I had a bad start ...
First my flight was cancelled because of hurricane Ivan. When I finally arrived in Quito my luggage was not there. When I finally got my luggage, my small backpack was stolen with camera, passport etc.
… but the rest of the trip was GREAT, really GREAT.
Marcel, my dive buddy arrived the day after, and we had one day in Quito before flying to the Galapagos islands. Since Quito is not a very interesting city (most of the must-do’s are outside the city), we went to La Mitad del Mundo, at latitude 000’0”, just north of Quito.
We tested it and it is true: The water falls straight down the sink at 000’0”, but if you move 2 meters into the Northern Hemisphere the water turns clockwise and if you move 2 meters into the Southern Hemisphere, the water moves anti-clockwise. And just with a normal sink and a bucket of water! No, we weren’t drunk either!
Sunday the 12th we flew to the Galapagos and boarded the SKY DANCER, our home for the next 10 days. We were 15 divers from Japan, UK, US, France, Mexico, Sweden and the Netherlands plus 8 crew members. We did 23 dives and visited 6 islands in 10 days. We started playing with sea lions during the first dive, they started biting our flippers and chasing turtles. We saw lots of rays, morays, dolphins (under and above the water), barracudas, black coral, reef sharks, Galapagos sharks and off course fish, big schools of fish. And during the land visits we saw albatrosses, marine iguanas, sea lions, flamingos, penguins and tortoises.
BUT, al lot of us were here to see more then this. And yes, we saw sea horses, horn sharks, but, we wanted something else … and yes … finally we went to Wolf Island and met the hammerheads, schools up to 20. And we continued to Darwin’s Arch and we saw heaps of WHALE SHARKS, up to 12 meters and so close. We ended up doing 10 dives at Darwin’ Arch and almost each dive we saw them, some dives even 4-6 of them. FANTASTIC.
As always, the end arrives quicker then expected and the 22nd we flew back to mainland Ecuador, to Guayaquil. Marcel continued to Colombia and I took the night bus to Baňos (we were stopped twice by the police and they took the bus almost inside out to check for “I don’t know”) on my way to the jungle and also to visit Wouter, an old SAP colleague, who lives there with his wife Mayra. Mayra runs a Spanish school (Mayra’s school) and Wouter is very busy with their new home. It’s so funny to meet people again after all those years and all over the world. Thanks for your hospitality!! Baňos reminded me of Sorata in northern Bolivia.
After riding the mountain bike around the waterfalls (up to Pailon de Diablo) with Wouter, I took the night bus to Lago Agrio, starting point of the Amazon jungle trip.
And really, this was a trip into the jungle. After a bus ride of 11 hours to Lago Agrio, I had to take a taxi to Cuyabeno Bridge, and from there a motorized dugout canoe for 2 hours over the Cuyabeno river to Camp Manati à no running water, no electricity, very basic.
But it was worth the trip. The Cuyabeno river (= river with black water), ends up in the Amazon river in Brazil. Next to the camp is Laguna Grande where we could swim and watch the PINK dolphins.
I arrived on my own, but there were already an Israeli couple and 2 Spanish guys in the camp. Together with guide Jairo we canoed around and tried to catch piranhas ( I only caught a catfish with a big moustache). We also spotted a sloth (= lazy animal), which hangs in a tree like a koala, but upside down.
The next day we canoed for 4 hours (puf puf) on the river with black water towards the Seonas-Secoyas tribe (their language is Baincöcha), where we spent the night in tents. On our way, we spotted a toucan, monkeys, butterflies, birds, all very bright and colorful. A local woman showed us how to prepare bread from the yucca tree roots and it tasted Ok, but better with jam!
Luckily we went back by motor canoe. It was not very busy as this was the end of the season in this area because between December and February this area is dry! No river, no lake, dry!
At night we went for a walk through the forest and saw poisonous tarantula and wolf spiders (they don’t make a web but an underground nest) and an Amazon lobster.
And the next morning we did a walk through primary rain forest (= tierra firme, which means at least 9 months with rain per year) and this was a very interesting walk. The trees produce medicines like kinine (against malaria), copal (against mosquitos) and menthol (for a cold). Next to that I had acid ants, a jungle smoke and a swing between the trees.
The last day (I was the only one left in the camp), I saw what the other didn’t, an anaconda snake. I only say his head, which was about 20 cm., and according to Jairo the total length would be around 6 meters!!! Can you imagine how difficult it then is to move quietly in a small wooden canoe to see this anaconda!!
Thursday the 30th, I went back to Lago Agrio and had a good shower and pizza with beer at D’Mario. After arroz con pollo for a week, this was a welcome change.
To see the Amazon and Andes in another way than the night bus, I took the plane from Lagio Agrio back to Quito the next morning. Impressive views and changing scenery.
Back in Quito in get an emergency passport (just in time!) to leave the country. The cover is pink. When somebody mentions the color, I will tell them this is a passport especially for gay people.
My last day I spent on the famous Saturday market in Otavalo, where the locals buy their stuff and the tourists buy their souvenirs. And guinea pig for lunch (I was looking for this since Petra and myself visited Bolivia/Peru during our world trip).
I told my mom I would arrive October 10th on Aruba, but as October 3rd is her Birthday, I surprised her on her B-day. And yes, she was quite surprised!
Next time, stories from Aruba and the Dutch Antilles.
