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It was time to check out some Ecuadorian handicrafts. We (Marita & I) decided to go to Otavalo since there was a somewhat big market there not only on Saturdays, but on Wednesdays as well (today was Wednesday). The largest market, however, took place on the Saturday and involved cock fights, a huge animal market and even a natural medicine market. [...] Read more
Filed under: Ecuador | Tagged: ballet, bus, handicrafts, market, Otavalo | Leave a Comment »
Marita and I had a breakfast at the hostel before taking two buses for about 22km for a total cost of 35cents – incredibly cheap eh! On the bus we got to know this French guy in his late thirties, Galliou, who was travelling through Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Argentina during a timespan of 6 months. His journey had just begun and this was his first day as he arrived Ecuador late night the day before. He was also heading for Mita del Mundo (the middle of the world) and we teamed up with this energic and enthusiastic fella for the rest of the day. [...] Read more
Filed under: Ecuador | Tagged: cuy, Equator, Gaulliou, head shrink, hitchhiking, Mita del Mundo | Leave a Comment »
Every backpacker’s nightmare was upon us as our camera (black Canon EOS 400D) was stolen. Fortunately, we still posess my camera and the photos I’d taken. However, half the photos taken at the Galápogos were now lost! I sense a tear coming down my chin as I’m typing. This is exactly why backup is so important! We were just out off luck as we were just about to leave Santa Cruz island the following morning. We hadn’t brought our little laptop for the Galápogos trip as we were only bringing what was necessary for the four days at sea. Thus we would be unable to do any backups until we reached our hotel back in Quito. [...] Read more
Filed under: Galápagos Islands | Tagged: Erik Hamre, lost camera, sending packet home | 1 Comment »
Got up earlier than ever – 05.45 am after about 50 minutes sleep! We headed for North Seymour and had a dry landing at island before breakfast. After just stepping onto the island we saw the first blue-footed boobie! It didn’t seem to care that we were barely 30 cm away, watching in awe an snapping photos like there was no tomorrow. It turned out that none of them did. All over the place we could witness blue-footed boobies flying around or whistling, stumping their feet and flashing their wings as part of a dance to impress their female counterparts. A great show and we had front row seats! These birds are awesome. I’ve gotta say; I love boobies! [...] Read more
Filed under: Galápagos Islands | Tagged: blue-footed boobies, Caseta, frigate bird, giant turtles, North Seymour, Puerto Ayora, underground lava tunnel, war cry | Leave a Comment »
We went ashore at James Bay, Isla Santiago and saw lots of sea lions and we were lucky enough to witness two male lions fighting for a territory. We also spotted literally heaps of Marine Igunanas as they were lying in piles to keep warm. After walking for about 20 minutes we came to a natural bridge formation made by lava rocks and carved out by the sea [...] Read more
Filed under: Galápagos Islands | Tagged: dolphin, giant sea turtles, Isla Santiago, James Bay, marine iguanas, Rabida Island, sea lion fight | 1 Comment »
Got up at 7am – early! Had a tasty breakfast on the boat. Went to the Sombrero Chino and saw beautiful sea lions, heaps of Sally lightfoot crabs, Marine Iguanas (endemic) who sneezes a salt acidy liquid and Lava Herons in their natural habitat. The scenery was stunning! An unbelievable amazing mixture of colors from the turquise water, the black lava stone, the brown mountain, the green cactice and the red flora (don´t remember the name of this plant) dotting the ground [...] Read more
Filed under: Galápagos Islands | Tagged: Isla Santiago, lava herons, sally lightfoot crabs, sea lions, Sombrero Chino | Leave a Comment »
Got up around 5am. It was time for one of the new wonders of the world – the Galápagos Islands! We got picked up outside the hotel by a representative of the ship company and dropped of f at the Quito airport. We then had to pay 10 USD to get a Galápagos ID-card. The plane first went to Guyaquil and then continued to Baltra. We had reached Galápagos 
[...] Read more
Filed under: Galápagos Islands | Tagged: Baltra, Conolophus subcristatus, Galápagos Land Iguana, marine iguanas, pelicans, sally lightfoot crabs | Leave a Comment »
Our day started at about 5.45am when we were picked up by Miguel in a shuttle bus outside the hotel. On the way, an English girl joined us as we headed off to Tena for some white water rafting! We arrived about three hours later, had a really tasty breakfast and rolled down to the river – Quijos. Quijos is a strong and long river with many rapids as the two rivers Borja and Cosanga merge with Quijos after drifting down the mountain side. As the river consists of melted water from mountain glaciers, you can imagine it´s pretty cold. We helped pump up the boat and after a five minutes introduction and safety crash course from Tarquino (the guide) we were ready to go rafting [...] Read more
Filed under: Ecuador | Tagged: cliff diving, El Toro, Quijos, rafting, Tena | Leave a Comment »
We decided to have a look around in Quito and grabbed a taxi to the Basilica Del Voto Nacional. The entrance fee was only about 4 NOK. The basilica was massive and had three tall towers. We discovered a gnarled staircase and started climbing. At the top of the staircase we saw some rusty ladders. For each ladder we climbed, the next one was even more rusty and unstable. After finally reaching the top, while standing on some kind of steal mesh in one of the tower spears, we could peak through a small opening in the wall giving us an amazing panaroma view of Quito and the Virgin of El Panecillo (aka the Angel of Independence)! [...] Read more
Filed under: Ecuador | Tagged: Basilica, Pichincha, Quito, TelefériQo, Virgin of El Panecillo | Leave a Comment »
