Some news regarding future travel plans. Things have changed somewhat over the last few days, as Veiko unfortunately will return to Estonia next week due to family reasons. Really sad to be without such a good travel buddy, but he´s made the right decision in the circumstances. Will be missed though...
At the moment we´re on Galapagos, but Veiko´s flying back on the 12th, so I´ve been contemplating what to do after his departure and think I´ve figured out an initial plan.
The new masterplan contains a slight change of focus away from South America. Rather than travelling on my own in Venezuela or Columbia, I´ll invest some more time in my new hobby - diving - in the Caribbean. Specifically I will go to Bonair in the Dutch Caribbean just north of Venezuela. The place has several attractions, one of the better places for diving in the Caribbean, and also a good spot for kite-surfing, which is something I´d like to learn as well. I´ll stay there until beginning of November and then potentially cut the trip roughly a month short compared to the the original plan and head back to Europe.
One thing that has been especially anticipated, however, is Spring in Buenos Aires (end of November onwards, or so), perhaps it will still be possible to make it there somehow, but more on this to follow later on. However, Venezuela, Peru, Bolivia and Southern Ecuador are for the time being out of the picture, but hopefully some sunny day...
---- Back to the Trip:
The beginning of the week was spent in Quito, the initial grand plan for Spanish courses did not materialise, instead a lot of time spent in Internet cafes for research and organising the trip to Galapagos. Also, as you may have read in the previous entry, there is no air in Quito. This continued to be the case for the week. Additionally the lack of air means hangovers are bad, really bad.
Eventually after a lot of time spent in Internet cafes and travel agencies we went for a short trip to the Otavalo market a few hours from Quito. Lots of handicraft, ponchos, pipes, hats, jade figures, textiles, etc. Some very nice things, and prices much lower compared to what we are used to. I got a few souvenirs, Veiko did the same and also a poncho - true, will be cold in Estonia soon...
On our last night in Quito we went to dinner with the honorary ambassador of Estonia in Ecuador (and Cuba and Peru). Dr. Gustavo Ponce and his wife were great company and we found out a lot more about Ecuador. Also about Estonians in Ecuador. Not too many of them here, but some students and a few tourists have been in prison for drug offences (many foreigners caught - penalties harsh, with 12 years typical). Prisons are not too bad however, as the Estonians have chosen to serve the time there rather than back home - some get married and stay (they only spend the night in jail, free to wander during days. Believe similar system in Sweden). Dr Ponce invited us to their family´s country house in the Ecuadorian jungle, but unfortunately we had already planned Galapagos - however, if opportunity should arise and I´ll be back in Ecuador I will remember the invitation. It sounded like a really nice place, with plantations, jungle, lakes etc. Very nice of Dr. Ponce to find time to meet with two random travellers!
On to Galapagos on Friday. As the currency in Ecuador is USD, we had used up our emergency USD cash on living, not bothering to go to an ATM before necessary. This proved to be a mistake, as on they day we were headed to Galapagos, no ATM would accept any of the 7-8 cards we have with us between the two. So with the prospect of arriving with about USD15 (and banks closed for a long weekend) after the tourist tax, we boarded the plane. Things soon turned out for the better however - the ATM on the island worked. Viva Banco del Pacifico! Phew...
I´ll not write a lot about the islands today - just a few first impressions. And the very first impressions are absolutely fantastic - the wild life here is amazing. Animals have no fear of humans, as there are few natural predators. It is possible to observe birds, reptiles, sea lions, etc on a really very close distance.
A few points I thought are especially interesting about Galapagos:
1) It´s 1000km from the nearest coast, and the islands are relatively spread out with several hours boat trip between them
2) Oceanic volcanic group of islands - so all flora and fauna has come "by accident"
3) This has yielded a very interesting spot from an evolutionary point of view. Relatively few species, no mammal predators. Most famous probably for tortoises and turtles (this is where the name comes from), water iguanas, albatrosses, blue-footed boobies, etc, etc
4) Animals don´t fear humans and basically ignore you most of the time - incredible and great opportunity to observe
5) Many of the species exist only here
6) Important place for Darwin in formulating his theory on evolution (Darwin´s finches etc)
7) Slightly more active place than Fernando de Noronha. About 10,000 people in the largest village
So far one day spent here and already very happy we came. Some tours and diving to look forward to, will tell you more after these.
At the moment we´re on Galapagos, but Veiko´s flying back on the 12th, so I´ve been contemplating what to do after his departure and think I´ve figured out an initial plan.
The new masterplan contains a slight change of focus away from South America. Rather than travelling on my own in Venezuela or Columbia, I´ll invest some more time in my new hobby - diving - in the Caribbean. Specifically I will go to Bonair in the Dutch Caribbean just north of Venezuela. The place has several attractions, one of the better places for diving in the Caribbean, and also a good spot for kite-surfing, which is something I´d like to learn as well. I´ll stay there until beginning of November and then potentially cut the trip roughly a month short compared to the the original plan and head back to Europe.
One thing that has been especially anticipated, however, is Spring in Buenos Aires (end of November onwards, or so), perhaps it will still be possible to make it there somehow, but more on this to follow later on. However, Venezuela, Peru, Bolivia and Southern Ecuador are for the time being out of the picture, but hopefully some sunny day...
---- Back to the Trip:
The beginning of the week was spent in Quito, the initial grand plan for Spanish courses did not materialise, instead a lot of time spent in Internet cafes for research and organising the trip to Galapagos. Also, as you may have read in the previous entry, there is no air in Quito. This continued to be the case for the week. Additionally the lack of air means hangovers are bad, really bad.Eventually after a lot of time spent in Internet cafes and travel agencies we went for a short trip to the Otavalo market a few hours from Quito. Lots of handicraft, ponchos, pipes, hats, jade figures, textiles, etc. Some very nice things, and prices much lower compared to what we are used to. I got a few souvenirs, Veiko did the same and also a poncho - true, will be cold in Estonia soon...
On our last night in Quito we went to dinner with the honorary ambassador of Estonia in Ecuador (and Cuba and Peru). Dr. Gustavo Ponce and his wife were great company and we found out a lot more about Ecuador. Also about Estonians in Ecuador. Not too many of them here, but some students and a few tourists have been in prison for drug offences (many foreigners caught - penalties harsh, with 12 years typical). Prisons are not too bad however, as the Estonians have chosen to serve the time there rather than back home - some get married and stay (they only spend the night in jail, free to wander during days. Believe similar system in Sweden). Dr Ponce invited us to their family´s country house in the Ecuadorian jungle, but unfortunately we had already planned Galapagos - however, if opportunity should arise and I´ll be back in Ecuador I will remember the invitation. It sounded like a really nice place, with plantations, jungle, lakes etc. Very nice of Dr. Ponce to find time to meet with two random travellers!On to Galapagos on Friday. As the currency in Ecuador is USD, we had used up our emergency USD cash on living, not bothering to go to an ATM before necessary. This proved to be a mistake, as on they day we were headed to Galapagos, no ATM would accept any of the 7-8 cards we have with us between the two. So with the prospect of arriving with about USD15 (and banks closed for a long weekend) after the tourist tax, we boarded the plane. Things soon turned out for the better however - the ATM on the island worked. Viva Banco del Pacifico! Phew...
I´ll not write a lot about the islands today - just a few first impressions. And the very first impressions are absolutely fantastic - the wild life here is amazing. Animals have no fear of humans, as there are few natural predators. It is possible to observe birds, reptiles, sea lions, etc on a really very close distance.A few points I thought are especially interesting about Galapagos:
1) It´s 1000km from the nearest coast, and the islands are relatively spread out with several hours boat trip between them
2) Oceanic volcanic group of islands - so all flora and fauna has come "by accident"
3) This has yielded a very interesting spot from an evolutionary point of view. Relatively few species, no mammal predators. Most famous probably for tortoises and turtles (this is where the name comes from), water iguanas, albatrosses, blue-footed boobies, etc, etc
4) Animals don´t fear humans and basically ignore you most of the time - incredible and great opportunity to observe
5) Many of the species exist only here
6) Important place for Darwin in formulating his theory on evolution (Darwin´s finches etc)
7) Slightly more active place than Fernando de Noronha. About 10,000 people in the largest village
So far one day spent here and already very happy we came. Some tours and diving to look forward to, will tell you more after these.
1 comment:
Hey Oliver, it sounds like the beach is more your thing than the forest, I always said you were a lazy good-for-nothing!
Best
a
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