urbanblitz

I am absolutely sad about leaving Ecuador, right now. It was a fantastic experience. Especially the folks I met at the Galapagos. The poor sea lions I stalked down the beach. And the blue footed boobies. It was a total spanish immersion for me. And now I find that I [...]

It was my last day in Otavalo and I couldn’t wait to get back to Quito. It turns out that Luis had not called the driver from Quito, and Senora Arrinda had told me it was better for me to go with her friend Santos. It would cost me 40 dollars, especially if I went [...]

This is the real reason why I came to Otavalo. I wanted to experience the Saturday Market. But I really should have listen to Forrest because after 3 days of Otavalo, I was going stir crazy from boredom. I’m such a city gal. I had gotten up really early in [...]

I had headed up to Otavalo on Thursday, so that I would be able to make the artisan tour with Zulaytur on Friday. I heard great things about the tour in the guidebooks. Except that they didn’t mention that the whole tour would be in spanish. Thank god, I knew enough spanish to [...]

Before heading up to Otavalo, I went to Mitad de Mundo with Dave. At the actual equator, a guide showed us all these demonstrations about the equator. It was really an one-on- one with the guide.

We also had to try to balance an egg on a nail. Since I couldn’t do it [...]

We all left the boat at about 6:30 am to head over to the Darwin Center to see the giant tortoises in captivity. There was Diego who is a 150 years old. And Lonesome George, the last remaining giant tortoise from Pinta. They think he’s gay. Apparently they try cross breeding him with [...]

I’m getting a bit tired of the food on board. Frankly, it’s either bland or a bit too salty. And I don’t think I want anymore fish, eggs, or cheese because that’s all they serve. I’m also feeling Pavlovan trained. Every time they ring the bell, I know food is coming. The [...]

On our first island we ran into the cutest sea lion pup. I told him to pose for me. Then to work it. He gave me such amazing shots. And when I tried to leave he gave me these puppy dog eyes. Don’t go. I guess I had a little diva on [...]

Today, we’ll be saying goodbye to most of the passengers at Santa Cruz. Some are going home, while others are heading off the Inca trail. I’ve grown use to having Karen my roommate around and the routine we had set. So before we all part our ways, we were going to see [...]

Today we visited the bachelor sea lion colony. And what an adventure it turned out to be. First we encountered an iguana who was trying to feast on a cactus leaf that fell off. It was trying to polish it off before the other iguanas discovered. He didn’t seem like he [...]