July 18 Galapagos

We had sun this morning with clear skies. Hiked up to the top of one of the small islets,the view was amazing. Photos will not do it justice. Then snorkeling with lots of fish and a penguin, swimming right along side of me! Some people saw sharks, missed them. In the afternoon, we went to another beach, but we just hung out then took a long walk over a lava flow. The naturalists on board are wonderful at describing things. Our guide this afternoon was born and raised here, so he has a lot of stories to tell. We have met a lot of people from all over the world. This is the best!

July 17 Galapagos

The morning started with a boat ride in a zodiac where we saw brown pelicans, great blue herons, blue footed boobies, masked boobies, Darwin finches, and yellow warblers. In the water, sting rays and sea turtles, and on the rocks sea lions and sea iguanas. Then we went deep water snorkeling and saw parrot fish and others. The water is pretty chilly, good to have a wet suit. After lunch we went to another island where we hiked a bit and saw a lot of sea ions and sea iguanas up close and personal. They are really not afraid of people. Most importantly we saw the Galapagos penguins! At night we were able to see thousands of stars including the southern cross. More tomorrow.

Monday July 16, Galapagos

Made it to the Galapagos! We are now on a small cruise boat (48 passengers) and will be sailing around the islands for the next 3days. Today we went to see the giant tortoises. There are 10 different species, there used to be 14, but 4 became extinct, including Lonesome George who just died two weeks ago. You can get up pretty close to them in the wild and they don't move very fast. The people on the cruise are interesting. I sat next to an architect from Switzerland on the plane out, had lunch with a family originally from Equador who now live in Dallas, and dinner with a couple from London. tomorrow snorkeling!

Sunday July 15, northern Ecuador

I always ask people to tell me what surprised them the most about their travels. Today for me it was the lunch appetizer. We had lunch at an old hacienda in rural northern Ecuador. The appetizer was heart of palm cerviche and they brought out a big bowl of popcorn to put into the dish. It was terrific! Looking forward to making that back on Woodhaven Lane. We left early this morning after a fantastic breakfast at the hotel. The Spanish influence is so pervasive, we had four different kinds of ham to chose from. the drive up north was beautiful. We stopped at some small towns, one that had a lot of leatherwork for sale and another with a large market. Many of the women were still wearing their traditional clothing, white embroidered blouses and long blue skirts. If they are married, the skirts are a solid color. If they are single, there are cream colored insets in the skirts. Interestingly, the men do not wear traditional clothing as much, but many sport hats which are different colors and styles depending on where they are from. we got to straddle the equator and experience the different forces at work there. For instance, you can't stand with your feet together, arms extended and eyes closed without falling over. Tomorrow, the Galapagos!

July 14, Quito, Ecuador

After what seemed to be flying all day, we left Cusco, flew to Lima, then to Quito. We met our local guide Maria Alexandra who is a ball of fire. She must have welcomed us to Ecuador, the best country in South America a dozen times. Quito is a huge city of over 4 million people extending for 34 miles. It's at 9000 feet and pretty much on the equator. They call this summer here, but it was downright chilly this evening. Glad to have on a sweater and a jacket. Our hotel is in the old town, a restored hacienda with a huge marble bathroom, but no heated floors, towel rack or hot water bottle in the bed. I am so spoiled! Dinner was typical Ecuadoran food, potato soup, empanandas and a lamb stew done three different ways. Very different than Peru. This place is much more Spanish, lot of cathedrals and Spanish style architecture with balconies. Tonight we saw a quincenera, Harley Davidson rally, wedding, street dancing and fireworks (pirotechnicos). tomorrow we head out of town for more sightseeing. One strange thing about this place are the women selling meringue on the street. You tell them how many spoonfuls you want and they heap it into an ice cream cone.

Friday July 13

How sad, our last full day in Peru. The people are so friendly and are willing to discuss their national politics at the drop of a dime! They don't seem overly interested in what is going on in the US, they have enough problems of their own. Next week is their independence day, supposedly a big deal, but there is a teachers and doctors' strike and the builders are threatening to strike, so it may be a bit subdued. The current president promised everything to everyone, and now can't deliver. Their economy is pretty solid, but you can't keep giving away the farm. Here in Cuzco, 75 percent of the people make their living off tourism. There are no beggars, but lots of people trying to sell you stuff. The food here is so good and varied. People walk a lot. Not too many fat people, but no one looks hungry, even the ubiquitous dogs. Today we went to Sacsaywaman, the ruins of the main Inca temple. Again it is amazing how they were able to build these structures without any of the things we take for granted. Then to the central market, which was wonderful. Anything you want was there, fruits, veggies, coffee, chocolate, cheese, bread, clothes, ladies with singer sewing machines who will repair your clothes, flowers, dog food (a new thing here) and llama fetuses for the shamans to perform their rituals. The latest thing is live frogs blended with milk and honey to make your children smarter. All the churches were built on the old Inca foundations, and there are many. The main cathedral is very similar to the one in Sevilla, lots of gold leaf, statues, carved cedar and a mural of the last supper where the fish is replaced by guinea pig. I could spend another couple of weeks in this country, but Ecuador calls.

Thursday July 12

First, an update from last night: I ate alpaca! It was delicious, sort of like pork only milder. The food at our hotel was superb. Did I mention that you cant get a bad meal in Peru? Today was a down day in Aguas Calientes. There is really nothing to do there, so we slept in, had a late breakfast, wandered around the town, had beer and pizza and watched some workers tear down a retaining wall in the river. Sounds weird, but it was quite interesting watching them use the back hoe. Warren would be horrified. Most everything there is done hand. The only transportation into town is by rail or on foot. There are buses that go up to the ruins, but there are literally no other motorized vehicles except for this back hoe, not even a motorcycle. As with everywhere in Peru, lots of dogs, no cats. I hiked out to the " Botanical gardens". sadly it is winter here and most of the orchids were not in bloom. The guide didn't speak much English except " no flowers" and "little flowers". Still, I'm glad I went. We came back to Cuzco on the Hiram Bingham train which is run by the Orient Express. Very swanky with a full course dinner ( no Guinea pig or alpaca). Our hotel in Cuzco is the ritziest yet. Fireplace, heated floors and towel racks, hot water bottles on either side of the bed.... I could get used to this! More tomorrow, our last day in Peru.