to see it…why did they bring me a basket of men’s clothes?  Long story short, after about quadruple the 2 hour service time advertised I finally had my clothes, after they searched high and low for them. 

 

All of this said…we did have an enjoyable time with a couple highlights. Highlight number one was horseback riding up the side of the volcano to a natural spring where we could see the particles dancing as water was magically pumped from the earth.  The spring water tasted much like seltzer water, due to the minerals.  Riding along a route of past lava escape, we could see the large channels created and much volcanic rock strewn about. 

My horse Champion was a real gentleman, when we were riding through the city streets he would move to the grass to complete his business.  This is more than I can say for Heidi’s horse, Freckles, which always had to be in the lead and continually cut us off.  We walked, trotted, and loped…and in my opinion galloped, as I was hanging on for dear life.  About 10 minutes from home the horses obviously knew they were close as they started running, rounding all the corners on rails, until they were happily grassing in their pasture!

Highlight number two was the Prana Spa, where for $25 we were pampered with an hour and half full body massage, complete with hot stones and reflexology, as well as a thirty minute aromatic facial.  Pure bliss! 

I also tried an Ionic Detox for $7 as this is something that I have wanted to do for some time.  The theory goes something like this – you immerse your feet in an Ion Detox foot bath and the Ion generator produces millions of positive and negative ions. These Ions flow through your body and then are supposed to attach themselves to oppositely charged toxins and draw them out of your body through the soles of your feet (kind of like a magnet). 

Hmmm, not sure how I feel about it all?  My feet did feel a little weird and twitchy and my water did turn to a yellowish brown color.  Different colors of the water indicate different toxins and areas of issue within the body.  Apparently mine meant that overall I was fairly toxin free, just a small amount of toxins produced from stress and fatigue.  I guess I was hoping for a more dramatic effect, a bubbling black and green lagoon so I’d know it worked…if I’m toxin free shouldn’t I get a refund for the unneeded service?!

   

To Quito or Not To Quito?

Well to be honest I wasn’t looking forward to Quito, I figured just another big city.  Seen the colonial section in a few other cities, seen them all right?  Seen enough beautiful churches and plazas, they all start to look the same right?  Well for the most part yes, but I was pleasantly surprised by our afternoon in Quito’s old town.  It is a very utilitarian area with a real day to day feel; whereas in many cities the historic division has warped into having a kind of oddly vacant feel, except for tourism.  

Wandering around the cobblestone streets and plazas, viewing the many prominent churches, my favorite was the Gothic Basilica del Vote Nacional.  The towers are spectacular rising 80 meters into the sky.  A little nerve racking, we were actually able to climb up into these towers via a series of very steep ladders and rickety wooden planks.  Also unique, instead of featuring the more typical design choice of gargoyles, iguanas, turtles, armadillos, and an array of different birds protrude from the elaborate ornamentation. 

The rest of our short stint in Quito was spent visiting La Mitad del Mundo (The Middle of the World), a site declared in 1736 as the equatorial line.  Touristy, with a large monument and museum, the humorous part is that it is all actually a lie... and one you have to pay $2 to see!  The monument is actually 240 meters off of zero degrees; the real equatorial line is on a hill across the street on a thousand year old indigenous site.  It is pretty interesting as similar sights are being discovered all over Ecuador that coincide with other equinoctial points.  Another thing I thought was cool (and did learn due to my $2 admission) is that you weight 0.5 lbs. less at the equator.

In conclusion, yes to Quito.  Although it IS just another big city and definitely not my favorite, it deserves some time to be discovered… 

Bienvenidos A Ecuador

Excited to be facing our last long bus ride through Colombia we embarked on the 12 hour journey to Ipiales, a Colombian border town.  We spent the night in a dingy little hotel, (which definitely ‘rents by the hour’ and had a poster plastered to the bathroom door advocating for safe sex), before tackling the border crossing into Ecuador.  Although it took a while, we were admitted into the country and quickly on our way to Otavalo…aboard a bus with live, uncut, original Ecuadorian rappers. 

Immediately I missed Colombia, the spectacular mountainous, lush scenery and hospitable people vanished and were replaced with brown hills and hectic people yelling this and that.  I am sure I will get used to it, but definitely a much different feel.

Arriving in Otavalo, it was welcome to see a much more indigenous influence than anywhere we experienced in Colombia.  The indigenous people here seem very proud of their culture and 

many wear traditional clothing.  The women wear white blouses embroidered with flowers, long wool skirts, woven belts, strands of beads, and woven wraps around low pulled ponytails.  Men wear felt hats, blue ponchos, short pants and their hair in a long braid or ponytail.    

Otavalo is famous for its market in the Plaza de los Ponchos, featuring traditional weavings and textiles.  This market has roots going back hundreds of years to when traders from surrounding highland and jungle communities met here to trade goods essential to survival.  The market has evolved through time into more of an artisan focus - today Otavaleños are the most commercially successful indigenous community in Ecuador.