Sunday, June 25, Cusco

Today, we rose early to fly to Cusco. The traffic in Lima was light this morning, as one would hope for a Sunday morning. The flight was about one hour long. At the airport in Cusco, there were baskets of coca leaves available to anyone who wanted to chew them, which was supposed to help adjust to the high altitude (Cusco is at about 10,000 feet above sea level).

After collecting our luggage, we then had a short bus ride to the town's center. In town, the main square was closed to traffic due to a large celebration with loud bands playing and many people parading in colorful outfits! It was quite the party. Apparently this goes on for two weeks to celebrate the summer solstice. Our bus driver needed to select an out-of-the-way place to park, but it was no problem!

Our guide here in the Andes was Wilbur, whom we took a decided liking to because of his vast knowledge of the area and its history. He told us that Cusco has about one half million people, some of whom still speak the Quechua language. Most of the people are mixed race, sometimes called mestizo. The native people are sometimes called "indios," but that is considered to be a slur, definitely not nice!

We walked into the main square, which is very large and charming, especially today. In the middle of the square is a large statue of the Inca leader, Pachacuti or Pachakutiq in Quechua. He ruled the Incas from about 1438 until 1472 and was responsible for expanding the dominion of the Incas from the Cusco area to much of western South America. The current layout of the square is about one half of the size that it was during the Inca times. There are no surviving buildings from the Inca times. The oldest buildings in Cusco date from the 1600's, the colonial era. Traveling to Cusco has taken us to the other side of the South American continental divide. The water here flows to the Amazon and the Atlantic, not the Pacific. The Incas chose Cusco as their capital because two rivers meet here. These rivers flow under the streets today.

Our tour then took us into the cathedral on the main square. It was a Jesuit church, but now serves as a museum. The plan of the cathedral was modeled after the cathedral in Seville, Spain. Facing the building, we entered into the left side, which was the original church (the Church of the Holy Family). We passed through this area into the main section. Wilbur told us about the unusual design of the altar, which is separated from the back wall. The cathedral walls are lined with many paintings, some quite large. Wilbur explained that the paintings were all completed by various "workshops" in Cusco. Each workshop would have had a contract with the Jesuits to complete the art in various parts of the cathedral. The workshops were all composed of native people who had been taught to paint in the European style. They copied European paintings. However, sometimes local or native imagery was inserted in the painting (this would have been done with permission). As an example, we saw in the carved wooden choir that below the arms of the choir are carvings of naked women -- definitely not something you would see in Europe. However, this was to add a local representation of mother earth. The choir was made by a workshop called the "Cusco School." Our attention was then drawn to a painting of the Black Christ, who is the lord of tremors. When this painting was brought in the main square, he stopped the 1650 earthquake in Cusco. Now, the painting is brought outside every Easter. Wilbur noted that many of the statues in the cathedral are resting on litters. They are brought outside and carried in a parade. The practice goes back to 1572.

Moving to the altar, Wilbur pointed out that it is silver plated and requires polishing. Another unusual feature of the cathedral is the inclusion of mirrors. Mirrors in churches were forbidden by the pope. Why are they here? The pope granted special permission so that the interior light of the cathedral could be enhanced. I noted that the cathedral was an especially tall building, and Wilbur agreed that it would have been very impressive to the natives when it was built. The Incas had constructed some tall towers, but had no knowledge of arches, so a tall building with arches like the cathedral would have been a marvel to them.

Behind the altar, we admired two large paintings that faced each other. One is of the last supper and has an interesting local influence. All of the apostles, as well as Jesus, have light complexions, except for Judas, who is dark. Rather than drinking wine, they are drinking pomegranite juice. Their meal consists of guinea pig, and there are bananas resting on the table. It is a copy of a Flemish work adapted to the New World. It is one of the most popular paintings in the cathedral and was painted in the 18th century.

We then entered the sacristy whose walls are adorned with paintings of all of Cusco's bishops, going back to Valdiverra, who had come with Pizarro.

The final area (to the right when facing the cathedral from outside) is called the Church of Triumph. This is because it was built on the site where the Spanish were sequestered during the siege of Cusco. This church was built in the 18th century.

We then exited and walked a few blocks to the Church of Santo Domingo. We stopped along the way for a photo op of women in fancy clothes (this is a tourist trap -- they will pose with anyone for money).

This was the first church built in Cusco and was built on top of the Inca's Temple of the Sun. Beneath the cloister of the church are the original Inca walls from the 15th century. Two sides of the walls remain: the east and the west sides. Inca temples were not used by ordinary people. The only people permitted inside were the Inca rulers and the religious elite. The buildings were used to store religious icons and mummies (all Inca rulers were mummified and consulted about major decisions -- as well as paraded around as needed). This temple was oriented to the sunrise. It would have had a lot of gold, which represented the sun. This was, of course, all plundered by the Spanish. In terms of building the temples, the Inca people would have used bronze tools. They did not have wheels or rollers or ramps. They did use levers. Some of the lever rods would have weighed twenty tons! The rocks used to build this temple came from seven miles away, east of Cusco. The labor was contributed by the people as tribute to the Inca ruler. Those in the labor class would have been required to work two months out of the year for the Inca ruler. Construction of the temple would have begun in the reign of Pachacuti (mid 1400's), and it would have taken about thirty years to complete. Inca walls were built to withstand earthquakes. The large blocks were sized to fit together perfectly with no mortar. The walls tilted inward, and the doorways were trapezoids. These doors were designed to reduce pressure on the lintel stone and thus fissures in the stone. As the blocks were laid, a kind of "rebar" was implemented into the construction. A channel would have been carved into the blocks adjacent to each other and this was filled with molten brass to bind the stones to each other. The stones were created with hammers and chisels, some very small. Abrasion with sand and water was another technique used to create a smooth surface. The roofs would have been perfectly level and supported thatched roof in an inverted V shape (not flat). All of this was very interesting, but to see these surviving walls was amazing!

Lunch was at a restaurant just off the main square called Limo. It was excellent. Rob and I both started with green salads then enjoyed a Peruvian specialty called Lomo Saltado, grilled beef with vegetables. For dessert we both passed on the richer options and had a simple fruit salad.

After lunch, we rode our bus to what is called the Sacred Valley towards the town of Pisac. The views we enjoyed were incredible, and we climbed to even higher altitudes -- over 14,000 feet above sea level. As we passed by common type houses, Wilbur pointed out that many (if not most) had statues of bulls on top of their roofs. This is a sort of witchcraft (Wilbur's choice of word). When the house was built, a local person called a doctor or a healer -- really a type of shaman -- comes to bless the house. This is one of about fifty different ceremonies that the shaman can perform. The bulls represent abundance or fertility. Wilbur also pointed out a snow covered mountain called Ausangate, over 20,000 feet (snow levels begin at about 16,000 feet). Arriving to views of the Sacred Valley, the bus stopped to let us out for pictures. The views were spectacular, but the angle of the sun was not auspicious for photography.

We descended into the town of Pisac, which lies at the eastern end of the Sacred Valley.  The valley's river is known as the Urubamba. The main crop is corn -- we ccould see the terracing for the corn go all the way up the mountains. It is amazing! The river travels west and eventually becomes a tributary of the Amazon. Wilbur pointed out a street vendor along the sidewalk selling guinea pig on a stick -- yuk!

We did have one more stop: the Museo Inkariy, which has many exhibits that explore the life of the people before the colonial era. One of the aspects of ancient life that it explores is skull stretching or forming (kind of gross -- seems like something from a B movie). Unfortunately, we had very little time (running behind schedule and it was getting dark), so we left after only a short visit.

Our hotel is in a small city that takes its name from the river: Urubamba. The hotel is called Sol y Luna. It is a super-luxurious resort in the middle of the Sacred Valley that somehow seemed out of place here. Each room is its own casita and is enormous! The landscaping is also incredible, reminiscent of California or Arizona. It was already dark when we checked in, so we would need to see it all tomorrow.

After check-in there was a short break, then we all attended a cooking demonstration which started with how to make a pisco sour, Peru's national drink. Neither Rob nor I paid much attention to the demonstration, but the pisco sours were good. So was a soup that was made with quinoa.

Dinner tonight was at the hotel's restaurant and was very good. I had mushroom bisque with small chicken raviolis. Rob started with a salad. For mains, I had a sort of pork pot pie, and Rob had beef tenderloin. Another action packed day -- time to turn in!

Saturday, June 24, Tour of Lima, Peru

Today our Abercrombie & Kent Peru tour officially began. We woke for breakfast, which we had at the rooftop restaurant, The Observatorio, at 8 AM. The views today were not very good, though, as a heavy marine layer was present, making the day seem quite dreary. We were told this is typical Lima winter weather. We could see many joggers passing by the hotel, which faces an oceanside park, adjacent to a cliff which drops down to the beach. Obviously, none of this was visible last night when we arrived after dark. The section of Lima is called Miraflores and is south of central Lima. After breakfast, we were expected for a group meeting at 9:30 AM where we would meet our guide, Victor, as well as the others in our tour group.

The meeting went very nicely, and we expect that Victor will be an excellent guide. The others in our group are (total of sixteen):

- A family of seven: two parents and five children ranging in age from 12 to about 20, I would guess.
- Steve and Dave from Phoenix, Arizona, former residents of Columbus, Ohio.
- Greg and Lisa from the Los Angeles area.
- Christina and Camille, mother and daughter from Dallas, Texas. Camille is about 18 years old.
- Claudia, an employee of A&K, from Chicago.

After the meeting, we were free until about 1:45 PM, at which point our bus tour of Lima would begin. Rob and I consulted with the hotel concierge for a recommended walking route through Miraflores and also to exchange some dollars into Peruvian Soles. We received our recommendation and a map and also learned a new Spanish word, "ambos," which means "both."

We began our walk by visiting the large, relatively modern, but nice looking church about two blocks away. It appeared a wedding was in progress, so we didn't attempt to look in. We then proceeded to the Marriott hotel, which is at the terminus of the main shopping street called Larco, named after Rafael Larco Hoyle, a prominent archealogist in Peru and founder of the Larco Museum. We simply strolled up the avenue admiring the shops, stopping to look into the two main shops for Peruvian knitwear: Kuna and Sol -- beautiful sweaters, but not cheap! We also saw fast food restaurants like Popeye's and McDonalds! At the end of the avenue, there is a traffic circle and a park named for John F. Kennedy with a small status of him inside the park. The park was lovely with nice flowers and a tango dance party! Unfortunately, the day was still somewhat dismal weather-wise. We walked back toward the beach along an avenue called Bievenides.

As we walked along Bienvenides and got closer to the shore, we were parallel to a large ravine that is filled with sporting venues like tennis courts. The ravine eventually meets the ocean at a nice beach area. Our pathway cuts under the oceanside highway to get to the other side where we could see surfers down below. Then we walked along the path at the top of the cliff, which was above the ocean/beach. We were headed back in the direction of the hotel. When we reached the terminus of the Larco Avenue again, there is an ocean side shopping mall called Larcomar. The mall is mostly below the street level and slopes toward the ocean about three levels. We went in to find a place for a simple lunch. There is a fast food court and we selected a chicken place called La Luche, where we could order simple chicken sandwiches (not fried) and eat quickly -- perfect and pretty tasty, too. With no time to waste, we returned to the hotel in order not to be late for our 1:45 PM tour.

Our Lima tour guide today was Anna, and she had a lot of information about the city to tell us about. As we set out on the bus, she told us that the site of Lima was originally a settlement called Caral, a city from 3,000 BC. Pizarro founded the modern city of Lima as "The City of Kings," which was the city's official name for 300 years. The name of Lima comes from the name of the river that flows through the city, which was called Rimac by the native people. The native people (who were not Incas) always referred to the city as Lima, and that is now its official name as well.

Our starting point was Miraflores. It is one of forty-three "sub-cities" that comprise the metropolitan area of Lima. There is an Inca market in Miraflores that is popular, but we do not pass it directly. She also made a reference to a war with Chile. (This was the War of the Pacific, which took place from 1879 until 1883. Chile won.) We passed Kennedy park in the bus where we had previously walked earlier today. Miraflores' main church overlooks this park. The town hall is next door. As the bus continued on, we passed a large archeological excavation site, which is very large, called Huaca Pucllana. It is a religious site of a prehistoric temple, which is called a "huaca." The size of the site is fourteen acres. Victor grew up in this neighborhood and told us that as children he and his friends rode dirt bikes on top of the site. He said that everyone knew that there was something historic underneath, but that Peru had no money at that time to excavate. That has obviously changed. Our dinner tonight will be at a restaurant overlooking this site.

Next we drove through the neighborhood of San Isidro, a wealthier neighborhood than Miraflores. In San Isidro there are financial firms and embassies (but not the U.S. embassy). It once was a predominantly Italian immigrant community but no longer. Along the way, we passed many signs that read "Chifa." Chifa signifies a Chinese restaurant with the food adapted to Peruvian culture, tastes, and ingredients. It is the most popular type of restaurant in Lima.

We then entered Lima proper. We passed a water fountain park and then the U.S. Ambassador's house (mostly hidden), a public square known for having wild parrots, and then we entered the city's historical center, which has been a UNESCO heritage site since 1991. We saw the Park of the Exposition that contains a city museum, an art museum (with 3,000 years of art, including newer artists), the Moorish pavilion, among other sights. Then we drove through where the old city walls had been where there is a monument to Grau and a lovely building called the "French Building." It was built in 1921 and was originally an apartment building, but is now an office building for lawyers. We also saw the 1938 supreme court palace. By the way, Grau was a very renowned naval officer in Peru and fought in the war against Chile.

Passing the side of the French Building, the streets became narrower, which signified that we were driving on the old street design of Pizarro's city plan. Traffic was very bad, but we were told that a subway system, begun three years ago, should help matters. We then pulled into Plaza San Martin, which was built in 1921 to celebrate Peru's 100 year anniversary of its declaration of independence. San Martin was the first president of Peru, followed by Simon Bolivar. Actual independence was achieved in 1824 in the Battle of Ayacucho. When it was first built, the Plaza San Martin was very fashionable, then became a little run down -- now it is coming back. As we passed the plaza, Union Street, a pedestrian shopping street was pointed out to us.

We also saw the impressive Bolsa (stock market) building. As we continued in the bus, we learned a few new Peruvian expressions: "playa" (the Spanish word for beach) means parking lot in Peru. If you see a street called a "jiron," abbreviated "jr," it means that it is a one way street longer than two blocks.

We reached our ultimate destination: the main square of Lima where Pizarro founded the city, called the Plaza de Armas. Coincidentally, the sun emerged from the marine layer. We disembarked from the bus and were able to walk around a little bit.

We saw the cathedral, the presidential palace, the archbishop's house, and the municipal building. We learned that Lima's nickname is the city of wooden balconies.

No public demonstrations are permitted in the main square, and we noticed that there were rainbow flags everywhere. This was not a demonstration of support for gay rights, however, but a display of the official flag of the city of Cusco. The flag was created by Tupac Amaru.

After admiring the square, our group walked to the House of Aliaga, Lima's oldest mansion, perhaps the oldest house in the Americas. It was originally built in 1535 by Jeronimo de Aliaga y Ramirez, a compatriot of Pizarro, who was an educated accountant for the early settlers. The house has been occupied ever since and until the current day by descendants of Aliaga, seventeen generations. It is open to the public for touring. It features a lovely atrium in the middle.

Most notable in the house are the portraits of family members throughout its history.

We were offered a refreshment of Inca Cola there, but I passed (I have tasted this before -- it is bubblegum flavored yellow soda that is sickeningly sweet).

After touring the house (main floor only), we walked a short distance to the church called Santo Domingo, passing a small plaza called Peru Square. At the center of this square is a fountain today, but this had been the place where a statue of Pizarro had stood for many years. At the Santo Domingo church, we admired a lovely cloister and learned about the three people from Peru who have achieved sainthood.

We also learned that the Dominicans composed the Peruvian national anthem, and it was first performed at this church.

We returned to the bus and drove to a part of Lima called Pueblo Libre, which is known for having a lot of green space. We also passed a park called Las Americas. Our destination was the Larco Museum, a museum dedicated to Peru's ancient artifacts that have been collected by the Larco family. We saw a vast amount of old pottery, most of it pre-dating the Incas, and the museum was extremely educational in terms of providing information about what we were looking at. Anna, our guide, also provided a good tour.

Rob and I especially enjoyed seeing examples of quipu. Used by the Incas, quipu are groups of beads strung together to provide information. The Incas had no written language, so the quipus were their alternative to verbal communication. We had read about them in an Inca history book.
 

The sun had gone down, and it was time to say good-bye to Anna. Earlier in the day, we had had an amusing conversation with her. She knew of the restaurant in Arlington, Virginia, called El Pollo Rico, which serves Peruvian style chicken. Her brother lives in Maryland and drives to Arlington just to get this chicken! We told her that the restaurant was extremely popular with all people (including us), not just Peruvian immigrants!

Dinner tonight was at a restaurant called Huaca Pucllana (same name as the site). It overlooked the huaca archeological site that we had previously seen from the bus. The starter for the meal was called "causa." It was a layered dish with a kind of thick layer of mashed potatoes on the bottom, then a layer of shrimp with seasonings, then a layer of the mashed potatoes on top -- really good! The main was a local river trout called "paiche," which is a firm mild white fish that was also delicious and was served on a bed of mashed yucca!

Friday, June 23, Tour of Quito, Ecuador

Yesterday, Mariana, our Abercrombie & Kent guide, had told us that we would have our morning free to tour Quito's historical center on our own and that she would be at the hotel at 12:30 PM for a guided tour. We began the morning with an early breakfast. For once, it was an a la carte selection, rather than a buffet. We ordered traditional breakfasts with a twist: a side dish was a plaintain ball with pork in the middle. It tasted fine but was a little dry.

The front desk of the hotel (very nice staff here by the way) provided us with a Quito tourist map, which featured four different walking routes that one could take to see the sights. I also reviewed Fodor's travel advice on its web site to get an understanding of what the top sights might be. With this information, we formulated a plan!

Of course, as soon as we departed the hotel, we began by taking photographs of the adjacent Plaza Grande. The square is dominated by the cathedral to the south. To the north is our hotel flanked by the archbishop's residence. On the west side is the presidential palace, and opposite that to the east are some newer municipal buildings, including a tourist information office.

We discovered that it was too early to enter the cathedral, so we continued south along Garcia Moreno Street and went into the Church of El Sagrario (sanctuary), which is next door to the cathedral. A service or mass was underway at that time, so we just stood in the back for a minute to take in the view and then we left.

We continued south about one half block and came to another church (there are quite a few in this historical center) called Compania de Jesus. Again, it was a few minutes before opening time, bu this time we elected to wait. While waiting we admired the bank building across the street, which is now a numismatic museum (museum dedicated to coins). After a few minutes, the gate to the church opened up, so we went in, paying about $5 per person. As with all of these churches, it seems, no photography is permitted, not even without flash, so we strolled around a little bit, then looked for a shop to buy a post card or two. The shop was also not yet open, so we left.

We proceeded on our walk to the next church on our tour, the church and monastery of San Francisco. This may be the oldest church in the New World. Construction of the church began in 1534. Sadly, there is a large construction zone in front of the church, which means that the large plaza of San Francisco is mostly closed. This is for construction of a subway system in Quito. As we approached the entrance, it appeared that there was a long line of people waiting to get in -- but we were mistaken in thinking this. The line of people was actually a line-up of beggars who were waiting to ask for money from those who were departing the church. This is, or course, very sad. Inside, again, there was no photography, so we just looked. As we exited, I did give a few coins to one of the beggars, which meant that all of them were immediately attracted to me! Fortunately, there was no trouble walking away.

We continued on our tourist walk, following the map's recommended route along Calle Hospital, passing a nice looking museum called Museo del Carmen Alto, which was across the street from the city's historic old hospital site. This museum explores the lives of the nuns who lived in this monastery. We did not go in. In the old hospital building is the museum of the city of Quito's history. Our guide Mariana had recommended this, but we elected to keep on with our walking tour at this point.

We crossed the street south and came across a newer looking plaza with a statue of Eugenio Santa Cruz Espejo, called Quito's most illustrious son on the statue's plaque. He lived from 1747 until 1795, the son of a native father and a mother who may have been white or mixed race. Espejo was considered mixed race (mestizo). He practiced medicine, having learned this from his father as well as having been educated in medical school. He was also a highly educated person who wrote on a variety of topics, including improving sanitary conditions. He was a prolific satirist who criticized the government. He is also considered the founder of Quito's journalism, having published the city's first newspaper; and he was also director of the city's library. Because of his liberal views he was imprisoned in 1795 and died later that year from dysentery that he had acquired while in prison.

From this plaza, we entered a tourist shopping street called Calle de la Ronda, named after the town in southern Spain. It was too early for most of the shops to be open, but the colorful, lower level street is very charming.

We made a short climb up to the Plaza of Santo Domingo to admire the church there. There was no entry fee for this church, so we took a peek.

From here we followed the street called Venezuela to find the Casa de Sucre. This was the home of Manuel Sucre, for whom the airport and the former Ecuadorean currency is named. He was a top general of Simon Bolivar and was assassinated at the young age of 34. His home is now a museum of armaments.

We continued walking back towards the Plaza Grande, stopping to admire the charming Plaza Chica with an old green theater across the street.

Returning to the Plaza Grande, we stuck our heads into the tourist information office, then stopped for a few more photos of the presidential palace and our hotel.

A nice policeman then directed us to the side entrance of the cathedral (now open). Again, there was no photography permitted, but we were able to go behind the altar to see many tombs of famous Ecuadoreans, including Gabriel Garcia Moreno (for whom the street is named). He was a president of Ecuador who was also assassinated. In a side chapel, we found the mausoleum for Sucre and took a forbidden photo.

Then before we exited, we took another forbidden photo of the cathedral's beautiful wooden ceiling.

At this point, we have seen the sights that were on our recommended walking tour, plus a few more. With a few extra minutes at our disposal, we went back to the city museum in the old hospital building. I thought they might have a book in English with a short history of the city of Quito, but an inquiry at the front desk yielded a negative answer. We were able to poke our heads into a couple of the hospital's courtyards, and they are very pretty!

Since it was getting close to our pick-up time at 12:30 PM, we returned to the hotel for a quick (or not so quick) pork sandwich, then went to our room to collect our suitcases to check out. Mariana and the driver promptly met us at the appointed time, and our luggage was stowed in the van. We would not be returning to the hotel -- after our guided tour, we will be delivered to the airport for our flight to Lima, Peru.

Our first stop was up the hill south of the city center for an up-close look at the statue of the Virgin Mary that overlooks the old town. She has wings for some reason (but is not an angel!) and is stomping on a snake. I kind of like it! There is a smaller version in the San Francisco church/monastery.

The views up here were really nice, and it was a sunny clear day. For the first time, we could see to modern Quito with its high rise buildings. The city seems to go on and on both to the north and the south. Mariana told us that the expansion to the north (where the modern buildings are) is more recent. Rob asked if there are areas with bad slums, to which she said no. She said that the poorer areas are toward the south, but then confessed that she hasn't been there in many years. She said there are bad slums in Guayaquil.

When we told Mariana what we had done and seen this morning, she seemed a little taken aback. I don't think she thought we would be so ambitious. I felt a little bad, since perhaps we had co-opted what she had planned for us. She did recommend that we return to the church Compania de Jesus so that she could tell us more about it, and we agreed -- we pretty much just walked in and out this morning. Once inside she told us about the interior of the church, particularly the gold leaf, and then showed us a secret door. We were also able to buy a few post cards at the gift shop (now open).

We then walked to the presidential palace, where she took us behind a gate where we could peer inside the building's entrance, but we were unable to go in. Outside the cathedral, she pointed out an interesting architectural feature -- all of the posts along the walkway are designed differently. We don't stay long on the main square as a demonstration of transit workers was underway. There were many people, plus a band playing music! One more comment about central Quito: everywhere you walk you come across traditionally dressed women selling some type of food product. One will have potatoes, another may have corn, some were selling apples -- they were everywhere! Must be good business!

From here we re-boarded the van and were brought to the exterior of the basilica -- a most imposing building. We admired the side of the basilica, which features gargoyles -- only these gargoyles are all different creatures from the Galapagos Islands -- pretty neat!

Apparently time was running a little short, so we did not go in, but drove through the modern neighborhoods of northern Quito, seeing modern apartments and shopping. It was also more distinctly "white."

At the airport, it was time to say thank you and goodbye to Mariana, so we did! Check in was easy and Mariana has given us passes to the VIP lounge. The lounge is crowded with a lot of loud talkers. The food is just okay. About 45 minutes before departure, we made our way to the gate, and it was a good thing that we did. With 35 minutes before the scheduled departure time, the agents were already making the final boarding call! Wow -- glad we didn't miss the flight -- it left 10 minutes early!

The flight was uneventful, and we were met in Lima by our A&K representative, Julio. Unfortunately, due to heavy traffic on a Friday evening, our ride to the hotel was about 1 and 1/2 hours long. Julio was also very talkative and seemed to want to warn us about everything that could go wrong in Peru. At one point, he seemed to run out of things to say, so he just decided to read us our itinerary for the upcoming week. It has been a long day, and our patience was running low, but we maintained a polite facade. Unfortunately, the crazy driving style of the driver was making Rob physically ill. Finally, we arrived at the Belmond Miraflores Park Hotel, which is quite lovely. We had a quick check in and then ordered a delicious Malbec called "Reto" from room service, while Rob tried to recover from the ordeal of the drive. We turned in early.

Final note: Julio did have one memorable thing that he said. When warning us about buying knitwear from vendors in Peru, he said, "Be careful -- they will tell you it is made from baby alpaca, but it is really 'maybe' alpaca!!"

Thursday, June 22, From the Galapagos to Quito

We arose early before the alarm sounded. There was a marine iguana outside. We showered and then went to the restaurant for a nice outdoor, waterfront breakfast. We were only mildly irritated by Darwin's finches, which wanted some of our crumbs. After breakfast, Jonathan, our local guide, arrived at exactly 9:45 AM, and our journey to Quito began. Jonathan seemed to speak very good English, but didn't seem inclined to say very much to us!

Our journey today was as follows: (1) water taxi to the main harbor or Puerto Ayora, then (2) cab ride to the other side of Santa Cruz island (the cab was a four door white Toyota pick-up, as are ALL cabs in Puerto Ayora), then (3) a short ferry ride over the Itabaca Canal (channel in English) to Baltra Island, and then (4) a short bus ride from the ferry terminal on Baltra to the airport. Our flight out did not go through Guayaquil (as all inbound flights must), but was direct to Quito, about a 1 and 1/2 hour flight with a one hour time change.

In Quito, we were met by A&K's representative and travel guide, Mariana, who seemed pretty sharp! We were transported to our hotel, the Hotel Plaza Grande, named after the square where it is located. The Plaza Grande is the main square in Quito's old town. The official name for the square is the Plaza de Independence. The hotel is beautiful in an old-fashioned way with elaborate carved woodwork everywhere. We were give an upgraded corner room with three balconies, two of which overlooked the plaza, which was pretty lively in the evening. We were also given vouchers for a welcome drink, but we really had no time to use them!

After a short break, Mariana and the driver collected us for dinner at 7 PM at a restaurant called Theatrum. Even though it is only about three blocks away, it took more than a few minutes to get there given the one-way streets and traffic (would have been quicker to walk, we think). The restaurant is located on the second floor of an historic theater, the Sucre National Theatre. The dining room is very grand! There were not too many diners at the moment, but that is because it was too early to eat by Quito standards. We had a very nice conversation with Mariana who is a senior guide and has been with A&K for twenty years (must have started young since she is not an old person!).

The food here is intended to display Ecuadorean gastronomy representing different regions of the country. For a starter, Rob had a salad of mixed greens, walnuts, apple, bleu cheese and a vinaigrette. I had a traditional potato soup pureed with sour cream and avocado. For mains we all ordered the same dish: "El Pernil de Cerdo Casero'" also known as sour pork. Mariana explained that this was a very traditional dish. The presentation was gorgeous -- very disappointed that I did not take a picture. There were thin slices of pork served over a bed of hominy (giant corn kernels) with a kind of vinegar salsa on top with a few other items on the side. We also enjoyed a delicious red wine. For dessert, Rob had passionfruit and blackberry sorbets. I had Ecuadorean chocolate lava cake with vanilla ice cream. Mariana had a chocolate souffle that was so large that she couldn't finish. Chocolate is very popular in Ecuador!

We were returned to the hotel some time after 9 PM, and we went straight to bed, watching a little CNN on the television.

Wednesday, June 21, Santa Cruz Island and Giant Tortoises

This morning's activity, our last on the cruise, was to visit the Darwin Center on Santa Cruz Island in the town of Puerto Ayora. Puerta Aroya is in the southern part of this island. The weather this morning (after a somewhat turbulent night of travel to get here) was overcast, and it may have drizzled a little bit. We were much more southeast now, where the climate is more tropical and lush, rather than dry.

We rode the pangas to the city's main pier in the harbor. Puerto Ayora has about 13,000 people in the general area, including the hilly areas nearby (and those who are likely here illegally). The weather was warm at this point and very humid -- definitely not what we had gotten used to. We then had a short bus ride to the entrance to the center, followed by a short walk.

The center was very interesting and we sure learned a lot about giant tortoises. A main attraction here is "Lonesome George" (Solitario George in Spanish), a stuffed giant tortoise, who was captured and displayed here while he was alive -- very popular. He was also the last of his breed. He was not the largest tortoise, but he was the favorite for some reason.

We saw many cacti on the way in, including candelabra and prickly pear, the two types here in the Galapagos. Our guide, Javier, tells us that the land tortoises are predators of the cacti.

The Darwin Center is also a "centro de crianza," as a sign indicates, which Javier translated as breeding center.

Four different species are bred here; seven of the eleven total types are in captivity here. The researchers collect the eggs during the breeding season and bring them all here. The eggs, otherwise, are preyed on by introduced species, most notably rats. After hatching, the tortoises are kept here until they are five years old, then released. There were several areas where we could observe the small tortoises at various ages. The gender of the tortoise cannot be observed until they are 10-15 years old. They become sexually active at age 25-30. Interestingly, the gender of the tortoise is determined by the temperature of the incubator. Warmer temperatures produce females. Even here, we were told, the tortoises are in danger. Protective screening is placed over their enclosures at night to protect the young tortoises from rats!

Tortoises are not social, and they are not particularly aggressive. A contest may consist of who can stretch his neck out farther than the other -- then the contest is over!

In the "old" days, sailors prized the tortoises for food. They could collect hundreds of giant tortoises, which could survive on the ship for a year without food or water. Then, when you needed meat, you just killed one and ate it -- still fresh! No refrigeration needed! The tortoises weigh anywhere from 250-500 pounds. The males are larger than the females. Most of the tortoises taken by the sailors were smaller since they could be more easily carried (two men can carry 250 pounds, apparently).

One cannot tell the age of a tortoise once they become adults, so no one really knows how long they live. Beginning in the 1970's the Darwin Center began putting tracking chips in the tortoises that they bred, so at some point in the far future, better information will be available. Darwin brought a tortoise from the Galapagos to Australia during his travels in 1835. This tortoise lived until 2005!

Another favorite tortoise here (still alive) is Diego. He is a saddle-backed tortoise (name based on the shape of his shell). He has been at the center since 1977.

Before we left the center we did see an enclosed land iguana and a group of male dome shaped tortoises, which were very clumsy and climbing on each other. I took a nice video.

After we left we had the opportunity to stop in a few shops including the Darwin Center gift shop, where we bought some souvenir t-shirts. We also stopped at a shop in town to buy a blue footed boobie Christmas ornament!

Our next activity was to reboard the buses (two small ones for tight roads) to visit a privately owned ranch, where we would be able to view giant tortoises in the wild. We made a quick pit stop on the way so that our guide could pick up her favorite Galapagos coffee in a small town called Bella Vista. When we arrived, we were met with a snack of passionfruit juice or lemongrass tea served with a small cheese empanada and some fresh fruit -- very good! The name of the ranch is Rancho Manzanillo.

We saw giant tortoises up close and learned that they have no teeth and are herbivores.

Anne bought us a lovely postcard of some blue footed boobies (prompting a repeat of last night's dance).

Then it was time to return to the ship -- spotting a groove billed ani bird on the way out (not a native bird).

When we returned to the ship, it was time for Rob and Roy's farewell lunch. We would be leaving the ship this afternoon in order to begin our Peruvian portion of our vacation. The other passengers would stay on the ship for two more days. We ate with our new friends Marion and Anne and had sauvignon blanc to toast our lovely week. A lovely whole red snapper was prepared for lunch, and it was delicious! That afternoon, the others were transported back to Puerto Ayora for some afternoon shopping, while we waited for our transport to our hotel (also in Puerto Ayora).

There seemed to be a lack of communication regarding our transfer to Puerto Ayora, but Javier, the lead guide, contacted the Angermyer Hotel where we would be staying to arrange a transfer there at about 3:30 PM. The Angermyer can only be reached via boat (really -- no road), so we were dropped off at the public dock next to the inn. Javier also volunteered to send a panga at 7 PM that evening to take us to our dinner reservation in town, but we declined and said we could arrange our own transportation. This seemed to surprise him a little, but we really didn't want to be a burden (after all water taxis in Puerto Ayora only cost $0.80 per person, $1.00 after dark). Then it was good-bye to the ship.

We were met at the pier by a very nice young woman who provided our check-in information and some sort of green juice drink. We explained to her that we had not heard from a representative of our travel agency (Abercrombie & Kent) to explain to us the plans for dinner tonight or transportation to the airport tomorrow (we did not even have any tickets for our flight to Quito!). She offered to call the agency (she had been provided a number when the hotel reservation had been made), but unfortunately she was only able to leave a message and await a call back. To make a long story short: after calls by the hotel, some cell phone troubles on our part (which we ultimately resolved), and a communication from the A&K representative in Ecuador, we learned that we had dinner reservations in town at 7 PM at a place called Giardino's and that a person named Jonathan would be coming to the hotel tomorrow at 9:45 AM to take us to the airport. We were also given the flight information. We were disappointed in the communication related to this "hand-off." We believed that the person named Jonathan should have contacted the ship and us today to explain what we should expect to happen tomorrow, rather than putting the burden of finding out what would happen on us.  Oh well, it seemed everything would be okay, anyway.

After all of this angst, we were finally able to step back and admire our lovely hotel room, named the "Southern Cross." It was fabulous: very large, high ceilings, luxury bathroom (though stingy on the towels), and a lovely terrace sitting on the top floor with views to the entire harbor and the town.

We then showered and took a water taxi, really more of a water "bus," into town. Our former shipmates have long returned to the ship -- we had watched the pangas bring them back to the Xperience from our terrace. Our first stop in town was a pharmacy for bug cream. The receptionist at the hotel had warned us of the mosquitoes. Then we strolled the length of Darwin Avenue, which is lined with souvenir shops. At the end is an art gallery, where we finally found what we had been looking for: a nicer carved blue footed boobie knickknack (all the shops had them, but most looked pretty cheap), so we bought it and then strolled back. We passed by the fish market and the Hotel Sol y Mar, which had been our other hotel choice (on the harbor, swimming pool occupied by sea lions, no thanks).

With a name like Giardino's, we had expected an Italian restaurant, perhaps, but this place was more like Mexican food. I guess the name just means "garden." Since we had arrived very early, we had some wine near (not in) the bar area, which was full. We then proceeded upstairs to the open air dining room for dinner. Rob started with coconut shrimp, and I had ceviche, which was too large a portion, which I did not finish, even though it was good. For mains, Rob had teriyaki tuna, and I had fish and rice in the same yellow coconut sauce that Rob's shrimp had been served with. It was good. Although we had though dinner was to be on A&K's tab, we were informed that A&K would be paying $52, and the rest was "on us." A&K's amount covered about on half of the bill. We had finished our meal and were ready to leave anyway, bu dinner came to an abrupt end when four men at the table next to us all lit up cigarettes -- time to go! The rules are different here, apparently.

After dinner, we returned to the hotel via water taxi (in the dark) and then retired. After having gone several days on the ship without television (nice flat screen TV in the cabin that never seemed to have any reception), we were disappointed to learn that the television choices in our hotel room had no channels in English. Of 71 channels available, two were in French, one in Russian, the rest in Spanish.

Geology of the Galapagos Islands

My notes from the lecture:

The islands are formed by volcanoes in three parallel lines, going from northwest to southeast. The northwest islands are dry, and the southeast islands are wet.

The western islands are the most active regarding volcanic activity. They are newer with less vegetation. They are on two plates: the Nazca plate (moving southeast) and the South American plate (moving west, "crashing" into each other. The Nazca plate is going underneath the S. Amer. plate, called subduction. This is also creating the Andes Mountains.

Galapagos Islands and Hawaiian Islands are similar "hot spot" formations. The plates move, but the hot spots do not, which creates new islands as the plate moves.

Recent Volcanic Activity:
2005, there was an event called Sierra Negra, which was not too explosive with basaltic lava.
2009, Fernandina, La Cumbra volcano.
2015, Wolf volcano on Isabella.

Other terms:
Shield volcano -- flat on top, "soup plate."
Cones are two types: spatter, cinder.
Tuff -- soft material that erodes quickly.
Lava -- Pahoehoe -- rope type, AA -- cannot walk on.
Sand -- white is from organic material, black is from volcanic ashes (on northwestern coasts only, because it is blown there.

Tsunamis have occurred here, but originated far away in Chile or Japan. They need vertical lift or movement to be created.

Tuesday, June 20, Isabella Island

This morning, we walked near Urvina Bay on Isabella Island. It was the longest walk of the cruise so far, about three miles over more challenging terrain.

After a wet landing that required us to thoroughly dry our feet in order to put on our shoes and socks, we set out.  We spotted some interesting birds right away -- a yellow warbler? -- and tried to photograph.  It's not easy to capture them. Almost immediately we came across a tortoise a little way off the trail but easily within view.  Everyone took the opportunity to photograph him/her from a distance, then we left him/her alone. The land tortoises do not swim. It is thought that they came to the Galapagos Islands by floating on something, debris perhaps. As a contrast, the sea turtle is always in the water. The female only comes ashore to lay eggs. The male? Never. Regarding tortoises, Javier also told us that when they want to retract their head into the shell (when nervous), they must exhale the air in their lungs.

We passed a poison apple tree (small yellow fruit dropped to the ground), which our guide, Javier, told us is food for the tortoises. He also pointed out a few birds: the small ground finch, which we've seen many times before, and then the Galapagos flycatcher, which I had wanted to see, but failed at this time to catch sight of -- oh well.

Our next sight, which came quickly, was the Galapagos land iguana. It is a kind of yellowish color. It is the same type that we had seen on Baltra when we rode the bus from the airport to the pier. Javier told us there are three types of land iguanas: two are yellow and one is pink.

We passed by holes in the sand that Javier told us were dug by the land iguanas. Unlike humans whose internal temperature is regulated automatically, land iguanas have to regulate their own temperature. To cool down, they climb into holes. At night, to stay warm, they find spots to protect them from the wind. Land iguanas do not care for their offspring. The young are on their own. Hawks and snakes are predators.

Other things that we learned on this hike: There are still a few cats and dogs (and pigs) that are feral and live on some of the islands, which threaten the natural wildlife. Later in the hike, Rob actually saw a feral cat. The area where we were hiking was once the seabed, and we saw evidence of that in small shells lying on the ground. In 1954, an earthquake uplifted this land about 15 feet. It is estimated that this have happened in as short a time as one minute! The islands have about 500 earthquakes per day.

After following a narrow path through the vegetation (which got quite narrow for a while and required a lot of ducking to avoid branches), we came across white coral reef formations that had been uplifted. This is very unusual, as the Galapagos are not known for coral. Here is a photo of our hiking group in front of the coral:

We also saw two yellow flowering plants: yellow cordia and cotton.

The end of the walk was along the shore, which required a challenging climb over uneven black lava rocks -- some are pretty big! This is not a short distance, either! I lagged behind the group with Maria who liked to take her time with photographs. The group had another option for snorkeling here but we passed.

Returning to the ship (beautiful blue water!), another big lunch awaited us, but first we had a short lecture on the geology of the Galapagos (see separate blog post). The afternoon afforded a little extra free time with no activity until 4 PM.

HOWEVER, we did have some great excitement that afternoon as the ship traveled north up the western coast of Isabella Island (destination: the "sea horse's mouth," named because the outline of Isabella Island resembles a sea horse). Everyone was alerted to the fact that a sperm whale was surfacing to the right of the ship as we were moving! It was amazing as we were able to get close enough for some good photos!

The remainder of the afternoon was sunny and pleasant on the ship's sun deck. I especially enjoyed the frigate birds, who were floating along on top of us, really following us for some reason.

At 4 PM, everyone was ready for the ride in the panga boats. The weather was as usual lovely and we had all been admiring this particularly scenic location from the ship this afternoon. The "sea horse's mouth" is nearly to the top (north end) of Isabella Island. It was once part of a giant caldera (volcanic crater), where the western side of the caldera had collapsed into the ocean.

Our panga boat began the excursion by traveling toward a large natural cave. Immediately, Mari, our guide this afternoon, pointed out a blue booby in the water using his beak to take oil from the glands on his back to spread it on his wings -- very interesting process. The panga proceeded to the area to the left of the entrance to the cave where we saw an impressive amount of bird life. Right away we struck the jackpot: a large group of blue footed boobies perched on the ledges that jutted out from the cliff wall. This was just what I most wanted to see up close! We took photo after photo, but it was hard to get a clear shot of the blue feet as we were looking at them from below. We moved a little to the right and Mari was excited to see brown noddies nesting with young ones. Then we looked up and saw another male blue boobie -- but this one was doing the mating dance! Oh my, he was stomping his feet, chirping, and then throwing us tail feathers up! What a moment! I took a two minute video of the whole process that turned out pretty well -- this was more that anyone had expected to see (but what we had all hoped for)!

Down below the boobies, we were treated to the sight of sea lions playing and trying to maintain a perch on a rock -- one hardly knew where to look there was so much going on! Just to the right we saw a male frigate bird up close, a flightless cormorant next to a brown pelican and then a juvenile blue footed boobie all by himself. Then we saw a mound of marine iguanas sunning themselves -- Rob proposed to Anne that we should grab one by the tail to see if it would cause the whole colony to go crashing off the rock into the water!

We rode the panga into the cave, which was larger on the inside than it had appeared from the outside. We spotted an orange harlequin fish and then countless sea turtles. They were swimming around and around -- at least a dozen. Those who opted to snorkel this afternoon had been swimming with this group earlier.

We continued along the cliff from the cave where we were able to spot a nazca boobie flying, and then perched up on a cliff (they have black under their white wings with a yellow bill). We also saw from some distance a swallowtail gull. This is the nocturnal gull that can be seen from the ship's deck at night. Finally we turned back toward the ship, as Mari pointed out a candelabra cactus high up at the top of the cliff.

Fearing too much splashing, Rob had elected not to bring his "good" camera on this ride, which turned out to be a mistake. Marion, however, was very nice to share he photos from this ride with us -- in exchange for my "boobie dance" video -- a "win win" for everyone!

We still had a little more excitement before dinner as the ship was going to cross the equator (from south to north). We had crossed it before, but it had happened at night. Today, we all gathered up on the captain's bridge to celebrate the crossing together. I was able to snap a photo of the ship's instrument showing "0.00" latitude. Later, we would all receive certificates from the ship that we had crossed the equator!

Before dinner, the ship hosted a very nice wine and cheese tasting on the rear deck.  Then, dinner that night was fun as Anne took the initiative to lead everyone in a "boobie dance"!  We stomped our feet and shook our tailfeathers! Young Gabriel, grandson of Vita, was enormously amused and joined right in!