The Van

Getting around in Chile has been very different than Ecuador.  In Ecuador, we always had a driver coming to pick us up, and drop us off at different hotels.  In Chile, on the other hand, it has been our family along with Grandma and Grandpa in a 12-person van, driving between hotels.  Altogether, the experience hasn’t been all that bad, aside from some carsickness and cramps.  

We got the car when it was brand new.  Now, at the end of our trip, it looks like a big trash can inside. We always buy some snacks for the long car rides.  After the snacks are gone, we leave all the wrappers and garbage in the seat pockets, which, from there, make their way onto the floor.  During our long rides, (which usually vary from between 3 to 5 hours) we don’t usually interact much.  The grownups just relax, look for directions or listen an audio book about Tina Fey, while I listen to music, watch movies, play a game in my phone or read and Ruby just listens to an audiobook by herself.  These rides are not the most fun thing in the world, but they are alright if you have a phone. :D

The Galapagos

Our Galapagos trip was a real highlight.  We went snorkeling and hiking almost every day.  But the most marvelous thing about the Galapagos was seeing all the animals.  We saw everything from penguins to giant tortoises, all in their natural habitats. 

We were on a boat called the Santa Cruz with about 80 passengers.  There were two other groups of five or six people in our guided tour and we did all our activities together.  

The first day, after we got settled on the boat, we went through a bunch of safety instructions, so it wasn’t that much fun.  After that, we disembarked on North Seymour Island.  This island was probably the most interesting of the Galapagos because it had almost every animal on it.  We saw blue-footed boobies, frigates, and best of all, lots and lots of sea lions!  Sea lions never get boring to watch because they are always playing.  Even in their sleep, they move around.  We went for a short hike and took a lot of pictures.

The following day, we woke up and went to Isabela Island.  This was our first time snorkeling on the trip.  Before we jumped in the water, our guide, Lola, showed us lots of different animals from the dingy.  We saw mostly sea lions.  The sea lions were just hanging around on the rocks and occasionally jumping into the dark ocean. In the afternoon, we went to Fernandina and saw the Iguana City.  Iguana City is just a bunch of marine iguanas lazing around on the rocks, except there are about 300 of them.

The third day, we went to Isabela and went snorkeling again.  In the afternoon we went on a hike to Darwin Lake and saw a huge crater filled with brackish water.  We also went snorkeling again in the afternoon, this time from the beach.  It was very different because we were in shallower water.  We saw lots of sea turtles and puffer fish.   

On Saturday, we spent the whole day off of the boat and on dry land.  In the morning we went to Santa Cruz Island and saw giant tortoises in the Charles Darwin Research Center.  The giant tortoises were all the name says.  They looked like really really big turtles with leathery skin.  They can live up to 150 years.  In the afternoon we had two choices.  You could either go to look for more tortoises out in the wild, or go to a beach and kayak.  We chose to go kayaking.  The walk out there and back was about one and a half hours and we only got to kayak for about 30 minutes.  It wasn’t worth it.  The beach, on the other hand, was exquisite.  It was calm, sandy and not too crowded.  There were marine iguanas lounging around in the shade of the mangrove trees.  I still wish I were smart enough to go to the tortoises. xD

The next day was our last day of activities.  In the morning, we went to Post Office Bay on Floreana Island.  This was where whalers used to leave letters for each other to be delivered by hand to their families.  Now, people that come to the Galapagos leave letters here to be hand delivered to their destinations.  We took some postcards addressed to New York City, which we will deliver by hand in six months!  In the afternoon, everyone who wanted to could jump off the side of the boat.  It was about four meters high and the ocean was about fifty feet deep.  I was the first one to jump off the side.  It was scary at first but I got used to it after I jumped 4 more times.  :D 

The next day was our last on the boat.  We all watched a ten minute long slide show of our whole trip on the boat.  Then, we left and got to the airport.  Next, we took a bus back to Santa Cruz, which is where we spent three more days before leaving the Galapagos.  I wish to one day go back to the Galapagos and become a Galapagueño. 

---

My favorite animal that we saw on our trip to the Galapagos was probably the sea turtle.   Some of them were very big and some were small.  When we saw them while snorkeling, they would just float around and eat seaweed.  It seemed like a relaxing life.  But, being a green sea turtle is a hard life.  Since they are reptiles, they don’t know their parents when they are born.  All they do is wake up, and run into the water.  They also have lots of predators including the Galapagos Falcon, sharks and tuna fish.  Only 1 in 1,000 turtles reaches the age of sexual maturity.  The rest all die from their many predators.  Sometimes fish follow them around to be shielded from the strong current and feed on moss on the sea turtles’ shells. 

This is a Green Sea Turtle

The Galapagos

Our Galapagos trip was a real highlight.  We went snorkeling and hiking almost every day.  But the most marvelous thing about the Galapagos was seeing all the animals.  We saw everything from penguins to giant tortoises, all in their natural habitats. 

We were on a boat called the Santa Cruz with about 80 passengers.  There were two other groups of five or six people in our guided tour and we did all our activities together.  

The first day, after we got settled on the boat, we went through a bunch of safety instructions, so it wasn’t that much fun.  After that, we disembarked on North Seymour Island.  This island was probably the most interesting of the Galapagos because it had almost every animal on it.  We saw blue-footed boobies, frigates, and best of all, lots and lots of sea lions!  Sea lions never get boring to watch because they are always playing.  Even in their sleep, they move around.  We went for a short hike and took a lot of pictures.

The following day, we woke up and went to Isabela Island.  This was our first time snorkeling on the trip.  Before we jumped in the water, our guide, Lola, showed us lots of different animals from the dingy.  We saw mostly sea lions.  The sea lions were just hanging around on the rocks and occasionally jumping into the dark ocean. In the afternoon, we went to Fernandina and saw the Iguana City.  Iguana City is just a bunch of marine iguanas lazing around on the rocks, except there are about 300 of them.

The third day, we went to Isabela and went snorkeling again.  In the afternoon we went on a hike to Darwin Lake and saw a huge crater filled with brackish water.  We also went snorkeling again in the afternoon, this time from the beach.  It was very different because we were in shallower water.  We saw lots of sea turtles and puffer fish.   

On Saturday, we spent the whole day off of the boat and on dry land.  In the morning we went to Santa Cruz Island and saw giant tortoises in the Charles Darwin Research Center.  The giant tortoises were all the name says.  They looked like really really big turtles with leathery skin.  They can live up to 150 years.  In the afternoon we had two choices.  You could either go to look for more tortoises out in the wild, or go to a beach and kayak.  We chose to go kayaking.  The walk out there and back was about one and a half hours and we only got to kayak for about 30 minutes.  It wasn’t worth it.  The beach, on the other hand, was exquisite.  It was calm, sandy and not too crowded.  There were marine iguanas lounging around in the shade of the mangrove trees.  I still wish I were smart enough to go to the tortoises. xD

The next day was our last day of activities.  In the morning, we went to Post Office Bay on Floreana Island.  This was where whalers used to leave letters for each other to be delivered by hand to their families.  Now, people that come to the Galapagos leave letters here to be hand delivered to their destinations.  We took some postcards addressed to New York City, which we will deliver by hand in six months!  In the afternoon, everyone who wanted to could jump off the side of the boat.  It was about four meters high and the ocean was about fifty feet deep.  I was the first one to jump off the side.  It was scary at first but I got used to it after I jumped 4 more times.  :D 

The next day was our last on the boat.  We all watched a ten minute long slide show of our whole trip on the boat.  Then, we left and got to the airport.  Next, we took a bus back to Santa Cruz, which is where we spent three more days before leaving the Galapagos.  I wish to one day go back to the Galapagos and become a Galapagueño. 

---

My favorite animal that we saw on our trip to the Galapagos was probably the sea turtle.   Some of them were very big and some were small.  When we saw them while snorkeling, they would just float around and eat seaweed.  It seemed like a relaxing life.  But, being a green sea turtle is a hard life.  Since they are reptiles, they don’t know their parents when they are born.  All they do is wake up, and run into the water.  They also have lots of predators including the Galapagos Falcon, sharks and tuna fish.  Only 1 in 1,000 turtles reaches the age of sexual maturity.  The rest all die from their many predators.  Sometimes fish follow them around to be shielded from the strong current and feed on moss on the sea turtles’ shells. 

This is a Green Sea Turtle

Dawgs

In Ecuador, we have met a great variety of dogs.  The first dog we met was named Skippy.  He belonged to the owners of the house where we stayed in Mindo.  He was some kind of poodle mix and very friendly.  All he did all day was follow whomever was outside around. Sometimes he’d walk into town, other times he’d just wander aimlessly.

Skippy

Champy was the next dog we met.  We met him on our four-day bike tour with our guide, Alberto.  Champy was super active.  He knew every trick and could answer commands in three different languages, Spanish, English and Portuguese.   He was also very friendly and open to new people.  My favorite thing to do with him was probably playing fetch. He was also very protective.  If any dog came close to us he would growl, and since he was so strong, the other dogs would back away.  The only bad thing was that he shed a lot and got hair everywhere.  By the end of the trip, I had hair all over my bags because he was sitting on top of them. 

Champy 

Another dog we met was named Whymper.  He lives in a small hostel at the foot of Chimborazo.  He belongs to one of the most famous mountaineers around there.  He’s a very active dog and also very friendly.  When we first arrived at the hotel, he ran out to greet us.  He stayed with us for most of the day.  He even climbed up a small mountain with us.  He was very loyal and waited for us while we were climbing.  The second day we were staying there, we woke up and he was right outside our door.  We started scratching him and then left for breakfast.  After that, we went on another hike. This one was very long.  Whymper stayed with us the whole way.  Even when I went off trail, he followed me and when I slipped and fell down, he came over to help.

Me and Whymper on the trail

Whymper looking down on the Estrella de Chimborazo, our hostel

The final dog we met was named Lucas.  He lives in Baños, a small town near the mountains of Ecuador.  He was very friendly and even if you didn’t know him, he would come right up to you and start licking your face.  He’s also very lazy.  The first time we saw him, he was lying next to some chairs and refusing to get up.  He was almost the exact opposite of Champy when it came to exercise.  Champy would want to play fetch all the time.  Lucas, on the other hand would want to lie down and get rubbed on his belly. 

Lucas, focused on eating raw chicken

Champy seems to have the best life out of any of these dogs.  He gets to run around next to bikes all day and is extremely well trained.  His owner, Alberto, never gets mad at him.  He is also the alpha male everywhere he goes because he’s so strong.  Whenever he gets into fights (which only happens on occasion) he always wins.  He’s also very well fed and his owner always has time for him.