Peru & Ecuador - Part 5

Saturday was Day 3 of our ship experience, which took us back to Santa Cruz Island, this time for a short bus ride to the Charles Darwin Research Station. Here we visited the giant tortoise Breeding Centre, located within a large prickly-pear cactus forest. This area is the headquarters of scientific investigations, conservation, and the National Park administration.

We also visited a local family farm where they explained their process of growing coffee and cocoa beans, and use the residue to make moonshine and other spirits. After that the bus took us the Manzanillo Ranch, where we had a delicious lunch buffet before donning knee-high boots to walk among the giant tortoises who reside there. 

Santa Cruz Island

On Day 4 we made our way to Floreana Island. It is the most isolated and least visited island in the Galapagos. We began our morning with panga rides to get a closer look at the island, followed by snorkeling. The water was a balmy 68 degrees - ha! The waters were a little rough and pushing us towards the rocky shore, so I did not stay in the water for an extended period. There was a lot of wildlife on the rocks, so I enjoyed having the time to take photographs.

Floreana Island in the morning

After lunch we took the pangas to a wet landing on an olive-green sand beach (rich in olivine crystals). From there we hiked to a brackish-water lagoon, where unfortunately not too much wildlife was in evidence. That changed when we got to the bright white coral sand beach. It was beautiful as we were the first boat in our group to arrive, so the beach was free of any footprints except for those from a bird. We saw several sea turtles, rays in the water, pelicans and other shore birds. On the way back to the pangas we only spotted one flamingo far off in the distance. But a blue-footed booby was close to the shore at the end, so that was cool.

Floreana Island in the afternoon

The next morning it was time for us to leave the Santa Cruz II. We said goodbye to the others who were staying on for a few more days, then took a panga to the dock. From there we boarded a bus back to Baltra Island and the Seymour Galapagos Island for our flight to Quito. This ended our tour with HX Expeditions, but one final adventure awaited us.

Peru & Ecuador - Part 4

Day 2 on board the Santa Cruz II took us to Isabela Island. After breakfast we boarded the pangas to study the coastline of the island, which is a nesting place for several of the area's unique species including the flightless cormorants, Galapagos penguins, and boobies. After that we jumped into the water to snorkel. It was freezing at 67 degrees fahrenheit! I nearly climbed back on board the panga. They had provided us with partial wetsuits, but honestly it was still so cold. I'm glad I persevered though, as it was some of the best snorkeling I have ever done. The sea life was plentiful, and I saw so many sea turtles. I had not experienced that before. Unfortunately my underwater camera decided to stop working after only a couple of photos so I didn't get much there.

Isabella Island morning excursion

The panga ride back to the ship was quite chilly. Jim and I decided to hop into the hot tub on the back of the boat once we shed our wetsuits. It felt great! Then we had to shower and have lunch so we could rest up before the afternoon hike.

the ship had two hot tubs

Fernandina Island was our hiking expedition in the afternoon. This was probably my favorite spot on the whole trip. There was a high concentration of marine iguanas of all different colors. The sea lions were also abundant, and a sheltered rocky cove was a perfect nursery for the sea lion babies. They put on quite a show for us! The colorful Sally Lightfoot crabs scuttled along the rocks as well, and the American Oystercatcher traversed the rocks looking for a meal. We saw another sea turtle resting on the sand, paying no attention to those of us trying to take his picture. The beautiful sunset was a perfect ending to an exceptional day.

Fernandina Island

Peru & Ecuador - Part 3

Seymour Galapagos Airport

On Thursday (Thanksgiving Day!) we had a 4:30 a.m. wakeup call as our luggage needed to be outside the room by 5:00. We had time for breakfast before boarding our bus to the airport at 6:00. Our flight ended up leaving a little late, then had to stop at Guayaquil Airport for about 45 minutes before heading on to the Seymour Galapagos Ecological Airport on Baltra Island.

Our journey to the Western Route of the Galapagos Islands took place upon the Santa Cruz II, a ship owned and operated by our tour group, HX Expeditions. The dock was located a short drive from the airport, and we had to travel by panga (we would know these as zodiacs) from the dock to the ship. It was always required that we wear a life vest when on one of the pangas, and these were different from the life vests in our cabin which were to be used only in case of an emergency.

boarding the Santa Cruz II

Once on board we were able to check out our cabin, and then went to lunch in the ships's only dining room. The Santa Cruz holds 90 passengers, but we had only 83. This included a group of 12 young ladies from a local university. After lunch we had to participate in the mandatory emergency drill.

our stateroom

The afternoon brought us our first hike, which took place on Santa Cruz Island. We were divided in groups of around 12, and our group was the Sea Lions. The pangas brought us from the ship to the island, where we had a dry landing. We saw the interesting landscape of Dragon Hill, located on the north shore of the island. After that we walked inland on a trail that gave us a beautiful view of the bay and the western islands of the archipelago. Out first true glimpse of a Galapagos island felt like a National Geographic moment. The terrain and wildlife were everything we thought and hoped they would be.

Santa Cruz Island

Before dinner we were offered a briefing of the next day's activities, and this was the case each evening on the ship. That night the dinner buffet included turkey for those on board who were missing their Thanksgiving meal back home.

Peru & Ecuador - Part 2

November 24th we had a 4:00 a.m. wake up call. We were able to pick up a to-go breakfast box at 4:30 and then our buses took us to the Ollantaytambo train station, which was about three hours away. Our train left the station at 8:48, headed to Aguas Calientes which was an hour and fifteen minutes away. Once you depart the train you take a 30 minute public shuttle to Machu Picchu, which sits at an elevation of 7,970 feet.

Our tour began at 10:00. While the area was socked in with low clouds, they made an interesting shroud of the mountains. Unfortunately it began to rain (pretty much the only steady rain we had on the trip), but luckily we had rain coats with us. It did quit after a bit, so we were able to enjoy the experience a little more. We only had a little over two hours to explore, so much of our day was spent in transportation. We took the shuttle back to town where we had lunch with a little time left over to check out the buildings in the area.

Then it was a reverse of the trip, and we did not get back to the hotel until nearly 8:00. We had a late dinner at the hotel before heading off to bed.

Machu Picchu

The next morning we had an early breakfast at the hotel because our buses were taking us to the Cusco airport at 7:20. We had to fly from Cusco to Lima, where we met with different representatives from the tour company who would get us onto our connecting flight to Quito, Ecuador.

Quito Airport

We arrived at the JW Marriott in the late afternoon. Dinner was included at the hotel, so we ate there and turned in somewhat early as the next day included an all day tour of historic Quito and the Middle of the World. In the city center we visited churches, saw the Presidential Palace, and toured a chocolate factory (very small and family-operated.) After that we headed out of town for lunch up in the mountains in a gorgeous setting.

Quito tour

Following lunch we drove outside of Quito to the Middle of the World, which marks the Equator. This is the point that divides the Earth into the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. The site includes a monument, museum, shops and interesting artwork. 

Middle of the World

Once back at the hotel we had dinner and then it was off to bed. The next day included a 4:30 wakeup call in preparation for an early flight to our next destination.

Bucket List Trip to Peru & Ecuador - Part 1

At the beginning of 2020 we had a trip to Peru and Ecuador with our daughter all mapped out. Well, we all know what happened in 2020. Covid put the brakes on all travel. Five years later, we finally got to make this trip. With the original trip we had planned everything on our own. This time we booked through HX Expeditions so they arranged everything except for the post trip that we selected to go to the Amazon.

CLT Airport

We left Charlotte on November 21, flying first to Miami and then on to Lima. Our daughter was able to fly directly to Lima from Los Angeles, and she arrived in Lima about forty minutes before us. However while she breezed through customs, we had an hour and a half wait in an extremely long line. And this was at 11:30 in the evening!

After collecting our luggage, we headed outside to wait for our airport shuttle. We had decided to stay at the Holiday Inn by the airport since we were getting in so late. The hotel where we would join our group was about an hour away from the airport. After a few times of up and down curbs (no ramps), the handle broke off my large suitcase. This was not a good way to start a trip that was going to be filled with many changes in lodging over the course of two plus weeks. We finally checked into our hotel at 1:45 in the morning.

Following breakfast the next morning we took a cab to our hotel, the AC Hotel by Marriott Lima Miraflores. Fortunately they had our rooms ready, so we dumped our suitcases and headed out to explore the area. There was a mall area nearby, and we found a nice place to have lunch. Later we booked a van tour of Lima. There were only two other people in our group - a man from India and a woman from Jamaica. 

Lima November 22nd

The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel before meeting up with our tour group. I think there were about 31 of us for this portion of the tour. We were transported to the airport for our flight to Cusco. One thing I didn't like about this tour is that we were just given our boarding passes right before getting on the plane. I was not seated with the rest of my family, which I didn't like. The seats were three across, so it should have been easy to keep us together.

Once we arrived in Cusco we had a short transfer via bus to the Hotel Palacio del Inka, where we had lunch. Cusco sits at over 11,000 feet above sea level, and we were lucky in that aside from a mild headache the first day we did not suffer from any other altitude sickness side effects.

After lunch we did a half day tour of the city, including the Santo Domingo Monastery, the archaeological site of Sacsayhuaman, the Sulca Textile House Museum with their animals, and Cusco Main Square. Then it was time to rest up for the next day's trip to Machu Picchu.

Cusco