Hiking El Cajas outside Cuenca, Ecuador

The weirdos are one down as Gina had to return to real life after the Galapagos so the remaining crew headed to Cuenca, Ecuador’s 3rd largest city with only 400k in the Andes with a small town feel. I was super excited to visit as I’d heard great things AND our visit was timed with Carnival as it was the Monday & Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. So we all thought we were in for a great time. We arrived late after a flight delay from the Galapagos so were anxious to hit the city on Monday, only to find the city empty. Nearly all businesses were closed which made it quite difficult to find some good food. There was no party. The city was dead – no locals out & about, no cars on the street. A ghost town. We wondered if people were recovering from a crazy night of Carnival celebrations but when we arrived in the city at 1:30am the night prior, we noted it also was quiet. We wandered the city & since there was nothing else to do, hit up nearly all of the museums my book recommended. We found one winner that featured a small collection of modern art by a local artist (Dawi) which I loved but that killed only 30 minutes. Otherwise, the Rough Guide’s “can’t miss” museums featured weird & slightly terrifying masks, fake people in full costume in fake street scenes & uninteresting photos & relics. So Cuenca was a bit of a bust on day 1 although I think it would have been a completely different experience had it been alive. Apparently the city just shuts down during Carnival & while locals insist there are celebrations, they must take place outside of the city center. There were exceptions to that rule. The lone bright spot that kept us laughing all day is we became targets while wandering for projectiles fired from passing cars. Me specifically as I was the only one hit repeatedly by scarce Carnival revelers. First with a water balloon to the head. Then with foamed blue paint spray & finally by more water balloons at my feet. It must’ve been fun to target the lone tourists & I was always squarely in their crossfire (or more likely not paying any attention as I was taking in the city).
The good thing is we had a decent hotel where we could catch up on some sleep given the sleepy city. That didn’t exactly pan out as we were awakened at 3:30am the first 2 nights by obnoxiously fake loud sex (to clarify… the sex was real but her carrying on about it so much was certainly not). It had to have wakened the entire tiny hotel. Kristin joked she at first thought it was a bird or wounded animal as we’d spent the last 10 days in the Galapagos. We laid in bed laughing for awhile but when it became clear that one session was turning into more & we wouldn’t get any sleep, we decided we had to take action. Convinced it was a native Spanish speaker making all the racket due to some “aye aye ayes” overheard, I crept out of the room to discover the offenders were our next door neighbors (who had a child of maybe 5 staying with them… lovely), mustered up my best dramatic Latina telenovela scolding tone & loudly proclaimed “POR FAVOR… (dramatic pause)… CALLETE!!!” to the door & then quickly snuck back inside to shield our muffled giggles. That shushed them for awhile & allowed a bit of shuteye.
We needed some sleep as we were headed the next day to Parque Nacional de Cajas to do some hiking. We negotiated w a taxi driver to drive us the 45-min there & back, waiting 3 hrs for us to hike, as the only other method of return is hailing down buses screaming through the winding mountain passes & those buses are apparently infrequent (1xhr) & don’t like to stop as they’re screaming down the winding mountain passes. So we thought we were pretty smart. We checked in at the park office & discussed our route options. I had read about a relatively easy hike around Laguna Toreadora that takes about 2 hrs. I think that’s what I thought we were agreeing to when we selected to take route 1 that takes 4 hrs. As we promised our taxi driver only 3 hrs of hiking, we discussed an alternate ending of the hike at a parking lot & the park ranger made sure our taxi driver knew where to meet us. Off we went. It was just a stunning place to hike among mountain peaks covered in cloud forests, surrounded by multiple lakes, with beautiful trees & vegetation. Only it wasn’t exactly a “relatively easy” hike. That would’ve been the one-lake option that we unknowingly turned down. Instead, we were hiking up & around peaks & 3 different lakes. Some steep inclines. And a lot of mud. Which was only made worse by the pouring down rain. And the cold temps. I’m confident saying we all thought it was a bit more difficult than anticipated. Don’t get me wrong… it was an awesome time. But the only worry was the 3 of us escaping without injury as the mud & rock on steep inclines & declines made for lots of opportunities to slip & fall. And that we did, several times. So we got a bit muddy but the pouring down rain just rinsed that mud right off so no big deal.
Add to the mud the fact that we had to ford 3 rushing rivers / relatively large streams by balancing in the muddy rain on slippery rocks oftentimes NOT placed closely together (the trail, outside of the river crossings, was very well marked but we were on our own for determining the best way to cross the rivers). In the end, we made it safe & sound, allbeit wet & muddy, & we all agreed we loved the hike. We also felt really smart that we had arranged for our taxi driver to meet us at the end. Until we got there & he was nowhere in sight. So then we walked another hour searching for him until we gave up & headed down towards the park entrance. There we found shelter at the park entrance by the park ranger, a sheriff & a hitchhiker who had been waiting 2 hrs for a bus (yikes!). We explained our situation & they graciously invited us in for a much-needed seat while we waited for a new taxi they called from Cuenca on our behalf after convincing us our hired driver had already abandoned us. The hour waiting was spent chitchatting with them & specifically, me fending off date requests by the cute & sweet park ranger who had decided that he wanted to be my boyfriend, was coming to visit me for 10 days in Chicago in September, wanted to marry me & have one child – girl or boy doesn’t matter as long as it has my eyes. Oh boy. Since he was saving our asses, I graciously & jokingly played along but kept insisting on “primero, cafe” to try to slow him down a bit. A lot of laughs & an hour later, our taxi finally arrived to return us to Cuenca & we all agreed the adventurous ending to the hike definitely made the trip.
After hot showers to stave off the freeze, we decided to treat ourselves to a great meal at a nice little restaurant overlooking the city, which was now alive & teeming with people. We were very glad we spent the day having a blast at El Cajas & then returned to this bustling city… it saved our view of Cuenca.

Immediate aftermath of guerrilla attack with foaming blue paint.

Brining my Ecco hiking boots on this trip was the best decision ever. Despite the rain, my feet were dry. It’s not the first time. Love them. And they look cute w jean shorts & dresses too on travel days.

Hike video

https://youtu.be/m8W6y7GDL4Q

Galapagos – Otra vez

If doing the Galapagos again in the future, I’d recommend the following:

Definitely book a cruise. 5 nights is probably the right number for me before I go stir crazy. I highly recommend the Nemo III as we all agreed it was the best, most comfortable boat out there (much of it due to the extra width of the catamaran). Ideally the cruise leaves straight from Baltra after landing at its airport. That way you can avoid hitting Santa Cruz more than once as the cruise will most likely stop at Puerto Ayora to see the giant tortoises & Charles Darwin Research Center. With the exception of one cool street that transforms from nothing during the day to a thriving cheap fresh seafood scene at night as tables & chairs crowd the street, we found Puerto Ayora to be stifling hot & offering little more than shopping, a shitload of tourists (relatively speaking bc it’s still a little city with less than 10k population) & day trips from the main port. Hopefully with the cruise, you can knock out some far off islands that are not accessible by Santa Cruz daytrips. Few cruises include Genovesa & that was important to us & turns out we had one of the most incredible snorkeling experiences ever in Darwin Bay.

Definitely visit Isabela. Even if you’re lucky enough to visit Isabela & Fernandina on the cruise, head back to Isabela to stay on the island. It’s an easy 2hr boat ride from Puerto Ayora & worth it.

Consider flying out of the airport in San Cristobal, accessible via boat from Puerto Ayora as well. Or stay in Puerto Ayora if you want to knock out other day trips. Gina & I spent a couple days here before the cruise & enjoyed the hike to Tortuga Bay on day 1 where we saw a gorgeous beach, a bunch of marine iguanas & swam with our first sea lion & marine iguana as well as a day trip to Santa Fe Island where we saw our first blue footed boobies, I realized birds were really cool too, we snorkeled with sea lions & watched jumping manta rays. I certainly don’t mean to be negative about Puerto Ayora; rather, my preference is overwhelmingly in favor of Isabela.

I inexplicably caught a head cold in the Galapagos so unfortunately was unable to dive. While disappointed at first, I then saw such incredible marine life snorkeling (& freediving) that I felt as if I wasn’t missing out too much. However, next time I will dive. And the best dive trips are run out of Puerto Ayora as well as one out of San Cristobal.
The Galapagos isn’t for everyone. And it’s expensive so it eliminates most of the backpacking crowd. You need to be really into exploring nature & marine, bird & wildlife in an environment that’s been highly protected & regulated since the 1960s. Due to the regulations, a naturalist guide is required to do just about everything on the islands. Two exceptions are the hike to Tortuga Bay in Puerto Ayora & the amazing snorkeling on Isabela in Concha de Perla. As a result of these protections, the wildlife doesn’t seem to feel threatened & are oftentimes quite curious & playful. It made us wonder how much better the world would be if everywhere had the same common sense environmental protections. I found it to be absolutely amazing & this is one place where I know I’ll return within 5 years.

Galapagos – Isabela island

The second half of our trip involved escaping Santa Cruz (& the island’s biggest city of Puerto Ayora) in favor of hanging on Isabela, the largest island with 5 active volcanoes but limited population & a tiny little sand-road capital town of Puerto Villamil. It seems many people visit the island on cruises but don’t stay overnight & those who do, only stay a night or 2. We fell in love with the place, enjoyed some insane day trips (snorkeling & an active crater volcano), snorkeled daily at the magical Concha de Perla, celebrated carnival & even had our own local go-to restaurant.

The sweet little town of Puerto Villamil

Our first snorkeling experience at Concha de Perla, a little lagoon-like atmosphere bordered by lava rocks, featuring these cool tunnel formations good for exploring & reached by walking through mangroves.

Playful penguin

https://youtu.be/10pfRMcl5Co

5hr hike to top of Sierra Negra, an active crater volcano

Malene, a cool ass chick from Denmark we met on the boat, hung with us for awhile on Isabela & for this incredible snorkeling trip to Las Tuneles which included a first stop at this dope place containing quite a surprise.

We dove down to a shark den filled with white tipped reef sharks. OMFG it was amazing!!!

Please take the time to watch this 10 second video of the shark den. Trust me, it’s worth it.

https://youtu.be/i57FA33hzbY

The biggest sea turtles I’ve ever seen. And lots of them.

This one was as long as me & its head was as big as me. Yes that’s me.

We saw a couple massive eagle rays in a tunnel as well as the large white tipped shark below

Blue-footed booby showing off. We were lucky enough to watch 2 blue-footed boonies perform their mating dance.

Relaxing at happy hour after an amazing day of snorkeling

We rented bikes & hiked uphill to a nice lookout point over Isabela

We were finally able to see flamingos. We had tried a couple other times to see them in their typical habitat but they were a no show.

Isabela’s carnival celebration started the Saturday before Ash Wednesday & continued for 4 days. Lots of body paint, spray cans full of foamy body paint, water balloons, loud music, salsa, drinks & food til the early morning hours.

On our second snorkeling trip to Concha de Perla, among several other types of marine life, we swam real close to penguins. For once, they weren’t darting every which way being their elusive selves. Rather, they were floating much like ducks in a group of 3 & floated right up next to us. K, G&I had our masks half out of the water silently watching when after about 3 minutes, G asks “What are those?”. Trying not to drown due to laughter, I quickly responded “they’re penguins!”. It was first & only time of trip where those little guys weren’t zipping past us so it was real nice (& unusual) to get a real close look.

On our last snorkeling outing to Concha de Perla on our last day on Isabela, K&I came upon the little dock after a tour group had just arrived. People everywhere. We both silently cursed as we assumed we wouldn’t have the same amazing experiences given all the people. Boy were we wrong. After about 15 minutes, a young male sea lion slid into the lagoon from the lava rocks in low tide & slipped in right under me. Of course we attempted to follow him but clearly he was pretty quick. We guessed right & followed him into the mangrove tunnels where not only did we find him, he proceeded to swim & play with us for the next 15-20mins. He’d come swimming quickly right at me, making this intense eye contact & then within 4-6 inches of my mask, he’d quickly dart away. He was doing spins & twirls & flips, swimming all around us, darting every which way. He was rolling on the sea floor, then tried to pick up shells & other debris before he blew a big bubble that came directly up towards me. I reached out my hand & popped it & he seemed to respond kindly as he proceeded to continue blowing multiple bubbles at us. He’d disappear for a minute & then we’d think the games were over & K&I would celebrate with high-fives, when all of a sudden, he’d appear out of nowhere to seemingly surprise us & the games would start all over again. It was the most amazing magical experience being so up close & personal to this little guy. We kept our space, respected his, let him take the lead, & weren’t frantically moving about sticking cameras in his face to get the best shot. Perhaps it’s ridiculous but I think he responded to that. Eventually it had to end. But by this time, we considered him a friend so we nicknamed him “Jugue”, short for “jugueton” which means “playful” in Spanish. I love Jugue.

Galapagos – Cruise aboard Nemo III

The girls & I decided it was a must to get on a boat as part of our 1.5 week visit to the Galapagos in order to visit islands inaccessible via day trips from the main island of Santa Cruz. Because the cruises can be quite expensive & we wanted a nice boat with a limited number of passengers, we decided to roll the dice & wait to book a last minute deal for a reduced price given it was low season. Gina & I had success while basking in the sun in Montanita & booked us a cruise aboard the Nemo III, a gorgeous catamaran with a capacity of only 15 passengers, a phenomenal crew, amazing food & an informed, energetic naturalist guide Sara. What was out of our control were the fellow passengers but we were thankfully blessed with the best group of people who were fun, laid back, interesting, excited to explore & embracing of our goofiness… so much so, the group ended up endearingly calling us “the weirdos”. This was perhaps due to the fact that we were always overly excited to discuss, witness, document on video & laugh while rehashing later many fascinating yet normal parts of nature including mating rituals of various species, failed attempted mating rituals of giant tortoises, & odd bathroom behavior of land iguanas, penguins & golden rays. It’s all a part of nature so why not embrace it?

It’s not everyday you can read 0 degrees N/S on the compass. The equator is pretty dope.

We reached Darwin Bay in Genovesa to hike the Prince Phillip Steps to bird watch. Who knew I’d get so into birding?

The elusive red-footed booby. And yes, of course towns sell tees emblazoned with “I love boobies”. Keeping it klassy everywhere.

The less famous masked Nasca booby has boring grey feet but she was protecting her eggs which was pretty adorable.

The male magnificent frigatebird inflates its red sac & makes a loud noise to try to attract females in its mating ritual. Apparently female frigatebirds are drawn to the males with the biggest sacs. Interesting.

This is one of the maybe 40 big hammerhead sharks we saw snorkeling up close & personal. Within 5 minutes in the water, Captain Henry helped G&I find a pack of 12 hammerheads swimming awfully close. It only got better from there with a pack of 30+ manta & golden rays circling us so of course that means I have to dive deep to get as close as possible to the mantas. We saw a Galapagos shark, supposedly the most dangerous in these waters, yet minding its own business. And at the very end of the session, I spied a sea turtle & I swam off after him only to lose him but thankfully was met by another school of hammerheads. The entire experience was unreal. I’ve never seen so much action before involving large marine life, even diving. I’d just stay in one spot with my eyes trained on the deep blue watching for shadows that almost always turned into something really fantastic. It was K’s first true snorkeling experience & I told her it was all downhill from here.

There was no motivating this sleeping sea lion into coming to swim with us. Next time.

We woke up to this view between Santiago & Bartolome Islands after an overnight cruise from Genovesa.

Explored the lava flow fields on Santiago Island.

We snorkeled at Sullivan Bay in Santiago & saw sea turtles, penguins (quite elusive & darting all over while fishing), white tipped reef shark & sea lions (see below; quite curious & into close swim-bys).

My number 1 marine life I was dying to see was the giant manta ray. After snorkeling & right before lunch, I was alone on deck chatting with Pedro, the 2nd captain, when he abruptly pointed & yelled “orcas”. I ran to the bow to check it out while he ran aft to notify all the other passengers. They certainly looked a bit like orcas but only bc they were so big. But they were indeed giant manta rays with wing spans of 25-35ft. There was a school of them swimming with our boat. Word is that when they’re in a group, they are quite curious. So of course I was repeatedly asking, no begging, Diego, the first captain, if I could jump off our (moving) boat to swim with them. The answer was consistently no, accompanied by a knowing smirk, so while I didn’t get to swim with them, I did get a pretty incredible bird’s eye view. Love love love the Galapagos. It makes dreams come true.

Here’s a video of the giant manta ray (& our funny reactions)

https://youtu.be/G-mkbroR2Mc

A little post-lunch triangle dominoes with Owen & Griffin, 2 great kids & lucky nephews of Patty & Cameron.

We hiked on Santa Cruz Island at Dragon Hill with the goal of seeing land iguanas (we were very lucky seeing upwards of 15) as well as marine iguanas, lava lizards, & some quite interesting / revolting dragon poo porn (of course captured on video bc we’re weirdos but I’ll spare you the gritty details).

Nemo III group photo staged by a land iguana

To cool off from the hot hike, GK&I jumped from the front of the boat & swam under the boat through the 2 hulls. It reminded me of doing the same thing with Sara in Croatia. Gotta love catamarans.

Another rousing round of triangle dominoes with Owen!

We happened upon 2 giant tortoises mating. We knew bc the male was making a really loud sound. So we scrambled through the forest to find them, led all the way by our guide Sara who, by this point, had fully embraced our weirdness. These creatures tend to do everything real slow so thankfully we came upon them towards the end of the session. I waited with a few others to watch the dismount bc the male dwarfed the female in size. Only then did the real fun begin & we noticed the male tortoise had mounted the female backwards. We could see the female’s head, still hidden deeply in her shell with an imagined look of disgusted shame. There will be no baby tortoise as a result of that session. Kate, who works for the WWF, said it great by “no wonder they need the research center to help with breeding bc these males in the wild have no idea what they’re doing”. Hysterical. And again, video-documented of course.

Montanita for (watching) extreme surfing

After an exhausting visit to Quito (sarcasm), Gina & I headed to the coast for some beach time at Montanita, Ecuador, a tiny little surfing community. I had hoped to take some surfing lessons. And then I saw the waves. Massive. We agreed we’d never seen surfing like this before. We called it extreme surfing. This was no chill sport. These local dudes were badasses doing & landing 360 spins with their boards on a steady lineup of massive waves. Waves so massive there were red flags vividly waving on the beach warning swimmers yet despite that, the lifeguard crew kept really busy all day long fighting these massive waves & ensuing undertow to rescue people who were panicking after being swept out. I think the record was 3 rescues in one hour. So we decided this wasn’t a place for beginner surfers but boy did we have a blast watching in awe as these guys attacked with their boards.
There’s another side to this tiny little surfing mecca. It seems to be a party destination for South Americans as clubs raged til the early morning & spilled out onto the tiny little streets, quite charming by day. As a result, people sleep til noon, had breakfast & then hit the beach by 3pm. G&I sampled the crazy fiesta one night but generally, we stuck to the quiet charming beachside restos serving fantastic fresh seafood, cold beers & live music & had the beach largely to ourselves until mid-afternoon.

I think this photo, that perfectly captures the spirit of Montanita, is my fave photo I’ve ever taken. Yep I’m pretty proud of this one.

This is maybe in my top ten. Good subject matter obviously.

Fresh ceviche served right on the beach. Earlier in the day is preferred for obvious reasons.

Tiny little surf town no more than 4 streets deep

I found I can still find great fresh fruit juices in Ecuador

Great fresh seafood, delicious mojitos, live music & triangle dominoes with one of my BFFs?!?!!?!! Yes please!!!

Video of beach scene (pay attention to surfer at end)

https://youtu.be/QnNHlVubmGM

Quito in 1 day 2 times

I visited Quito twice on this trip. The first time with Gina for 1.5 days. The second time with Kristin & Amy for 1 day after the rest of our Ecuador adventures on our way to Peru. I played the role of tour guide the second time during our 10hr layover. So while I know there’s more to see, I’m fairly confident I can give a pretty good overview of Quito’s old town in a day, including plenty of time for food & drink, as we all came away loving the city.

Teleferico ride up to the mountains surrounding Quito, specifically Volcan Pichincha, for a fabulous lookout over the city & hike. Or in G&I’s case… a closer look at the cloud enveloping the mountain top.

The view from El Panecillo, a hilltop overlooking the old town, featuring a statute of the Virgin Mary.

Climbing stairs & frighteningly steep ladders to the top of a gorgeous Basilica del Voto Nacional w stunning views of the old town & El Panecillo. Due to my bizarre fear of ladders, this was no easy task for me so I chose to sit out the second round & grabbed a drink at the base while waiting for the girls.

The basilica may now be my fave church toured due to the unusual concrete animal statues diving off the facade. How boring are gargoyles when you can instead have anteaters, monkeys & alligators? I’m a big fan of the unusual.

Unlike G, I did NOT have a smile on my face when tackling the ladder

Wandering the streets of the old town & exploring its lovely plazas including Plaza Grande featuring the Presidential palace & political rallies (especially the week before the national election) & Plaza San Francisco.

Traditional Ecuadorian lunch of fritada sitting outdoors in the lovely Plaza San Francisco (my personal fave Quito plaza) & perhaps a game (or 5) of triangle dominoes, the addicting game I discovered in Bottle Beach, Ko Pha Ngan that G heroically stashed in her backpack to Ecuador.

Drinks on the rooftop of Vista Hermosa restaurant overlooking the old town, it’s plazas & El Panecillo.

Wandering La Ronda, a beautifully quiet pedestrian street during the day featuring shops & art galleries that transforms at night into a raucous array of cafes, bars & live music.

Otavalo day-trip… although next time I’d stay much longer

While not ready to leave Colombia, I was quite excited to move on to Ecuador, not only bc I was so looking forward to visiting the Galapagos, long on my must-see list, but also bc 3 close friends were meeting me. I had a day+ in Quito to kill before the first arrived so of course I decided to get out of the city & into nature. It was a Saturday & that meant the largest outdoor market in all of South America dating back hundreds of years was happening up north in Otavalo so I headed there on a 3hr cramped local bus. I wandered, found the Ecuadorian version of street food, shopped too much given I only have a small backpack & then decided to hire a taxi driver to run me to Cotacachi, a dormant Andes volcano 30mins away that especially piqued my interest when I flew directly over it the day prior, for a couple hours of hiking at 4,500m (ugh) before returning to Quito to meet my girl, G. My only regret? Not spending more time up north. The Andes scenery was beautiful & very unique as it was quite lush & featured several massive volcanoes dotting the horizon. I could easily spend a week+ up here hiking & exploring. Next time.