By Luke, on May 14, 2011, 3:02 am
I have just returned from the Galapagos islands after spending 7 days their and what a truly amazing 7 days they where. When we where planning our trip to south America the Galapagos islands where something that we gave alot of thought, the reason being that it costs the same for one week as a months travel and lets face it were all on a budget. Having now been to the Galapagos islands I am so glad we decided to do it.
We booked a 9 day tour with gap adventures, 3 days on a boat cruze and 3 on Isabella island. We thought having a little mix would enable us to really see what the golapagos was like. It was truly amazing, being surrounded by so much wildlife and being able to get so close, it’s a truly unique and magical place. As I am unable to upload photos at the moment I am going to keep this short and try to talk about some of my personal highlights, obviously upon my return to UK I will be adding tons of pictures.
Swimming with sea lions is was great fun. I had the opportunity to do it twice, the first time in deep water next to a small island just off of Española and the second time was at the dock of Isabella island. In the deep water the sea lions tended to keep their distance. While we where snorkelling around the docks the water was very shallow and all the sea lions where younger and a little more playful. They would lye on the surface of the water and float towards you, as yet got close (within 10cm) they would dart to one side or under you. It was great fun an something I don’t think I could ever get board of.
Climbing Sierra Negra on Isabella the largest island in the Galapagos was a real eye opener from a mother nature point of view. From Puerto Villamil we drove around 45 minutes and then walked gently for around 1.30 hours to reach the crater of the volcano. The most recent eruption of the main volcano was back in 2006 and the inside is black and arid. We then walked a little further to see some parasitic volcanoes (smaller volcanoes which feed from the main lava canal) and had a nice view over Elizabeth Bay. The most recent eruption in this area was 1979 and it was great to see the contrast between old and new lava flows as well as the vast differences in vegetation. What was really surprising to me was the time line of all these varying events, your talking millions and 10s of millions of years, puts it all into perspective abit.
Interesting Fact: The Galapagos islands are on a hotspots in the earths crust and are moving 6cm a year towards South America and will eventually disappear underneath the Andes. The Galapagos islands are around 1000km from the coat of Ecuador, I will let you do the maths on how long it will take!
The other thing that really struck me was the people. Everyone was supper chilled out, willing to help, friendly and the whole place felt really safe. Staying on Isabella really gave you a chance to soak up a bit of the local vibe, shame we could not have hung out a bit more really.
As a picture speaks a thousand words I’m gonna leave it their for now. If you ever have the chance or think you might like to go to the Galapagos islands, GO, it’s a magical place and you won’t be disappointed!
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By Luke, on May 11, 2011, 6:45 am
We arrive in Cuenca early evening from Loja after a 6 hour bus ride. We headed straight for a hostel which we had picked out of the footprint. Casa Cauncana is situated in the centre of town it was a great location but a little noisy when the weekend came round. After having no luck finding a market we grabbed a bite at a local Mexican before heading to bed.
Walking around Cuenca, Ecuador
You can easily spend a day walking around the old colonial centre of Cuenca. The architecture has endless details which keep you engaged for hours. Thousands maybe even millions of small bricks with large almost marble like pillars around huge doorways make the cathedral one of the most breathtaking I have seen on my travels so far. Small squares with busy market stalls are dotted all over and their are at least two impressive markets Colonial Cuenca, Ecuador
By Luke, on May 9, 2011, 12:30 pm
I am whole hartedly loving Ecuador so far, so much so it is posing me some difficult questions. Sometime while we where in the Amazon we decided that we where going to extend our trip for a month, it could have easily been a few months but we love glastonbury music festival and have tickets so will now be heading back in mid June. The original idea was to use that month to travel north and do a loop of Columbia but now i am not sure for a couple of reasons.
Firstly, having spent a large amount of time in Iquitos volunteering we did not really get the opportunity to experience the jungle the way that we would have liked. I think we would both like to have have a jungle experience that is a little more raw than what we had in Iquitos. Also while in Iquitos Ecuador, Columbia, Ecuador, no wait…… Columbia
By Luke, on May 5, 2011, 6:00 am
Gosh I’ve been a busy little bee! I am completely cream crackered! It’s a bit of a struggle to remember everything but I will do my best to fill you in on the highlights.
We spent a few days in cusco before the inca trail. Supposedly relaxing and resting but as per usual we ended up walking around for miles and miles. The historic centre of cusco is really nice. It feels like it’s just a small town within a city. The only let down is that you cannot walk two steps in the centre without being hassled by someone to buy something. Obviously I understand they are just doing their jobs but after 4 days of it, it was driving me nuts! We had a guy selling paintings which Luke showed some interest in so he followed us for about an hour. He even sat outside a cafe An Email Home, Cusco and the Inca Trail
By Luke, on May 3, 2011, 6:45 pm
After a wild journey from Iquitos to Equador we arrived late in Vilcabumba, it was Easter Sunday and after a fun filled weekend the town was dead. We where shattered so just found a bed and slept. We had herd that their was a nice Eco lodge just out of town so the next morning after grabbing some breakfast we went it search of it.
Rumi Wilko is around 10 minute walk put of town and is clearly signposted. The owners have created a nature reserve on their land and have cabins along the river and shared rooms which where basic but adorable. Within the reserve their are a number of walks of up to two hours, we went out for a walk in the afternoon. Some of the paths where a little overgrown and their where a huge number of spiders which was kinda good to take some Vilcabamba, a magic place in Southern Equador.
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