Travel trivia: what's a 20 minute walk in Quito? At least 45 minutes Liz and Celeste arrived late Wednesday. We quicly got together for a welcome drink, then went to bed. We slept in before we started exploring the city. Our target: Old Town. We were about 2 km and 20min away (turned out to be 2 miles and 45min, but we're on vacation so who cares). We took it easy today. We passed by the Basilica but where too hungry to go in. Kept walking to down town where we...

Travel trivia: what do all large cities around the world have in common? As a stranger, you need to be careful. Today was my travel day. From Santa Cruz to Guayaquil to Quito. So not much to report, but that's not how this works. I did not plan this part of the trip as well as I should have. I woke up this morning trying to call the hotel in Quito for a safe pickup. You see, a few weeks before we left, National Geographic sends us a letter that we need to be ve...

Travel trivia: Is less more? Yes, less is more. I met a couple on the larger National Geographic Endeavor. They did a smaller cruise to Alaska with NG and said it was more personal, and they wish they had booked the smaller Islander. Glad we did. Two final dives today before I fly to Quito tomorrow and hookup with Liz and Celeste. I am leaving the Galapagos without having seen hammerheads with my own two (or one) eye(s). Disappointing, though I did dive with a g...

Travel trivia: Galagagos is home to marine iguanas. Where else in the world do you find marine iguanas? Nowhere. So how did they get here? Not sure. It's either evolution or they made a long, long journey on some kind of raft or floating tree to get here from mainland (what is now known as) Ecuador. This is actually a serious theory. Two good dives today. Pretty easy. Strong currents, but shallow enough to make it two long dives (55 and 50 minutes) with many lar...

Trip trivia: Why is the water in Galapagos so cold (65F/18C)? It comes from the north, the south, east and west, but it's on the equator. Wouldn't it have had enough time to warm up? Actually, some of the water comes from Antartica, from deep down. As it gets to Galapagos, it's pushed up the shelf and comes to the surface. That water never had a chance to warm up by the sun. It does, however, make this a very nutrient-rich environment. It doesn't just bring plank...