The Big Trip

We organized the two day mountain bike tour through the Biking Dutchman (not "Flying Dutchman" as I thought), a travel agency specialized in mountain biking tours and which came recommended by a Dutch girl who we met in Nicaragua.

The tour started early in the morning 7.00 a.m. when we were picked up by our tour guide, Fernando, who took us in his jeep to the highest point of our tour, 4400 m. Fortunately the tour was going to be essentially downhill, so we wouldn’t be tortured too much. At 4400 m the wind was blowing awfully and we had to really wrap ourselves up. I even put on my long underpants and several layers of sweaters. Harry, always trying to be the tough guy, decided to wear shorts. The first kilometers of the tour led through beautiful sceneries with paramo landscapes – the Ecuadorian equivalent of arctic tundra - and we were rewarded by incredible views. The ground made of grit and gravel was easy to handle by our mountain bikes and the only thing that in particular I had to struggle with the first kilometers was the cow dung that was spread over in the middle of the path. I ended up with cow dung freckles in my face and a moustache. Mhhh!!! Later on we cycled on paved roads and the difficulty of biking became another one, this time not only for me. Already earlier Fernando, our guide, had told us that we could expect some unfriendly dogs that would bum around at the edges of the road. He gave us the following advice:

Case 1: If the dog walks slowly towards you, cycle as fast as you can.
Case 2: If the dog comes quickly at you, slow down or even stop.
Case 3: If the dog shows signs of wanting to attack, use the cycle as protection.
Case 4: Worst case scenario (which happened to Fredrik and me after Harry had put up the dogs several meters in front of us), 7 dogs attack at the same time, here all the above rules apply and the guide in the car drives between the attacking dogs and the victims and honks.

Luckily we managed to pass the about 25 dogs unharmed thanks to the good advice from Fernando.

At about 1.00 p.m. we arrived at 1900 m where we took our lunch and finished our cycling for the day.

Later we drove to Ecuador’s biggest water fall, San Rafael Falls, where we walked through some beautiful tropical rainforest before we reached the spectacular falls. Fernando also took us to a far less known waterfall “Rio Malo” which was smaller but quite unique. We had to wade through a river to get there and once close to the fall it felt like taking a shower. Everybody got wet.

We spent the night at Baeza, a hotel with quite comfortable rooms, private bathroom, hot showers and TV. The best of all was that there was only one remote control for the whole floor which luckily was in our possession or I should say Fredrik’s. So both Harry and our other next door neighbors had to put up with that Fredrik was in charge of the night program selection.

The other day started with a jeep ride to Papallacta, maybe Ecuador’s best natural thermal hot springs, where we enjoyed bathing in hot pools with different temperatures between 25 and 40 C and in between we cooled off in a river which was close by. The surroundings were magical with rain forest and mountains all around.

After this wonderful relaxing start of the day, we were driven back up to 4400 m from were we started our mountain bike tour for the second day. It was even chillier and also rainy, but we enjoyed it a lot. Again we passed beautiful sceneries and every now and then we stopped for a photo. We finished up the day cycling through a “mountain bike park”, where we biked along an old rail way track in a canyon. Sometimes we had to pass through some really dark and long tunnels (there was no light) and we took particular care after Fernando had told us the story about the tourist who was cycling fast leading the group and all of a sudden there was a loud “MUUUUU” echoing through the tunnel. The tourist cycled into a cow!!! Fortunately both the tourist and the cow survived the accident!!!

Once back in Quito we had a farewell dinner with Harry. We spent 5 weeks travelling with him in Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama and Ecuador and now he is off to Mexico and USA before travelling home to Germany. We had great fun travelling together and are looking forward to our next reunion in Germany, first Bretten and then Seelenfeld.

Take care, amigos!!!

Sabrina and Fredrik

Of course we couldn’t leave Ecuador before visiting this famous indigenous market. The market dates back to pre-Inca times, when jungle products were brought up from the eastern lowlands (El Oriente) and traded for highland goods. Today the market serves locals who buy and barter animals, food and other essentials and tourists who are looking for crafts.

The market takes place every Saturday and we decided to travel to Otavalo already on Friday to guarantee an early visit to the market. We took a bus from Quito and passed some dramatic mountain scenery, which Fredrik and I missed to a great extent because we were sleeping like babies. Harry, however, was awake and observed with lots of enthusiasm the lovely scenery. Already earlier in Quito Harry asked about the name of the place where we would be going and I told him Otavalo but he understood, which we found out later, “Botavalo”. So Harry, the only person of our travel team being awake and watching the places we passed, saw after 2 hours of traveling a sign saying 1 km to Otavalo. Since he thought that we would be going to Botavalo he didn’t suspect anything and kept enjoying the scenery from his window seat. Half an hour later I woke up and asked a local on the bus if it was long to Otavalo and seconds later we went off the bus to catch another transport heading back to Otavalo. At the end we arrived with some detours but happy at Otavalo. At night we went to a restaurant where a local band was playing traditional “musica folklórica”. We enjoyed it a lot and bought even a CD.

On Saturday we were at the market already at 7.00 o’clock. Some traders were still working on preparing their stands while others were ready for the crowds of potential buyers. The atmosphere was relaxed and calm and the traders never felt too intrusive. Fredrik and I bought each a woolly hat for the cold nights that we are expecting in Peru on 4000 m, some nice colorful small sacs for odds and ends and Harry bought some hammocks, a pullover and a belt. Happy with our merchandises, we left the hustle and bustle at noon heading back to Quito.

Bye for now!!!

Sabrina and Fredrik

Wir standen auf dem Äquator, ungefähr 22 km nördlich von Quito. Zuerst haben wir den vom Franzosen Charles-Marie de La Condamine im Jahre 1736 festgelegten Punkt oder Lage des Äquators mit dem Mitad del Mundo Komplexes besucht. Dort hat man ein 30 m hohes Monument mit einer aufgesetzten Weltkugel errichtet durch das die Äquatorlinie auf dem Boden gezeichnet verläuft. Natürlich haben wir ein paar Fotos gemacht, obwohl diese Linie nicht die wirkliche Äquatorlinie ist.

Vor einigen Jahren hat man mit Hilfe des GPS (Globalen Positionsbestimmungssystemes) die richtige (exakte) Lage des Äquators ermitteln können, die einige hundert Meter von dem Monument entfernt liegt. Too bad!!!! Wir haben dann natürlich auch den waren Äquator besucht, der Teil eines kleinen Museums (Museo Solar Inti Ñan) ist. Dort kann man auf dem richtigen Äquator stehen und selbst experimentieren wie sich die Schwerkraft und Zentrifugalkraft auf und neben dem Äquator verhalten, z.B. fliesst Wasser, das aus einem Waschbecken genau auf der Äquatorfläche abfliest, senkrecht ab, ohne zu kreisen, während 1 m von der Äquatorlinie entfernt das Wasser spiralförmig abfliesst, je nachdem, ob man auf der Südhalbkugel oder der Nordhalbkugel steht, dreht es sich rechts oder linksherum. Es soll auch leichter sein ein Ei auf einem Nagelkopf zu balancieren, wenn man auf dem Äquator steht. Es gelang allerdings nur Fredrik, Harry und ich, wir taten uns da schwer.

Nach den Experimenten, die recht spassig waren, wurde uns dann noch der andere Teil des Museums gezeigt, wo man das Leben der Ureinwohner des Amazonasbeckens (El Oriente), östlich der Anden, an Hand von Reproduktionen von Häusern, Hauseinrichtugen usw. kennenlernen konnte. Dort haben wir auch einen wirklichen Schrumpfkopf gesehen, eine faustgrosse Trophäe, die aus dem abgetrennten Kopf eines Gegners gefertigt wurde. An Hand von Illustrationen wurde uns der Herstellungsprozess des Schrumpfkopfes erklärt. Von dem abgetrennten Kopf wurden zunächst die Schädelknochen entfernt, anschliessend wurde die verblieben Hauthülle mit dem Skalp gekocht, dann mit heissen Steinen und Sand oder Asche befüllt, so dass diese zusammenschrumpfte und mumifizierte. Sehr interessant, oder was meint ihr?

Liebe Grüsse,

Sabrina und Fredrik

Quito has become the base for our traveling in Ecuador. From here we flew to the Galapagos Islands, we went for a daytrip to "la Mitad del Mundo" (The Middle of the World), for a two day trip to Otavalo, home of the most famous crafts market in South America (according to Lonely Planet) and for a two day mountain bike tour to the San Rafael Falls and Ecuador’s best hot springs, Papallacta (see following reports). A part from being a good base for exploring the environs, Quito is a charming city, tucked amid a high Andean valley and flanked by majestic mountains. Despite the fact that it’s only 22 km south of the equator, Quito’s elevation (2850 m) gives it a spring like climate year-round, meaning during day around 25 °C and at night about 10 °C. We thought it was quite cold when we first got here directly from Panama City, but now, since acclimatized, it is quite nice.

Quito’s colonial center is a declared UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site and we took a close look at it while strolling along its old-town streets. We went to the Plaza de Independencia, Quito’s main square, the Palacio del Gobierno, the Presidential Palace, the Monastery of San Francisco, Ecuador’s oldest church, the historic alley of La Ronda and we visited El Panecillo, the small, ever-present hill to the south of the old town which is topped by a huge statue of La Virgen de Quito, with a crown of stars, eagle’s wings and a chained dragon atop of the world. We had a nice view of the whole city from the summit.

We stayed (are staying) at a good and price worthy hotel, Hostal Amazonas Inn, in the Mariscal neighborhood. The rooms are spotless, with private bathroom and hot showers, cable TV and the staff is really nice and helpful. What else can you ask for for US$22? The Mariscal neighborhood is very popular with tourists, it’s the newer part of town, where there are lots of bars, restaurants, internet cafes, travel agencies and small hotels. But you see a lot of Quiteños too, so it keeps its Ecuadorian flair.

We liked Quito, its people, restaurants and tranquil atmosphere.

Take care, amigos.

Sabrina and Fredrik

Amigos,

Here you get the full report about our adventures on the Galapagos Islands.

Day 1:

We booked an 8-day cruise tour to the central and southern islands of Galapagos on a small and nice yacht (16 passengers) called the Floreana. The tour started on Sunday in the channel between Isla Baltra, the island where the airport is, and Isla Santa Cruz, the most inhabited island. Harry, Freddy and I arrived early at the embarkation point and after some waiting we got a dingy ride to our boat, the Floreana. We were the first passengers on board and luckily we got the nicest cabins, above deck, far from the engine and with a nice view through a fairly good sized window. The rest of the passengers arrived all together about an hour later. Our fellow travelers turned out to be from Germany, Switzerland, Ireland and Australia. A nice mix, though with a quite strong German speaker presence. The few English speakers (3 in total) might have not always liked it. Sorry!!!

In the afternoon after lunch we did our first land excursion on Isla Baltra with our Ecuadorian guide, Mariouxi, who had a wide knowledge about the Galapagos flora and fauna and spoke English quite well. We had a short walk along the beach and for the first time we met with sea lions and Sally Lightfoot crabs, the red ones. After the walk we enjoyed taking a refreshing swim. The water was somewhat colder than what we were used to from the Caribbean Sea in Central America.

Day 2:

The second day started with an early dive at Seymour Channel already at 6.30 where we saw a green sea turtle, playful sea lions and lots of fish such as yellowtail surgeonfish, parrotfishes, gringos, king angelfish and Mexican hogfish. The diving was a bit different to what we were used to (Caribbean Sea). We had to wear a thick whole body wet suit with hood in order to stay warm under water and the currents were somewhat more challenging than experienced in other dive regions. But we managed well and enjoyed it an awful lot. After the first dive and breakfast, we went for our second land excursion this time on Isla Seymour. There we saw magnificent frigate-birds, the ones with the red puffed-up pouch underneath the beak, and blue –footed boobies, who were doing their ritual dancing before mating and others were nesting. The red pouch of the frigate bird is for attracting female frigate birds for mating. The birds were around everywhere and we could get really close to them. That was fantastic!

Later on we sailed for some hours further southeast to Isla Santa Fé. There we went for another excursion walk and where we could see some Santa Fé land iguanas. The species of iguana is found nowhere else in the world and we were lucky to see three of them on our walk. There we also saw a huge colony of sea lions which we enjoyed a lot. The island also has some interesting vegetation. Enormous stands of optunia cactus could be found everywhere. After our land excursion, we did some really nice snorkeling where we could see lots of colorful fish, a green sea turtle, a Stone Scropion Fish (it is difficult to spot), an eagle ray, a sting ray and the best were the young sea lions who were joyfully swimming around us. Incredible!!!

Day 3:

During the night we carried on our journey to the southernmost island of the archipelago, to Isla Española. On the island we saw again lots of blue-footed boobies and also the nasca booby which looks just as cute only does not have blue feet. The main attraction of the island is the waved albatross that only can be found here. We saw many of them, some breeding, others practicing mating rituals and again others flying around above us. Also a highlight was to see two Galapagos hawks resting on some bushes. We could get as close as one and a half meters to them. Amazing!!! Also we saw the Marine Iguanas for the first time here. They stack on top of each other during resting time to preserve the heat in their body, which they need for the search for food under water. They eat algae. Of course there were also lots of sea lions around. Incredible place!!!

At Gardener Reef which is close to Isla Española we did also two dives. The second dive was mind-blowing, a part from seeing 6 white tip sharks, 3 green sea turtles and many stingrays, we saw a big school of about 30 eagle rays hovering above us. An incredible experience!!!

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No wonder that this island has become our favorite place from our cruise.

Day 4:

We carried on sailing at night and got to Isla Floreana early in the morning. At Punta Cormorant where there is a reddish-sand beach we started our excursion walk to a lagoon where you can see, in case you are fortunate, some of Galapagos around 300 flamingos. We were lucky and could see about 10 flamingos, in the distance though. We carried on our walk across an isthmus and reached a beautiful white –sand beach where we took a short rest. In the afternoon we visited Post Office Bay where whalers used to leave their mail in a barrel. Any captain of a boat that was heading to where the mail was addressed would deliver it. The same principle of post office still exists today, but instead of whalers it is for tourists now. So I left a postcard for Nele, my niece in Germany, in the barrel hoping that some other German tourist is going to take it with him or her back to Germany to Seelenfeld, the village where Nele lives. It will be interesting to see if it works!

On our way back from the “post office” we could see two Galapagos penguins in the water right at the beach. We would have loved to swim with them but unfortunately we didn’t have our snorkel gear with us. Too bad!!!

Also we did two dives, one at Cormorant Point and the other one at Devil`s Crown.
The visibility wasn’t too good, less than 10 m, but we could see quite a lot of stuff anyway, some sharks, sea turtles, stingrays, different types of triggerfish and pufferfish and some cute sea lions who wanted to play with us. Fantastic!!!!

In the afternoon we sailed back north to the most central island, Isla Santa Cruz. While we were having lunch, somebody from the table next to ours shouted out “Dolphins”. It took seconds and everybody was up on deck looking at hundreds of dolphins swimming beside and in front of the boat. It was incredible, definitely an unforgettable moment. Thanks to Harry, we do have a nice video sequence of it.

At night we were in the harbor of Puerto Ayora, the most visited town in Galapagos with a population of 12,000 inhabitants. There we (except Harry, who spent the night on the toilet on the boat) went out with our fellow travelers to party and celebrate, Dan´s, the Irish guys birthday. We went for a number of Cuba Libres and did some serious dancing (Salsa, disco, etc). We had great fun!!!

Day 5:

For some strange reason, I guess to make more money out of it, the 4-day cruises and 8-day cruises are mixed on the same boat. So almost everybody of our fellow travelers left the boat except the Irish couple (Dan and April) and us. Since new passengers were expected to come, we had to spend most of the day in Puerto Ayora, doing what ever we wanted to do.

In the morning however we visited the Charles Darwin Research Station with our guide and we saw some giant tortoises. Quite impressive these big guys!!! In the afternoon we went to a private ranch in the highlands where we could see two smaller giant tortoises in wild life.

Back at the boat we had a visit from two dozen pelicans who were really hungry waiting for leftovers from the kitchen.

Our new fellow travelers from UK, Australia, New Zealand and Switzerland arrived in the afternoon.

Day 6:

At night we carried on sailing to Isla Rábida which lies northwest of Isla Santa Cruz. There we could hardly see any wildlife which our guide explained as a consequence of the “el niño” phenomenon through which many animals, above all sea lions and flamingos, moved to islands further to the west. The phenomenon causes the temperature of the Panama current (or el niño current) to increase by which the access to food decreases. Anyway, we saw some nice pelicans nesting and we enjoyed the views.

At midday we carried on sailing towards north to the western part of Isla Santiago, to Puerto Egas. During our land excursion we could see the endemic (which only can be found here) Galapagos sea lion, plenty of red Sally Lightfoot crabs and lots of marine iguanas. During snorkeling we could see some baby reef sharks (black-tipped) and a giant sea lion.

We also did a dive at Punta Rábida. The visibility was so-so, around 6 m, but we could see lot s of sting rays, puffers, garden eels and lot of other fish.

Day 7:

We carried on sailing to Isla Bartolomé which lies just east of Isla Santiago. It’s a tiny island and more known for its scenery and geological characteristics, wild and unearthly looking lava landscape, than for its wildlife. We had some beautiful views toward Isla Santiago and saw some pelicans and sea lions in the distance.

In the afternoon we disembarked at Sullivan Bay on Isla Santiago where we walked on a century-old solidified lava flow. We could see uneroded volcanic formations, lava bubbles and tree-trunk molds in the surface. Pretty amazing stuff!!!

We did also two dives, one at Cousin Rock and the other at Bartolomé. At Cousins Rock we saw an enormous, really enormous, school of black striped salemas. We were under and in between the school and it got almost pitch black because the fishes blocked all the sun light from above. That was spine-chilling!! Again we saw sharks, (Galapagos sharks and whit-tipped reef sharks), sea turtles, playful sea lions and lots of other fish.

At night we had our last party with our fellow travelers on the boat.

Day 8:

We finished our cruise with a beautiful early morning excursion to Black Turtle Cove on Isla Santa Cruz. We didn´t go on land but stayed in the dingy boat from were we could see a school of golden mustard rays, a green sea turtle, some reef sharks, sea lions and thousands of blue-footed boobies diving all at the same time in a feeding frenzy. What a fantastic experience!!!

In the morning we left the boat and traveled back to Puerto Ayora were we stayed the next three days.

Before we left the Galapagos Islands we (Harry, Freddy, Alicia (our fellow traveler from New Zealand) and myself) booked two more dives to Gordon Rocks which is a well known dive site with good chances of seeing hammerhead sharks and other big fish. The dives were fantastic, we saw in total 6 hammerhead sharks, lots of sea turtles and many schools of fish. On the second dive four hammerhead sharks came really close to us, for a short while (seconds only) they swam parallel with us and then they went off. Incredible!!!

You might have figured already, the cruise and the diving has been an amazing unforgettable experience for us. It is highly recomandable.

Lots of love,

Sabrina and Fredrik