The Galapagos Islands
are often described as a living laboratory, the place where Charles Darwin
formulated his Theory of Evolution. They are an archipelago 600 miles off the
coast of Ecuador made familiar to most people only by a science textbook. They
are the Enchanted Islands where animals
have no fear of humans and they remain, for most people, an abstract dream
reminiscent of The Garden of Eden. This is how it was for me until I was lucky
enough to experience Galapagos firsthand. Now the islands have weaved there way
into my life creating memories of red and green volcanic sand beaches, sea lions
that bite playfully at your toes, dolphins that race ahead at the bow of the
boat, and especially the smiling faces of new found friends.
It was through
Wilderness Travel that I was able
to make this dream a reality. My friends and I decided to book the Galapagos
Adventure tour where we would live aboard the sailing yacht Andando for 6 days.
We would have the privilege of visiting 8 islands where we could experience life
in abundance. In addition to life on land we would have several opportunities to
encounter life underwater via snorkeling. Our tour would be from February 4 to
February 12, 2002 and would begin in Quito, Ecuador.
We arrived in Quito at
12:20am on the morning of February 5, 2002 and after clearing customs were met
by our city guide Kurt Beate. We were then taken by bus to the Hotel Colon where
we met our Galapagos guide Pablo Davila. After a few formalities we headed to
our room where we could get some much needed sleep. Our city tour was to begin
at 8:00am. We gathered in the lobby and introduced ourselves to the other people
on the tour. Our group consisted of myself (Weisey), Pick, and Doc. The
remaining nine people were Bill, Linda, Danny, Joyce, Irene, Kiyoshi, David,
Tamiko, and Rick. They were traveling together and there families were good
friends carried on from the days when Bill and Kiyoshi were in graduate school
together. It seemed as though we had a pretty good group. We boarded our bus to
begin our city tour and headed down Amazonas Street. Quito is the capitol of Ecuador and is located in the
Andes Mountains at an elevation of
9,500 feet. It is surrounded by two snow capped volcanoes, Cotopaxi and
Chimborazo. Our first highlight was a view into the valley of Tumbaco. The view
was incredible and was made even more interesting by the textiles that were for
sale by local merchants. Our next stop was in the heart of colonial Quito at the
Plaza de la Indepencia. The square is surrounded by the Presidential Palace and
The Cathedral. In the center stands a large statue. From here it is an easy walk
to the Monastery of San Francisco passing along the way the Cathedral of El
Sagrario and La Compania. We toured the inside of El Sagrario with its ornate
gold leaf architecture. Sitting outside the door was a little old woman begging
for handouts. I handed her a dollar on my way out and the thanks that I got from
her truly lifted my heart. La Compania was closed but we could see the beautiful
craftsmanship from outside. We then kept walking through a market towards the
Plaza de San Francisco. Here we stopped for refreshments. Kurt bought us all
some of the local juices to sample including tree tomato, berry, guanavana
(soursop), and passion fruit. We then toured the inside of the monastery. The
ornate decorations and especially the altar were spectacular. Our bus then
picked us up and took us towards Panecillo Hill topped by The Virgin of Quito
statue. The views from here were still great despite the gray skies and mist in
the air. Back on the bus we decided to ask Kurt how safe it would be to catch a
taxi to the monument on the equator. He said that it would be safe but that he
would be glad to extend the tour and take us there later in the afternoon. The
whole group agreed to take the tour showing our first sign of solidarity.
We returned to the
hotel for a short briefing from Pablo about the next day’s activities and then
it was off to Mitad del Mundo, the equator. Along the way Kurt took us to some
great side excursions. One being a little back road where we got out and walked
in order to see the flora and fauna. We were able to see century plants and
hummingbirds. We also walked down a lane to a Hacienda where we saw Vermillion
Flycatchers with their bright red plumage. The second excursion was Pululahua
Geobotanical Reserve. Here we were able to walk down a path into a dormant
volcanic crater. Our next stop was the equator. It was pretty cool to stand with
one foot in the northern hemisphere and the other foot in the southern
hemisphere. We took the “we were there” photo and headed back to the hotel. I
want to thank Kurt for such a great tour. His enthusiasm for everything around
him is contagious. I would love to do a tour of the rainforest with him and I
recommend him to anyone. Check out his website at
nomadtrek.com. That night Pablo took us
out for our welcome dinner where we got to know each other a little better. The
next day we would fly to The Galapagos to board the Andando.
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License plate
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Textiles in Quito
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Presidential guards
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Presidential guard
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Cathedral el Sagraria
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Altar of el Sagraria
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La Compania, Quito
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Inside Convento de San Francisco
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Plaza de San Francisco
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Altar of Convento de San Francisco
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Doc at Plaza de San Francisco
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Cherub in Convento de San Francisco
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Boys selling paintings in Quito
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Irene scarve shopping in Quito
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Virgin of Quito
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Stained glass inside virgin statue
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Kurt, our city guide
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Flowery lane
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Canna flower
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Pululahua Geobotanical Preserve
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Clouds over crater
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Woman on burrough
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Mitad del Mundo near Quito
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NBH crew at the equator
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Travel friends at equator
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