It's March 1st, and off we go to Equatorial regions. Artisans of Leisure has helped us plan a 2 week visit to Equador. People have told us we absolutely should not miss the Galapagos, so we plotted to get there.
We met in Atlanta to catch our Delta flight at 6pm on the 1st. It was a great flight with really nice food and good movies! We arrived at the Quito , Equador airport at 11:30 pm. Quito was settled by the Spaniards in the 16th Century, and many of its buildings date from that era. It is nestled high in the Andes Mountains and the elevation is about 9,400 feet. Population 2.4 million.......Quito was declared the first World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1978 because it boasts the largest expanse of
original Spanish Colonial Architecture in all of the Americas.
This morning, the 2nd, we are recovering from the late night and will meet Xavier, our guide, to take a walking tour of the old town this afternoon. We are in a beautiful old hotel called Casa Gangotena.
After centuries of indigenous people living in this area, the Incas came in the late 15th Century.
In 1534, the Spanish came , conquered, and built up a town here. The earliest major church is San Francisco, and the Gangotena family built a stately home just next to the church. Our room overlooks the plaza and the entrance to the church.
Our tour with Xavier started at the top of a hill in town where the people erected a huge statue of
a virgin angel. She is a metal sculpture and represents the Angel of the Apocalypse .
We walked around the old town and visited an amazing Baroque Jesuite Church, La Compania de Jesus... It is known as one of the most beautiful Churches in Latin America, and is more elaborate than most we have seen anywhere!
Dinner was at ZaZu, a well known Peruvian restaurant in town. Dinner was acceptable, but nothing special.
Friday, March 3rd was a Banner Day in Quito. In the morning, our guide , Javier, took us on a 40 minute drive outside of town to see the place where the Equator is actually marked. There was a bit of a museum there.
We also saw the farmlands that exist inside the rim of a huge volcanic crater. If that crater erupts, a lot of farms will be toast!!
The we went to see the home and museum of a famous Ecuadorian painter named Oswaldo Guayasamin. He was a great painter and great collector of Pre Columbian art and also art from the Spanish Colonial period. His house is now a museum.
Lunch was at URKO Cucina Local..... a 4 course meal and all ingredients are local. It was Beautiful and delicious!!!
After Lunch we drove to the TelepheriQue to ride up the mountain to the ridge to admire the town below and the 7 volcanic mountains that surround the city. 15,000 feet and the air was thin!
We are overlooking the farms that have established themselves inside an old volcanic crater. This is the one we hope never becomes active again.........
Dinner later was at Gloria. Tuna tartare and Grilled octopus ( both yummy) followed by
Prawns in a saffron sauce for both of us. We celebrated Rays retirement from his 40 year career
with Champagne and candles on the chocolate pistachio torte that was dessert. He was very pleased to be feted......
Tomorrow morning we head to the Ocean Spray catamaran to tour the Galapagos Islands.
Our visit to the Galapagos began on Saturday, March 4th. We flew to the Island of Baltra, and were met by an Ocean Spray Crew member and were transported to our large Catamaran cruise boat
in time for a late lunch and as soon as we settled in, we departed for our first wildlife exploration .
We landed on the nearby Island of North Seymour and were immediately surrounded by wildlife of all sorts. It was stunning and amazing!
On day 2, Sunday, we cruised to the Island of ISABELLA. It's the largest island and shaped like a seahorse with 5 major volcanoes. Our first destination was Punta Vincente Roca, at the Northwestern end of the island, at the mouth of the seahorse. In the morning, we took a panga ( zodiac) ride to view the small Galapagos penguins, cormorants , and sea turtles. Oh yes and the sea lions. WE had our first snorkeling experience in a bay there and the water was clear with tons of fish to look at.
After lunch, we landed at FERNANDINA Island, Punta Espinoza. We hiked over volcanic lava and
along a beach with coarse sand and rocks. More sea lions and lots of marine iguanas basking in the sun.
Over the next few days we stopped at a variety of spots:
Tagus Cove on Isabella
Urbana Bay , Isabella
Elizabeth Bay, Isabella
Moreno Point for a snorkel
Santa Cruze Island ... The town of Puerto Ayora
We saw a variety of landscapes, and many creatures on land and in the sea. Here are some of my favorite photos
The back lawn of Casa Zuleta
That first evening after dinner on the boat, we put on our bug repellent and went for a jungle walk to experience night there. We all had little flashlights and our guide, Aval ( who grew up in this region)
really knew how to spot stuff.
We met in Atlanta to catch our Delta flight at 6pm on the 1st. It was a great flight with really nice food and good movies! We arrived at the Quito , Equador airport at 11:30 pm. Quito was settled by the Spaniards in the 16th Century, and many of its buildings date from that era. It is nestled high in the Andes Mountains and the elevation is about 9,400 feet. Population 2.4 million.......Quito was declared the first World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1978 because it boasts the largest expanse of
original Spanish Colonial Architecture in all of the Americas.
This morning, the 2nd, we are recovering from the late night and will meet Xavier, our guide, to take a walking tour of the old town this afternoon. We are in a beautiful old hotel called Casa Gangotena.
After centuries of indigenous people living in this area, the Incas came in the late 15th Century.
In 1534, the Spanish came , conquered, and built up a town here. The earliest major church is San Francisco, and the Gangotena family built a stately home just next to the church. Our room overlooks the plaza and the entrance to the church.
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| Facade of Church of San Francisco |
Our tour with Xavier started at the top of a hill in town where the people erected a huge statue of
a virgin angel. She is a metal sculpture and represents the Angel of the Apocalypse .
We walked around the old town and visited an amazing Baroque Jesuite Church, La Compania de Jesus... It is known as one of the most beautiful Churches in Latin America, and is more elaborate than most we have seen anywhere!
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| Outside La Campania |
Dinner was at ZaZu, a well known Peruvian restaurant in town. Dinner was acceptable, but nothing special.
Friday, March 3rd was a Banner Day in Quito. In the morning, our guide , Javier, took us on a 40 minute drive outside of town to see the place where the Equator is actually marked. There was a bit of a museum there.
We also saw the farmlands that exist inside the rim of a huge volcanic crater. If that crater erupts, a lot of farms will be toast!!
The we went to see the home and museum of a famous Ecuadorian painter named Oswaldo Guayasamin. He was a great painter and great collector of Pre Columbian art and also art from the Spanish Colonial period. His house is now a museum.
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| Inside the artists studio |
Lunch was at URKO Cucina Local..... a 4 course meal and all ingredients are local. It was Beautiful and delicious!!!
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| The kitchen at URKO |
After Lunch we drove to the TelepheriQue to ride up the mountain to the ridge to admire the town below and the 7 volcanic mountains that surround the city. 15,000 feet and the air was thin!
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| The city below us as we ascended the mountain |
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| Quito from the top of the volcanic mountain |
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| They had an Oxygen bar at the top for those who were giddy. We both tried it. I didn't notice any effect..... |
Dinner later was at Gloria. Tuna tartare and Grilled octopus ( both yummy) followed by
Prawns in a saffron sauce for both of us. We celebrated Rays retirement from his 40 year career
with Champagne and candles on the chocolate pistachio torte that was dessert. He was very pleased to be feted......
Tomorrow morning we head to the Ocean Spray catamaran to tour the Galapagos Islands.
Our visit to the Galapagos began on Saturday, March 4th. We flew to the Island of Baltra, and were met by an Ocean Spray Crew member and were transported to our large Catamaran cruise boat
in time for a late lunch and as soon as we settled in, we departed for our first wildlife exploration .
We landed on the nearby Island of North Seymour and were immediately surrounded by wildlife of all sorts. It was stunning and amazing!
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| Our Cabin on the "Ocean Spray" |
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| All 8 cabins on board had a private balcony |
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| Our first Land Iguana on North Seymour Island.....Over several days, we saw many of these guys. |
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| On North Seymour we saw many male frigate birds displaying their red throat, as it was mating season. Very impressive dudes! |
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| The Blue Footed Boobie is abundant here. Their feet get the blue color due to their diet of krill. There are other species of boobies, some with red feet. |
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| A cluster of male frigates advertising their wares. Hoping to attract a worthy female...... |
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| 2 gulls getting ready to mate right in front of all of us. The female did a lot of squawking all through the process. Never saw that before. |
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| Waiting for the panga to pick us up to return to the boat. |
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| One of our first sea lions. They are great swimmers! |
On day 2, Sunday, we cruised to the Island of ISABELLA. It's the largest island and shaped like a seahorse with 5 major volcanoes. Our first destination was Punta Vincente Roca, at the Northwestern end of the island, at the mouth of the seahorse. In the morning, we took a panga ( zodiac) ride to view the small Galapagos penguins, cormorants , and sea turtles. Oh yes and the sea lions. WE had our first snorkeling experience in a bay there and the water was clear with tons of fish to look at.
After lunch, we landed at FERNANDINA Island, Punta Espinoza. We hiked over volcanic lava and
along a beach with coarse sand and rocks. More sea lions and lots of marine iguanas basking in the sun.
Over the next few days we stopped at a variety of spots:
Tagus Cove on Isabella
Urbana Bay , Isabella
Elizabeth Bay, Isabella
Moreno Point for a snorkel
Santa Cruze Island ... The town of Puerto Ayora
We saw a variety of landscapes, and many creatures on land and in the sea. Here are some of my favorite photos
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| The point on Isabella |
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| Sea Lions getting ready to hunt for fish |
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| A Group of Marine Iguanas basking together in the sun |
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| A Marine Iguana close up. They are herbivores like Land Iguanas, but they eat plants in the sea. |
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| The surface of this island is volcanic rock. Very bleak. |
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| These Lightfoot Crabs are found on sea drenched rocks everywhere. |
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| A galapagos map showing the places we stopped. |
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| High above Tangus Cove on an early morning hike. |
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| A sea turtle emerging after morning rain at Elizabeth Bay. |
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| Ray captured 2 big guys in conversation |
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| This area on Isabella is full of mangroves. This shot shows the family from Atlanta in their panga with our naturalist guide, Javier. |
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| Another part of the island is a lava field. Ray went on this walk and shot this . I chose to be lazy that afternoon. |
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| On that same walk they came to this. Just goes to show the amazing diversity on Isabella. |
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| Where lava meets the sea. |
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| Our final day was a stop on the Island of SANTA CRUZ. The largest town in the islands is on the South shore. Sea lions bask on the benches and all around the dock all day long. People just walk around them. |
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| The harbor at Santa Cruz. These are taxis..... |
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| The preserved body of a tortoise called "Lonesome George" by the locals. HE was the last of his species, and he died in 2012 at a very advanced age. After spending a day on Santa Cruz, we headed back to the Baltra airport for our flight to the mainland and Quito. The food and service on the Ocean Spray were both divine, and we recommend them. We met our guide Xavier in Quito to continue our journey. Our new driver, Antonio, and drove us through the mountains and through a bunch of small towns to our next destination: a hacienda called Zuleta. Its the old family home of a former president of Equador and his family. The property has been passed down the generations and is now managed by one of the great grandsons. It is a huge working farm with 120 employees. Part of the operation is the guest rooms and traditional dining room serving old Ecuadorian recipes.  |
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| One of our activities was a ride down the cobblestone path to visit the condors they keep in captivity, for rescue and for breeding purposes. This is our view form horseback. The mound in the pasture is the buried ruins of an ancient Inca pyramid. |
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| It was great to be on horses. It has been way too long! They have about 60 horses. Also Cows , sheep, Alpacas, and a significant artisanal cheese operation. They sell their cheese all over Equador. |
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| What a delicious property nestled in the Andes!!Amazing shades of green! |
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| 2 of the 4 CONDORS they currently have on the property. |
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| We checked out the expansive gardens on the property. All sorts of produce and herbs are cultivated here. Due to the climate, they can grow it all year round. Here I am in the gardens with our great guide, Xavier. He lives with his wife and 2 sons in Quito. |
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| Hand embroidery is a cottage industry here. We bought a few things at this shop. |
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| This friendly guy was sitting on the side of the road. Looked like he was waiting for a ride. |
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| The master photographer at work......... |
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| A framed sample of local embroidery in our room at Zuleta |
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| We visited a street market in Otavolo on Saturday, the 11th. |
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| These guys are selling leeks |
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| She's displaying her guavas |
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| These ladies were eating lunch while selling their produce |
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| Xavier took us to Hacienda del Compania de Jesus for lunch... The family that owns the place was there to host us. |
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| The historic chapel on the property. This is an old Franciscan chapel. |
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| The family owns a large rose growing operation and these are a sample of what they sell. We visited the greenhouses after lunch. |
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| Zavier in the greenhouse |
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| Saturday night we were back in Quito at the Casa Guangutena for a one night stay. We had dinner that evening at ORKU Cochina Locale because we liked our previous lunch there so well. |
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| Sunday morning we flew from Quito to Coca and traveled down the Napo River to board our boat, the ANOKANDA, to explore the Amazon River Basin. |
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| Our first sunset on the Napo |
really knew how to spot stuff.
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| A young Rainbow Boa. As adults , they are apparently much bigger. Yikes! |
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| A really cute nocturnal tree frog. |
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| This tarantula was hiding in his hole. Aval went fishing for him with an unfortunate cricket on the end of a fishing line. The spider bit and Aval pulled him out of the hole for us all to see. WOW! Big hairy dude! |
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| Our group of 8 passengers on the motorized Canoe on Monday morning. We are heading to a tributary of the Napo for a beautiful wildlife watching cruise to Panacocha Lake. Following are a few of the creatures we spotted. |
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| A pair of Amazon Turkeys |
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| Orange Howler Monkey. They make a riotous noise. |
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| Near the lake we landed at a lodge with a wonderful enclosed patio. The crew was ready for us with a barbecue lunch. |
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| Happy Campers |
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| After lunch there were water activities. This kyak ride was cut short by the boiling hot sun. |
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| Later that afternoon, we returned to our river boat for a dinner and a quiet evening |
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| Tuesday morning we got up early to motor over to the local Parrot Licks....... they start their day taking in the minerals from the rocky river bank. |
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| Nearby Aval spotted some Amazon Spoonbill Flamingos feeding in the shallows. |
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| Next up was a visit to a local community..... special because it is run by women and an exercise in Sustainability. Called "Sami Isla".... A few of the ladies greet our group. |
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| We toured the gardens and learned how they harvest yucca, hearts of palm, and chocolate. |
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| The building that houses the kitchen and the community rooms. |
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| They cook and eat everything they grow, and fish they raise in ponds and catch in the river. |
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| Sampling the specialties with the Spanish couple from our boat, Ramone and Anna. |
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| Boll Weevel larvae..... they grill them on a skewer. Good protein. |
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| Aval proved that they are good raw! He ate them that way as a kid in a remote Napo River village. |
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| And if that wasn't enough, there was a HOT afternoon climb to the top of a viewing platform to look over the jungle from above. I sat that one out but Ray was game. |
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| our group on top of the jungle........ The following morning, Wed the 15th , we took the motorboat back to Coca town and flew back to Quito. Xavier and Antonio met us and drove with us to the HACIENDA SAN AUGUSTIN de CALLO.  The central courtyard at the Hacienda St Augustin de Callo. This is a very historic place. First constructed in the 15th century by the INCAS as a fort and later used as a monastery by the Augustine monks. Purchased by a family in the early 20th century, it has been converted to a wonderful hotel for visitors to get a feeling of upper class life in this country. The downside was no central heating. Fireplaces and wood stoves are it. They use a mash made of ashes and diesel fuel to ignite the wood . Smelly and not very healthy. But we needed to take the chill off the High Andes air.  The entrance to the living room. The stone wall is part of the original Inca structure. They were amazing builders. These stones are aligned so perfectly, no mortar is used to hold this and other walls in the building together. The dining room nearby is completely this structure on all 4 walls. A wonder!  The hacienda kitchen. The food was delicious!    An early morning view of the volcano. It is often surrounded by clouds. This is an ACTIVE VOLCANO by the way. the last time it blew was 2015. Ashes everywhere, but no lava flow..... that time.  This beautiful painting is a portrait of the current owner of the hacienda, Mignone, by the famous Ecuadorian painter, Guayasamin. We visited his studio back in Quito.  Hacienda Living room. The painting of Mignone is on the left wall.  Ray and Paula, the hacienda manager, feeding carrots to the lamas in the courtyard. They were invited in just for the treat. They live in a pasture on the property.  On Thursday, we visited an indigenous market..... local people only. Tourists don't usually find this one.   Friday morning we went to a huge park at the base of the Cotopaxi Volcano and took a walk around a lagoon there. Lunch in a mountainside restaurant at the base of a lot of hiking trails. We were at over 12,000 feet elevation and the air was thin. The top of the volcano rose about 8,000 feet above us, to 20,000 feet above sea level. the photo above is the lagoon formed by melted glacier from the top of the volcano.  This is a building near the mountain restaurant..... we stopped there for a simple lunch on Friday. Later in the afternoon, Xavier and Antonio dropped us off at the Wyndham Hotel at the Quito Airport where we spent a few hours before taking our Delta flight back home. We departed Quito at 11:30pm and arrived JFK at around 10 am on Saturday, with a stop in Atlanta. Highlights of the trip for us were the amazing variety of experiences this small country ( about the size of the state of Georgia) provides, the friendly people, good food, and wonderful guide, Xavier. He was one of the very best we've had so far. Adios Equador!!!!! |
