puerto ayora - santa cruz

off the deep blue
and to the darwin station we went
the first day in puerto ayora
guided by antonio
we did a quick tour of the turtles
and saw lonesome george
and super diego in action
or rather trying to get some action
(i never knew tortoises could move that fast
but i guess he was inspired...
or something)
-he was chasing a female tortoise... so....
=P
after that informative tour
we went into puerto ayora
and headed back in the direction of the main docks
looking for accomodations along the way
in the first place
which looked dingey and dodgey
met a puerto rican girl by the name of jo anne
some how antonio could tell where she was from
simply by talking to her
darn, he´s good eh?
she was also looking for lodgings
with no room at that place
and service so slow it wasn´t
we headed off to look at a few other places
bypassed the red mangrove which was asking 245USD per night
(ouch!)
and finally settled in at the hotel salinas
at a comfortable 10 bucks per night
the settled down at cafe hernan for a drink with some of the others
and later on headed back to the boat
for supper and a farewell cocktail
(of which mine was eagerly asked for and quaffed
as people knew i did not drink)
and to say goodbye to the crew of course
(it´s also the time when you give the tip envelope thingys to the captain)
that night
going to the hotel
chris, yung and i were in the last group to leave
and as we were leaving
found that yvgeny´s dive gear
had gone off with another group
(he was to head back to san cristobal that night on the boat)
so a short good bye
turned into a search for missing luggage
eventually things got sorted out
the next morning
i went off in search of internet
and found a really good deal
at choza net
where instead of paying 2USD per hour for internet
you could pay 10USD for 17 hours
needless to say
i thought i´d be doing a lot of blogging
and got that deal
and that was where i wrote the first two ecuador blogs from
however,
i ended up spending so much time
doing other stuff at puerto ayora
that i never got around to using all the hours
which is a good thing i guess =)
i also managed to get in touch with maria isabel navarrate
who was the guide for the galapagos islands
when jeff goldie and the scona group visited the islands
i actually managed to contact her
after using my not-so-amazing spanish over a crappy phone connection
(called her cell which had bad reception, adding to the chaos)
and we met at the supermarket at the dock
i somehow managed to convey
the message to look for a tall chinese canadian with a black sombrero
before the connection shorted out
and meet her we did
we, being my bro and i
and with that,
the package was delivered
(the gift of a small spanish english dictionary)
i repeat, the package was delivered ;)
and a new friend was made
she offered to take my bro and me into the highlands
which is where her home is
and over a drink at the cafe hernan
it ended up that almost the whole group went
14 of us,
including jo anne who i bumped into that night
and the next morning
the rest of the divers had been looking for a tour
and when maria overheard the price
she offered to put something together for everone
and guiding herself
(it was her week off
and she´d come landside the same time we did)

we had a neat trip to los gelemos
and saw the rare vermillion birdy thingy
(very very red)
and then went off to see wild tortoises at chatto
the first impression that struck me was
that these tortoises were WAY healthier than the ones at the darwin station
and that was cool to se them in the wild
the weather was cloudy
and they were out feeding en masse
very cool
also saw frigate birds diving into the fresh water lake her
apparently they were cleaning off the salt from their feathers
it was dramatic =)
after that
we had a short washroom break
(or a short hammock break for some!)
and then a walk through some magma tunnels
that emerged at our lunch place
where we had a super tasty lunch
of barbequed chicken and rice and potatoes
and then home
that evening i invited maria and her family out for supper
her husband victor joined us
and her three children
anaconda - age 11
christopher kona - age 10
and little miconia - age 5
her cousin mitania came as well
we ate encocada seafood at william´s
(known as willy´s)
which is basically a coconut cream sauce that was quite delicious
and talked and walked into the evening
maria isabel invited my brother and i to join a school outing
to the top-highest point on santa cruz
which we gladly took her up on
that would be a few days later
the intervening days
were filled with good food
good conversation
interesting little stories here and there
and before i knew it
the rest of the group had left
and it was friday
memorable moments were
the empanada place (el chocolate)
which friends directed me to on day one
jo anne´s adventure in trying to find a dive charter
and ending up not going
after realizing the boat wasn´t run quite up to par
and that perhaps she might ... oh, die or something on that boat
(the gaby)
meeting luis from the empanada palce
who happened to be a very good ecuadorian volleyball player
(they have their own version of 3 on 3 volleyball
which they play for money - sometimes alot of money
and where they use a soccer ball instead of a volley ball)
going to watch a game or two
where chris was thinking about playing
until we found out about the money thing
watching robin scream and cheer for a team
on which she had made a side bet with victor on
and watching the locals (all short dark haired ecuadorian men)
watch her cheering and calling out the ref for bad calls
(the game ended in a tie)
some where
the time went
i didn´t make it to any of the beaches
but i did share some darn good ice cream
with dan and robin
(their treat - big HUGS to them!)
at a nice lil place they found
and then on the friday
early morning
we went to bellavista
ate breakfast with maria isabel and her little ones
and then walked to the school
where we were joined by 21 school kids
a teacher
a parent
and little miconia came along too
2 truck-taxis pulled up
and we were taken part way up the volcano
after which we hiked to the top
the pontuda
or something like that
it was a fun hike
VERY hot
even tho it was cloudy
and i was sweating like a madman
often with one or two children (all anaconda´s age)
holding my hand(s)
at the top of the old volcanic crater
(the last part of which was very steep
and where the kids went screaming up it
to the great consternation of the teacher and parents present)
we sat down
had some watermelon
and maria isabel gave them a short lesson
on geology in spanish
of which
i found i could actually understand quite a bit
afterall magma is the same in english and spanish
hehehe
we hiked all the way back to the school after that
and must have covered about 8 km
when all was said and done
i found myself running and bounding
both up and down the mountain
with the kids in tow
or sometimes they with me in tow
and it was one of those moments where
the thought occurred to me
that i would pay for this later
(which i did)
but i got so caught up with the fun and energy of the children
i couldn´t help myself
on the way down
chris and i used our height to our advantage
and plucked guavas from some of the trees
for everyone to eat
sometimes lifting the kids up high
to pluck the ripe ones down when even we couldn´t reach
we also gave them rides
by slinging a kid betwen the two of us
and lifting and running down the mountain
it was fun
it was spontaneous
and very very cool
we also went to media luna
where the kids very quickly realized
that the muddy grassy trail
made a perfect slide
it was fun to se them scooting down the mountain
little miconia in the thick of things
and then to see them climb back up
coverd in dirt and mud
with these huge beaming smiles on their faces
it was almost as good as the expression on maria´s face
every time they scrambled back up
covered in even more dirt
i have to say
that was the highlight of my stay
in santa cruz
and now
i have to head off to catch a canoe
into the amazon
i´ll try to finish the rst of the blogging
when i return from the jungle
=)