Rabida Island
My friend, Maggie, collects stones from the places she travels. She likes it when other travellers bring stones and rocks from their trips too.
I wanted to bring her one from the Galapagos, but it’s against the law to remove any organic matter from the islands. Normally I wouldn’t worry about that, but this place is so peaceful and so special, that I’m sure any pilfering would have a bad effect on my karma forever.
So Maggie, you’ll have to settle for these specimens (starfish included), photographed on the gorgeous red beaches of Rabida Island.
I loved this beach and couldn’t help myself. I took way too many photos and am sharing way too many here. Pick one and I’ll get it blown up for you when I get home.
Prickly pear cactus
The Galapagos Islands may be in the Pacific Ocean, but they are actually quite dry—the perfect climate and conditions for cacti.
Three main varieties grow there—prickly pear, lava and candelabra.
We saw lava cacti first on Bartolemé, an island dominated by lava. It’s considered a ‘pioneer’ or colonising plant. It grows in clumps with each microphone-shaped ‘branch’ being a separate cactus. New growth is bright yellow.
Then we saw the hardy prickly pear cacti. This plant is a survivor. Today many plants are quite tall and have trunks that are well-protected by spines and thick bark. It’s an adaptation that has helped them to fend off the many land tortoises that sought food and water from their once fleshy stems. That said, the land iguanas still manage to munch their way through these cacti.
We didn’t see candelabra cacti until the day we were leaving, near the town of Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island. This cactus is quite tall and looks like its name—and I missed getting a pic.
A penguin couple?
Somebody’s leaving, but why?
You bet! The Galapagos Islands have one species of penguin and we saw it. Actually we saw several.
These are the only penguins that live in the wild north of the equator.
There’s a theory that they originated in the very south of South America—in the cold and stormy region known as the Chilean Patagonia (we’ll be there later this year). The penguins may have come north during the last Ice Age and stayed after the ice melted because the Humboldt and Cromwell Currents keep the water cold enough for them to survive.
A Galapagos penguin weighs about 2.5 kilos (5.5 pounds) and is 49 centimetres (19 inches) long. They’re the third smallest species of penguin in the world. They’re also endangered with only 1000 breeding pairs. Because they are small, they have a lot of predators such as hawks, owls, sharks, fur seals, sea lions, snakes and even crabs.
These penguins mate for life, and breeding occurs in the second half of the calendar year. We saw what may have been a romantic interlude or domestic tiff. Two penguins were standing together on a rock. One dived off and swam to a nearby rock. The pair then had a back-and-forth ‘conversation’, which we could hear from the boat we were sitting in. My photos are a bit fuzzy—you try taking pictures in a rocking boat and from a distance—but you get the idea.
Booby taking off
What a name—blue-footed booby! The story goes that this bird, common in the Galapagos, got its name from Spanish sailors. They thought it acted silly (it’s very clumsy on land) and knew it had funny-coloured feet, so they made use of the Spanish word for clown or fool, bobo.
There’s another link to the name, better known to English speakers. The birds often perched on the raised hatches near the bow of British ships—hence the term ‘booby hatch’.
We saw plenty of boobies in the Galapagos. It’s fun to see them showing off their blue feet, but the best thing is to watch them hunting and dive-bombing for food. There are red and white-footed boobies, but we didn’t see any of them.
The blue-footed boobies fly high overhead searching for likely targets. When they spot a school of small fish such as sardines, mackerels or anchovies, they dive in unison. They point their bodies down like arrows and dive from heights of up to 30 metres (100 feet). Apparently they can dive into as little as 2 feet of water. I bet synchronised divers would be jealous.
Diving boobies
They hit the water at speeds of up to 100 km/h (60 mph) and by the time they pop to the surface, they have probably already eaten their catch.
Male boobies have a showy mating dance, which we never saw. Darn. Boobies lay two or three eggs each breeding season, and the parents share the incubation (they use their feet to keep the eggs warm) and later the feeding of the young.
Most of the birds we saw were flying, diving or nesting on shore, while we were in a boat, so I don’t have any great close-ups, but I do have a lot of great memories.
Luis Fichamba making an Andean pipe
Today we had the good fortune to meet Jose Luis Fichamba, a gifted traditional musician and instrument maker in Ecuador.
Luis was director of the popular Andean band Nanda Manachi. The group took the music of the quechua people of the Andes to the world, touring in many countries. They might still be performing together today, but the group split up when various band members moved to other nations.
We met Luis in his workshop in Peguche (near Otavalo). He doesn’t speak English, but our local guide, David, explained some of Luis’ background and many talents.
Luis sat with us and within less than 15 minutes of casual cutting, trimming and tuning pieces of bamboo, he had created and was playing a set of small, typical Andean pipes.
He also gave us several short performances, with him playing the pipes, a stringed instrument, and then a flute, drum and percussion instrument made of sheep’s toenails. I managed to get a short video and will post when I figure out how.
We all had a go at getting a sound out of the pipes and other instruments, but the sheep’s toenails were certainly the easiest to play. The rain stick—a piece of bamboo filled with stones and sealed at both ends—was extra easy too. Just tip it end to end.
Our visit to Luis’ workshop was part of a day-long community-based tour we booked and I’ll post more about it soon. We’re off to the Amazon tomorrow—for three days—and I’m not expecting to have an internet connection.
Shawls are popular and colourful
Otavalo, north of Quito, is a commercial success story and colourful too.
For centuries, rich volcanic soils have made this area rich in farming communities. But a rise in tourism and the popularity of local handicrafts have helped to create a thriving market.
Saturday is the big day, when up to a third of the town is taken over by stalls selling textiles, jewelry, musical instruments, blankets, leather goods, fake shrunken heads, indigenous costumes, hand-painted items, purses and bags, clothing, spices, food and spools of wool. There are lots of local shops, too, where prices seem higher and the quality can be better.
But you don’t have to come on a Saturday. We arrived on a Monday afternoon and found an abundance of choice and plenty of not-too-pushy salespeople.
They were congregated in the main market square, called Plaza de los Ponchos (Plaza of the Ponchos). The square, which was about half full when we arrived, was designed and built in 1970 by a Dutch architect. It has 90 mushroom-shaped ‘stalls’ with circular benches, and room for countless other makeshift operations.
We had a quick run-through yesterday, but that was just a starter. We strolled past in the evening. About 10 food stalls were set up that hadn’t been there earlier in the day. We bought dinner—four empanadas—for $1.40. We’ll be back tonight.
Pouring water near the equator—note the pouring technique
We headed out about mid-morning today with our first destination being the equator north of Quito, Ecuador.
There are some interesting facts and misinformation regarding this place.
In 1979, the Pichincha Province Council started work on a monument to mark the Ciudad Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World City). It replaced an earlier monument, and was meant to mark the exact equator.
Problem was, they were about 240 metres off the mark. Oops! But it doesn’t keep people from visiting and believing.
A couple of hundred metres north is the Intiñan Solar Museum. It too claims to be on the equator. This is not proven as they use civilian rather than military GPS to confirm the reading. This is where we visited and what a hoot! It’s more like a charlatan’s sideshow at the circus.
Our guide showed us a REAL shrunken head and explained the process—it takes three months.
Then he escorted us through some Ecuadorean cultural exhibits and a garden of totems contributed by other countries. These all were quite nice.
Finally came the array of demonstrations of proof, including the water one based on the Coriolis force.
Artefacts from an Ecuadorean tomb
Our guide emptied water from a portable sink positioned ‘on the equator’. The water drained straight down. Then he moved the sink north and south of the equator and showed how the water drained, counter-clockwise or clockwise.
Poor John saw through the technique pretty quickly. On the first demo, the sink had been stationary for a while, and the water emptied straight down quickly. On the two subsequent efforts, the guide poured the water into the sink from the left or right edge, depending on which way he wanted the water to drain. He pulled the plug so soon after filling the sink, that the water was already moving (although not visibly) in the direction he wanted.
The Coriolis force is real, but the truth is that it is simply too weak to affect such small bodies of water. Skip the sink or the toilet and try a hurricane or typhoon instead.
Sorry if this spoils the story for anyone.
One good thing came of outing. The guide managed to get the first photograph of most of our group!
Most of the group at the equator
Poor John and Sponge Bob
If you’ve followed this blog for a while, you’ll know that our original plans for a overland trip in South America were thwarted.
We booked a new option with Oasis Overland. The itinerary is pretty much the same, but we’re five weeks behind on our original starting date. That’s okay. We’ve spent the last little while goofing off in the USA, Canada, Colombia and now Ecuador.
But our big day actually comes tomorrow—we get started. In the morning, we’ll set off in a big yellow truck (nicknamed Sponge Bob) and spend the next four months getting to see huge slabs of South America and getting to know our fellow travellers.
I’ll be writing about our adventures, and still writing about past adventures in other far-flung places—there’s so much to tell and I always feel so far behind.
Hope you continue to come along for the ride. Please, please, please—I’d love it if you’d leave comments, ask questions and share in the journey. I’m sure we can squeeze you on to the truck.
A rough guide to our route in South America
Bologna and cheese sandwiches—on a croissant-like bun. Delish!
The other night Poor John and I stopped at a hole-in-the-wall restaurant for dinner. We’d had a big lunch, so weren’t very hungry. There was no menu and the sign out the front listed a whole bunch of Ecuadorean dishes we didn’t recognise.
The waiter/owner didn’t speak ANY English and neither did any of the other customers. So with hand signals, smiles and a smattering of Spanglish, we ‘ordered’ something small and light, along with a grande (large) beer and a black coffee.
He responded with 30 seconds of Spanish chatter, accompanied by understanding nods, smiles and more hand signals that included an approving thumbs-up for the beer order.
Then he dashed out the door and returned soon with a packet of the white cheese that is so popular in Ecuador. He probably bought it at the small shop next door. Hmmm, now we were curious. What had we ordered? What were we getting?
But the suspense ended soon enough. In a few minutes, we were presented with the Ecuadorean version of bologna and cheese sandwiches, which were on croissant-like buns and delicious.
And the total bill was $3.75.
We had lots of similar experiences in Africa. Sometimes we didn’t know what we’d ordered and other times we got something that was nothing like what we ordered.
An episode in Ethiopia stands out. A few of us took a side trip to some towns in northern Ethiopia. We stopped in a rather large restaurant for lunch. Andy (who joined us for lunch) was keen for a burger. Even though they were pictured on the menu, there was no listing, so he settled on something else.
I can’t remember what Poor John ordered, but I chose a special omelet. When our meals arrived, I was given a plate with four miniature hamburgers on it. Andy’s eyes glazed over with envy and I said ‘hang on, I ordered a special omelet.’ And the waiter turned, smiled and said, ‘Ah yes, that is a special omelet.’
One of my favourite pieces
When you visit the Gold Museum (El Museo del Oro) in Bogota, it’s easy to believe that all the gold in the world is in Colombia—in that one place.
The museum holds 55,000 gold items, with 6000 pieces on display. It is, indeed, the largest world’s collection of gold artifacts from pre-Hispanic times in South America. The detail and intricacy are incredible, and highlight the high level of metal-making skill that existed then.
Most exhibits have descriptions in English as well as Spanish, which is a painstakingly effort on the part of any museum—and most appreciated by those limited to a foreign language phrase book.
We were also impressed to see how the displays covered works by the many different cultures, such as the Calima, Quimbaya, Muisca, Zenu, Tierradentro, San Augustín, Tolima, Tayrona and Uraba.
In addition to gold, there are displays of pottery, stone, wood, shell and textiles. There were also simple explanations on how the various items were made.
We spent half a day wandering through the museum (and stayed for lunch too). The owner of our hostel suggested the outing, and her timing was perfect. We went on a day when admission was free.
Sorry about the sheer volume of pics. I couldn’t resist. I’ve shared pics of a wide variety of items, and have added a few notes of explanation. I probably could/should explained more, but my eyes are still dazzled.
Where to next? 