The Galapagos

For the final days of our Ecuador Adventure, Meghan and I headed over to the Galapagos.  Had such an amazing time.   Upon arrival to Balta island we took a quick ferry ride over to Santa Cruz Island where our hotel was at

The Hotel was beautiful.  We saw Heron, Iguanas, Finchs all just at our hotel.

Our first tour was an excursion over to Bartolome Island.  We had a couple hour boat ride over to the island.  I loved sitting outside taking in the ocean air

Bartolome is known more for its geology than its animals.  The landscape was very interesting

In the afternoon we did some snorkeling.  Even had a penguin swim right by me!

Day 2 was a nice relaxing half day spent at Garrapaterro beach, followed up by a lunch of ceviche. Yum!

We had the afternoon free so did some exploring by our hotel.  Reminded me a lot of Southern AZ

Our last day was an excursion over to North Seymour Island, followed up by snorkeling.  At the end of the day Meghan and I went and saw the Galapagos Tortoises.  We missed Lonesome George by only a few weeks : (

 Rough life! Riding in style

 A male frigate caring for his young

 A Bluefooted booby and her young.

 Scoping out the sights

 A frigate male all spiffy for the ladies

 Our guides said we were very lucky to see flamingos.  Here is one of several that we saw.

What an amazing opportunity to see all of these animals in their natural habitat.  I was amazed at how fearless they are. 

Cotopaxi National Park

Cotopaxi is an active volcano not to far outside of Quito.  According to the Ecuadorians it is the tallest active volcano in the world.  Although others claim differently.  Whichever, it is breathtaking.

The tour included a hike up to a refuge and a bike ride to a lake.  The woman at the tour company was definitely not forthcoming about the weather.  Everyone had to stop and buy hats and gloves. The weather was brutal at the top.  A lot of tour companies just turned around.  I attempted part of the walk to the refuge, but decided against it.  Most of the group turned around.

When you can see further than an arms length the views are suppose to be spectactular

Everyone all bundled up.

After the few brave souls got back from their venture we did a bike ride down to a lake.  I had not been on a bike for a very long time, was interesting to say the least

The group met up in Quito that night for dinner and drinks. Had a great time.  It was fun to meet people from all over the world-Equador, Brazil, Spain, Australia, Germany.

Quito, Ecuador

Quito sits in northern Ecuador, at an elevation of 2,850m or 9,350f, is the highest capital city in the world!    
                  
The city is surrounded by beautiful mountains

Meghan and I stayed at Posada del Maples in what looked like Harry Potter's room

The hostel was located near the Mariscal district aka gringo land : ) which was a great area to be able to walk around and explore various shops, restaurants, bars.

We did a tour of the city checking out the various sites and architecture

Our tour bus. We were able to hop on and off the bus as we pleased. Great way to see the city

Occupy Quito? Not sure what they were protesting

The Basillica.  What beautiful architecture.  It's hard to imagine people putting so much time and dedication into a building.

The Basillica is technically considered to be unfinished. It's believed that when it is finished the end of the world will come.

One famous site in Quito is the giant Madonna, that sits upon El Panecillo, overlooking the city.  The monument was given to the people of Ecuador by the French.   

                                        
Of course I also had to go see the monument to the Equator.  Equador/Quito get this distinction of being the equator city because of its altitude.  Although in reality the equator line also runs through many countries-Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Gabon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Somalia, Maldives, Indonesia and Kiribati.


At the GPS calculated Equator

There are actually two equator monuments now.  One, the GPS calculated, has not been around for very long.  Did a very interesting tour here where they taught us about indigenous tribes and there rituals.  I now know how to make a shrunken head! and showed us how water drains clockwise in the S. hemisphere and counterclockwise in the N. hemisphere.  Although I'm skepitical on this one- as I'm pretty sure not to long ago they were doing these same experiments down the road at the other monument.  Any thoughts?

At the original Equator line

Ended our time in Quito with this delicious Empanada.  Dig in!!!

Ingapirca, Ecuador

Before we all headed off in various directions from Cuenca we decided to head out to see some ruins called Ingapirca. The bus ride ended up being a lot longer than we expected. Although the ruins were not the most spectactular that I had seen it was interesting to hear about the local history

The site was originally inhabitated by an indigenous group, the Canari. Their religious views/calendar followed the cycles of the moon. In comparison to the Incas who later inhabitated the spot and followed the cycles of the sun. YOu could see variations in the building they built based on these varying belief systems.

After our tour we did a short hike to see the side of a mountain that looks like a face. Can you see it?

After we got back to Cuenca we all headed off in various directions around Ecuador. It was fun to have this one last adventure with the group