Center of the world baby!!! Well, 200 meters off...
Is that a cat in a hat?? No, its a tortoise in a shell!
Here birdy birdy...
The depths of the Pacific Ocean
Say Cheese!
Hola Chicos and Chicas!
As I said before Ecuador is an amazing place. Wow! It just seems to get better and better!
Just to tell you more about this tiny South American country - the diversity of Ecuador is expansive; in landscape and its people. From the mountainous Sierras, to Amazon jungles, to its long coastal beaches and island paradise on the Galapagos, there is certainly a lot to see. The people are just as diverse, including varying tribal ethnicities in the Amazon area, continuing to the mountain cultures in the middle of the country, chilled coastal and Galapagos islanders, and the hard working and hard partying people in Quito and Guayaquil. If you were to pick one country in South America to visit, Ecuador would certainly be a good choice!!
The Equator: We talked about this topic last time, but let me expand on it. Thankfully for Ecuador´s sake, they weren´t the ones who incorrectly decided where the equator went through their country as a huge monument was built. Tack this one up for the French. They sure got it right when Pierre Laclede established St. Louis as the first major city west of the Mississippi; however they sure got it wrong when they placed the equator mark approximately 200 meters/yards south of the real spot!!!
Guidebooks: As most of the world now uses Lonely Planet’s (and yes, I have been fully supporting them as the best around for the last 10 years of my travels), but on this trip, we have been trying a few out to see how they compare. In Ecuador, we picked up a copy of Frommers. Wow, let me tell you this is a pile of carp-oh, did I misspell that word :D It’s by far the worst I´ve ever seen! To be more specific it’s boring, inaccurate, especially misleading on the health section such as malaria advice and the maps seem to have been made by Billy Bob from Boonville, Missouri who hasn´t even ventured down Highway 70! My advice, stay clear of this one!
Monday: Our 5 year anniversary: Well, on most peoples 5 year anniversary (BTW, its the day we met in Russia, no we haven´t been married THAT long) they seem to relax and take it easy. Well, you have been reading these for over 9 months now, do you think we relaxed? I´ll tell you about the day. We did sleep in slightly, having arrived late from a long bus ride. We started with the Basilica del Vota and climbed the stairs to the top for amazing views of Quito. The city is certainly one of the nicest we have seen in South America. In the gorgeous colonial old town, we viewed the La Companie de Jesus church which is lined floor to ceiling with 7 tons of gold! Its surely a spectacle for anyone with.... EYES!! Wow! That night we had a FREE rum night at our hostel - yes this was a good hostel and absolutely one of the main reasons if you want to have fun partying, you stay in hostels! We did leave the free booze for a nice celebratory dinner - just down the street was a delicious Argentinean steak house we indulged at. That night we went out with people from the hostel stopping first at a casino, and we won 55 bucks on Blackjack. Let me tell you when your backpacking, $55 is like $300!! So we went to enjoy our winnings at the nearby nightclub!
Tuesday - La Mitad de Munda: This long series of words is the name for where the equator´s monument in Ecuador is. As mentioned at the top, it’s even in the wrong place. However, not too long ago, someone probably really angered the Ecuadorian government by showing them the undisputable proof via GPS that it is roughly 200 meters north. In the actual spot is a cool trick showing how the water drains to the north (clockwise) and to the south (counter-clockwise) and on the equator - straight down! One thing about Quito, sure does it rain. I don´t mean like London´s famous drizzle, but it pours! Not just once a week or occasionally, but every day. We could even predict it coming in the afternoon. Yes, Quito is a very nice place, but a very wet one too.
Wednesday - Taco Bell: Those reading in America must think it’s very strange I put Taco Bell as the highlight for the day, well I really miss Taco Bell! Even now! The only place I´ve ever seen it out of America is Mexico. Let me say, I love Taco Bell! Having lived outside of the US for about 8 years now, it’s the only fast food I crave. Finally, finally, I´ve found it outside America and the place is Quito! We popped in a posh mall and they had an excellent food court which included Taco Bell to satisfy my long lost craving! Culturally, that day we also visited the National Museum, a Vivarium (snake zoo) and had another Rum night at our hostel - messy!
Thursday - Charles Darwin Centre: We arrived to the Galapagos around midday and this place is absolutely tropical paradise!! Once we arranged our diving trips and our 4 night cruise around the islands, we were set to explore! Firstly, stopping at the Charles Darwin Centre which is a sanctuary for the Galapagos tortoises. Despite these monstrous creatures, we also saw dozens of huge pelicans all around the street of our apartment. These islands are very different to ALL places and I can't wait to tell you more as we explore these over the next week.
Friday - Sharks, sharks and more sharks: We dove two dives today around Gordon´s Rocks (a top 100 dive site in the world). If you are afraid of sharks, don´t come here! We dove with hammerheads, white & black tip sharks, dozens of huge sea turtles (yes, I swear, it was really dozens), probably a dozen eagle and golden rays and a playful sea lion who was very curious of our bubbles. These creatures all love this place as the current is about 15 knots (mph) which makes it a tough dive. That night we dined in a very local area enjoying fish possibly from the same family we saw diving.. They have a street (called Charles Binford) of outdoor barbeques which are far tastier and more authentic, plus much cheaper than the western restaurants here.
Saturday - Sea lions galore: As we started our dive, we could see the Sea lions from the surface, as we descended; they were very interested in us. Doing barrel rolls in front of us, breaking our air bubbles, and poking their face in ours. They are the most playful beasts which are almost as big as a person! In the first 5 minutes of our first dive, waking up the 5 sleeping white-tip sharks almost seemed boring compared to playing with the sea lions! We also saw an angry moray eel and a very scared octopus that Marina and I tried to pull out from under the rocks. In between our dives we found several Galapagos penguins and snorkeled right up to them, which they didn´t seem to mind at all! Tonight its back to our alfresco dining on Calle Charles Binford.
So what’s next for us - I mentioned the cruise. We leave tomorrow morning to celebrate Easter on the Aida Maria to cruise for 4 nights around the islands of the Galapagos. Then we are cruising over to Isabella Island to explore on our own for 2 days.
Until next time,
Hasta luego,
Dan and Marina
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