Wednesday February 13, 2013

Wednesday February 13/13 update  # 367

Even though we didn’t have to, both of us were awake shortly after 7am so we hurriedly got ready and headed out to find Las Grietas east of our location and past the beach where I swam.  We were warned to wear solid footwear and to take the walking sticks that are in the place here.  Both were very good advice for traversing very rough and coarse volcanic rock for about a kilometer.  It was slow going on the way there as it was quite unfamiliar and with wet mud in places.  We had to cross two small creeks by walking on just a few rocks so I was very concerned for Bella behind me,   I would forge a path but she would inevitably do her own thing anyway.   I sure didn’t want either of us to twist an ankle way out in this terrain.

Las Greitas is a series of huge fissures in the volcanic rock that connect with the ocean underground so you have two types of crystal clear emerald green water that is breathtaking.  Many people come here to snorkel or even jump from the cliffs.   The place is home to some very large fish and I heard mention of parrot fish somewhere.

The return trek was much faster because we were now familiar with the trail and smart enough to avoid any rocks with red slippery mud on them.  We had been there all alone in the building heat and met many people coming in as we were heading out.   We had to stop as a tour of Germans (they are everywhere here) then a tour of Ecuadorians went past.  Old grandmothers in sandals had us shaking our heads until we saw an idiot Ecuadorian carrying a young boy in his arms.  If that man lost his balance anywhere, they were both in for some major scrapes and bruises.  There seems to be no bounds to people’s stupidity.

Getting home around 9am was a relief as the relentless equatorial sun had me just soaked again and an immediate shower was again in order. 

Then we both retired to a comfortable couch or hammock or rocking chair and relaxed a bit.  The finches and mockingbirds kept me company on the upper terrace.

Around 11am I decided to try to get some photos of the wildlife near our boat dock, where we catch the water taxi.  I loaded my feet with sun block and wore my sandals again, determined to stay as much as possible under the protection of the small gazebo.  I saw a sea lion swim by, but couldn’t get a decent shot.   I was hoping he was headed to sleep on the next dock but no such luck.  Crabs kept skittering up and down the rocks avoiding any human contact.  At the next dock we would have frigate birds come to dry their wings while perched there.  Pelicans would cruise to and from the roof of that dock too.

However it was the marine iguanas that put on an never-ending show as they would swim up, climb up the rocks, over the stone walls, find a shady pot to sit for a while.   I have some incredible close-ups from as close as a foot away.  Doing so meant that I would have to brave the direct sun again and again but I would do the same thing again in a heartbeat.  So what if I had to have yet another shower upon my return…

The other four people returned from their snorkeling trip late so we headed out for supper at 6.  Bella had pasta and I had a very unusual salad with meat, eggs and mozza on top.  They were setting up for a big political rally fiesta with music, videos, and lots of people in the reigning party’s colours.  Correa had this election won before the campaign even started, we have seen almost nothing from any other parties, .regardless of all the millionaires running against him.

We got an ice cream for dessert and were enjoying the festivities when we saw the other 4 just getting off the boat for supper.  They will be back in time to play another round of Mexican Train Dominoes (the only game they have) before we all hit the sack for another early rising.
Sorry, no blg for the next 3 days as we go to another island and not bringing the laptop.

That was today’s excitement.  Hugs to all.   

Tuesday February 12, 2013

Tuesday February 12/13 update  # 366

We were off by 7am to go the Darwin Center with a guide named Paul from England who has been a biologist here for 10 years.  His explanations of how plant and animal growth began on newly formed volcanic rock are nothing less than extraordinary.  The long and short of it is that seedlings were either airborne by the wind, carried by the sea, or carried by birds.  Birds would carry things either as mud on their legs and feathers or in their poop.  Darwin apparently planted the mud he collected off one finch and checked to find 16 or more different plant species had grown. 

Mangroves float in the arid zones and grow everywhere reaching down with tentacles to start new trunks which are fed with water at high tide.  They even send up little snorkels to collect oxygen to survive..

Animals and plants that must survive in a harsh environment learn to adapt and form new species, such as the marine iguana which had to learn to swim to collect food underwater.

The highlight of the tour is to see the successful breeding program to save the giant turtles, which again have many species.  We saw them from the baby stage right up to the huge adults that may be hundreds of years old.  Turtles are probably the oldest example of adaptability because they initially grew their shells as a defense against carnivorous dinosaurs!  Yes, they pre-date the dinosaurs!

In June, their oldest turtle, Lonesome George sadly passed away.  The Center tried everything to get George to mate with females of his own species but they could not figure out his lack of interest.  Apparently he had major problems with his internal organs, no other reason.

His replacement is Diego, borrowed from the San Diego zoo.  Diego, along with four other males have been happily breeding and providing a lot of eggs for incubation.  This brought up another story of their earliest efforts producing only female offspring.  It turns out the incubation temperature will determine the sex off the baby, so they learned many new things in the process.

The most interesting turtle evolution is the saddleback turtle.  Because they had no predators on Galapagos they began to strain against the front of their shell so they could reach higher for plant matter.  Apparentlt they cab stretch up to 5 feet high now, and they expect them to increase the height substantially in the next few hundered years.

They work diligently to be sure that no outside species of plant or animal is brought to the Galapagos, hence the strict screening and then the spraying of our carry-on luggage.   I feel they should have a short course upon landing so everyone understands the importance of keeping this location pure unto itself.  There is a story of a German who tried to smuggle out 2 marine iguanas in his luggage because the reward is about $100,000 each.  I hope the idiot gets fined that much and is locked up for idiocy for many years.

Again I wish I could send you a lot of pictures but it just isn’t going to happen until much later.

I managed to find some nice sandals to wear instead of my runners in this heat, then we had a lovely lunch in town before taking the water taxi back across the bay.   Bella retired to her book again until she conked out for her afternoon nap.

I, on the other hand, grabbed a beach towel and beach umbrella and trekked off to Finch Bay, not far from here and joined the many families enjoying the sun and the sand and the water.   I had a good dip and could have easily just fallen asleep on my back in the salt water, no problem floating at all.   I must have as much hot air as a politician!  But the sun is close to being directly overhead at this time of year so it wouldn’t take long to be burnt to a crisp.  I had a good time in the water then retired under the umbrella for a while.    I toyed with the idea of going back in but the tide was coming in and getting within a foot of my towel so I packed up to leave.  The family next to me were taking Carnaval very seriously spray-foaming the kids and covering each other in some kind of blue paint.   I am not too certain that I enjoy their version of Carnaval!

We went out for a lovely supper at the same restaurant as Sunday night and enjoyed the antics of the pelicans and frigate birds on the boat ride in, while it was raining.  At the dock there was an artisan’s display of wood carving, starting with chain saws and the final results were breathtaking, mostly of turtles mating.

The others were eating leftovers at home and ate late so we had to wait for them to play Mexican Train dominoes again.  Bella was in the lead all night, losing on the last hand, just like I did the night previous.   Some of the rules they have thrown in there are very frustrating so a few of us will be glad for a respite from it.  The others are going snorkeling at Bartolome tomorrow so we can have a lazy day.  I note that my feet are close to being burnt already just from the short time I was at the beach, and in the water.   Gotta respect Mother Nature around here.

I am only able to post a couple of shots on my Facebook page but there is still now way to do the photo Blog.  Sorry again, but a few of the sgots today will be worth waiting for.

That was today’s excitement.  Hugs to all.   

Monday February 11, 2013

Monday February 11/13 update  # 365

Sorry, my mind was so muddled yesterday from lack of sleep and exhaustion that I was not as exuberant and descriptive as I could have been.  I crashed about 10:30 our time, but 9:30 here as there is a time change here, same as Central time.

We have a lot of tiny green Geckos in the building, only about 2 inches long.  They are so cute and harmless.

It is so warm and humid that we don’t put any clothes on until absolutely necessary.  Please do not send me any comments about your mental pictures…

We were up before 6am to go walking to Tortuga Bay.  We were lucky to fins a restaurant that could sell us some water and Gatorade at that hour.   Naturally we have to take the water taxi to the town, then get to the 2.5km walking path.  Along this path are huge cacti, the only ones that grow like trees and end up with a kind of bark when they are mature.  The foliage is dominated by finches and mockingbirds and the path itself is cobblestone.   Marg and I are fast walkers so we would trudge on up ahead then wait while Bella caught up.  Bella has only 2 walking speeds, slow and slower.

We could hear the breakers crashing long before we could see the beach.   We knew the beach would be magnificent from photos we had seen but nothing had prepared us for the fineness of the sand.  It was more like a powder that it was granules.  The ladies had their shoes off immediately but I kept my runners on.  I was already lugging a backpack load plus 2 cameras and I didn’t have enough hands or strength to carry any more.  The beach seems to run about 2 kms and is just magnificent.  There were only 2 other people in evidence so we felt quite alone with nature.  The marine iguanas were plentiful on a nearby collection of volcanic rock.  As we approached the mangrove trees at the far end we finally came upon several more marine iguanas.  A person is able to get within about 2 feet without them budging.  I know I got some great close-ups of those guys. 

We also saw some great crabs in black, gaudy orange and hot pink.  Then there was the pelican sitting on a sign before he retired to a tree behind.  A graceful heron was also nearby giving us some poses.

Around the corner is a magnificent bay that seems like your own gargantuan swimming pool.  The tide was way out so it wasn’t as spectacular as usual according to Marg.  Marg is also a fellow photographer so we were having a field day with the many photo ops. I caught a nice sandpiper at the water’s edge.  This bay is sometimes frequented by the large Tortugas, sea turtles, but we didn’t happen on any this day.  On the left side of this bay is a rocky cliff that is usually occupied by blue-footed boobies and there seemed to be only one who was snoozing.  I took a very long zoom with my Sony but I know that shot won’t be the one I came for.

About 9am the crowds of Ecuadorians were arriving so we began our return trip shortly after that.  There were a plethora of these small chubby birds that were scouring the beach for morsels and the marine iguanas were leaving long trails with their big claws and long tails.   I hated to leave but the heat was just beginning.  The path back was now dominated with larger gun metal coloured Geckos who would scurry along with us for a ways before hiding, then another would pop up to take its place.

I figure that we walked 14kms for sure and the sun was getting through the clouds as we got back to town.  Believe me, the heat and humidity at the equator are things to be reckoned with.  They will sap your strength in no time and remind us that we could never live on the coast here.

The gals stopped in town for a few groceries while I desperately tried to sit in the shade.   As usual, there were sleeping sea lions dominating many of the boat docking platforms.  Barry had told me that the difference between a seal and a sea lion are their ears, seals don’t have visible ears!  Many of the boats in the harbour also have sea lions sleeping on their rear platforms.  I also thought I saw a branch moving in the ater but the movements seemed too deliberate and as it got closer I saw it was a marine iguana.  I thought right away of the scene in the movie Master and Commander when the biologist is surprised to find an iguana that actually swims.

We had a quick sandwich for lunch and then had a much needed shower again.  I can’t remember the last time I had 2 showers before noon!

Bella was reading in bed with the air-conditioner blowing before conking out.   I had gone up to the third floor terrace and soon succumbed to the invitation of the hammock after getting a few shots of the frigate birds circling about.

I tried and tried to do work on the computer before throwing in the towel.  Between crappy signal and a crappy old laptop I don’t stand a chance.

We went for supper with Barry, Max, Stu and Marg to a pizza restaurant and the meals were very good.  I don’t know why I opted for fish (tuna) instead of pizza, but I did.  We then returned home to play Mexican Train dominoes.  Bella had kicked everyone’s butt the night before and I joined in and was leading until the last hand where I beat myself by missing a play.  Oh well, I never get excited about cards or games anymore. 

Off to bed because we have to be up early again tomorrow.

That was today’s excitement.  Hugs to all.   

Sunday Feb 10, 2013

Sunday February 10/13 update  # 364

I was processing photos from Joe’s until midnight and had to hope the uploading to DropBox would be done by the time we had to leave.  I tossed and turned and looked at the clock last about 2:30am.  The alarm went off at 4:30am as we scrambled to be ready for our pick up at the corner at 5:30.   As that time rolled past I had an eerie sense of deja-vu without too many options.  Luckily my phone rang a few moments later and our driver was 5 minutes away.  When he pulled away on the wrong road I asked him what was happening.  He said he had to go back to the office to get a contract to sign.  I was none too pleased at this extra delay.

We got underway right around 6am from there and passed through some of the most breathtaking scenery in the Cajas, way above the clouds at the coast.   We got to the airport close to 9am .

Airports are wearing thin with me, bouncing from lineup to lineup, but surprisingly it all gets done on time.  Everyone was loaded and seated 20 minutes early so I figured we would get underway quickly.   For some inexplicable reason our 10:50 flight didn’t leave until 11:30, go figure….

I would have enjoyed the time to relax but we had some very loud Germans behind us who were even singing for a time.  I was just wishing for a quick landing.

The initial impressions from the air, and upon landing were decidedly negative.  Landing at Balta Island is like landing on the moon without having the joy of being Neil Amstrong.   Talk about a barren place devoid of any meaningful vegetation.   They are so ecologically conscious they sprayed the overhead bins with non-harmful insecticide.  Then we had to walk around the old terminal to the far end of the new terminal and stand in line to hand in one of the two forms we had to fill out.   Next, we stood behind the rope while they hand-unloaded the luggage in an open area.  I was standing right next to our suitcase but then they made everyone funnel in in small groups from the other end, of course.   Then it was to line up to hand in the second form we had filled out. 

Then we had a man waiting for us, kindly arranged y our hosts Barry & Maxine Wilder from Calgary.  He put us on the free bus that takes us down to the water taxi which moves us south to Isla Santa Cruz.  Once on the new island this man went and got his pickup truck to drive us 42 kms on rough roads to the town where are staying, Puerto Ayora.

When we get to the end of town there are political rallies going on and the President Correa himself is there but we fail to get a glimpse of him, just his vehicle.   We have to catch another water taxi for 60c across the inlet to where our home is located.  Barry and Maxine, and Stu and Marg from Calgary also, are all waiting for us and show us to our spacious quarters in this home called Mariposa.

Maxine takes us for a short walk to a neighboring beach with swimmers and then we are entertained by a playful sea lion who appeared to have lost part of its lip in a fight or something.   Nearby there were a few iguanas.  Overhead we have gorgeous frigate birds and pelicans flying around with their huge wingspans.

We catch a water taxi back into town for supper and Maxine and Marg got lured into a wonderful craft shop and made some purchases.   We had a little tour of the near area of town and they settled in at a great restaurant where Bella and I had the dinner special of stuffed chicken breast.  That was definitely one of the best meals we have had in Ecuador!

As we went back to the dock there was a sleeping sea lion on the stairs, another one entertaining us as it chased a fish in the clear water, then a pelican landed right next to me.  I got a couple of good shots before he dove into the water after a fish of his own.  Not a bad evening at all!!

The group is up playing train dominoes while I decide how to do this blog.  Working on this old laptop with uncertain screen clarity and poor software, never mind my unseeing eyeballs, I have decided to upload my photos untouched, right from the camera.  I don’t want to screw up a good shot by messing with it under these conditions.

Oh Oh, I hate to report that the Internet connection here says “excellent” because I am sitting right next to the router, but it is crap…  I can’t get my small-size photos to upload no-how.   I guess that means I will have a ton of work to do upon my return and you will have to wait to see the good stuff.

That was today’s excitement.  Hugs to all.