Hanging out with a toy soldier in toy story land
Friday, October 14, 2011
Crazies
There are Crazies like us running to get fast passes for Toy Story! Passing time til our pass is valid going between tower of terror and rock n roller coaster! 5!4!3!2!1!
Thursday, October 13, 2011
And Ted wins!
We are tied 1-1 and will have to come back to break the tie. The best yet is I had the top score on our car of 8 people. Booyah
Britt with the W!
We made it through the fast pass lane at Toy Story for an exhilarating game. Britt was easily, hands- down the winner. Ted proved no match for her skills of accuracy and total points. Rematch tonight!
Our dog while we are in Orlando
This is budrick. He is a mixture between buddy and maverick. He is tame dog and stays out of trouble. It is a nice change of pace from crazy dog maverick, but we still miss our little pups.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
She didn't do too well
Britt couldn't make it on the tea cups. We're waiting for her stomach to settle down now
Tea cup time!
Britts first time on the tea cups...let's see if she makes it out without throwing up!
Back at the DW
Britt and I have made our way back to Disney World for our unknown time. We flew into Orlando on 11 October and will be here through 16 October. We'll try to update the blog as the time goes by. First off, we are off to the Magic kingdom to ride some kiddy rides and beat Britt in buzz light year game.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Adios amigos
Ted has gone through and added some photos to older postings for your viewing-
Well, it's almost 7 pm and we are back at our hotel in Quito. Our flight departs at 11:30 pm eastern time tonight. We are to take a shuttle at 8:30 which will drop us off at the airport. They are serving dinner in our hotel beginning at 7 so we are busy getting ready and packing everything up yet again before we head down for dinner.
Our flight back again was quite turbulent. I was mildly freaking out for the first hour.
We'll make it back to Moline at 9:30 tomorrow am.
The trip was more than words can describe. Pictures do some justice, but to capture every moment that made your mouth drop is difficult. Ted now has over 1500 pictures to sort through. He turned out to be quite the photographer and even had some people asking for photos he snapped. Celebrity Cruiseline gave us a DVD of the photos they took of us on the trip which was a nice little keepsake.
Last night we ended up at a dinner table by ourselves before another couple who we had met on the first day and were traveling with her sister and family, invited us over to their table. The kids had gone to eat with some other youngsters so it was just the six of us. I had gathered earlier that one was a doctor, but unsure what kind. I imagine his wife stays at home. This gals sister, Mary, was quite interesting. Ted asked her (Mary is her name) what her and her husband did for a living. Now, before she replied, I would have put her age at late 30's, early 40's. Apparently she started her own business relating to pharmacuticals and then sold the company and is now retired. Her age-49! I wish I would've asked more questions relating to it, but we did not. Instead we started talking about traveling. Now that they are retired, and they never had kids, they travel quite frequently. We got on the subject of safaris at one point. Mary and her husband have been on 7, yes 7, safaris! My jaw probably dropped to my knees. I'd say she probably made out pretty good if she has been on 7 safaris on top of numrerous other trips. Her and her husband were heading to Chennai, India (where I traveled this fall for work) a few months from now. I'd say they are world travelers:-)
Other than that, I should probably wrap this up. We will probably post a few additional photos when we return or out on a website and if interested, you can always look through them.
Thanks for following our blog. Unfortunatley Ted did not do anything crazy or stupid for me to write about so this trip has been pretty mild reading.
Adios and see many of you very soon!
Well, it's almost 7 pm and we are back at our hotel in Quito. Our flight departs at 11:30 pm eastern time tonight. We are to take a shuttle at 8:30 which will drop us off at the airport. They are serving dinner in our hotel beginning at 7 so we are busy getting ready and packing everything up yet again before we head down for dinner.
Our flight back again was quite turbulent. I was mildly freaking out for the first hour.
We'll make it back to Moline at 9:30 tomorrow am.
The trip was more than words can describe. Pictures do some justice, but to capture every moment that made your mouth drop is difficult. Ted now has over 1500 pictures to sort through. He turned out to be quite the photographer and even had some people asking for photos he snapped. Celebrity Cruiseline gave us a DVD of the photos they took of us on the trip which was a nice little keepsake.
Last night we ended up at a dinner table by ourselves before another couple who we had met on the first day and were traveling with her sister and family, invited us over to their table. The kids had gone to eat with some other youngsters so it was just the six of us. I had gathered earlier that one was a doctor, but unsure what kind. I imagine his wife stays at home. This gals sister, Mary, was quite interesting. Ted asked her (Mary is her name) what her and her husband did for a living. Now, before she replied, I would have put her age at late 30's, early 40's. Apparently she started her own business relating to pharmacuticals and then sold the company and is now retired. Her age-49! I wish I would've asked more questions relating to it, but we did not. Instead we started talking about traveling. Now that they are retired, and they never had kids, they travel quite frequently. We got on the subject of safaris at one point. Mary and her husband have been on 7, yes 7, safaris! My jaw probably dropped to my knees. I'd say she probably made out pretty good if she has been on 7 safaris on top of numrerous other trips. Her and her husband were heading to Chennai, India (where I traveled this fall for work) a few months from now. I'd say they are world travelers:-)
Other than that, I should probably wrap this up. We will probably post a few additional photos when we return or out on a website and if interested, you can always look through them.
Thanks for following our blog. Unfortunatley Ted did not do anything crazy or stupid for me to write about so this trip has been pretty mild reading.
Adios and see many of you very soon!
Final Excursion Details and Notes
March 18, 2011 – Puerto Egas, Santiago Island and Dragon Hill, Santa Cruz
Today’s morning excursion was a visit to Puerto Egas on Santiago Island. This excursion was a walk along the beach to view various birds and reptiles. This walk included one of the highlights of our trip; a visit from the curious Galapagos flycatcher. The Galapagos flycatcher is a small finch looking bird that is very curious and absolutely not shy. While walking along the trail, one of these birds landed on a bush next to the trail. A person in the group raised their camera to take a picture of it. The bird immediately flew toward the lense. I guess the flycatchers are attracted to the large lenses on the large SLR cameras. I got some great pictures of the little guy flying at and landing on people’s cameras. Definitely a cool experience. Other wildlife seen during this excursion were more sea lions, a gold crown heron, an oyster catcher and many marine iguanas laying out in the sun.
At the end of the walk, we had another chance to snorkel. Britt gave it a go one more time to get a chance to swim with sea lions and turtles. Britt did great and got to see a sea lion swim by us. Unfortunately, he didn’t stick around long enough to hang out with us. We also saw a white tipped reef shark while swimming that was about three feet long. As usual, we saw thousands of tropical fish swimming around. Britt had enough after about 30 minutes, so I went back out alone. I was glad that I went back out again because I had a personal experience with a sea lion. The sea lion and I swam along together for several minutes with the sea lion coming up to look at my goggles several times. It was just like I was another sea lion swimming along with it. Awesome!
For the afternoon excursion, we took a trip to Dragon Hill on Santa Cruz Island. We were on the lookout for land iguanas and flamingos on this excursion. Britt wasn’t feeling well due to a binge eating session at the Mexican lunch buffet. She should have knew better, but just couldn’t resist that last taco. She took the short route option and I took the long walk option. We both made a stop at a brackish lagoon in search for flamingos. Luckily, one flamingo stayed around for us to gawk at. Britt and I then went our separate ways. My trek took me through some very muddy and rocky paths. It took awhile, but we finally came upon a very large male land iguana. Land iguanas are different from their marine iguana brother and sisters. They only stay inland and feed on plants. They are yellow and brown in color and grow slightly larger than the marine iguanas. At the end of this excursion, I took the final snorkel opportunity in hopes to swim with some more sea lions and turtles. Unfortunately, the water was very choppy and the snorkeling was poor, so I went back to the ship with Britt.
*We borrowed a movie from their collection tonight. Top Gun. Neither of us had seen the movie all the way through, especially since it came out when we were 3 and 4 years old respectively. We didn’t quite understand what was so special about this movie-did people only enjoy it because they saw Tom Cruise with his shirt off?
March 19-Santa Cruz, Puerto Ayorta
Today marks the final day of excursions for our trip. Our first stop was at the Darwin Research Center. We roamed around the center and saw the baby tortoises, some that were two years old and still caged up. We were then on our way to visit Lonesome George, the last of a specific tortoise species. He was recently divorced from two girls who he was not interested in. Two other females were brought in during December in hopes of making baby George’s. These two females have DNA which more closely resemble his DNA. We then met Diego who has helped produce over 2,000 tortoise babies. Good thing he doesn’t have to pay child support or buy them Birthday presents!
When we were finished at the research center, Ted and I walked by stopping at various shops along the way looking at junk. We managed to walk away with a magnet, our typical vacation purchase.
This afternoon’s excursion took us on a 30 minute bus ride to Santa Cruz island. Our visit was to a private farm to view the wild tortoises. As it is currently mating season we were told we may have difficulties in finding any tortoises. But, we were in luck as our walk allowed us to see 10 tortoises. We also made a stop to view turtle shells. Our guide, Alvaro tried convincing a few folks to crawl in, but Ted was the only brave volunteer. I can’t wait to post pictures of this great spectacle;-)
Well, this about wraps up on time blogging. As I mentioned before, we will post pictures when we have a better internet connection. Adios amigos!
Today’s morning excursion was a visit to Puerto Egas on Santiago Island. This excursion was a walk along the beach to view various birds and reptiles. This walk included one of the highlights of our trip; a visit from the curious Galapagos flycatcher. The Galapagos flycatcher is a small finch looking bird that is very curious and absolutely not shy. While walking along the trail, one of these birds landed on a bush next to the trail. A person in the group raised their camera to take a picture of it. The bird immediately flew toward the lense. I guess the flycatchers are attracted to the large lenses on the large SLR cameras. I got some great pictures of the little guy flying at and landing on people’s cameras. Definitely a cool experience. Other wildlife seen during this excursion were more sea lions, a gold crown heron, an oyster catcher and many marine iguanas laying out in the sun.
At the end of the walk, we had another chance to snorkel. Britt gave it a go one more time to get a chance to swim with sea lions and turtles. Britt did great and got to see a sea lion swim by us. Unfortunately, he didn’t stick around long enough to hang out with us. We also saw a white tipped reef shark while swimming that was about three feet long. As usual, we saw thousands of tropical fish swimming around. Britt had enough after about 30 minutes, so I went back out alone. I was glad that I went back out again because I had a personal experience with a sea lion. The sea lion and I swam along together for several minutes with the sea lion coming up to look at my goggles several times. It was just like I was another sea lion swimming along with it. Awesome!
For the afternoon excursion, we took a trip to Dragon Hill on Santa Cruz Island. We were on the lookout for land iguanas and flamingos on this excursion. Britt wasn’t feeling well due to a binge eating session at the Mexican lunch buffet. She should have knew better, but just couldn’t resist that last taco. She took the short route option and I took the long walk option. We both made a stop at a brackish lagoon in search for flamingos. Luckily, one flamingo stayed around for us to gawk at. Britt and I then went our separate ways. My trek took me through some very muddy and rocky paths. It took awhile, but we finally came upon a very large male land iguana. Land iguanas are different from their marine iguana brother and sisters. They only stay inland and feed on plants. They are yellow and brown in color and grow slightly larger than the marine iguanas. At the end of this excursion, I took the final snorkel opportunity in hopes to swim with some more sea lions and turtles. Unfortunately, the water was very choppy and the snorkeling was poor, so I went back to the ship with Britt.
*We borrowed a movie from their collection tonight. Top Gun. Neither of us had seen the movie all the way through, especially since it came out when we were 3 and 4 years old respectively. We didn’t quite understand what was so special about this movie-did people only enjoy it because they saw Tom Cruise with his shirt off?
March 19-Santa Cruz, Puerto Ayorta
Today marks the final day of excursions for our trip. Our first stop was at the Darwin Research Center. We roamed around the center and saw the baby tortoises, some that were two years old and still caged up. We were then on our way to visit Lonesome George, the last of a specific tortoise species. He was recently divorced from two girls who he was not interested in. Two other females were brought in during December in hopes of making baby George’s. These two females have DNA which more closely resemble his DNA. We then met Diego who has helped produce over 2,000 tortoise babies. Good thing he doesn’t have to pay child support or buy them Birthday presents!
When we were finished at the research center, Ted and I walked by stopping at various shops along the way looking at junk. We managed to walk away with a magnet, our typical vacation purchase.
This afternoon’s excursion took us on a 30 minute bus ride to Santa Cruz island. Our visit was to a private farm to view the wild tortoises. As it is currently mating season we were told we may have difficulties in finding any tortoises. But, we were in luck as our walk allowed us to see 10 tortoises. We also made a stop to view turtle shells. Our guide, Alvaro tried convincing a few folks to crawl in, but Ted was the only brave volunteer. I can’t wait to post pictures of this great spectacle;-)
Well, this about wraps up on time blogging. As I mentioned before, we will post pictures when we have a better internet connection. Adios amigos!
Friday, March 18, 2011
Thursday, March 17th – Afternoon Excursion-Fernandina, Espinoza Point
**We will post photos when we return and have normal internet connection!!
The afternoon excursion took us to Fernandina Island to view hundreds and hundreds of marine iguanas. We hiked over lava fields and came to a point where approximately 100 marine iguanas were sun bathing with many on top of one another to keep warm. Every few seconds you hear this snorting noise as marine iguanas need to de-saltinate and spit salt water out their snout. Not a great sight to see. We continued our walk and saw numerous sea lions and even came upon the flightless cormorants. Flightless cormorants are just what their name states, flightless.
This walk involved many sea lion viewings. With sea lions, there will be a beach master, a male sea lion, who controls certain areas of the female population. He is constantly being challenged by other males and typically after three weeks, will lose his spot. We came upon the beach master for this area, and this particular sea lion definitely needed to go on weight watchers! We had never seen one so large until now! He barked quite frequently at us and even came up to guard one of his girlfriends and her young pup. As we continued our walk to another area populated by sea lions, in one crevice, we spotted a baby sea lion, only around six weeks old. He seemed stuck in this crevice, but managed to shimmy his way up and received many cheers from our group. Another female came over and started playing with the baby and soon they were off swimming and chasing each other in the water. It was so adorable. I just wanted to take a baby seal home with me.
Interesting things to note:
*We ate breakfast with Mark’s daughter and her boyfriend. She works State Department and does frequent traveling, having been to 56 countries. So much for thinking I had been to quite a few countries already!
* At breakfast today, our waiter brought me a diet coke without informing him of my drink choice. He has figured out what I like to drink in the am.
*The naturalists on the ship work four weeks on, two weeks off, while the cruise director works two weeks on, two weeks off.
*I absolutely love eggs. I use to eat them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner when I was little. To this day, I could still eat scrambled eggs all the time. That was until I tried the eggs on the ship here. I don’t recall if we wrote that all the food the ship provides comes from Ecuador. That way, they help the economy. Well, they must feed their chickens some different feed because the taste is quite odd, and to be blunt, quite disgusting too.
*Ted and I were getting sick of eating food in the main dining hall so we ordered a pizza last night to eat on the deck at sunset. It was probably one of the better meals we had actually. Pepperoni pizza which actually tasted more like hot dog pizza.
The afternoon excursion took us to Fernandina Island to view hundreds and hundreds of marine iguanas. We hiked over lava fields and came to a point where approximately 100 marine iguanas were sun bathing with many on top of one another to keep warm. Every few seconds you hear this snorting noise as marine iguanas need to de-saltinate and spit salt water out their snout. Not a great sight to see. We continued our walk and saw numerous sea lions and even came upon the flightless cormorants. Flightless cormorants are just what their name states, flightless.
This walk involved many sea lion viewings. With sea lions, there will be a beach master, a male sea lion, who controls certain areas of the female population. He is constantly being challenged by other males and typically after three weeks, will lose his spot. We came upon the beach master for this area, and this particular sea lion definitely needed to go on weight watchers! We had never seen one so large until now! He barked quite frequently at us and even came up to guard one of his girlfriends and her young pup. As we continued our walk to another area populated by sea lions, in one crevice, we spotted a baby sea lion, only around six weeks old. He seemed stuck in this crevice, but managed to shimmy his way up and received many cheers from our group. Another female came over and started playing with the baby and soon they were off swimming and chasing each other in the water. It was so adorable. I just wanted to take a baby seal home with me.
Interesting things to note:
*We ate breakfast with Mark’s daughter and her boyfriend. She works State Department and does frequent traveling, having been to 56 countries. So much for thinking I had been to quite a few countries already!
* At breakfast today, our waiter brought me a diet coke without informing him of my drink choice. He has figured out what I like to drink in the am.
*The naturalists on the ship work four weeks on, two weeks off, while the cruise director works two weeks on, two weeks off.
*I absolutely love eggs. I use to eat them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner when I was little. To this day, I could still eat scrambled eggs all the time. That was until I tried the eggs on the ship here. I don’t recall if we wrote that all the food the ship provides comes from Ecuador. That way, they help the economy. Well, they must feed their chickens some different feed because the taste is quite odd, and to be blunt, quite disgusting too.
*Ted and I were getting sick of eating food in the main dining hall so we ordered a pizza last night to eat on the deck at sunset. It was probably one of the better meals we had actually. Pepperoni pizza which actually tasted more like hot dog pizza.
Thursday, March 17th-Isabela Island Morning Excursion
It’s already Thursday…I’m crying inside. This trip has gone faster than we could have imagined and expected, and we have only managed to take one, 45 minute nap this entire week. This morning we stopped for a 2.5 mile walk at Isabela Island. We were on the look-out for sea turtles, tortoises, land and marine iguanas. We had a wet landing at the beach and noticed a handful of sea turtle tracks who had laid their eggs overnight. It was good we took a few minutes to dry off and drop off our snorkeling gear for our return, as when we started to leave, the group behind us started shouting. We turned around to see a sea turtle making its’ way back to sea. What a beautiful sight! When the turtle finally made it’s way back to sea, we turned and trekked on. We climbed over a bunch of lava rock and saw many more sally crabs. Ted even captured some photos of more birds along the way too. Not long once we got on the trail did we finally meet the first land iguana. He was ginormous! Another 100 yards later we stopped for additional photo opportunities with another iguana and then another! After the fourth iguana, we were excited to meet our first tortoise. She was just relaxing, taking her time eating a few of the greeneries around. She was only about 10 years old, so fairly young in terms of tortoise. We were greeted by tortoises about every 10 minutes it seemed and they grew and grew. Ted and I were starting to fall behind as Mr. Photographer was busy capturing every image he could. I heard a faint noise coming from the brush which almost sounded like a goat. I looked through the shrubs and after a minute spotted what appeared to be Godzilla tortoise. I called Ted over and we could barely make out the large guy in the distance. I told him I was going to run ahead and tell everybody else and so I did. Half the group followed me back and I pointed out the location. I attempted to videotape Godzilla and wish Ted would’ve stayed with me a bit longer as I found a better location to view the guy. Apparently the noise he was making was his mating call, but I did not see any female by him, therefore, she was either hidden beneath which made him look like Godzilla, or indeed he really was Godzilla. Our guide said the tortoise on this island could weigh as much as 250 kilo, therefore, I am excited to view my video on the big screen!
Upon completion of the hike it was time for more snorkeling. Since we took so long on the hike, we only had 30 minutes to snorkel and I figured it would take me just that long to put on all my gear so I sent Ted on his way. Ted came back and said he swam with two sea turtles and other various tropical fish.
Upon completion of the hike it was time for more snorkeling. Since we took so long on the hike, we only had 30 minutes to snorkel and I figured it would take me just that long to put on all my gear so I sent Ted on his way. Ted came back and said he swam with two sea turtles and other various tropical fish.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Santa Cruz Island – Bachas Beach
For our Wednesday morning excursion, we visited Bachas Beach on Santa Cruz Island. The main attraction at this location was the possibility of seeing Flamingos. Along the walk to the Flamingo site, we saw many Sally Light Foot Crabs and Marine Iguanas. The wildlife on this walk was less than in past excursions, so there weren’t many photo opportunities. Once we reached the Flamingo site, we were greeted by two beautiful flamingos. Of course everyone clamored to get the best photo spot, since this was everyones first opportunity to see flamingos on this trip. These flamingos were much more pink than the ones we have seen in the past back home.
At the completion of the walking portion of the excursion, we got another chance to snorkel. Britt was able to get going quite a bit faster this time as she was a little more comfortable in the water. The snorkeling at this site was not as good as our previous excursions. None the less, we saw many colorful tropical fish and several of Britt’s favorite fish, a teal parrotfish. While swimming, the surf began to get a little rough, so we headed back in.
Back on the ship, I received news that my photo from the day before was chosen as photo of the day. I somehow got lucky during one of my pictures and had the rapid shot turned on. I took an awesome photo of a sally light foot crab just as the waves were rushing in. It is an awesome shot. We have taken some great photographs on this trip and look forward to showing everyone when we get back.
Afternoon Excursion – Bartolome Point on San Salvador Island.
Our afternoon excursion took us to Bartolome Point on San Salvador Island. Bartolome point is a high lookout point on the island. There are 380 steps to the top of the point. San Salvador island is one of the youngest islands in the Galapagos group; only 150,000 years old. The island is very barren as the island is not old enough for plant life to take hold. Due to this, wildlife is also scarce on this island. But of course scarce in the Galapagos does not mean there is not much to be seen. There are many Marine iguanas swimming and basking in the sun. There were many lava lizards laying on rocks and doing push ups to display their strength and scare off other lizards and predators. The highlight of the walk was the Galapagos hawk. We saw several hawks during this walk. The Galapagos hawk is top dog on the islands; having no other predators to challenge it. We found it amazing that the hawk, which is similar in size to the hawks back in Iowa, is capable of killing adult iguanas and carrying them back to their nest. The strength in their wings is amazing. I was able to get some great shots of several hawks flying through the air and perched on rocks.
After the walking excursions, we headed down to the beach for some more snorkeling. Britt gave it a good go, but the water was too rough for her, so I went alone. The amount of fish on this snorkel was amazing. There were many large schools of fish to swim through. Around a large point, I was greeted by three Galapagos penguins and several sea lions. Unfortunately, I was not able to get them to join me in the water, but I was able to get very close to them. On the way back to the beach, a large spotted ray swam by. Unfortunately, I had to get back to the ship and was not able to glide along with him, but what a great way to end a great day.
At the completion of the walking portion of the excursion, we got another chance to snorkel. Britt was able to get going quite a bit faster this time as she was a little more comfortable in the water. The snorkeling at this site was not as good as our previous excursions. None the less, we saw many colorful tropical fish and several of Britt’s favorite fish, a teal parrotfish. While swimming, the surf began to get a little rough, so we headed back in.
Back on the ship, I received news that my photo from the day before was chosen as photo of the day. I somehow got lucky during one of my pictures and had the rapid shot turned on. I took an awesome photo of a sally light foot crab just as the waves were rushing in. It is an awesome shot. We have taken some great photographs on this trip and look forward to showing everyone when we get back.
Afternoon Excursion – Bartolome Point on San Salvador Island.
Our afternoon excursion took us to Bartolome Point on San Salvador Island. Bartolome point is a high lookout point on the island. There are 380 steps to the top of the point. San Salvador island is one of the youngest islands in the Galapagos group; only 150,000 years old. The island is very barren as the island is not old enough for plant life to take hold. Due to this, wildlife is also scarce on this island. But of course scarce in the Galapagos does not mean there is not much to be seen. There are many Marine iguanas swimming and basking in the sun. There were many lava lizards laying on rocks and doing push ups to display their strength and scare off other lizards and predators. The highlight of the walk was the Galapagos hawk. We saw several hawks during this walk. The Galapagos hawk is top dog on the islands; having no other predators to challenge it. We found it amazing that the hawk, which is similar in size to the hawks back in Iowa, is capable of killing adult iguanas and carrying them back to their nest. The strength in their wings is amazing. I was able to get some great shots of several hawks flying through the air and perched on rocks.
After the walking excursions, we headed down to the beach for some more snorkeling. Britt gave it a good go, but the water was too rough for her, so I went alone. The amount of fish on this snorkel was amazing. There were many large schools of fish to swim through. Around a large point, I was greeted by three Galapagos penguins and several sea lions. Unfortunately, I was not able to get them to join me in the water, but I was able to get very close to them. On the way back to the beach, a large spotted ray swam by. Unfortunately, I had to get back to the ship and was not able to glide along with him, but what a great way to end a great day.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Floreana Island-Afternoon excursion
We have too much to write, but too little time so we will keep this short. For our afternoon excursion, we took a zodiac ride around the coast of the island hunting for Galapagos penguins. Our first stop along the ride, we were greeted by about 50 sea lions resting on a small island of rocks. Everyone had seen so many sea lions by now there was little interest so we moved on. Half way through the excursion, we hit the jackpot and found a penguin. The guide mentioned that the population on Floreana island is only 12 penguins, so we were lucky to have seen one. But not only did we see one, we saw three total. It is amazing that penguins are able to live in such a warm climate. Additional new wildlife that we saw on this excursion were oyster catchers and blue herons. Every place we go there is something new to see and experience.
Tuesday evening after dinner, the crew put on a song and dance show for us. Entertaining to say the least, then they were to put the spotlights on the water to attract the fish. Ted and I went to the top deck waiting, and while we were, the cruise director, Jean, was visiting with the massage therapist on board. Pretty soon, he starts unbuttoning his shirt and we thought we were about to witness a rated R movie. Luckily, he laid flat on the bed and she worked a few knots out and he was on his way. Darn it, no juicy gossip to pass along to the rest of the passengers. Anyways, back to the original story, the fish. We watched as flying fish would skim across the water but were not quite fast enough for the seal lions. Even more interesting, was that Galapagos sharks would follow the sea lions as much as they could and try to steal the fish from the sea lions. We watched this for at least an hour and what a sight to see.
Small tidbits:
There are more Canadians on this ship then we have ever met in our life. At least 15-20% are Canadians!
We ate dinner the other night with the “other” our age couple, Jessica and Brian. They happened to choose the Galapagos for their honeymoon. They are both Scientists for Harvard Medical specializing in human genetics. We became instant friends when we found out they are dorky like us and have played Settlers of Catan Also at our dinner table was a retired International Acquisitions Attorney, Mark, who happened to work in the building across from the World Trade Center and had just gotten off the subway the day the towers went down. This led him to retire a few years early and enjoy life. Nice guy.
Last night, I (Britt), must’ve been in the middle of a sight-seeing expedition when I woke up to myself pointing as if I was pointing out an animal. I am starting to eat, breathe, and sleep Galapagos.
This guy got a little frightened
Another good photo of a crab
We found wild flamingos!
Tuesday evening after dinner, the crew put on a song and dance show for us. Entertaining to say the least, then they were to put the spotlights on the water to attract the fish. Ted and I went to the top deck waiting, and while we were, the cruise director, Jean, was visiting with the massage therapist on board. Pretty soon, he starts unbuttoning his shirt and we thought we were about to witness a rated R movie. Luckily, he laid flat on the bed and she worked a few knots out and he was on his way. Darn it, no juicy gossip to pass along to the rest of the passengers. Anyways, back to the original story, the fish. We watched as flying fish would skim across the water but were not quite fast enough for the seal lions. Even more interesting, was that Galapagos sharks would follow the sea lions as much as they could and try to steal the fish from the sea lions. We watched this for at least an hour and what a sight to see.
Small tidbits:
There are more Canadians on this ship then we have ever met in our life. At least 15-20% are Canadians!
We ate dinner the other night with the “other” our age couple, Jessica and Brian. They happened to choose the Galapagos for their honeymoon. They are both Scientists for Harvard Medical specializing in human genetics. We became instant friends when we found out they are dorky like us and have played Settlers of Catan Also at our dinner table was a retired International Acquisitions Attorney, Mark, who happened to work in the building across from the World Trade Center and had just gotten off the subway the day the towers went down. This led him to retire a few years early and enjoy life. Nice guy.
Last night, I (Britt), must’ve been in the middle of a sight-seeing expedition when I woke up to myself pointing as if I was pointing out an animal. I am starting to eat, breathe, and sleep Galapagos.
This guy got a little frightened
Another good photo of a crab
We found wild flamingos!
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
March 15 - Floreana Island Morning Excursion
This morning we awoke for breakfast and boarded the Zodiac to head to Floreana Island for a short walk and then snorkeling. We were told we may see flamingos on the island, but no siting was made by any of the groups unfortunately. During our walk we saw many birds, spiders, and lizards. Back on the other side of the island was a white sand beach and plenty of turtle tracks up into the higher grounds where the turtles lay their eggs. We saw a few out in the ocean not too far from shore bobbing their heads. Ted took many photos of the masked boobie dive bombing for food. These animals only live 15-20 years due to their breakneck speed into the water which eventually causes them to go blind as they leave their eyes open so they can spot their prey. We also watched a sally light footed crab molt it’s skin. It almost looks like he is lathering up with soap, but it is the process he performs in a matter of hours to shed his entire skin and grow anew.
Upon completion of our walk, we went back to the original beach we came in and prepared for snorkeling. I debated whether or not to go to the “advanced” snorkeling site. But, when they warned us there were possible currents and choppy water, I figured I better not. Plus, the guides might be suspicious if I was the only one wearing a life jacket Ted stayed with me, and we had a blast once I got over my initial fear of being in the water. Our underwater camera cover worked great too. We spotted a sea turtle, sea lion, stingray, Galapagos penguins, and numerous types of fish. My favorite one had to be the most colorful fish in the group, he was teal and purple, my two favorite colors!
When we finished snorkeling we hopped back on the Zodiac and made it back to the ship only to see a sea lion hanging out on our undocking deck. As we watched him for a few minutes, he decided his spot wasn’t good enough so he jumped back in the water and onto the Zodiac we had just come from.
Enough for now-hope all is well back home.
Also, we are having zero luck uploading pictures, so you all will have to wait until we get home. We are sorry and hope you are not too bored reading our updates.
Britt's favorite fish - A teal parrotfish
Proof that Britt was out having fun in the water
A sea turtle that we swam along with
Unique flower
PICTURE OF THE DAY BABY!!!
A Sally Light Foot Crab Molting it's shell
Upon completion of our walk, we went back to the original beach we came in and prepared for snorkeling. I debated whether or not to go to the “advanced” snorkeling site. But, when they warned us there were possible currents and choppy water, I figured I better not. Plus, the guides might be suspicious if I was the only one wearing a life jacket Ted stayed with me, and we had a blast once I got over my initial fear of being in the water. Our underwater camera cover worked great too. We spotted a sea turtle, sea lion, stingray, Galapagos penguins, and numerous types of fish. My favorite one had to be the most colorful fish in the group, he was teal and purple, my two favorite colors!
When we finished snorkeling we hopped back on the Zodiac and made it back to the ship only to see a sea lion hanging out on our undocking deck. As we watched him for a few minutes, he decided his spot wasn’t good enough so he jumped back in the water and onto the Zodiac we had just come from.
Enough for now-hope all is well back home.
Also, we are having zero luck uploading pictures, so you all will have to wait until we get home. We are sorry and hope you are not too bored reading our updates.
Britt's favorite fish - A teal parrotfish
Proof that Britt was out having fun in the water
A sea turtle that we swam along with
Unique flower
PICTURE OF THE DAY BABY!!!
A Sally Light Foot Crab Molting it's shell
Monday, March 14, 2011
Boobies Galore Duece and some Sea Lions
Monday morning excursion involved a 7:00 Zodiac (they are the boats which transport us to land for our tours as the cruise ship can not get close enough to land to dock) ride to view Kicker Rock. Kicker Rock is a limestone rock formation which juts straight out of the ocean. The only life on the rocks are that of blue footed boobies, frigate birds, nazca boobies, and sea lions. The excursion was timed with the sunrise, so we were able to get some great pictures of the rock formation.
Back in time for breakfast and then we were off to another excursion on San Cristobol. This was a fitness walk which allowed us to see butterflies, lots of zigzag spiders, yellow wobbler, Darwin finches, and lava lizards. During the ride over to San Cristobal, Ted noticed he had somehow acquired a spot on some of his photos. Likely due to switching lenses while at Kicker Rock. So he spent much of his time on the walk trying to get rid of the spec on his lens. I for the other hand was enjoying the walk by pointing out the numerous birds and lizards. I spotted the first sea turtle of the trip while up at a lookout point on the trail. At the conclusion of the hike, we went back to San Cristobal for about 15 minutes of shopping. We’ve become pretty disappointed so far with shopping as we typically do on our trips. As usual, the majority of the shops sell cheap China made souvenirs. We really hope we will be able to find shops with original Ecuadorian made items. If not, sorry family. You will have to live with our pictures and videos.
After walking around the shops, we went back to the pier to hop on our Zodiac back to the ship. While at the pier, there were around twenty sea lions lying around basking in the sun and playing in the water. The sea lions remind us a lot of our dog maverick. They are very playful and try to get the attention of each other, while others just lay on the rocks, steps, benches, sidewalks, boats, pretty much anywhere they like. One seal lion was playing with a large stick and tossing it around in the water. We wish Maverick could entertain himself like that. We are really excited to get an opportunity to get in the water with the sea lions and have some fun of our own with them.
Back on the ship, we were treated to a grill with hamburgers and grilled shrimp. The shrimp were huge and very delicious. While eating lunch, we were graced with the presence of a group of dolphins. It looked like the group was chasing after fish, since they were making great leaps out of the water and high into the air. It was awesome to see wild dolphins rather than the typical trained dolphins we have seen in the past. It was even better that they put on a show for us.
The afternoon excursion was a tour of Espanola Island. There were two options this afternoon a short and long walk. Of course, we chose the long walk to get more time on the island. Right off the bat, we were met with a colony of sea lions and many marine iguanas. The marine iguanas on this island are much more colorful than the iguanas we saw yesterday due to a mineral that is present around the island. Also on this island, we saw many Nazca (masked) boobies and their baby chicks. We are beginning to learn that we do not need to worry about missing photo opportunities on our hikes because there will many additional opportunities as you progress on the hike and on future excursions.
Well, we are now back on the ship and it looks like we have written way too much for people to read, so we will end for now and upload some pictures for everyone to enjoy. We should be able to update every day from now on out, since we now have internet access. We hope everyone is well and enjoys the photos. Hasta la vista!
We will post pictures later.
View of Kicker Rock
A lazy sea lion hanging out on a bench
Masked (Nazca) Boobie
Marine Iguana
Bully Sea Lion chasing a baby marine iguana
Ooooo what a cute little baby sea lion
Lava lizard doing push ups on a rock
Back in time for breakfast and then we were off to another excursion on San Cristobol. This was a fitness walk which allowed us to see butterflies, lots of zigzag spiders, yellow wobbler, Darwin finches, and lava lizards. During the ride over to San Cristobal, Ted noticed he had somehow acquired a spot on some of his photos. Likely due to switching lenses while at Kicker Rock. So he spent much of his time on the walk trying to get rid of the spec on his lens. I for the other hand was enjoying the walk by pointing out the numerous birds and lizards. I spotted the first sea turtle of the trip while up at a lookout point on the trail. At the conclusion of the hike, we went back to San Cristobal for about 15 minutes of shopping. We’ve become pretty disappointed so far with shopping as we typically do on our trips. As usual, the majority of the shops sell cheap China made souvenirs. We really hope we will be able to find shops with original Ecuadorian made items. If not, sorry family. You will have to live with our pictures and videos.
After walking around the shops, we went back to the pier to hop on our Zodiac back to the ship. While at the pier, there were around twenty sea lions lying around basking in the sun and playing in the water. The sea lions remind us a lot of our dog maverick. They are very playful and try to get the attention of each other, while others just lay on the rocks, steps, benches, sidewalks, boats, pretty much anywhere they like. One seal lion was playing with a large stick and tossing it around in the water. We wish Maverick could entertain himself like that. We are really excited to get an opportunity to get in the water with the sea lions and have some fun of our own with them.
Back on the ship, we were treated to a grill with hamburgers and grilled shrimp. The shrimp were huge and very delicious. While eating lunch, we were graced with the presence of a group of dolphins. It looked like the group was chasing after fish, since they were making great leaps out of the water and high into the air. It was awesome to see wild dolphins rather than the typical trained dolphins we have seen in the past. It was even better that they put on a show for us.
The afternoon excursion was a tour of Espanola Island. There were two options this afternoon a short and long walk. Of course, we chose the long walk to get more time on the island. Right off the bat, we were met with a colony of sea lions and many marine iguanas. The marine iguanas on this island are much more colorful than the iguanas we saw yesterday due to a mineral that is present around the island. Also on this island, we saw many Nazca (masked) boobies and their baby chicks. We are beginning to learn that we do not need to worry about missing photo opportunities on our hikes because there will many additional opportunities as you progress on the hike and on future excursions.
Well, we are now back on the ship and it looks like we have written way too much for people to read, so we will end for now and upload some pictures for everyone to enjoy. We should be able to update every day from now on out, since we now have internet access. We hope everyone is well and enjoys the photos. Hasta la vista!
We will post pictures later.
View of Kicker Rock
A lazy sea lion hanging out on a bench
Masked (Nazca) Boobie
Marine Iguana
Bully Sea Lion chasing a baby marine iguana
Ooooo what a cute little baby sea lion
Lava lizard doing push ups on a rock
Boobies Galore and some other things
Today was the big day. The day we had been waiting for for several years…The Galapagos Islands. The morning began at 7 am with obtaining our tickets for the flight to the Baltra. Baltra is one of the small islands of the Galapagos and was once used as a airport during World War II and has been converted to a commercial airport for flights to the Galapagos. Once we had checked out of the hotel and received our boarding passes, we hopped on chartered buses to the Quito airport. Our tour guide on the bus filled us in on a few last minute Quito facts. On Sunday in Quito, the city shuts down one side of many of the main roads to be used by the citizens for recreational activities such as running and biking. We had noticed on Saturday that there was absolutely no one outside partaking in any sort of exercising, but today was totally different. There were many people outside walking, running and biking. There was zero traffic on the roads, so this must be the day that Ecuadorians get outside and burn some calories.
Once we arrived at the Quito airport, we were rushed through airport security. Security is much more lax in Ecuador. We were able to bring any size of liquid on our plane and were not required to take our shoes or jackets off. It made us a little nervous going on our plane, but it was also nice being able to get through security so quickly. Once we got on the plane, we thought we may have to sit apart since our seats were separated by a seat in between us. We were pleasantly surprised to find out that we had our own row to ourselves. All couple by themselves had a row to themselves on this flight. Celebrity contracts a plane through Aerogal, so the individuals on the trip had the whole plane to themselves and there were many empty seats. The plane was very nice with each seat with it’s own video screen and foot rests. We had not been on a plane with such a nice set up before. The flight from Quito to Baltra was 2 hours. During the flight, we were provided with a warm towel to clean up before the flight began and then a breakfast consisting of a egg casserole, fruit and bread. The trip was going wonderful with Britt and I both watching movies on our personal video screens until we hit some horrendous turbulence. The plane began to shake like crazy with all the luggage above us and the items in the back jostling around. Britt immediately grabbed my hand and squeezed it. The turbulence lasted for about 30 minutes. We weren’t sure we were going to make it to the Galapagos since it appeared the wings were going to break off as the plane bounced around in the sky. Obviously, we are here to write this so we made it ok.
As soon as we stepped out of the plane, we were hit with a blast of hot humid air. It felt great to finally feel temperatures warm enough to wear short sleeves and shorts. The airport consisted of a completely open building with only a roof. It is very similar to the airport on the Big Island of Hawaii. Once through customs, we were bused to the pier to hop on zodiacs to the Celebrity Xpedition. At the pier, we were greeted with our first taste of Galapagos wildlife. Pelicans were all over diving into the water catching fish. We heard the barking of sea lions and saw hundreds of sally light footed crabs on the rocks. This is going to be an amazing trip.
Once on the ship, we were greeted with a cold towel and water and sat down in the Discovery lounge for a short briefing by the cruise director. We were informed that the ship is at full capacity – 98 total vacationers and from all over the world.
We were showed to our room, which is your typical cruise cabin. Ted and I each had a twin bed pushed so we each can sleep on our own beds at night. We followed up our room visit with our next stop, the buffet. An array of assorted foods greeted us and we weren’t afraid to dig right in because we have to get our moneys’ worth, right??
After unpacking our luggage, the first hike of the trip was a 2 hour hike around North Seymour island. Ted snapped photos while I videotaped the scenery which consisted of: frigate birds, blue footed boobies, red footed boobies, sea lions, baby frigate birds, marine and land iguanas, and more and more frigate birds. It’s currently mating season for the frigate birds so the males would inflate their red pouch to attract the females. We found out the mother and father care for their baby frigate for 2 years. Their life span is approximately 60 years which is pretty incredible. You will notice in some of Ted’s photos just how close we were to the animals and were not afraid of us humans.
Back on the ship we showered and prepped for dinner. We were seated with a family of four from Kansas City. Marlan, the father, is not afraid of his feminine side as I had noticed he had worn pink every day of the trip thus far. I had named them the pink family before we had even met.
Dinner marked the end of our first day on the cruise and we know it is already going to fly by.
Last Minute Thought:
- The ship is small and intimate. Fortunately, this means we get to meet a lot of great people from around the World. Unfortunately, it means that we have to remember people’s names since we will likely eat and converse with them several times over the week. After a day of not remembering many names, we have begun writing down everyone’s name on a sheet of paper to help us remember.
Also, we are having issues with uploading pictures. We will try to fix if they do not show up.
Galapago Black Tipped Shark Circling Our Ship – I think they are ready for us to snorkle
Red Footed Boobie and Baby Chick
Male Frigate Bird with Inflated Pouch and Ready for the Ladies
Land Iguana
Blue Footed Boobie – I just want to squeeze him
Male Frigate Bird with Inflated Pouch Flying Around
Once we arrived at the Quito airport, we were rushed through airport security. Security is much more lax in Ecuador. We were able to bring any size of liquid on our plane and were not required to take our shoes or jackets off. It made us a little nervous going on our plane, but it was also nice being able to get through security so quickly. Once we got on the plane, we thought we may have to sit apart since our seats were separated by a seat in between us. We were pleasantly surprised to find out that we had our own row to ourselves. All couple by themselves had a row to themselves on this flight. Celebrity contracts a plane through Aerogal, so the individuals on the trip had the whole plane to themselves and there were many empty seats. The plane was very nice with each seat with it’s own video screen and foot rests. We had not been on a plane with such a nice set up before. The flight from Quito to Baltra was 2 hours. During the flight, we were provided with a warm towel to clean up before the flight began and then a breakfast consisting of a egg casserole, fruit and bread. The trip was going wonderful with Britt and I both watching movies on our personal video screens until we hit some horrendous turbulence. The plane began to shake like crazy with all the luggage above us and the items in the back jostling around. Britt immediately grabbed my hand and squeezed it. The turbulence lasted for about 30 minutes. We weren’t sure we were going to make it to the Galapagos since it appeared the wings were going to break off as the plane bounced around in the sky. Obviously, we are here to write this so we made it ok.
As soon as we stepped out of the plane, we were hit with a blast of hot humid air. It felt great to finally feel temperatures warm enough to wear short sleeves and shorts. The airport consisted of a completely open building with only a roof. It is very similar to the airport on the Big Island of Hawaii. Once through customs, we were bused to the pier to hop on zodiacs to the Celebrity Xpedition. At the pier, we were greeted with our first taste of Galapagos wildlife. Pelicans were all over diving into the water catching fish. We heard the barking of sea lions and saw hundreds of sally light footed crabs on the rocks. This is going to be an amazing trip.
Once on the ship, we were greeted with a cold towel and water and sat down in the Discovery lounge for a short briefing by the cruise director. We were informed that the ship is at full capacity – 98 total vacationers and from all over the world.
We were showed to our room, which is your typical cruise cabin. Ted and I each had a twin bed pushed so we each can sleep on our own beds at night. We followed up our room visit with our next stop, the buffet. An array of assorted foods greeted us and we weren’t afraid to dig right in because we have to get our moneys’ worth, right??
After unpacking our luggage, the first hike of the trip was a 2 hour hike around North Seymour island. Ted snapped photos while I videotaped the scenery which consisted of: frigate birds, blue footed boobies, red footed boobies, sea lions, baby frigate birds, marine and land iguanas, and more and more frigate birds. It’s currently mating season for the frigate birds so the males would inflate their red pouch to attract the females. We found out the mother and father care for their baby frigate for 2 years. Their life span is approximately 60 years which is pretty incredible. You will notice in some of Ted’s photos just how close we were to the animals and were not afraid of us humans.
Back on the ship we showered and prepped for dinner. We were seated with a family of four from Kansas City. Marlan, the father, is not afraid of his feminine side as I had noticed he had worn pink every day of the trip thus far. I had named them the pink family before we had even met.
Dinner marked the end of our first day on the cruise and we know it is already going to fly by.
Last Minute Thought:
- The ship is small and intimate. Fortunately, this means we get to meet a lot of great people from around the World. Unfortunately, it means that we have to remember people’s names since we will likely eat and converse with them several times over the week. After a day of not remembering many names, we have begun writing down everyone’s name on a sheet of paper to help us remember.
Also, we are having issues with uploading pictures. We will try to fix if they do not show up.
Galapago Black Tipped Shark Circling Our Ship – I think they are ready for us to snorkle
Red Footed Boobie and Baby Chick
Male Frigate Bird with Inflated Pouch and Ready for the Ladies
Land Iguana
Blue Footed Boobie – I just want to squeeze him
Male Frigate Bird with Inflated Pouch Flying Around
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Quito, Ecuador
Hola Hola.
It's 9:00 pm in Quito (we are currently on Eastern time) and just returned from dinner. Ted is slaving away attaching luggage tags to our suitcases to lug downstairs in a few minutes and we will not see them until we board the cruise ship. Hopefully I laid out everything I need in the morning to get me to the Galapagos!
Anyways, our day started out this morning with breakfast at our hotel. We gorged on bread, meat, french toast, cereal, you name it, we ate it. Post breakfast we met our cruise mates in the lobby to begin our day tour of Quito. Four, smaller chartered buses, took us to various hot spots in Quito. We visited a handful of churches, their government building, and city center. A beautiful buffet lunch with the entire group was fantastic and we were even serrenaded by an Ecuadorian singer. Post lunch we traveled 30 miles to visit the Equator line. It was perfect, because after a large lunch, it was nice to hear standing at the equator causes you to weigh 1kg less..yes..that is 2.2 pounds (at least that is what we were told at any rate). We headed back to the hotel for a few hours before we boarded the buses yet again for dinner. We ate dinner with a lovely couple, Edna and Bob. They happened to be from Devonshire, England, which Ted and I visited a few years ago with my dear friend, Tracy, who was working in Derby for Rolls Royce at the time. Somewhere in the mix all of the people at this restaurant, I think our server forgot about us and our main course was brought out extremely late in comparison to all the other tables around. This in turn, caused dessert to be served even later, at the point that other tables were already heading back to the bus. Ted, Edna, and Bob were all oblivious for some reason and carried on their conversation while I kept thinking to myself, "they are going to leave us. They are going to forget about us. How will we get back?" After all tables had cleared, a tour guide showed up and asked us if we were ready to leave. Thankfully, we weren't forgotten, but I'm certain the passengers on the only remaining bus which waited for us weren't thrilled.
Signing off for the night. Tomorrow AM we take a chartered flight to the Galapagos to begin the cruise with 88 others.
Things to note about our trip thus far:
*Met a couple from Colorado who has a vacation house on the golf course in Estes Park. Small world.
*Ted and I put the average age of our tripmates at 55+. You know we have an "elderly" crowd when many of the women have quit dying their hair.
*There is only one other couple "our age". A different couple we would consider "close to our age".
*No, we are not discriminating. We are just stating fact.
*Good thing my parents didn't travel here with us. If they had, my Mom would have found a way to bring home 10 stray dogs.
*Roses are everywhere in our hotel and at restaurants. Beautiful displays in the lobby of our hotel too! A single rose in the room and a knock on the door from housekeeping who gave us a new one tonight.
Flowers at the hotel.
Weird fruit. After Ted took a plate full of food I reminded him it was not wise to eat the fresh fruit in Quito because I had no desire to take care of him if he fell ill.
There were shoe shiners all over the central square. Many of them were young boys too.
This was the cutest of the stray dogs. He became known as "Scruff".
View from the Equator monument looking to Quito.
The "close to our age" couple. And no, we weren't stalking them.
Ted tight-roping the equator line.
Britt pondering whose side she wishes to be on.
The cheap sign says it all.
It's 9:00 pm in Quito (we are currently on Eastern time) and just returned from dinner. Ted is slaving away attaching luggage tags to our suitcases to lug downstairs in a few minutes and we will not see them until we board the cruise ship. Hopefully I laid out everything I need in the morning to get me to the Galapagos!
Anyways, our day started out this morning with breakfast at our hotel. We gorged on bread, meat, french toast, cereal, you name it, we ate it. Post breakfast we met our cruise mates in the lobby to begin our day tour of Quito. Four, smaller chartered buses, took us to various hot spots in Quito. We visited a handful of churches, their government building, and city center. A beautiful buffet lunch with the entire group was fantastic and we were even serrenaded by an Ecuadorian singer. Post lunch we traveled 30 miles to visit the Equator line. It was perfect, because after a large lunch, it was nice to hear standing at the equator causes you to weigh 1kg less..yes..that is 2.2 pounds (at least that is what we were told at any rate). We headed back to the hotel for a few hours before we boarded the buses yet again for dinner. We ate dinner with a lovely couple, Edna and Bob. They happened to be from Devonshire, England, which Ted and I visited a few years ago with my dear friend, Tracy, who was working in Derby for Rolls Royce at the time. Somewhere in the mix all of the people at this restaurant, I think our server forgot about us and our main course was brought out extremely late in comparison to all the other tables around. This in turn, caused dessert to be served even later, at the point that other tables were already heading back to the bus. Ted, Edna, and Bob were all oblivious for some reason and carried on their conversation while I kept thinking to myself, "they are going to leave us. They are going to forget about us. How will we get back?" After all tables had cleared, a tour guide showed up and asked us if we were ready to leave. Thankfully, we weren't forgotten, but I'm certain the passengers on the only remaining bus which waited for us weren't thrilled.
Signing off for the night. Tomorrow AM we take a chartered flight to the Galapagos to begin the cruise with 88 others.
Things to note about our trip thus far:
*Met a couple from Colorado who has a vacation house on the golf course in Estes Park. Small world.
*Ted and I put the average age of our tripmates at 55+. You know we have an "elderly" crowd when many of the women have quit dying their hair.
*There is only one other couple "our age". A different couple we would consider "close to our age".
*No, we are not discriminating. We are just stating fact.
*Good thing my parents didn't travel here with us. If they had, my Mom would have found a way to bring home 10 stray dogs.
*Roses are everywhere in our hotel and at restaurants. Beautiful displays in the lobby of our hotel too! A single rose in the room and a knock on the door from housekeeping who gave us a new one tonight.
Flowers at the hotel.
Weird fruit. After Ted took a plate full of food I reminded him it was not wise to eat the fresh fruit in Quito because I had no desire to take care of him if he fell ill.
There were shoe shiners all over the central square. Many of them were young boys too.
This was the cutest of the stray dogs. He became known as "Scruff".
View from the Equator monument looking to Quito.
The "close to our age" couple. And no, we weren't stalking them.
Ted tight-roping the equator line.
Britt pondering whose side she wishes to be on.
The cheap sign says it all.
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