130,000 RBC Rewards points just bit the dust.

Our next trip is planned in May, though we probably won't bother blogging much on this one. Both countries that will be visited are hinted at here:

Holiday Stats

1 sprained ankle;
2 train rides;
3 weeks;
4 km in elevation change (and then some);
5 countries;
6 equatorial crossings;
7 changes of season;
8 months of planning;
9 Galapagos islands visited;
10 airports;
11 personal guides;
12 plane rides;
13 taxi rides;

...and 22,000 km later, we're home.

Jan 8: Quito

We found the best bar last night!

It was a tapas and wine bar, and the system was that you had to "buy in" at a price range depending on the quality of wine (or beer) involved, and at each level you had a selection of wines you could choose from. Once you had bought in, you could have unlimited wine and switch between wines all you want, as well as unlimited tapas. For instance, Andrew bought in at $20 USD and single-handedly polished off a bottle of white wine and four bottles of beer, as well as enough tapas to make large meal of it. John & Becky had to leave for the airport afterward to start their multi-day journey home to Sydney via Buenos Aires and Aukland; we just went back to our hotel and drunkenly crashed out.

Today we toured the 'Old Town" of Quito but our hearts weren't really in it. After three weeks of "scheduled fun" and with last night's festivities feeling like a last hurrah, we have mentally checked out. We half-hearted toured a few cathedrals, then decided to skip the Teleferiqo (cable car that takes you to a lookout over Quito at 4050m - but we've been higher in the mountains during each of the last three days) and the Mitad del Mondo (Middle of the World, the monument marking the equator - but we've crossed it FIVE times already during this trip). Instead, we headed back to "Gringolandia" and found a bar to have a long lunch followed by a much needed siesta.

Tomorrow we start to find our way home ourselves.

Jan 7: Cotopaxi Bike Tour

Today, under much better weather conditions, we went for a bike tour down Cotopaxi volcano. We started at a new record altitude of 4500m and descend 1km in altitude over a 30km ride.

A short post today since John & Becky leave tonight and we want to go for "faraway" drinks. Instead, he's a picture of us setting off on our bike tour:

Jan 5-6: Illiniza Norte... FAIL!

Today's mission was to reach the summit of Illiniza North at 5160m above sea level. Our guide got us set up with camp at 3900m while Illiniza loomed overhead:

We went for a practice hike up to 4100m where it began to rain. When we got back to camp we were soaked. Then it rained some more. We huddled in the dining tent for dinner. Then it rained some more. We went to bed at 7PM since we had to get up at 3AM to start the climb in the dark. Then it rained some more.

At 3AM it was still raining, so we went back to sleep.

At 4AM it was still raining, so we went back to sleep.

At 5AM it was still raining, so we went back to sleep for good.

We got up for breakfast at around 8AM and it was still raining. Fortunately, by the time we had finished packing up camp the sky had cleared and we could see the new state of Illiniza:

It was now too late in the morning to do the full climb, and we had not brought snow climbing equipment, so the summit was now out of reach. Instead, we hiked up for a couple hours, peaking at 4400m, then got the heck back to Quito.

That mountain simply didn't want us there.

Jan 4: In Transit

Today was a travelling day to get to Quito; tomorrow we set off on our two-day hike.

Bonus Post: Andrew Mocks the Animals of the Galapagos.

Jan 3: Galapagos Day 7: Lava Lizard Attack!

Today's funniest moment was when Andrew was posing for a photo next to a Nazca Booby on a rock wall, when a 10-inch Lava Lizard leapt off the wall and onto his chest. Since you're not allowed to touch the animals, he had no choice but to stand there and wait for it to decide to leave in its own time. Sadly, we didn't manage to capture a photo of the event.

Tomorrow we have to go back to civilization. {Sigh.}

Jan 2: Galapagos Day 6: Giant Tortoise Day

Today we reached another new island for “Giant Tortoise Day”. We started with dozens of wild giant tortoises littering the fields and woods, which was not the natural environment we had pictured them in.

After a quick side-trip where we walked through a giant lava-tube, we went to see one of the most famous individual animals in the world: Lonesome George. However, at 170 years-old George was wiser than we were and had taken shelter from the oppressive heat and all we could see was his rear-end sticking out from under an enclosure.

Other than the tortoises, we didn't care for this island as much since, unlike any of the previous islands we've been to, it suffered from an infestation of upright, hairless primates who dominated the landscape and made a lot of noise. We were happy to get back to the boat.

On the bright side, we did manage to score some $6 bottles of rum to take back to the boat, and even managed to stay up drinking to a respectable hour.

Jan 1: Galapagos Day 5: Bartolome Island

Bartolome Island features the most famous vista in the Galapagos Islands:

'nuff said.

Dec 31: Galapagos Day 4: Life At Sea

The days are starting to melt into each other and it's hard to tell one from the next: each dawn we awake to find a new island awaiting us; mornings are spent hiking among countless sea lions, iguanas, and Sally Lightfoot crab; afternoons are spent snorkling with Galapagos penguins, 200kg giant turtles, & 8-ft reef sharks; twice-daily siestas are spent on the sun deck enjoying the scenery and drinks from “Hugo's bar”.

One of the nicer surprises on the tour is the cloud of frigatebirds that gather over the ship as we set sail every evening. They seem to enjoy the updraft over the bow of the ship, allowing them to spread their 7-ft wingspans and just glide effortlessly 20-ft above our heads on the sun deck. It is wise to cover your drinks during this daily routine.

New Years Eve was a busy night: it was our turn for dinner with the captain (everyone on board gets a chance), during which the crew performed an impromtu concert, and then up to the sun-deck for drinks and dancing until midnight. Passengers were ferried over (and even swam, apparently) from other ships in the harbour for a joint party. The local custom for New Year's Eve is to build an effigy and burn it at midnight. The crew had been working all week on this and it was cast burning into the sea from the back of the boat:

We wimped out and went to bed right after midnight. A lot of the younger crowd stayed up drinking to the wee hours. Worryingly, so did the captain.

Dec 30: Galapagos Day 3: Iguanas

Today's island's main features were crab, flightless cormorants, and lots and lots of iguanas:

Not to be out-done, the local sea lions stages several dramas for us while we toured by, featuring:

1) Alpha male catching lesser male near his harem and forcefully chasing him away.
2) Young pups frolicing and rough-housing in the nursery.
3) Baby pup not knowing where its mother was and wailing, mother barking in reply, followed by a joyful reunion.

Andrew has a theory that most of the animals are animatronics stolen from a theme-park somewhere. There's simply no other way to explain the story-lines they act out and the perfect poses they always assume.

Everything was relaxing that evening until... PIRATE ATTACK!!!

As we crossed the equator for the first time during the daylight hours (though the third of the trip overall) we were attacked by a roving band of Galapagos pirates (plus Neptune and a strange bishop for some reason):

Fortunately, we were allows to join the pirate clan and were sworn in with new Galapagos names and a shot of “iguana blood” Strangely, none of the regular crew was around to help us during the attack...?

Dec 29: Galapagos Day 2: BOOBIES!

Our second stop was on an island dominated by birds, featuring frigatebirds, gulls, owls, mockingbirds, warblers, paradise-birds, the famous finches, and everybody´s favorite-named bird: BOOBIES!

There are a few hard-cord bird-watchers on the boat so there were quite excited about today, though it seems the birds that the bird-watchers are the most interested in are the most mundane and plain of the various species we've seen. (Darwin's famous finches are quite forgettable.) Like all the other animals we've encountered thus far, the birds (like the BOOBIES) have no fear of humans so you can get quite close to them.

After lunch, we went for a deep-water snorkle across the bay where we saw lots of fish, more friendly sea lions, and even a few more BOOBIES. On our dinghy ride back to the Eric we spotted our first sea turtles in the water, and even a brief glance at a shark.

Tonight we have to cover 160 nautical miles to get to the other side of the islands and are ploughing through some relatively rough waters, and as such almost everyone is feeling pretty sea-sick. Only about half the passengers managed to have dinner.

Did I mention BOOBIES?

Dec 28: Galapagos Day 1: Sea Lions

Finally on to the heart of this trip: the Galapagos Islands. We met up with out friends, John & Becky from Sydney, on the short flight out to the islands. From there, a four minute bus ride took us to our boat, the Eric where we expected to settle in for a nice relaxing afternoon of leasure...


Not quite. Instead we were immediately taken for an introductory snorkle on a nearby beach, which involved swimming in and among sea lions and the occasional manta ray. None of the animals have the slightest fear of humans so you can get as close to them as your guide allows you.

Finally we had a sunset tour around a large volcanic rock formation.

Life on the boat is pretty rough: breakfast, lunch, & dinner; snacks; a bar; TV; DVD; and several sun decks. We could get used to the sea life.