Ballenas, Baños and Burritos

We had sea mammals on the mind as our next stop was the mainland coast of Ecuador. Humpback whales make their way to equatorial waters during the summer to mate and give birth in warmer waters, offering a rare chance to see one of nature’s greatest mammals in her natural environment.

No zoom required! Just metres away from humpbacks...

It is estimated that about 7,000 whales (ballenas) come from the Antarctic to the tropics each year. Over the years, expert whale watchers have identified about 2,000 different whales in Ecuadorian waters, based on their unique tail markings, which essentially amount to a fingerprint.

During the courting rituals whale watching is breathtaking. The males often put on macho displays of dominance, in which they inflate their chests and throats, physically confront possible competitors, and jump above the surface of the water.

Females have also been known to show their tail above the water as a sign that they wish not to mate at a particular time, giving researchers a chance to capture their fingerprint.

After a night in party-town Montanita, we took a boat out from Puerto Lopez – a charmingly local and sand-tossed town further up the coast. We raced across the water for ten minutes and then finally slowed to a lull. And waited.

But after just few seconds…wham! A shower of salt water a few metres off and the tail-slapping and breaching began, at times, just three metres from where we sat.

It was unreal to think that an animal so enormous and strong could be swimming around right beneath our small boat, using their watermelon-sized eyes to flick a look at us before plunging back into the depths of the salty sea.

It was also amazing to think that these magnificent creatures, that so dwarf us mere humans, could be endangered. This quote sums it up nicely:

“The whale is endangered, while the ant continues to do just fine” (Bill Vaughn)

We could feel the spray from her tail

Our next stop was Baños, for all things tacky and taffy  - the sugary, sticky sweet treat the town makes on wooden posts in shop doorways.

I appreciated the comedic genius of getting a tummy bug (probably because I eat everything and anything in South America) in a town that literally translates to “toilets” – all I saw was the toilets for the first two days. We were also staying at Hostel Erupcion, I’ll say no more!

Illness aside, the town was charming in its tourist-driven tackiness, we were surrounded by waterfalls cascading down lush, green mountainsides and the air was fresh and invigorating.

We even managed a five hour hike through the hills on the last day (loo roll at the ready!): wandering through farmers’ back gardens, completely lost, to be cheerfully put back on the right track.

Men making taffy all day, every day along the streets

Due to my dodgy tummy, I didn’t try one of the local specialities, cuy (spit-roasted guinea pigs), but they were everywhere, sizzling on the streets.

From the verdant green of Baños to the colonial chaos of Quito. Quito is the only capital city in the world located directly beneath an active volcano, Pichincha, which erupted as recently as 2006, sprinkling ash over the city and causing major disruption.

Old town Quito, one of the largest, best-preserved historic districts in the world, was selected by UNESCO as one of the first two World Heritage Sites in 1978.

One of the farms we found ourselves at in Baños

Sadly, Quito has a reputation as a dangerous, crime-ridden city amongst travellers. The safe haven of our hostel was buzzing with stories. I told how a friend of mine had her camera robbed at knifepoint.

Someone else (an ex-military guy, no less) was attacked and mugged down at the end of the street, 100 meters from the hostel. Another person three days before was stabbed in the arm when he refused to hand over his valuables.

And then we added our own, near-mugging to the mixing pot of nail-biting tales.

We were walking down a busy street in broad daylight when two guys and a girl blocked our path and started yelling at us. “Un dólar, un dólar!” the girl kept screaming while the others closed in on us. Our hearts thumping in our chests, we managed to jump into an open doorway that, by some miracle, had a security guard sat behind a desk.

The thieves moved on, while the security guard continued to avoid acknowledging our presence at all. We were lucky, but left quite unsettled.

Crispy cuy, NOT for guinea pig lovers!

Thankfully, our hostel and its people were great so we went round in a group from then on, making regular outings to the burrito house around the corner as a welcome change from almuerzos of chicken, rice and beans. Although, it was pointed out, a burrito just provides that combo in a different format!

Quito’s colourful canvas is also hinged by its positioning in the middle of the world, or the “La Mitad del Mundo”.

In 1736, French scientists set out to determine the exact point on the globe that was located midway between the north and south poles.

This was no easy feat, since so much of “middle earth” is ocean, swamps, and jungle. Their search for dry land led them to Ecuador, a short distance from present day Quito, where they established La Mitad del Mundo also known as the Equator.

Two hundred years later, in 1936, a monument was erected on the spot and a line painted on the ground to mark the Equator, a site which is today one of the top tourist destinations in the country.

Beautiful El Centro, Quito

Each year, thousands of tourists straddle this line, believing they have one foot in the Northern Hemisphere and the other in the Southern Hemisphere.

Many have no idea that actual Equator runs through the middle of a pre-Inca ruin located approximately 300 metres to the north of the monument, a fact confirmed with the development of satellite Global Positioning Systems (GPS).

We went to the statue, but then walked the 300 metres out the back entrance, around the corner and along a dirt track to stand on the actual equator.

There, we were given a guided tour explaining how the ancient Andean people, including the Quito tribe, worshipped the sun here and had great knowledge of the celestial bodies.

Cheesy Equator jump was a must!

The Quito tribe, completely naked to this day, built ceremonial and ritual sites right along the Equator, knowing they were in the middle of the earth (the word “Quito” actually means “middle earth”).

The tribe is also famous for it's shrunken heads. When a chief dies or an enemy killed, they are beheaded and the skull removed. The lips and eyes are sewn shut and the head is then boiled in an herbal solution that begins the shrinking process and fixes the hair so that it will not fall out.

Then, to keep the shape, it is filled with hot stones and then hung over a smoky fire until the skin turns black. Heads are then worn was necklaces and on top of spears. We saw a head that was more than 100 years old - lovely stuff.

Also fascinating, if not a little amusing, were the experiments we got to do with water and balancing eggs. Water really does go down the plughole anti-clockwise in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the south; eggs can be balanced on a nail head due to less coriolis effect; and apparently our bodies have less gravity directly on the Equator, diminishing our weight and, therefore, strength.

The much-disputed claim...

Despite the tourist gimmicks, there is something very exciting about being at the exact centre of the world.

In Ecuador, we were also standing on one of the highest points on the Equator – the highest place from the centre of the earth to the Equator actually being on top of Volcan Cotapaxi just south of Quito.

Galapagos Islands: peek-a-boo with sea lions

So, 12 nights and 11 days in the infamous, wildlife paradise of the Galapagos Islands. Where do I even begin?

Flying in to the islands - what a view!

Thinking back about all the memories of this incredible trip has got me wondering how on earth I would fit everything in to just one or even five blog entries?

The constant wonder of seeing animals we had never seen before, the miraculous landscapes and turquoise waters of the islands we visited, and the underwater world we shared with thousands of unique species is all still buzzing around in my head. I’m unsure how to put all these wonderful thoughts and experiences down in writing.

Galapagos marine iguanas drying off in the sun

So, I have decided I’m just not going to try. What I am going to do is give the Galapagos the introduction it deserves and try to write about a few of the highlights for us during this trip, and let your imaginations and curiosities do the rest.

Galapagos penguins - small little fellas!

And if that’s not enough for you, well you’ll just have to take yourself to these islands in the middle of the ocean someday and see for yourselves. In fact, I insist!

The Galapagos Islands are famous as the place where Charles Darwin visited during his voyage aboard the HMS Beagle from 1861-1865. As he explored these pure, untouched islands, he famously pulled marine iguanas’ tails to see what they did (not much, as it goes) and, on the back of his visit, developed the theory of evolution.

But for me it wasn’t the extraordinary scientific discoveries that transfixed me; it is the islands’ mythical status as a sanctuary for exotic animals that are entirely endemic, so can’t be found anywhere else on earth. If fact, just to prove how in harmony the Galapagos are with the animal world, the biggest island – Isabela - is even in the perfect shape of a sea horse.

Just chilling with our sea lion friend - it's a hard life!

What’s more, due to an evolution completely free of humans until recent years, these unique animals share an almost uniform of indifference to us, wearing it like a cloak over their feathers, fur or scales.

Whether they are little penguins barrelling toward your face while snorkelling, or five foot sharks cruising past, they were completely unruffled by our presence, either ignoring us and our shiny camera lenses completely or deciding to have some fun with us.

Isla Isabela - lava field and volcano in the background

It would be easy to believe that this whole set-up is actually an elaborate film set, complete with giant tortoises mating on demand, and trained pelicans that obligingly swoop down inches from your head to bag a fish. You can almost hear people off-set directing the choreography, “and cue the dolphins jumping by the boat” or “tell the sea turtle to pop his head up again, they didn’t get a photo!”

Another remarkable thing about the Galapagos Islands is the landscape - or rather landscapes - as there are many different ones.

We were both prepared to be impressed by the wildlife here, its infamy paves the way for it. But right from the start we were awed by the beauty of the scenery, landscapes and water. The islands themselves are simply incredible, before you’ve even seen the animals decorating them at every turn.

Our luxury cabin on the Millennium - heaven!

And so there we were, arriving onto the island of Santa Cruz – a thin sheen of sweat on our foreheads in the sunshine and an excitement like no other.

Within four hours we were in a small dingy, riding by moonlight to our boat: the Millennium. Like the rest of our trip to date, we had ‘winged it’, and booked a last minute luxury cruise for half the price you pay in Quito with just enough time to rush to the shop to lay our hands on some cheap wine!

Playing with a baby sea lion

The boat was a grand palace compared to the hostels and dorm rooms we had been staying in: our bedroom had a balcony and a bathtub with a huge window overlooking the sea and the food was gourmet and the freshest we had tasted in a long while.

We shared our excitement with a fun group of Israeli backpackers who also hopped on a last minute deal.

That night, rocked persistently by the sea, I dreamt of swimming with penguins, sea lions and sharks. I guess that means my dreams have come true, as the very next day I got to do that. Twice.

Everyone needs an iguana for a pillow!

For the next 5 days, I kept having to pinch myself as we sailed around the little-visited, western isles – a perfect combination of landing on uninhabited, volcanic islands and snorkelling twice a day.

Our guide, Leonidas, kept emphasising that these weren’t any animals that surrounded us, these were Galapagos animals. Every time he said it, I was smiling inside thinking about the M&S adverts. (Cue the plummy, sultry voiceover) "This isn't just any marine iguana. This is a plump, rare Galapagos marine iguana."

He just wanted to passionately make the point about just how special an experience this was, but it had us giggling nonetheless. Especially when he forgot a species of bird and said: “Oh, it’s a Galapagos something.”

Blue-footed boobies everywhere

Piles of marine iguanas (who are only found here, in case I haven’t made that obvious in my above ramblings) basked in the sun, paying no heed as we squatted down to watch them spitting excess salt from their bodies.

Magnificent, male frigate birds with a puffed up red sack around their gullet (used to woo the females), flew with our boat for hours until sunset.

Flightless cormorants (why fly when you live in a Galapagos wonderland of fish? Ah, evolution) stretched their dwarfed wings to dry them next to a lava heron.

Cheeky penguin who pecked at my wetsuit

Blue-footed boobies (yes, boobies), with their toothpaste-blue feet, swooped down from sky, making their bodies as streamlined as possible and dove straight into the water like a bullet, catching fish as much as three or four feet down.

Colonies of small, "penguini Galapaginis" (Galapagos penguins) perching on lava-black rocks, then joining us on our snorkels, one pooping on camera as it sped past us. I even tickled one of their feathery-soft tummies under water. Well, he pecked at my wet suit first!

"Oh please, no more photos!"

Giant tortoises creaked as they ambled in slow-motion in the highlands. Sadly the infamous, last-of-his species, Lonesome George, died just three days before we arrived on the island.

Brilliant orange and blue crabs crept, vivid against the petrified lava. Some of the crabbiest of crabs fighting each other next to a dozing sea lion.

"I may be older than you, but I am wiser"

Dolphins leaped out of the water and swam with our dingy boat, and huge humpback whales came near to the catamaran before sunset, blowing huge spouts of air upwards.

Sea lions frolicked, getting nose to nose with us, appearing to blow a bubble kiss, and then making a last minute twist away to tease us. They liked to play "peek-a-boo" above and below the water, and would even pick up rocks from the bottom to throw near us and then race to catch them.

Giant, green sea turtles, munching on sea grass, floated underneath us and between us as we snorkelled. They are so slow and chilled out, just like in Finding Nemo. I could almost hear them saying “Duuuude” to each other.

Marine iguana munching underwater - boo!

Meanwhile Galapagos bullhead sharks and white-tipped reef sharks darted below, amidst the brightly-coloured starfish, coral, and hundreds of fish.

And this chorus of wildlife was all set to a backdrop of beautiful islands. On the lava fields, we felt as if we were walking on the moon; lava tubes, spatter cones and hardened lava made unicorn-horn shaped spires and round craters.

Huge sea turtles all around us - "Duuuude!"

In most parts, vegetation is limited to lava cactus and mangroves covering the beach dunes. And the ocean surrounds everything with its hundreds hues of blues as currents mix together.

On the ship at night, the bright blanket of the stars and moon reflected on the water, catching sea lions and large fish with their light. One night we even had an Equator party in the captain’s bridge as we watched the coordinates flick to 0-0-0.

I’ve never felt so lucky.

Marine iguana on the surface 

After 5 days, we were a few pounds heavier after the huge banquets three times a day (backpackers cannot be trusted around a buffet) but lighter in spirit and high on life.


I think I would have thrown a tantrum if I had to jump back on a plane as we arrived back on land. But, luckily, we had another 6 days of pure Galapagos bliss ahead of us.