South America and South Africa

The Galapagos Islands belong to Ecuador and are one of the places of my trip I wanted to see for more than 25 years. When Charles Darwin visited the archipelago in 1832 the abundant wildlife triggered his theory about the development of the species, still a cornerstone of how we see our world today. I decided to make an 8-day-cruise to get the most out of this excursion. With USD 1,690 (incl. flights) not cheap but worth every penny. (Prior to the cruise I was somewhat nervous whether it would be not as great as I always thought but I enjoyed each single minute.)

The Galapagos Islands are about two flight hours west of Quito and Guayaquil and of volcanic origin. Since many of the volcanos, particularly on the more western parts, are still active it still changes its outlay. What makes the islands so special is their isolation so that many of the animal species are endemic. Lacking the contact with human beings prior to the islands’ discovery they have no fear of men as this is not encoded in their genetic masterplan. The National Park Galapagos makes only a very small part of the islands accessible for visitors leaving the greatest parts of the nature uncorrupted. Everything is very well organized and each boat has an exact itinerary which places on which date and time they can visit.

Our boat , the Floreana, had space for 16 passengers plus crew and the daily routine started with a breakfast at 7 a.m., thereafter came a visit of an island with our guide/guard Victor, as he explained and simultanuosly took care that nobody stayed behind or left the path, followed by snorkeling in the ocean. Thereafter lunch at noon, at 2 p.m. the second snorkeling followed by the second land excursion and dinner at 7 p.m.. During the night we usually navigated to the next island.

On our first afternoon Victor lead us to  a part of Isla Sta. Cruz, the main island albeit not the biggest island, where giant turtles are living in their natural habitat. The biggest of the turtles we saw had a shell with a diameter of almost a meter and was approx. 190 years old, i.e. it was already born, when Charles Darwin visited the islands. We could get as close as one meter until the turtles finally pulled their heads back into the shell.

The first full day started with one of the highlights – the visit of Isla Genovesa with its fantastic bird colonies. For your better understanding – I am absolutely no birdwatcher and could never understand those people who get excited when they see or hear birds. But this was really different: we disembarked the dinghies and started our walk – birds everywhere and not scared at all. We could get very close to the birds and they were not flying away but were even curious. I have never experienced something like that before. In the morning we were seeing mainly red-footed boobies and frigatebirds as well as some sealions, in the afternoon mainly nazca boobies and marine iguanas. Sealions and marine iguanas accompanied us during the entire week.

On the second day we went further to to Sullivan Bay on Isla Santiago where we made a walk over a 120 years old lava flow. Since I have seen lava flows before I was not too excited when Victor mentioned the itinerary for the morning but when I saw all the lava structures lying out like pieces of artwork quickly I changed my mind (see under photos “Structures”). In the afternoon we traveled to Isla St. Bartholomé with maybe the most famous view of the Galapagos archipelago.

The next day we went to a small island called Sombrero Chino given its shape. It was the first time we saw penguins, pelicans and hawks. Shortly thereafter we had a truely unique experience: we were entering a beach when a female sealion was giving birth to a sealion pup. Unfortunately the pup was lying upside-down so it was not brought alive, which was a very disturbing moment for all of us when we eventually realized this. Some comfort was that at least the mother did not die while giving birth. (As I am really sure that this is the closest I ever get of trying to be a National Geographic photographer I dedicated an entire page to this event on “photos” .)

The fourth day presenting the mid of our excursion brought a visit in Puerto Villamil, the main town of Isla Islabella, which is by far the biggest of the islands. so The town itself is not so interesting but some nice spots presenting wildlife,inter alias flamingos are close by.

On the fifth day we visited Isla Fernadina in the morning, which has a huge population of marine iguanas. It was also the first time that we saw flightless cormorans, a subspecies  of the cormoran family that lost its ability to fly but can swim excellently. And, as always, the odd sealions were there. The snorkeling at this island was extraordinary as we saw lots of seaturtles, white-tip reefsharks, were swimming with sealions and I also saw an octopus.  In the afternoon we were going to Tagus Cove on Isla Isabella where we saw a bigger population of blue-footed boobies.

The seventh day brought us to Bahia James on Isla Santiago in the morning and to Isla Rapida in the afternoon. I thought I already shot my ultimate photo of a sealion or a marine iguana but again, I had to pull out the camera to take pictures, this time for instance of a sealion mother nursing her pup .

Cotopaxi (5,897 m/19,347 ft) is the second highest mountain in Ecuador and an active volcano 17 miles south of Quito. When I was talking to my friend Nicole in Cologne that I am thinking about climbing it she gave me the contact details of her friend Aru Veloz, whose father and brother are mountain guides in Riobamba, close to Chimborazo (6,270 m) the highest mountain in Ecuador. When I decided to do the climb with the Veloz family I wasn’t aware that Enrique Velos (Aru’s and Ivo’s father) is “Mister Chimborazo”, who climbed that mountain more than 550 times until today.

When the taxi spat me out at their address I expected a shop with mountaineering equipment etc. but there was only a big wooden door with a sign “Veloz Coronado – Mountain Guides”. After I rang the bell an elderly woman with hair rollers in her hair opened the door. After I tried to explain in English what I want and that I was already in contact with Ivo I was invited into the room next to the door. She called Ivo on the phone and we agreed a plan how to approach the climb to Cotopaxi incl. an acclimatization climb on Chimborazo at 5,000 m which I would do on my own. Meanwhile a white poodle with pink ribbon loops around (I guess) her ears and another mountain guide came and eventually also Enrique Veloz, who was really helpful when the details (transport, overnight stay in the Refugio Whymper, food, etc.) of my acclimization climb were discussed, all in Spanish. Ryan, Kevin and Nic from Colorado, also customers of Veloz Coronado who wanted to climb Chimborazo later that night, showed up and helped with the translation. Don Enrique promised to order the taxi to bring me there and pick me up the next day so that I could buy food, pack my stuff, change clothes, have lunch etc. He was even waiting in the taxi when I boarded it ensuring that I know that everything is in good order.

On the 30 miles ride to Chimborazo (now without Don Enrique) we were passing beautiful landscapes, farmland in the hilly terrain, and the closer we came to the mountain more and more desert. Vicunyas, the wild ancestors of the alpakas,were watching us curiously when we approached our destination. I deboarded the cab at the Barrel Refugio and started my 200 m climb to the Whymper Refugio. After I set up my night’s lodging I made a short acclimatization hike of maybe 150 m until the weather finally deteriorated. Meanwhile the three guys from Colorado arrived in the refugio and we played card games and I was also invited for dinner. Everyone went to bed early, them to prepare for their tour which would start at 23:00 in the night, I because it was freezing cold. The whole night I couldn’t sleep due to the wind, the altitude and the headache, which is a common sympton when one is not fully acclimatized. Since Ryan, Kevin and Nic couldn’t get to the peak that night as the wind was causing a rockslide shortly before they were approaching that part of the climb we met again the next morning. The taxi showed up in time and later that day I agreed with Enrique the next steps.

Update:

In the end I was not able to climb Cotopaxi because, at least I guess so, I was not acclimatized enough. My guide Santiago was very encouraging and motivating but I simply was not able to do it. He is the very last to blame. Most of the other climbers could not make it either as there was a crevasse which most of them did not climb in the night. (Since the snow gets too soft during daytime increasing the risk of avalanches substancially the climb starts around 11 p.m. and the cut off time to reach the summit is 8 a.m.). When I went back to the parking lot I learned from another climber, who climbed Kilimanjaro in Tanzania (5,896 m) before, that the barometric pressure on 5,000 m on Cotopaxi was 540 hpa, i.e. as low as on the summit of Kilimanjaro when he climbed it.

Last Saturday and Sunday I was in Otavalo, a town with about 70,000 inhabitants approximately two bus hours north of Quito, to see the famous market, which is by far the largest in Ecuador on weekends. I was joined by Osnat, an israeli girl from Tel Aviv, who was staying in the same hostel in Quito.

What made the market special for me was that many of the Otavalenos wore their traditional clothing – the women’s costumes consist of embroidered blouses, shoulder wraps and many coloured beads, the men wear their hair long under their hats, calf length pants, boots and ponchos. And to my great surprise it wasn’t packed with other tourists, of course some were there, and it seemed that this is truely a market for the indigenous people of that region. The market comprises four different markets in various parts of the town with streets filled with vendors. We arrived too late to see the livestock market but the artesian market, the most interesting part for the tourists, the food market, literally no foreigners to see, and the product market were still vibrant when we came around noon. (See also photos.)

The next day Osnat and I made a hike to the mountain Fuya-Fuya in the proximity of Otavalo. Our hike started at the Laguna de Mojanda on 3,715 m and we went up to the peak on 4,375 m. Given that we are still not fully acclimatized it was a good preparation for our climb to the Cotopaxi (5,897 m) we both intend to do later this month. As always when you climb/hike in higher altitude it was absolutely key to go slowly to control the breath and the heartbeat. The area around Otavalo is very nice for outdoor activities like hiking, mountain biking etc. as there are numerous volcanos. It is easy to stay some more days without getting bored but as we both had different plans we left Sunday afternoon to get back to Quito. Osnat went to her five day tour to climb Cotopaxi and I went to Riobamba, also to do the hike to Cotopaxi but on a different itinerary. (See also photos.)

While we were staying in the very nice Hostal Dona Esther we ate this excellent quinoa salad (quinoa is a grain typical for the Andes, very healthy, difficult to cultivate, and also available in Europe and the US). If you like you can try it out:

Boil the quinoa as required and then wait until it is luke-warm. Mixed it with (home-made) basil pesto, a little bit of thinly sliced red onions and very small pieces of tomato (more for the eye, less for the taste), a squeeze of lime juice and basil for the decoration. Then add tuna (the watery from the tin not the oily) but don’t mix it with the quinoa-pesto salad. Yummy!