Galapagos Islands

Two Hundred Fifty-Three Days on the Road

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cropped-img_4837The good news is we haven’t killed each other, though there have been times that I’ve dreamt a pillow was hovering over my head. Just kidding.  We have gone from the two of us working six days a week while living in an eight-room house, to being together 24/7 with only a suitcase each.  Boy did we downsize! It was challenging: what not to bring, considering all the seasonal changes we have encountered.  Don’t laugh, but I have thermals, wool hats and gloves packed, just on the off chance we get snowed in on a mountain pass in the French Alps, this July.  Yes, there’s also a flask of medicinal whisky packed in the bags for emergencies.  And to my wife’s amusement, a cheap plastic fly swatter.  Tragically the backup swatter was left behind in Antigua.  In Lisbon I finally caved in and bought a pair of slippers because the floors of the stone buildings just don’t retain any heat in the winter.  The comfort of a pair of slippers in the evening, after a long day of walking, can’t be underestimated.IMG_8406It’s been a huge but surprisingly easy transition for us. 253 days ago (I thought I was writing this at around day 200, it’s easy to lose track of time on the road) we slammed the door shut on our storage pod, locked it, and popped open a bottle of champagne to celebrate our impending journey. We haven’t looked back.  Ecuador, Guatemala, Cuba and now Portugal; I can’t imagine undertaking this adventure with anyone else.

The Airbnb revolution has greatly contributed to our concept of slow travel, allowing us to immerse ourselves in a location for an extended period of time and to enjoy a community to its fullest. Experiencing a festive Christmas season and an explosive New Year’s celebration in Antigua, Guatemala, was extraordinary and something we wouldn’t have appreciated as much if we were just passing through.

We felt a little blue being away from our kids and their families during Christmas. The irony that we, and not the children, broke with the family tradition first was not lost on us.  A three week visit back to the States in mid-January to see everyone helped tremendously.img_0864 This visit also gave us an opportunity to jettison the wonderful textiles and ceramics we had purchased along the way for a home we don’t have yet.  Imagine this scene from our last stop in San Pedro – the backseat of a tuk-tuk overflowing with Donna and all our suitcases, while I’m sharing the driver’s seat with the driver, one cheek on, one cheek off and a foot dangling outside the cab as we speedily snaked through the steep narrow alleys of the village. 

Shopping in the central markets and street markets of each city has been wonderful as cooking is essential to keeping within our budget, though the size of some of our kitchens have tested our creative culinary abilities.  The exotic fruits available to us in Ecuador were amazing and we tried many that we were unfamiliar with.

In Olon we bought the catch of the day from the fish monger as be pushed his cart through town. Guatemala yielded remarkably flavorful vegetables.  We had a memorable culinary carrot experience there, go figure. This from a home gardener is quite a statement. Like our neighbors in the Alfama district, we are hanging our laundry out the windows to dry in the Lisbon fresh air. Our stays in each place have ranged from four to ten weeks.  I favor the longer stays whereas Donna prefers a shorter visit. 

There have been challenges negotiating the medical systems in Ecuador and Portugal only because we haven’t known the protocol of the local doctors.  We have been extremely impressed by the care we have received from the medical professionals in these countries for altitude sickness and a persistent upper respiratory infection.  The out of pocket costs have been remarkably inexpensive in comparison to the U.S. medical system.IMG_8692 Not everything has gone smoothly.  A rental car agency did not honor a reservation and we had to scramble to find another one late one night in the airport.  We have felt very safe during our travels, but there are unfortunately some extremely talented pickpockets out there. May the curse of arthritis shorten their careers!  Filing a stolen property report in Lisbon with the tourist police turned out to be an enjoyable experience due to the officer assigned to us.  Luckily, within 24-hours they called us with the good news that our wallet had been recovered, minus the cash of course, but that our passport and credit cards were all there.  Honestly, we weren’t following our own advice: only carry in your pockets what you are willing to lose.  Everything else of value needs to be carried under your clothing.IMG_8596After Lisbon it’s a two-week road trip through Portugal. Then we are off to, of all places, Sofia, Bulgaria for a month, (the Beatles song “Back in the USSR” keeps coming to mind) in order to reset our Schengen union days for later in the summer.  After that, two dog sits in England and two Workaway experiences in France at a 14th century chateau await us before we resume our life of leisure in Kotor, Montenegro, in September.img_0669We have shared meals and stories with so many wonderful and interesting people along the way.  These friends have made this journey what it is – fantastic! 

Kindness and a smile go a long way in this world.

Till next time,

Craig & Donna

 

 

One Hundred Days on the Road

| 2suitcasesfor2years

Time has passed so quickly, with our days full of adventure and exploring, and it is difficult to believe we’ve been away from home for one hundred days already.  The month of July was spent driving down the East Coast of the US, visiting friends and family and having a great time. Our first three weeks in Ecuador were packed with activity.  Quito, the Galapagos Islands and driving south to Cuenca along the Pan-American Highway, also known as the Avenue of the Volcanoes, filled our itinerary.

Arriving in Cuenca, we set up home for five weeks in a lovely studio apartment, for under $500 per month, that had a large rooftop deck with tremendous views over the Rio Tomebamba. We immersed ourselves in the neighborhood; it was a delight to shop in the city’s central market for exotic fruits, (pitacaya is our favorite,) from the Amazon region, plentiful and pricey, or for locally grown vegetables which were so inexpensive.  Every city block seemed to have multiple panaderias, bakeries, that offered extremely inexpensive and delicous baked goods. A dozen roses usually cost four dollars. Alternately, a large, American style supermarket had prices that rivaled those around our old home in Pennsylvania.  Cuenca was full of the ubiquitous yellow taxis.  For under two dollars we could travel to the far reaches of this sprawling city.

Adapting to our surroundings in a new country, we noticed that the sun sets quickly here with practically no twilight period. We are also adjusting to the concept of long-term travel and retirement itself – what our expectations should be on a daily basis.  24/7 together is a new concept for a previously working couple. We have often asked each other which day of the week it is.  Every day does not need to be nor can it be an adventure.  We enjoyed chilling on the rooftop, reading and writing.  Alternately, we wandered through different parts of the city taking advantage of the many free public museums scattered about.

The dining out options in Cuenca covered the full spectrum from mom and pop holes-in-the-wall offering the plate of the day, plata del dia, where for $3.50 you received a very good three course lunch, to fine gourmet dining that reasonably ran about $50.00 for two with wine, dessert and coffee in a beautiful restaurant.IMG_5271One of our favorite snacks was Tortilla de Choclo, eighty cents, a corn pancake that was grilled on a large ceramic plate, curbside, as you waited.  Often, coffee and dessert cost more than lunch itself.

There were some difficulties with our new environment.  Mainly we had trouble acclimating to Cuenca’s 8,500ft altitude.  This was surprising because we spent the better part of two weeks driving through the Andes Mountain Range at heights exceeding 10,000ft and surely thought Cuenca’s setting would be easier on us.  Donna required a visit to the emergency room of a local private hospital one Sunday morning after feeling dizzy for too long.  After checking that her vitals were okay the doctor wrote a prescription for Dramamine to treat the effects of altitude sickness.  A week’s supply of the drug cost $2.40. Our forty-five minutes in the emergency room cost thirty-two dollars.

A long weekend, a vacation from our vacation, took us to Vilcabamba, a small town in Ecuador’s southern Andes.  A reputation as “the valley of longevity,” with mineral rich mountain water and crisp air, has attracted a diverse international expat population of aging hippies.  It was ten degrees warmer there, which was a nice reprieve from the chilly days and nights in Cuenca.  At Hosteria Izhcayluma, a wonderful and very affordable eco-lodge/spa, we indulged in deep tissue massages that lasted for ninety minutes and cost all of $24.00 each.  Feeling adventurous I chose to go on what I thought would be a leisurely five-hour horseback ride through the surrounding mountains.  The brochure advertised “gallop with our horses.” Thinking this was hyperbole I signed on.  From the moment we all mounted our horses we galloped out of the stables, through Vilcabamba, into the mountains and back.  I walked liked a saddle-sore cowboy for a week after that.IMG_4354-2One of the reasons we chose Cuenca for our first short term rental was so that I could take advantage of their dental tourism offerings. I had put off getting things done in the states because of what I thought were excessive cost, even with insurance.  I am extremely pleased with the dental care that I received at Finding Health in Ecuador. Tooth extraction – $35.00, cavity – $25.00, two-tooth bridge – $250.00.  Our premise that we could live abroad more economically than living back in the states is so far holding true.IMG_8596-2Currently we are in Olon, a rustic beach town on Ecuador’s southern Pacific coast with a wide, flat sandy beach that stretches for nearly five miles without a high-rise to been seen. It’s off season, mostly cloudy, but the water is still warm, perfect conditions for the handful of surfers and us.  Fishermen still launch skiffs through the surf from the beach, and fathers can be seen taking their kids to school on the handlebars of their motorcycles, gently splashing through the incoming tide.  Our rent for the month of October is $730.00 with breakfast included!

By ten o’clock each evening the streets are empty.  From our apartment at night we can hear the waves crashing onto the beach, along with roosters crowing – they start at one in the morning, seemingly on a campaign to discourage tourism – and dogs barking to each other. There is no traffic in this tiny four block square village.  Everyone walks in the middle of the road, roosters, dogs and cats included.  Every day pushcart vendors wheel their offerings of fruit, eggs, cheese, clothing, kitchen supplies, etc. through town, each peddler singing out a different sales pitch.

For a change of scenery, we took a day cruise out of Puerto Lopez to Isla de la Plata, an uninhabited island which is part of Machalilla National Park.  It is also referred to as the “budget Galapagos.”  Fifty dollars per person included shuttle transportation, boat ride, snorkeling gear, lunch, a three-hour hike with a licensed guide to view nesting birds and most importantly the chance to see humpback whales.

At the outdoor fish market, two kilos of fresh large shrimp set us back six dollars.  Several doors down at a little house with the barbeque out front, two plates of fresh grilled fish with a beer cost five dollars for dinner.  For a tiny place, this village has a surprising number of eateries, most of them created by northern European surfers who fell in love with the waves here and never left. Cotinga’s might be the only restaurant in Ecuador where you can get home-made borscht, prepared by Olga a Russian expat.

The only thing Olon really needs is a French inspired chef whose specialty is Coq au Vin.  Roosters, you’ve been warned!

Galapagos – It’s Everything They Say It Is!

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The animals and marine life of the Galapagos Islands are everything they are supposed to be – UNIQUE and AMAZING! A tour of these islands and their unique ecosystems should convince even the most die-hard doubters among us to become tree hugging environmentalists.  Kudos to Ecuador for doing a wonderful, difficult, and expensive job protecting this unique environment for future generations.

We were originally thinking of heading to the Galapagos for our 60th birthdays, but work / life interceded.   So we postponed it until our retirement this year and made sure it was the first thing we did, because you can never predict the future.

There are so many options to consider when planning to visit the Galapagos Islands.  Did we want to do a cruise around the islands or do shore based excursions from various ports? If we did a cruise, should it be for 3, 5, 7 or 8 days, on a large or small boat?  After some research we opted to go for an eight day cruise, arranged by Eva of Enjoying Ecuador Travel – thank you – on the small ship Golondrina which slept 16 in eight cabins in bunk beds on three decks.  Our group had a wonderful international mix, consisting of folks from Belgium, Germany, Italy, Argentina and the U.K., all good friends by the end of the trip. Before being converted to carry tourists the Golondrina served as the scientific research vessel Beagle lll.  The ship had lines and character that would have enticed Joseph Conrad or Jack London to step aboard.

Wanting to be away from the potential noise and vibration of the engine room, we chose a cabin on the top deck, right behind the pilothouse.  The cabin was small and efficient and the location on the third deck perfect for fair weather sailors like us.  In choppy or rough seas every pitch or roll was exaggerated; then you wished were as close to the bottom and back of the boat as possible, were the motion wasn’t felt as much.  We had been on large cruise ships many times before and never experienced sea-sickness, but on this small vessel we were not as lucky and I was in the top bunk.  We paid a premiun for the priveledge to be tossed, rolled and bounced. Fortunately, two young women from Germany shared their motion sickness medicine and it saved the week for us.

As soon as we were all aboard the yacht it was anchors away and we headed to Mosquera Islet and our first wet landing and snorkeling.  A wet landing is as you would expect: the ship’s two pangas (small boats) motor you as close to the beach as possible and drop you off into, hopefully, knee deep water to walk ashore.  There are also dry landings where the pangas bring you into a dock or more likely stone outcroppings and you jump ashore ,keeping your feet dry.  Then there is the less discussed dry landing with really good potential to become very wet.  These are situations where the surf might be a little rough and the boat handler has to keep the bow of the panga pinned to the rocks with engine in full throttle until everyone is off.  The boat’s guide is always ashore first to help everyone else ashore safely.  “Welcome to my world,” Donna says as she helps me into my wetsuit. “It’s just like putting on Spanx!”  I was always the last one to get in or out of their wetsuit.

Mosquera Islet was a narrow sliver of brilliant white sand with bull Fur Seals protecting their harems and on one end, and the sun bleached skeletal remains of a small whale as well as hundreds of red Sally Lightfoot crabs scurrying over the rocks on the other end.

That night as we steamed toward Isabela Island we crossed the equator and encountered some large swells as northern currents clashed against southern ones and had us second guessing our choice of an upper cabin.  In the morning we awoke to find ourselves at anchor in the calm waters of Urbina Bay.

After breakfast (which daily consisted of eggs, granola with yogurt, fruit, toast, coffee, tea and incredible fresh juices) it was into the pangas  to see what was living in the cliffs that lined the bay. Sea Iguanas shared rocks with penguins, while pelicans squabbled with blue-footed boobies over the same cliff outcropping.  Our pangas edged into the black mouth of a sea cave where more birds were roosting high up.  After an hour we headed back to our mother ship to prepare for snorkeling along the cliff face where it met the sea.  I think my eyes popped when a sea turtle gracefully swam by almost close enough for me to touch.  The first of many close encounters during that swim and the subsequent days to follow.

Back aboard it was lunch time and a two hour cruise to stop at Isabella Island’s Tagus Cove.  The food aboard our boat was amazing considering the small galley space that these tasty and healthy creations emerged from.  So our days followed a wonderful schedule of discovery and adventure with one or two activities between meals and then sailing overnight to the next day’s destination.  Each island’s environment was unique in the animals it hosted, as was the sea life in the surrounding waters.  The sheer joy of seeing so many animals in their natural habit was awe inspiring.

On Santa Cruz Island we visited the Charles Darwin Research Station for a tour of their tortoise breeding program.  Tortoise eggs collected from each island are marked accordingly as are the shells of the hatchlings, so that they can be returned to the right island later. The young tortoises are kept sheltered for 5 years or until their shells harden enough to protect them against predators in the wild when they are released.  We also visited a private tortoise reserve in the highlands where from a distance we saw hundreds of small boulders.  Walking closer to the boulders we realized that they were actually tortoises in their natural environment, slowing munching away as they inched across the verdant green highland.

Many times in our travels in other countries, we have noticed the highwater mark from a flood or storm by the line of plastic bags left hanging from trees and bushes along the tributaries.  We never saw this in the Galapagos; there was absolutely no litter on the Islands.  Ecuador takes great pride in preserving its natural resources.  Please make an effort to reduce your plastic waste as it is severely polluting our oceans and has a terrible impact on all sea life.