My Last Three Days in Ecuador – Otavalo, Mindo Cloudforest and Colonial Quito

As soon as I returned to Quito the damned headaches started again but I saw no point in staying in my hotel room, so I still went on the tour I’d booked to go to Otavalo, a market town to the north of Quito. I’m not really a market person at the best of times, so I had a quick spin through the market as it was opening and then got out of there and sat on a bench on one of the main streets of the town and people watched instead. I did not have the energy to stave off people trying to sell me things I don’t want so I thought it was best to get out of there.

These pictures of Lago San Pablo and Volcano Imbabura were taken on the way to Otavalo –


After visiting Otavalo we went to a hacienda for lunch, very nice and very pretty gardens, if a little ragged around the edges.
I didn’t take pictures in Otavalo but did perk up in the afternoon to take a picture of the church in Peguche a village close to Otavalo –

The next day left early to go to Mindo, north-east of Quito, a cloud forest dripping and wet and green, in comparison to the dry and sometimes arid lands on the west side of the mountains.
First Stop was El Pahuma Orchid Reserve where I saw some orchids. Not many were in flower and climbed up to this waterfall –

We went to a Butterfly Vivarium and was surrounded by these lovely specimens –







After the butterfly farm we went to a lodge to have lunch and view the gardens and the feeders where these little jewels of colour come to sip the syrup left for them






The next morning before my departure for Europe, I had that tour of the colonial centre of Quito that I should have the morning I missed in Quito.
Iglesia San Francisco was designed by Francisco Becerra, the renowned architect of the Puebla cathedral in Mexico. Begun in the late 16th century, the monastery church was completed in 1623. It is on the Plaza San Francisco, this famous square, whose construction was begun shortly after Quito was founded on January 25, 1535, is the city’s largest grouping of colonial buildings and remains one of the finest ensembles of religious architecture in South America.

The government palace and headquarters of the President of the Republic, built in the 18th century, it was the seat of the Audiencia Real (meaning a royal court of law was located here). The balustrade of the exterior gallery was imported in 1890 by the then president Antonio Flores. It was once part of Paris’ Tuileries, burned a century earlier during the French Revolution. It stands at the west of Plaza de la Independencia where the city of Quito was founded.

Iglesia de la Compañia de Jesús is considered one of the most spectacular 17th-century religious buildings in South America. Inside, over four tons of gold glitter away, illuminating the walls, doors, altar and ceiling with their reflections. Begun by the Jesuits in the early 1600s, the church was completed in 1774. The facade is made of volcanic stones carved in a baroque style.

The Virgin of Quito stands on Cerro Panecillo – literally meaning the little bread, as this hill sticks out as a little bun dividing the city into north and south. This statue consists of 7000 pieces of aluminium, and it is a modern presentation of the famous Virgin de Quito, the unique winged dancing Virgin. The original statue is at the main altar of the San Francisco Church.

The Cathedral is the oldest colonial church in South America (1562).

I know that I went to the Mitad del Mundo, the Equatorial Line Monument and I’m sure I took some photos but there is nary a one on my camera. I must have deleted them under the effects of either altitude sickness or jet lag or maybe they were too awful. *scratches head and shrugs* Don’t know.
Click here for your flight to Europe

Read Full Post »

My Last Three Days in Ecuador – Otavalo, Mindo Cloudforest and Colonial Quito

As soon as I returned to Quito the damned headaches started again but I saw no point in staying in my hotel room, so I still went on the tour I’d booked to go to Otavalo, a market town to the north of Quito. I’m not really a market person at the best of times, so I had a quick spin through the market as it was opening and then got out of there and sat on a bench on one of the main streets of the town and people watched instead. I did not have the energy to stave off people trying to sell me things I don’t want so I thought it was best to get out of there.

These pictures of Lago San Pablo and Volcano Imbabura were taken on the way to Otavalo –


After visiting Otavalo we went to a hacienda for lunch, very nice and very pretty gardens, if a little ragged around the edges.
I didn’t take pictures in Otavalo but did perk up in the afternoon to take a picture of the church in Peguche a village close to Otavalo –

The next day left early to go to Mindo, north-east of Quito, a cloud forest dripping and wet and green, in comparison to the dry and sometimes arid lands on the west side of the mountains.
First Stop was El Pahuma Orchid Reserve where I saw some orchids. Not many were in flower and climbed up to this waterfall –

We went to a Butterfly Vivarium and was surrounded by these lovely specimens –







After the butterfly farm we went to a lodge to have lunch and view the gardens and the feeders where these little jewels of colour come to sip the syrup left for them






The next morning before my departure for Europe, I had that tour of the colonial centre of Quito that I should have the morning I missed in Quito.
Iglesia San Francisco was designed by Francisco Becerra, the renowned architect of the Puebla cathedral in Mexico. Begun in the late 16th century, the monastery church was completed in 1623. It is on the Plaza San Francisco, this famous square, whose construction was begun shortly after Quito was founded on January 25, 1535, is the city’s largest grouping of colonial buildings and remains one of the finest ensembles of religious architecture in South America.

The government palace and headquarters of the President of the Republic, built in the 18th century, it was the seat of the Audiencia Real (meaning a royal court of law was located here). The balustrade of the exterior gallery was imported in 1890 by the then president Antonio Flores. It was once part of Paris’ Tuileries, burned a century earlier during the French Revolution. It stands at the west of Plaza de la Independencia where the city of Quito was founded.

Iglesia de la Compañia de Jesús is considered one of the most spectacular 17th-century religious buildings in South America. Inside, over four tons of gold glitter away, illuminating the walls, doors, altar and ceiling with their reflections. Begun by the Jesuits in the early 1600s, the church was completed in 1774. The facade is made of volcanic stones carved in a baroque style.

The Virgin of Quito stands on Cerro Panecillo – literally meaning the little bread, as this hill sticks out as a little bun dividing the city into north and south. This statue consists of 7000 pieces of aluminium, and it is a modern presentation of the famous Virgin de Quito, the unique winged dancing Virgin. The original statue is at the main altar of the San Francisco Church.

The Cathedral is the oldest colonial church in South America (1562).

I know that I went to the Mitad del Mundo, the Equatorial Line Monument and I’m sure I took some photos but there is nary a one on my camera. I must have deleted them under the effects of either altitude sickness or jet lag or maybe they were too awful. *scratches head and shrugs* Don’t know.
Click here for your flight to Europe

Read Full Post »

Protected:

This content is password protected. To view it please enter your password below:

Password:

Read Full Post »

1711

No, I’m not feeling crabby. Just showing off my new icon made by for me. *smooches* you.

Spent half the day in the oncologist’s waiting rooms. I misheard the receptionist when she gave me the time for my appointment and thought it was 10:15 and arrived half an hour early as per usual at 9:45. The appt time was actually 10:50 so I went away for a coffee and to read the paper and then came back and waited and waited. OK I might have got a little testy but not crabby waiting. It was almost an hour after the appt time I got to see her.

She seems happy with the reduction in the size of the primary tumour and after listening to my chest and thumping my back and listening to the echos I suppose to check if there was any fluid there by the sound. I had to have another blood test and will have another CT scan in March to see if the tumours have been cleared from my lungs.

One good thing about going to see her at the RPA, Sydney Cancer Centre is that it is considered a service provided in the hospital so they don’t charge you for the consultation with the oncologist, just bill it directly to the Government. Yes that saves me $80 a visit and any tests you have there are charged to the Government too and the clinic is in walking distance from my place, if I feel so minded to walk. No transport costs.

Good news all round.

Read Full Post »

Las Islas Encantadas – Day 8 – North Seymour Island

Up early for my last morning in the Galapagos was spent among the bird colonies on North Seymour
Galapagos Map

As we scrabbled up the rocks onto the island I looked over at this booby. I think he was ignoring us, saying well, just go away will you or maybe he was just pissed off because a frigate bird had stolen his fish –

We walked around this rather flat island to the frigate bird colonies. There are two varieties of frigate bird, the Great Frigate Bird and the Magnificent Frigate Bird –

To be successful he needs to puff up his gular pouch like a scarlet balloon.

When the females fly overhead they vibrate their whole body, uttering a mooing sound.

Surrounding a colony of female frigate Birds –

The fluffy white ball is a frigate bird chick precariously roosting on a flat disc. If the chick loses its balance and falls to the ground it will die.

The last farewell on the beach from our hosts, the sea lions –

Then back to Baltra and the airport for the flight to Quito.

Click to go to Otavalo, Quito & Mindo

Read Full Post »

Las Islas Encantadas – Day 8 – North Seymour Island

Up early for my last morning in the Galapagos was spent among the bird colonies on North Seymour
Galapagos Map

As we scrabbled up the rocks onto the island I looked over at this booby. I think he was ignoring us, saying well, just go away will you or maybe he was just pissed off because a frigate bird had stolen his fish –

We walked around this rather flat island to the frigate bird colonies. There are two varieties of frigate bird, the Great Frigate Bird and the Magnificent Frigate Bird –

To be successful he needs to puff up his gular pouch like a scarlet balloon.

When the females fly overhead they vibrate their whole body, uttering a mooing sound.

Surrounding a colony of female frigate Birds –

The fluffy white ball is a frigate bird chick precariously roosting on a flat disc. If the chick loses its balance and falls to the ground it will die.

The last farewell on the beach from our hosts, the sea lions –

Then back to Baltra and the airport for the flight to Quito.

Click to go to Otavalo, Quito & Mindo

Read Full Post »

Following blindly moon_chylde

You scored as The Holly. In Celtic astrology, you’re a Holly. The animal symbol that accompanies this tree is the unicorn. The ancient Druids say Holly people are cautious, capable, steadfast, efficient, supportive and protective. However, Hollies may be prone to perfectionism, loss of direction and possessiveness, especially toward people. The Holly 70% The Rowan 60% The Vine 60% The Oak 60% The Reed 60% The Birch 55% The Hazel 55% The Willow 55% The Hawthorn 55% The Alder 50% The Ivy 50% The Elder 35% The Ash 30%

What Tree Are You? (Celtic astrology)
created with QuizFarm.com

Read Full Post »

Following blindly <lj user = “moon_chylde”>

You scored as The Holly. In Celtic astrology, you’re a Holly. The animal symbol that accompanies this tree is the unicorn. The ancient Druids say Holly people are cautious, capable, steadfast, efficient, supportive and protective. However, Hollies may be prone to perfectionism, loss of direction and possessiveness, especially toward people. The Holly 70% The Rowan 60% The Vine 60% The Oak 60% The Reed 60% The Birch 55% The Hazel 55% The Willow 55% The Hawthorn 55% The Alder 50% The Ivy 50% The Elder 35% The Ash 30% What Tree Are You? (Celtic astrology) created with QuizFarm.com

Read Full Post »

Las Islas Encantadas – Day 7 – Punta Cormoran & Post Office Bay, Floreana Island

After leaving Española we headed west to Floreana for the next day’s adventures.

Galapagos Map

Floreana has a rich soil and a water supply and because of this it was one of the first islands of the Galapagos to be permanently inhabited, although it was always seen as a place for food (an apparently inexhaustible supply of tortoises) by whalers and other ships. Inevitably with man in permanent occupation, animals were introduced and as a result, tortoises on the island have become extinct, as have some birds.

It is one of the islands where human history is just as interesting as the flora and fauna. The human history of the island includes pirates, whalers, convicts, and a small band of somewhat peculiar colonists, including a supposed Austrian Baroness, whose stay there ended in mystery and death. Today roughly fifty Ecuadorians inhabit the island. At the beginning of the 19th century, an Irish sailor was abandoned on Charles Island (Floreana), his name was Patrick Watkins and he is considered the first inhabitant of the islands. He cultivated vegetables, which he traded to the whalers for rum to get drunk. Several years later, he managed to take some boats and some men whom he treated like slaves. With them, he took to sea but he arrived in Guayaquil alone. He then went to Patia where he convinced a mulatto woman to accompany him back to the island. He was arrested when trying to steal a ship and he spent the rest of his days in prison.

We were ferried in the zodiacs to the beach at Punta Cormoran, a green beach. The green beach so coloured because it is made from olivine crystals (volcanic silicates of magnesium and iron). Scattered among the sand are the remains of pencil sea urchins. Here is a picture of the beach including the usual posse of sea lions

In the photo the beach doesn’t look that green but when you pick up a handful of sand you could see the green colour of the grains. Oh and the git standing with his hands on his leg behind the sea lion with the strange expression on his mug was that fool of an Italian tourist who kept harassing the wildlife.

He induced in me a Maturin-like crabbiness, somewhat like Stephen’s attitude to Captain Howard of the Marines on the Surprise. Bloody Goth!

From this beach we walked inland to a brackish lagoon. This is home to one of the biggest populations of flamingos in the archipelago and it is a subspecies of the Greater Flamingo which is also found in the Caribbean. The total number of flamingos in the Galapagos may only number 500 birds and their eggs and chicks are vulnerable to feral pigs.

Their striking pink colouration is caused by the caretinoid pigments they ingest from feeding on algae or the plankton that live on algae.

These pink residents spend about 7 hours a day or more eating. The flamingos lower their necks to the water and holding their heads upside down underwater, swing their bills from side to side as they walk, filtering out the plankton.

We followed the trail and crossed a narrow neck of land and then down to a white beach on the eastern side of the island where rays and turtles can be seen in the sea. I didn’t see any; I guess they had better places to be. It certainly saved the Italian git from a severe sting or at least beating Steve Irwin to a nasty death at the end of a ray’s stinger. We were all warned not to go wading too far into the water as the rays often lay just underneath the sand, so most of us with the exception of the Italian idiot did as we were told and didn’t go into the water. I was hoping that any minute he would fall into the water clutching his leg in agony but no such luck. *Dark Maturin mutterings and imprecations.*

We returned to the landing beach for a swim and I wandered around to see if I could get any more pictures and saw this rather large sally light foot crab –

We went back to the boat for lunch and then returned to the beach for swimming later on while some chose to snorkel on the Devil’s Crown, a 100 m-wide crater largely filled with sand and debris and which is supposed to be one of the best sites for snorkelling. Later in the afternoon we were taken around to Post Office Bay –

In 1793 British whalers set up a barrel as the island’s Post Office, to send letters home on passing ships. The tradition continues to this day, simply by dropping a post card into the barrel without a stamp. The catch is you must take a post card from the barrel and see that it gets to the right place. That is how the system began and continues to this day. There weren’t any postcards for anybody in Sydney.

On the way back we passed this outcrop of rocks and I think this is a Yellow-Crowned Night Heron –

The guides also spoke of the strange story of the Austrian baroness and her (two) lovers’ sticky end. Beginning in 1929, a few small groups of settlers decided to call Floreana home, including a German doctor and his partner, as well as the Wittmers (another German family), and an Austrian baroness with a couple of her lovers/servants. Trouble in paradise quickly arose as power struggles occurred and resulted in strange disappearances, hunting episodes with human prizes, and multiple suspected but never proven murders. Well that was the story recounted by the guides.

So ended my last full day in the Galapagos. Just one more island before I had to leave.

I found a web site set up by one of the settler’s sons about his mother, Margaret Wittmer who was among this group.

Here is the website – http://www.margret-wittmer.com

She also wrote a book about their life eking out an existence on Floreana.

There seem to have been some extraordinarily salacious stuff written about the mystery Baroness –
http://www.galapagos.to/TEXTS/MANSACTION.HTM

A more factual history of the island could probably be read here –
http://www.galapagos.to/TEXTS/Hoff-0.HTM

These pages are part of a very good site if you are interested in all things historical about the Galapagos –
http://www.galapagos.to/
It also has some great historical maps as well.

Click to go to Galapagos – Day 8 – Nth Seymour Island

Read Full Post »

Las Islas Encantadas – Day 7 – Punta Cormoran & Post Office Bay, Floreana Island

After leaving Española we headed west to Floreana for the next day’s adventures.

Galapagos Map

Floreana has a rich soil and a water supply and because of this it was one of the first islands of the Galapagos to be permanently inhabited, although it was always seen as a place for food (an apparently inexhaustible supply of tortoises) by whalers and other ships. Inevitably with man in permanent occupation, animals were introduced and as a result, tortoises on the island have become extinct, as have some birds.

It is one of the islands where human history is just as interesting as the flora and fauna. The human history of the island includes pirates, whalers, convicts, and a small band of somewhat peculiar colonists, including a supposed Austrian Baroness, whose stay there ended in mystery and death. Today roughly fifty Ecuadorians inhabit the island. At the beginning of the 19th century, an Irish sailor was abandoned on Charles Island (Floreana), his name was Patrick Watkins and he is considered the first inhabitant of the islands. He cultivated vegetables, which he traded to the whalers for rum to get drunk. Several years later, he managed to take some boats and some men whom he treated like slaves. With them, he took to sea but he arrived in Guayaquil alone. He then went to Patia where he convinced a mulatto woman to accompany him back to the island. He was arrested when trying to steal a ship and he spent the rest of his days in prison.

We were ferried in the zodiacs to the beach at Punta Cormoran, a green beach. The green beach so coloured because it is made from olivine crystals (volcanic silicates of magnesium and iron). Scattered among the sand are the remains of pencil sea urchins. Here is a picture of the beach including the usual posse of sea lions

In the photo the beach doesn’t look that green but when you pick up a handful of sand you could see the green colour of the grains. Oh and the git standing with his hands on his leg behind the sea lion with the strange expression on his mug was that fool of an Italian tourist who kept harassing the wildlife.

He induced in me a Maturin-like crabbiness, somewhat like Stephen’s attitude to Captain Howard of the Marines on the Surprise. Bloody Goth!

From this beach we walked inland to a brackish lagoon. This is home to one of the biggest populations of flamingos in the archipelago and it is a subspecies of the Greater Flamingo which is also found in the Caribbean. The total number of flamingos in the Galapagos may only number 500 birds and their eggs and chicks are vulnerable to feral pigs.

Their striking pink colouration is caused by the caretinoid pigments they ingest from feeding on algae or the plankton that live on algae.

These pink residents spend about 7 hours a day or more eating. The flamingos lower their necks to the water and holding their heads upside down underwater, swing their bills from side to side as they walk, filtering out the plankton.

We followed the trail and crossed a narrow neck of land and then down to a white beach on the eastern side of the island where rays and turtles can be seen in the sea. I didn’t see any; I guess they had better places to be. It certainly saved the Italian git from a severe sting or at least beating Steve Irwin to a nasty death at the end of a ray’s stinger. We were all warned not to go wading too far into the water as the rays often lay just underneath the sand, so most of us with the exception of the Italian idiot did as we were told and didn’t go into the water. I was hoping that any minute he would fall into the water clutching his leg in agony but no such luck. *Dark Maturin mutterings and imprecations.*

We returned to the landing beach for a swim and I wandered around to see if I could get any more pictures and saw this rather large sally light foot crab –

We went back to the boat for lunch and then returned to the beach for swimming later on while some chose to snorkel on the Devil’s Crown, a 100 m-wide crater largely filled with sand and debris and which is supposed to be one of the best sites for snorkelling. Later in the afternoon we were taken around to Post Office Bay –

In 1793 British whalers set up a barrel as the island’s Post Office, to send letters home on passing ships. The tradition continues to this day, simply by dropping a post card into the barrel without a stamp. The catch is you must take a post card from the barrel and see that it gets to the right place. That is how the system began and continues to this day. There weren’t any postcards for anybody in Sydney.

On the way back we passed this outcrop of rocks and I think this is a Yellow-Crowned Night Heron –

The guides also spoke of the strange story of the Austrian baroness and her (two) lovers’ sticky end. Beginning in 1929, a few small groups of settlers decided to call Floreana home, including a German doctor and his partner, as well as the Wittmers (another German family), and an Austrian baroness with a couple of her lovers/servants. Trouble in paradise quickly arose as power struggles occurred and resulted in strange disappearances, hunting episodes with human prizes, and multiple suspected but never proven murders. Well that was the story recounted by the guides.

So ended my last full day in the Galapagos. Just one more island before I had to leave.

I found a web site set up by one of the settler’s sons about his mother, Margaret Wittmer who was among this group.

Here is the website – http://www.margret-wittmer.com

She also wrote a book about their life eking out an existence on Floreana.

There seem to have been some extraordinarily salacious stuff written about the mystery Baroness –
http://www.galapagos.to/TEXTS/MANSACTION.HTM

A more factual history of the island could probably be read here –
http://www.galapagos.to/TEXTS/Hoff-0.HTM

These pages are part of a very good site if you are interested in all things historical about the Galapagos –
http://www.galapagos.to/
It also has some great historical maps as well.

Click to go to Galapagos – Day 8 – Nth Seymour Island

Read Full Post »