For those of you who don’t know where they’re
in the Pacific Ocean about a thousand
miles off the Ecuadorian coast. They’re
famous because that’s where Charles Darwin stopped and got the idea we are all
descended from Chimps. Chuck was so
impressed with his travels to the Galapagos Islands he burned his passport as
soon as he returned home and didn’t travel more than two blocks from home the
rest of his life. He also developed a
taste for bananas.
I was searching for somewhere different to
go this year and one of the travel companies suggested I should go to the Galapagos Islands.
“Why on earth would I ever want to go
there?” I asked.
“Because pretty soon you might not be able
to,” she replied.
Well that pretty well clinched it for
me. Any time someone tells me I can’t go
somewhere I immediately move it to the top of my bucket list.
There are now so many people visiting the
ecologically fragile islands that the Ecuadorian government may soon have to
limit the amount of visitors. Of course
the government loves those millions of tourist dollars. What to do?
Birds or Money? I’ll let you
guess who’ll win out.
Some of my friends who have dreamt of going
to the Galapagos Islands since they were 12 and saw an item about “Boobies
Abound in the Galapagos!” I similarly
was inspired by a similar article when I was 12, but it was in Playboy.
PREVIOUS TRIPS WITH GADVENTURES AND INTREPID TAVEL
My previous few trips had been with GAdventures so I
decided to check out some of the other companies and I’m travelling with
Intrepid Travel this time. This trip was
advertised as a “comfort” trip. I wasn't quite sure what this meant, but my buddy Dave, who is an expert
in such things, explained it to me.
“It’s where you sit on the deck of your
luxury yacht and they bring you things.
You just sit there in a barcalounger and say things like: ‘Hey! Bring me that lizard over there. No, the yellow one. And while you’re up bring me a beer.”
I began to have some doubts about the
comfort tour when I received an email just before I was to leave telling me
that my luxury yacht had hit a rock and sunk.
The good news is no animals were injured. And hey, even better news: they've found an
even nicer yacht – even nicer! Hopefully the captain’s not the same guy who was
captain of the Costa Concordia.
Getting to the Galapagos Islands is a bit
of an ordeal: There’s no direct
route. My itinerary took me first to
Toronto, then Miami, and finally Quito where I would spend two nights before
going on to the Galapagos.
Thanks to American Airlines who have
co-opted Air Canada’s motto: “We’re not happy ‘till you’re not happy!” I arrive in Quito at one in the morning. I’m fortunate that someone is there to meet
and escort me the one hour trip from the “new” airport to my hotel in down town
Quito.
QUITO AND HOTEL SAN FRANCISCO
We pass through dark, deserted streets
where we arrive at the “Hotel San Francisco of Quito” - the last two words so I
won’t accidentally think I’m somewhere else.
The night clerk doesn’t speak English (The
day one doesn’t either). In my broken
Spanish I manage to check in and told my room is on the third floor. I’m told I’ll have the room to myself this
night – tomorrow I’ll have a room-mate.
Marvellous.
“Where is the elevator?” I inquire.
I’m told there is no elevator. The hotel was built in 1701 – before Mr. Otis
was born. I drag my bag up the narrow
staircases, find my room, throw myself
onto the bed and have a nightmare that my hotel has hit a rock and sunk and
there are no survivors. I go back to
sleep and try and dream about something more pleasant – like bedbugs.
I wake up in the morning with the sun
streaming through the window with things looking better. In daylight the hotel doesn’t appear as dingy
– in fact it actually has a fair amount of charm. I guess the lesson learned is not to judge
after at 24 hour trip and arriving in
the middle of the night.
As soon as I walk out of the hotel it’s as
if I've walked onto a movie set. Gone
are the dark and threatening streets; all the shutters on the shops are up and
the street is full of happy people; lots of children; street venders and
musicians. All the buildings are
covered with bunting and flags are everywhere.
I've arrived on Ecuadorian Independence day.
I went for a little walk and soon found myself wheezing like an old geezer as I climbed up a small hill. Then it hit me: Quito is up HIGH! 9,350 feet! Almost twice the elevation of Denver. It is going to take a bit of time getting used to the altitude.
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