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YOU DON'T NEED EYES TO SEE YOU NEED VISION.....
Arriving in Ecuador was much less traumatic than my arrival into Peru a couple of weeks ago. Whilst still in smog, highly polluted and with a stark contrast betwen rich and poor, Ecuador seems a much friendlier place. People smile more and hassle you less it would seem.
I managed to strike myself a $5 deal on a cab ride to my hotel which was fabulous. I treated myself to a bath (who would have thought that would become a treat?) and sorted my stuff for my early morning flight to Baltra Island in the Galapagos.
Flying AeroGal, I had the crappiest seat ever and as we took off I felt tiny particals of ice fall on my head. 'great' I thought, 'I'm sat under a leak in the plane'.....
However, my concerns were soon relieved when I was handed a glass of champagne and a cupcake. 'How civilised' I thought, 'I'm going to fit right in here'.
Arrival at Baltra was amazing... Some wooden benches and a shed in the middle of a dessert or is it desert? Forget the baggage belt thingy, the staff just chucked your bags on the middle of the floor and left the rest up to you.
We crammed ourselves onto a sweaty mini bus and made our way to the port where our boat was waiting to start the 4 day cruise.
The boat was basic and cosy with 16 tourists and about 6 crew. Our 1st port of call was the Charles Darwin Nature Reserve where I saw the amazing giant Tortoises and Iguanas. These animals are now highly protected due to having been hunted to near extinction for the oil in their skins (see I have learned something!)
Back on the boat I ate dinner and felt really sea sick. I decided it would be safer to just go to bed to contemplate the 2 stages of sea sickness being:
1) Thinking you're going to die
2) Wishing you would die
The next day however, I was pleased to realise that I had found my sea legs and felt great. The following days were amazing.
I snorkelled in crystal clear waters with sea lions who were really playful and gentle. They would twist and turn with you under the water and never hurt. I also snorkelled over a girt great shark and a turtle as well as beside a pengiun. The penguin just threw me this 'not another sodding tourist' look. He was very cute all the same. The beaches were white sand, temperatures were in the 30's and the waters were clear. The snorkelling was amazing and the colours of the fish and coral are unbelievable until you've done it yourself.
During the land treks I saw Iguanas, Lizzards, Blue Footed Boobies and Frigetts. Yes, I did say Frig-etts (they're the pirates of the sea and are huge!)
The rest of the time on board was spent sleeping, eating and having some 'interesting' conversations with my co-tourists about my English language versus the American taught language. for example: Torch is acutally a flashlight, Swimming costumes are Bathers, A fanny is a butt.....eerrr.....OK then....
At times I felt a little 'closed in' being so close to so many people and I felt the need to escape. My i-pod usually did the trick but if not then sitting on the top deck of the boat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean watching the sun set helped. How could I not embrace every moment of that, alone or not?
The final night saw a lovely meal, an exchange of emails addresses, a speech from the guide and a couple of envelopes for tips.....
Not entirely happy about the blatentness of the request for more money, I coughed up.
No sooner had the tips been handed over, the boat engines began to roar, the boat started rocking like crazy. It was being sailed like it was on a carting track at full speed. It was impossible to walk around without bashing yourself or falling over, everything in my cabin had been turned upside down, the wardrobe doors were crashing open and the noise was deafening.
It would appear that the captain had decided that once the tips had been collected it was time to get to our next stop (which was where we were getting off by coinsidence...) like a bolt of lightening. i swear he was after an 88 miles per hour target in order to get the flux capacitor to kick in so that we could visit Charlie Darwin in the flesh!
I decided it was best to just lay down. 'Think nice thoughts Amy' I told myself, 'Breath 1, 2, 3 Amy', 'take a travel pill Amy'...... I spent the rest of the night throwing up and trying not to bang my head on the sink or the lav while hurling. AWFUL.
The next morning I couldn't wait to get the hell off that boat and onto dry land. I'm still swaying now.
All that said, the Galapagos Islands were an amazing place that everyone (if you get the chance) should visit. It's a real wonder of the world and I'm blessed to have had the chance to embrace some of it.
Back at my hotel in Quito I spent one hour searching for my lost back pack. Searching through 3 store rooms, the bell boy just said 'pick one', so much for security, only in South America hey.
I have the bag and by the way, the phone has recovered from the toilet incident although the coverage is a bit iffy here in Ecuador.
until next time....
smiles, love me
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