Galapagos Islands – Santa Cruz

Posted on 6. August 2014 by FroeWi

Santa Cruz has one of the best diving sites on the Galapagos Islands. Therefore, we spent 6 days on Santa Cruz in total so Eva could tickle off some items of her bucked list. Instead of being green and packed with animals the area around Baltra airport (where we arrived) is very dry and reminds of the moonscape (with cactuses though). At our arrival we were shocked. But after taking a bus, a small boat and a bus again the landscape changed. With every meter the bus drove further to the south of Isla Santa Cruz the vegetation became more green. The first two days we slept in long, explored the area around Puerto Ayora and learned about the magic of the islands: sidewalks are used by marine iguanas for sun bathing, sea lions are lying on the docks (and benches), pelicans are flying around and get fed by local fisherman. Animals are extraordinary fearless; The whole atmosphere on the island made it a perfect stay. While Eva was diving, Niels further explored the island (including the highlands, the Darwin Station and a beach in the north).

Marine iguanas at the beach

One of our new friends – We never though we’d love sea lions

Pelicans are everywhere on the islands – especially where the fisherman are 😉

This animal gave Charles Darwin the idea for his theory of evolution: Darwin’s Finches

A Galapagos tortoise (the next post will just be about them!)

Sally Lightfoot Crab – bright red crabs which are way bigger than they seem on the pic

A wonderful coloured lizard which only moved away when Niels nearly touched it

Some harbour and Port Ayora impressions

During day time this is a normal street. At night time it’s a lively, cheap place to have dinner

Sometimes the Galapagos Islands reminded us of Cuba: hardly anything to buy besides long life goods.

Las Grietas – it’s said that there are white tip sharks, we didn’t see any though.

Galapagos Islands

Posted on 5. August 2014 by FroeWi

Everyone knows them – The Galapagos Islands – and everyone who has visited them is fascinated. But really, what’s so special about them? For us the answer is easy: it is the mixture of animals who are not afraid of humans, the extraordinary nature and the relaxed atmosphere.

Thanks to Eva’s passion for diving we stayed two whole weeks on the Islands so she could experience the best out of both worlds: water and land based activities. We thought about going on a cruise but luckily decided us against it due to us getting seasick. We ended up with a so called “island hopping tour”. A tour based on day trips including short cruises (up to three hours) but overnight stays in hotels. This way we had the chance to experience the wonderful islands in their full beauty.

Mitad del Mundo y Basílica del Voto Nacional

Posted on 1. August 2014 by FroeWi

We started the day of by visiting the Basílica del Voto Nacional. A monumental building constucted in 1988. The Basilica is 140 m (460 ft) long and 35 m (115 ft) wide. It is 30 m (98 ft) high in the sanctuary and 115 m (377 ft) high in the two frontal towers. Both towers can be climbed as well as the transept. The view from up there is magnificent but the climb is special – not sure if the used “ladder constuction” would be allowed in many european countries 😉

There is not much to say about the Mitdal del Mundo besides there are unlimited points on the equator but this “center of the earth” did not even make it to the right place. However, loads of tourist go there every year – so did we 🙂 As soon as you arrive you do know: this is a touristy place! The whole monument is surrounded by shops with junk. Nevertheless, we enjoyed a nice afternoon with some favorouble coffee!

The Basílica del Voto Nacional

The way to the top

The rooftop and…

…the inside view of the roof including the gangway to the top Inside view of the cathedral

The center of the worldnoooooooo……ahhhhh well ok!

Group picture with Maik and Tino

View from the top of the center of the world

Quito

Posted on 29. July 2014 by FroeWi

Leaving Buenos Aires was not easy. Especially because of the taxi service we had: Cynthia gave us a lift to the airport. On the airport we were chatting and drinking coffee nearly forgetting about the boarding time.

It was 10 pm when we finally arrived at the hostel. The welcome committee of the hostel can be described as the best-of a gangster movie. The fact that no one else was in the hostel and no English speaking person was around did not make us feel more comfortable. On top we needed to buy drinking water. Thankfully one of the hostel staff went out with Niels to buy some. On the way he constantly turned around checking the empty streets always one hand on the 20-25 cm knife in his pocket – a nice neighborhood we arrived in J Without any success they returned. The water (in a used bottle) which was offered to us was the first time we gave the water purification tablets a try. As you can see we survived the night – even though it was freaking cold!

The next days we went for some serious sightseeing with Maik and Tino. First on the list was the huge Basílica del Voto Nacional (see the pictures in the following post), the Plaza Grande and the Old Town. Another day we went for El Panecillo, the small hill to the south of the Old Town which is topped by a statue of La Virgen de Quito. To be honest, it’s nothing special but the view of the city and the surrounding volcanoes are definitely worse the trip. In the afternoon the same day we went for a place called Café Mosaico. It has an open terrace with a magnificent view of the city especially while the sun sets.

As much as the days were pleasant the nights were not. After 5 very cold nights in our spooky hostel we decided to move to La Mariscal because Niels got sick – getting worse every night. La Mariscal is a nice area. Most tourist stay there as well as party people from Quito. The new hostel was wonderful, they even offered us a heater for the room without charging money. It didn’t take long and Niels was feeling better (maybe it was because of Eva taking very good care, including cooking magical chicken soup).

View from the rooftop terrace of our first hostel…and during night