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So next stop was Galapagos (sorry I am so far behind everyone - but computers proved a nightmare in South America, and I have to admit too - I was lazy and they were expensive!) But will make up for lost time now!
So after a very early start - getting up at 4.30am - I felt I was back at work, but was in actual fact heading off to Galapagos! I met Jason, the Ozzie guy I had met at the travel agent at the airport, and we kept each other going with funny stories through customs and the wait for the flight.
It was about a two hour flight to Galapagos, and you have to stop half way so that they can fumigate the plane. When we arrived - we had a wooden, open air airport waiting for us - which felt very relaxed and tropical. Galapagos was much warmer than Quito, which was a big relief - I wanted sun in South America.
Jason wasn't booked onto a boat and was going to try and find one when he arrived in Galapagos, but the only boat available was the Nemo II - my boat and only one spot available on the boat - in my cabin - so after a 15 minute conversation in the travel agent, Jason and I were about to become cabin mates for 7 nights - good thing I hadn't packed my holy, gray T-shirt as pyjamas!
I spent a week in Galapagos - arriving on the 14th and leaving on the 21st. There were 12 of us on the boat - which was lovely - Nemo II is a beautiful Catamaran boat, so we had the chance to do some sailing. I was also really lucky because we had a great group of people on the boat - there was Carol and Graeme, an Irish couple on honeymoon. We bonded over a search for aloe vera (where we were offered snail bait) on the only inhabited islands in Galapagos. Stefan and Silke were a lovely German couple, and Stefan actually works for Accenture as well - so it's a very small world. Stefan was our trusty supplier of bacardi and orange juices and sundowner time. And then there was Jerry and Sabine (Irish and French) who were also on honeymoon, and an older Spanish couple - Ina and Henrique and two older ladies travelling together - Rosemary and Nicole.
12 was the perfect number of people - not too small and not too big, so everyone had a chance to get to know each other. Jason and I had loads of fun with Stefan and Silke and Carol and Graeme and we all got on brilliantly.
Days on the boat went really fast - we would snorkel in the morning, have lunch, explore an island and have another snorkel in the afternoon. Then in the evenings we would chat away or watch documentaries on the Galapagos. It was beautiful being on the boat and out to sea in the evenings, with the sails flapping, cormorants flying above us, the sun setting and no one around us at all on the ocean.
Highlights of the week for me were swimming with sharks - one was about a metre away from my foot - so I got a bit of a fright! But apparently you only need to worry when you can't see the sharks, as that's when they're really after you and you wouldn't see them coming. I also had the most amazing experience of playing with young sea lions - a couple came up to us and started dive bombing us and swimming away. they would swim straight to our faces, look at us and then twist all around us. It was amazing - it was like they were tame little puppies and they were playing with us. I could have stayed there all day! I have some beautiful underwater pictures and videos of it - but they've been sent to South Africa for safe keeping, so I can't put them up now, but will do it later.
I also got to see turtles mating, sting rays, eels, loads of sea lions and whales from a distance. Galapagos for me was really beautiful and I had a wonderful time, but I am worried about over-population - there are two inhabited islands, the number of boats involved in tourism and the fact that compared to countries like Australia and New Zealand they are not very careful about protecting the bio-diversity of the islands or investing in research. In fact, the current government wants to try and promote tourism.
From my perspective, I also have to say that it was very expensive, and that in a way, going to the game lodge my sister worked at and having a weekend there was in a way more impressive in terms of wildlife. I also think coming from countries like Australia and South Africa we have such a rich wildlife and have experienced nature on a different level compared to people from Europe, that we also have different expectations. But it was very beautiful and lovely, and I will never forget the sea lions.
After Galapagos, Jason, Graeme, Carol and I all headed off to Banos together for two nights. It's a small town about 3 or 4 hours from Quito, set right under an active volcano. they have beautiful waterfalls and hikes out there. We arrived in pouring rain, after the bus trip, which was so full, I had a rather large lady's rather large bottom in my face for about 2 or 3 hours - I was just lucky she hadn't had any beans!
The next day Jason and I were planning on cycling to some of the waterfalls and going on walks, but we found these really cool quad type of cars and rented one instead. Jason didn't know about my driving history (and I didn't give him any updates) and I actually got to drive back, which was fun - my first driving experience in a very long time - luckily I avoided driving into a truck. We bumped into Carol and Graeme coming back from one of the waterfalls (they were staying somewhere a little nicer than our hostel since they were on honeymoon) and they were on bikes - since they thought we'd be on bikes. They both looked completely incredulous when we came along on our quad bike car thing - and drinks were definitely on us that night!
We all went out that night - it was our last night together and had great cocktails and played pool - Banos is a pretty big tourist town but was completely dead in September for some reason so we were practically the only people out that night. But what we lacked for in numbers we made up for in noise!
The next day, I had to go back to Quito to catch my flight to meet Jo (my flatmate) in Miami and start the next leg of the trip - Bolivia. It was really sad saying good-bye to the others - we had got on so well and become such good friends in such a short time!
And it was also good-bye Ecuador, which I think is great as a holiday destination - lovely people, really cheap, amazing sights all really close together. I would really like to go back there for a longer time in the future.
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