urbanblitz

We were going to see the Blue Footed and Masked Boobies. And I was absolutely excited. This was the animal that I wanted to see most. It was their mating season. Oh my god! It was totally amazing to see the mating dance in real life. It was really slow but just so cool that there are no words to really describe the experience. I was literally less than 2 meters from the action. I felt like such a voyeur. Not only did I get to see the blue footed boobies mate, but I also go to see a masked boobie laid an egg.

Everything was so surreal. Even when we went to the sea lion colony. In fact, there was a sea lion who had taken a liking to me. And pretty much follow me down the beach. He was a bit of a player because he stopped a few time to give his girlfriends a kiss as he waddle behind me. The sea lion even followed me to the group and scared the living crap out of Liz. I don’t think she really liked wildlife. Then he went off to pick a fight with another sea lion on the beach.

The mockingbirds hopped around the beach tormenting the sea lion. I had even had one that started pecking at my water bottle. When I picked up my bottle and put it in my pack. It gave me a dirty look like why did I have to do that. It’s so strange how the wildlife is so tamed.

It finally hit me, that I was on the Galapagos Islands. Yesterday, was just a little taste of what I was going to see. And it so surreal to be so close to so much wildlife. As soon as we saw our first sea lion, the cameras started clicking. This was the pattern to be continued in the next few days. After attempting to take a picture of a flamingo, I immediately regretted not purchasing a telephoto lens before my trip. So I had to work with an 18-55mm lens which had to be sufficient at the moment.

While most the other passengers had gone to the first snorkeling expedition, I ended up hanging out on the boat. I really feel like I lost a sense of time on the Galapagos. And I’m getting a bit use to being on the boat. After some of our expeditions from the islands, I would retreat to my room to do a bit of reading. Of course, with the gentle rocking of the boat, I would be asleep in 10 minutes. I must admit that I was starting to feel a bit like a sea lion. Though I’m still trying to get use to how rocky the boat can be. This morning in my attempt to take a shower, I was thrown back and forth like a sack of rice. It wasn’t a very pleasant experience.

In the afternoon, we stopped off to see the famous Galapagos Post Office Box. People leave postcards to be hopefully be hand carry to their final destination. In the past, sailors use to pick up mail for other ports. But now a days the post office barrel is more a tourist thing. I put a postcard to be sent to work. Hopefully, because the postcard is going to New York, that there will be a higher probability it will be delivered one day.

We were departing at 7 am this morning for the Galapagos islands. And I slept the whole way there. If Dave didn’t get me snacks while I was zonked out, I would have been absolutely famished. After we got to Baltra airport, we took a ferry then a bus to Puerto Ayora. And we didn’t arrive onto the M/S Pelikano until about 2pm. We were going to the Highlands of Santa Cruz to see the wild giant tortoises. This is where we met the other 3 passengers that have already been on the tour for 4 days. It was Sven the Beligum, and John and Molly the older British couple. After about 5 minutes, I really wanted to put a muzzle on Molly. She monopolized Walter the guide with trivial questions or statements. After a while, I wanted to shout let’s just get on with it. Sven eventually started rolling his eyes and was quickly losing patiences with Molly. Who can blame him. He’s had to deal with her for at least 4 days already. I’m just surprised he didn’t try to throw her overboard.

Then we spotted the giant tortoises. They’re about 150 pounds and can live up to 200 years. It was pretty cool how close we got to them. But I also sense that they didn’t like to have their picture taken. I had a few that had immediately turn around and moon me. Can I say that was really rude even for a tortoise.

After viewing the tortoises, we had a brief coffee break. Sven moved as far away from Molly. John must had wanted to get away from Molly because he immediately approached Dave and I. He was really nice, and I felt really sorry for him. I had slipped on the stairs on our way out of the small cafe. And all I could think about was if I shattered the lens of my camera.

Since, I only was able to visit 3 sights yesterday. I had my work cut out for me. I needed to check into the Rio Amazonas hotel for beginning of my Galapagos tour. But I was trying to hit some sights before I checked into my next hotel.

The first thing on my agenda was the Monasterio del Carmen Alto to buy these famous lemon candies which is only sold on Tuesday and Thursday. Due to my lack of communication skills, I ended up buying these lemon cookies. Then I started wandering over to Independence Plaza and ran into a car accident. No one was hurt, but I think the taxi driver hit a fruit truck. Who knows. I just know that they were in some heated argument, and I wanted to get over the Teatro of Sucre which wasn’t all too interesting. And I was trying to figure out how to walk over to the Monasterio of Santa Catalina. I kind of gotten lost along the way and ended up in the Grande Plaza. Where I encountered a protest. I was surrounded by blue balloons, but I felt really bad because I didn’t know what they were protesting about.

I finally made it to the Monasterio of Santa Catalina. But not before being derailed by a yarn store. I love yarn. They had so many colors to choose from. While I was perusing, I was accosted by a homeless man who had walked into the store. He had grabbed my arm and wouldn’t leave me alone. I’ve never had encountered a bum that was so forward. He kept pestering me for 5 cents. And I was bit shaken. Finally the store owner told him to leave.

At the Monasterio of Santa Catalina, they had walked me through a 20 minute tour of the religious artwork. It was well worth it to see the view from the top of the bell tower.

After I checked into the Rio Amazones, I quickly headed over to the Jardin Botanico. It isn’t as big as the Brooklyn Botanical Garden and there were no trees for me to sit on. But it was absolutely stunning. I just kept taking pictures until I heard thunder. 10 minutes after I got into the cab, it started hailing. Literally hailing golf balls. Apparently this a regular occurrence in the afternoon that last about 1 hour. I don’t know if that is something I could get use to.

At about 5:30 pm or so, I head down to G.A.P. trip briefing. It was a bit confusing for a sec because we were all doing different tours. Dave and I were on the 8 day tour of the Galapagos. While Rolf, Rita and Karen were doing the Inca Trail and Galapagos Island tour. They were only going to be on the cruise for 4 days. But we finally sorted that out. Afterwards, I went out to dinner at La Boca del Lobo with some other folks from the tour. We were all independent travellers and seem to get along quite well. Hazel and Jonathan were also on the 8 day tour, but they were going to be on another boat.

(left to right: Karen, Dave, Me, Jonathan and Hazel. picture taken by Hazel)

Before I started the sightseeing rat race, I had grab some breakfast at the hotel. I ordered a coddled egg which is just a fancy schmancy term for a soft boiled egg. It was pretty early in the morning so most of the sights were still closed. So I hailed a cab to El Panecillo otherwise known as the Little Bread Loaf to see the famous Virgin monument of Quito.

The view was absolutely breathtaking. And I was glad I went early in the morning, when tourist were scarce. After snapping a few pictures, I made the hustle over to the Teleférico to see the panoramic view of the city of Quito. I started to hike up the trail when I started having issues with the altitude.

So I left to hit my next sight, the Basilica del Voto Nacional. It’s suppose to have the deadliest view of the city. And after climbing 300 steps to the top of the tower, I had walked down the creaky wooden bridge leading to the ladder. While I was climbing up the ladder, I notice one of the wires was a bit loose. I made the mistake of looking down, and had dropped the cap for my water bottle. That really didn’t help to calm my nerves. So I retreated. But I really wanted to see the view. Oh wells. Maybe next time. I was trying to hail a taxi to the Monasterio fe Santa Catalina from the Basilica, but I couldn’t find a cab for the life of me. After about 30 minutes, and with the help of one of the guys from the Basilica I was on my way back to the hotel.

I was in a bit of rush to get back in time to meet up with Gaby a Quito local.  We went to a 24 hour coffee shop near Foch street which is the heart of Mariscal. It was a bit weird seeing armed guards on the streets.  According to Gaby, Mariscal has gotten super safe in the past 6 years, and that armed guards only patrol a 3 block radius.  Quito is a big city, yet it’s such a small town.  When we we were walking down one of the streets, we saw her mother’s car past by.  And we ran to flag her down.  It was very nice to meet her mom and grandfather who thought it was very brave of me to be traveling solo.  In the end, it was a semi-productive day.  I met up with a Quito local and saw the most magnificent views of the city.

Today, I was leaving for Quito, Ecuador en route to the Galapagos. And I already miss my friends. Luckily, I got to the airport with no problems. There were two older women in front of me in the security check who should not have wore so much jewelry. They caused a bit of bottleneck at the security check point. Which is a bit annoying. But c’est la vie. Aside from that I had about 2 hours to kill before my flight boarding. My flight was delayed a bit, because they had to escort this Jamaican lady off my flight. I still don’t know why. I guess this is a start of my South American adventure. The guy I sat next to was such a chatty cathy. But his name escapes me. I just know that he is from Ibarra, Ecuador and was returning to NY in 2 weeks. He was a bit bummed that we were not going to be sitting together on our connecting flight. But I really just really breathing a sigh of relief. I don’t think I would have been able to put up with a few more hours of his chattering. Frankly, I just wanted to get some sleep.

By the time we got to Miami, we were racing to board the connecting flight to Quito. And here is where I met the Patels. They were a lovely couple from Atlanta, that seem do a lot of adventure traveling. According to Shelafi, I must see the Taj Mahal in January and the pyramids. But truly I think our meeting was serendipitous. It turned out they were staying at Cafe Cultura.

Leaving the airport was another issue. It turns out that we were on the same flight with Ecuador’s Special Olympic Team. And they were returning from teh games in Shanghai. They were welcome with thunderous cheer for their gold medal win at the games. But getting out of the airport was a bit of a nightmare. Pretty much, a lot of waiting while the crowd cleared. And this is how my adventures in Quito had begun.

I’m so groggy right now. Went out with some friends last night. And it’s a lazy Sunday in London this morning. Well more like afternoon. Had some egg concette with toy soliders. Yes, toy soliders? What the hell. It’s just a few slices of bread. Egg Benedict, Florentine or Ranchero was not an option. I was tempted to get the lamb burger but I was so tired, I couldn’t even think straight. Their coffee was served in a glass as oppose to a mug. I’m in a caffeinated state right now. I wondering if that’s really a good thing.

I have successfully survived Oktoberfest but not without some bumps and bruises. There is only one word my whole experience, and that’s just insane. Everything was pretty surreal and much of it is a blur. Seriously, what sane person would make a mad dash into a beer tent at 9 am in the morning. Well, maybe the 200 other people standing outside of the beer tent with me. You would only really understand if you were there. This is definitley an event that is going down in the books for me.

Where? Prague, of course. For 4 days, I stuffed myself silly with meat and potatoes to dumplings. And let’s not forget the Czech beer. I arrived at the Czech Inn Hostel a few minutes after my friend Kevin. Which was pretty cool. The next day, we met Emily definitely brought a spark to the first leg of my trip. Emily one of these free spirited southern belles. And we spent day dragging Kevin all around Prague. We manage to drag Kevin all around Prague while making important shopping detours.

After a few days of touring the sights, I met Kylie the Canadian school teacher. She was immediately recruited into the crew as we headed out to U Sudu this wine bar known for it’s catacomb of rooms. We hustled back to hostel before midnight. It wasn’t like anything was going to turn into a pumpkin. But we really didn’t want to try to figure out public transport after 12am, sincemost tram service shuts down. The night ended with a shot of Absinthe. Let’s just say I had some problems opening my combination lock because I couldn’t focus

Finally, I’m in London.  It’s so weird.  I got off the plane and my brain was mush.  I was so incoherent.  My brain had a massive craving for coffee.  And my vocabulary consisted of huh, what, and strange funny facial expressions.  Then I crashed.  And then I woke up when I got an infusion of caffeine at a cafe.  Kitty and DS brought me to this Art of Brain workshop.  Funny, considering my brain was on shut down most of the day.  The first thing we did was make a brain. It was kind of cool.  I had fun playing with this air dough.  It a much superior product compared playdo and silly putty. Pretty much it feels like fluff and styrofoam. Then we went and painted, color and drew brain cells.  I was a bit bored at that point and wanted to go back to playing with the air dough.  What do you expect, I’m a potter.  Except it was nothing like clay.