The next morning we moved on to the town of Banos, about 5 hours south.

Church in Banos

It took us a while to find the Hostel Paraiso Pequena, about 8 miles out of town. Once we got there the owner told us about the police strike in the country and that the president had been attacked. We decided to stay for two days and see how fast the whole thing would cool down.
Banos was not that great. It is a nice town and everything but we just couldn't understand why the guidebooks go crazy about it. We wanted to try "Cuy" for a long time and here in Banos we had the opportunity.

Cuy

What is "Cuy" ? It is high in protein and low in fat and cholesterol, and is described as being similar to rabbit and the dark meat of chicken. Some people call it "Guinea pig"... ;-)
In fact, it is the same. Just a little bit bigger than the your average Guinea pig at home...

After two days things had cooled down and we were able to move on and drive another 180 miles further south to the City of Cuenca. Cuenca was founded in 1527 and with 450,000 inhabitants the third largest city in Ecuador. It is also "Panama Hat World Headquarter".  Most of the worlds Panama Hat are produced in Cuenca. The rest is 'Made in China' - just like it is with everything else. The old town is a UNESCO World Heritage site and we really liked the nice colonial buildings. We missed nice colonial cities since we've left Mexico but this one was really beautiful.

Production of Panama Hats in Cuenca

We spent two nights in Cuenca and our host Umberto spent part of his life in Stuttgart, Germany. He was happy to practice his german. Umberto owns a nice piece of property on the outskirts of the city and rents cabinas. He also allows campers on his property which is really nice. The only downside is the amount of roosters he has. There must've been at least five. The first startet at 4am and it didn't take long for the others to join.

Our last stop in Ecuador was the town of Vilcabamba.The etymology of the “Vilcabamba” apparently derives from the Quichua “huilco pamba.” Huilco denotes the sacred trees, Anadenanthera colubrina, that inhabit the region and pamba is a word meaning “valley.” The area has been referred to as the "Playground of the Inca" which refers to its historic use as a retreat for Incan royalty. The valley is overlooked by a mountain called Mandango, the Sleeping Inca, whose presence is said to protect the area from earthquakes and other natural disasters.

The sleeping Inca

We parked at the Hosteria Izhcayluma which is run by two german brothers. It offers everything a tired traveler needs: Nice hot showers, Pool, Spa, Bar a great restaurant with german specialities and a view to die for. We stayed a little longer than anticipated. 
On our last day we rented horses and went for a ride. Oouch...it has been a long time that I sat on a horse....But aside the pain in butt, legs and cojones - it was fun.

Vilcabamba is located in the "Valley of longevity".  Locals assert that it is not uncommon to see a person reach 100 years of age and it is claimed that many have gotten to 120, even up to 135, which would make it an area with the oldest inhabitants in the world.

The reasons for this claimed longevity are not very clear. French studies have shown that the diet and lifestyle of the inhabitants may be a factor. Dr. Richard Laurence Millington Synge, a Nobel Chemistry Prize winner and the man who discovered amino acids, claims that there are remarkable medicinal qualities to be found in the plant-life in certain places near the Equator .... with the valley of Vilcabamba being one of these areas. Due to scientific chemical assay techniques, analysis has now shown that the fruit, roots and herbs of this particular Equatorial sub-area offer some of the strongest anti-oxidant protection in the world. In 1973, Dr. Alexander Leaf of Harvard Medical School introduced these remarkable people to the world for the first time in his cover story for National Geographic Magazine. Well, we'll see if we get to life two weeks longer because of our five days stay here in Vilcabamba.

Tomorrow we will leave Ecuador and head to Peru - Country Number 11 on our EAGLE EYE TOUR 2010.


Days 236 - 238
September 18th 2010 - September 20th 2010

Ibarra

We spent the last couple of days in Ibarra to get used again to the altitude and to relax. Graham, our host, introduced us to some friends and we felt very welcome everywhere we went. People invited us into their homes and shared food, drinks and laughs and we have to say that the Ecuadorians are some of the nicest people we've met so far (after the Colombians...;-) )


Days 235 - 240
September 12th 2010 - September 17th 2010

Galapagos Islands and Quito

We arrived very early at the airport because our travel agent has sent me a mail that our 8.20 am flight to the Galapagos was canceled and that we were booked on a flight at 7.40 am. After check in I noticed the boarding time on the boarding pass: 8 am. For a flight that leaves at 7.40 am ?? Turns out that the original flight we booked was back on and we had 2 hours to kill... 
When we arrived on Baltra Island, Galapagos our guide was already waiting for us. We got on a bus and drove 5 min to the port, where our ship was waiting for us and the other passengers.

Yacht Encantada

The "Encantada" has room for 12 passengers and was fully booked. There was a family of 4 from Australia, a swiss couple, a couple from Finnland, Marie and Pascal and us. The cabins were pretty small but we are used to tight spaces, so no problem here. 
Once everybody was on the boat, the crew served some snacks before we disembarked for our first excursion to "Bahia Tortuga Negra", Black Turtle Bay. We used Zodiaks to get around and at first Marissa didn't really like it but after a while she had fun in those little boats.

Bahia Tortuga Negra was our first impression of the Galapagos and we where thrilled to see so many species of animals during our first hour on the islands. We saw Blue footed Boobys, Pelikan, Waterturtles, Iguanas and much more. 

Blue footed Booby

Here some info about the Galapagos. Scroll down for more about our trip.

The Galápagos Islands are an archipelago consisting of six main islands, twelve smaller islands, and more than forty islets, some no more than rocky outcroppings rising from the sea. It was once thought that at some time, the islands were somehow connected to the mainland. Now, scientists believe that the Islands were formed totally separate from the South American land mass. The islands are the peaks of gigantic volcanoes, rising 7,000 to 9,000 feet from the seabed. Thousands of years have deposited basalt rock, until the islands we know today were formed. Most of the islands have two or even three names. The English and Dutch buccaneers gave the islands names in their languages, and the Spanish gave the islands Spanish names. The Ecuadorian government tried to establish one name for each island, but in the end abandoned its efforts. 

The most famous visitor to the islands was Charles Darwin who spent a month there in 1835. His observations of the variations in plant and animal species on the islands were crucial to the development of his theory of evolution. All of the plants and animals arrived in the Galápagos through long distance dispersal. Most arrived from South America, but some are related to Mexico and Central America. Evidence suggests that birds have been a major vector of plant dispersal. A second source has been the wind. Others have floated across the ocean. In modern times, humans have become a source of introduced plants and animals.

The island coasts are fringed with mangroves, sandy beaches and rocky shorelines. The plants consist of evergreens like the saltbush. Animals that live along the coast include herons, crabs, sandpipers, Marine Iguanas and fur seals. Farther inland from the coastline lays the arid zone, where little rain falls. The vegetation in this area consists mainly of cactus, thorn trees and mesquite. Land Iguanas, Giant Tortoises and Darwin’s Finches are found in this zone. The islands may also contain forest and grassy pampas zones, which are characterized by low, shrubby plants and a very moist climate.

The balanced ecosystem of the islands can be damaged easily by disturbance or by the introduction of exotic plants and animals. In the Galápagos, humans have introduced more than 150 plants, from roses to balsa trees. Many were grown in gardens, but others were left behind when commercial experiments failed. Likewise, introduced animals have seriously affected native species of plants and animals. The Charles Darwin Foundation inaugurated interest in Galápagos conservation in 1959, and all of the islands were declared a national park. In 1964, the Darwin Research Station on Santa Cruz opened. The islands now are one of the few natural areas on the World Heritage list.

The most famous animal on the islands is the giant tortoise. These were once numerous, but hunting has decimated their population. The tortoises are reported to live for two to three hundred years. Other reptiles include the marine iguana (the only sea going lizard in the world) and the land iguana. Birds are numerous and come in all sorts and sizes. Some of the most famous are the Waved Albatross, Blue-footed Boobies (Yes, they really call those birds "Boobies"... frigate bird, and penguin. Of course, the Galápagos Islands feature several species of sea lion. 

Who doesn't...

The Galápagos archipelago is composed of six dominant islands, twelve smaller islands, and more than forty islets, some only rocky outcropping rising from the sea for a total area of about 3,000 square miles. The eastern islands are the oldest, three million years old, while the western are younger and still active volcanically.

Three plates of the Earth’s crust created the islands: the Pacific, the Nazca, and the Cocos. Numerous islands off the western coast of South America make up the well-known archipelago of the Galápagos Islands. Volcanoes located on the floor of the Pacific Ocean formed the islands. Over many hundreds of years of eruptions and explosions, the volcanoes grew out of the water, forming the many islands.

Each major island, with the exception of Isabela, consists of a single large shield volcano. The oldest rock in the islands is found on the southeastern island of Espanola. It is about 325 million years old. The youngest rocks are found in the western islands of Fernandina and Isabela — these are only around 700 thousand years old.

As a result of the spreading of the sea floor along the Galápagos Rift and the East Pacific Rise, the islands are moving east at more than 2.8 inches per year. Because of this movement, the "hot spot" that created the islands continues to create new islands. The final result is the "trail" of islands that we now call the Galápagos.

Shortly following the establishment of the Galápagos Islands as a national park, the Galápagos National Park Service (GNPS) and the Charles Darwin Research Station (CDRS) were created to develop the management of the islands.

The primary role of the Galápagos National Park Service is to oversee the conservation programs and to manage tourism. It is responsible for protecting the unique ecosystem of the islands as well as to control introduced species.

The Charles Darwin Foundation is an international conservation association based in the United States and is committed to the preservation of the Galápagos Islands. The Foundation (CDF) was established to provide funding for the Charles Darwin Research Station. The Station conducts scientific and conservation research for the Galápagos National Park Service.

The position and description of the Galápagos Islands were first recorded in 1525 by bishop Fray Tomás de Berlanga when his ship was forced off the course by the strong Peruvian Current, also called the Humboldt Current, on his way from Panama to Peru. He sent a report describing his brief stay to King Charles V, but he was too busy colonizing Inca territories to have any interest in the islands. From this report, however, the islands appeared in an atlas under the name of Galpegos (Islands of the Tortoise) in 1574.

In 1546, a few Spanish soldiers wishing to escape Francisco Pizzaro’s tyrannical regime decided to head out to sea, but being inexperienced sailors, they named the islands, Las Islas Encantades, after the fog which loomed up before them, making the islands disappear when they tried to dock. Over the next three centuries, pirates damaged the native animal species when they used the Galápagos as a hideout before attacking Ecuadorian and Peruvian coasts.

The whaling industry, which lasted until the end of the 19th century, caused tremendous decline in the tortoise population of the islands. In 1832, Ecuador officially took possession of the Galápagos by establishing a colony of exiled soldiers on Isla Floreana. Three years later, the most famous visitor, Charles Darwin, visited the islands and recorded a series of fascinating observations on the flora and fauna. These notes would later be used to support his theory of evolution.

The standard explanation for tameness is the short supply of predators over millennia that have made timidity unnecessary. 

Dinning Room Encantada

Back on the Yacht Dinner was served and pretty much everybody fell into their bed right after dinner. It was an exhausting day. The routine of the next days was sightseeing at day and driving to the other islands at night. The nights where tough. The Encantada isn't the biggest boat out there, so we felt every little wave and sometimes we had to hold on not to fall out of bed.

We visited the Islands "Rabida", "Santiago", "Bartolome", "Genovesa" and "Santa Cruz".  No island is like the others. Every island has its own kind of animals and plants. The best part of this visit was the opportunity to see all those animals up close. Marissa especially loved the sealions.

It is difficult to describe the islands and our experience. Sometimes words just fail. The Galapagos is a once in a lifetime thing and w've been just blessed to be able to see this magical place. Pictures say more than a thousand words so please check out our photo section. 

On September 16th we flew back to Quito and the altitude hit us hard. From 0 to 8000 feet above sealevel is not easy to handle. We spent another day in Quito before we took a taxi back to Ibarra and our camper.


Days 233 & 234
September 10th 2010 & September 11th 2010

Quito

The taxi to Quito left at 10 in the morning and it took us about 2 hours to get there. Marie and Pascal got dropped off at their friends house and we checked into our hostel in the new part of Quito.

San Francisco de Quito, most often called Quito is the capital city of Ecuador. It is located in north-central Ecuador in the Guayllabamba river basin, on the eastern slopes of Pichincha, an active stratovolcano in the Andes mountains. With a population of 1,500,000 residents Quito is the second most populous city in Ecuador, after Guayaquil.

The elevation of the city's central square is 2,800 m (about 9,186 ft), making Quito the second-highest administrative capital city in the world (after La Paz, Bolivia), and the highest legal capital (ahead of Sucre, also in Bolivia, and Bogotá, Colombia).

The central square of Quito is located about 25 km (15 miles) south of the equator.Quito, along with Krakow, were the first World Cultural Heritage Sites declared by UNESCO in 1978. According to UNESCO, Quito has the largest, best-preserved, and least-altered historic centre (320 hectares) in Latin America, despite several earthquakes. 

The historic center of Quito is nice and inviting but the rest of the city is just like any other city on this planet.  We expected Quito to be a little more traditional like La Paz in Bolivia or maybe Cuzco in Peru.  The city didn't make it into our personal Top 3 of Latin American Cities. 
While visiting one of the mayor sites in the historic part of the city, the San Franzisco Church and Convent, Marissa had a little accident. She fell on her mouth and cut her upper lip. She bled very bad and - of course - cried very loud. A policemen came up very quickly and escorted us into the convent where we received some help.

San Franzisco Church

We did some shopping as well. We needed a new digital camera. So we went to the biggest mal in town, found a Sony Store and bought a nice DSLR Camera for Galapagos. That was our excuse for the buy anyway ;-) Well, you be the judge. Let us know whether the photos are better than before.


Days 225 - 232
September 2nd 2010 - September 9th 2010

Ibarra and Otavalo

On September 2nd we crossed the border from Colombia to Ecuador. It was our first border crossing in South America and it was so easy compared to the crossings in Central America. We got our exit stamp on the Colombian side of the border and we also dropped our vehicle import permit there. Then we drove to the Ecuadorian side. At the immigration office we received another stamp and the custom office next door filled out the temporary vehicle import permit within a couple of minutes. All very fast an efficient.

When it was all done we drove south towards Ibarra, our first planned stop in Ecuador. The roads here in Ecuador are in very good shape and we were able to move fast. We heard from other travelers about a great place to spend some nights - the nursery of Graham, an Australian, who moved to Ecuador several years ago. It is located on a hillside several hundred meters above the city of Ibarra with a beautiful view of the city and the surrounding mountains. Once we got there were greeted by Marie and Pascal, travelers from Quebec, Canada and later by Graham himself. He told us that we were welcome to stay as long as we want - for free. He likes to have travelers around the world at his place and loves to share their stories.

Every Saturday is market day in Otavalo, about 14 miles south of Ibarra. The indigenous Otavaleños are famous for weaving textiles, usually made of wool which are sold at the famous Saturday market which is one of the biggest and nicest in South America. Nicole loves markets so we had to go and it really wasn’t that bad. We took the bus from Ibarra to Otavalo which cost us $ 0.90. No, not per person. All of us... There are more indigenous people in Ecuador than in Colombia and it is nice to see the locals walking around in their traditional clothes. We found something for everyone. Nicole bought a poncho for herself, Marissa got nice traditional Ecuadorian pants and I finally bought a Panama Hat which is made in Ecuador, not in Panama. They sold the hat in Panama for $ 20. I bought mine for $ 10. Good deal I would say. 

Between them there is a canal, which is called "Canal of dreams". tn the middle there are two small islands, the smaller of which is called Jose Maria Yerovi and the bigger one is Teodoro Wolf, in honor of the German explorer. The islands have a lush vegetation that has grown on volcanic rock. There are more than 400 plant species between the lake shore and the islands’ mountaintops. The predominant varieties are medicinal, utilitarian and decorative plants such as: bulrush, Pampa grass, bromeliads, “puma maqui” (Andean native tree), myrtle, red cedar, moss, ten varieties of orchids and a bamboo called “suro” where the birds make their nests. Wildlife is abundant and the following animal species are found: Guinea pigs (from which the lagoon takes its name), mountain deer, wild rabbits, armadillos, Andean fox, skunks, weasels, and a great variety of birds, among others turtledoves, wood pigeons, humming birds, sparrows, blackbirds, owls, ducks, and occasionally the king of the Andes, the condor, can be seen.

Now it was time to get the Project “Galapagos” going. We knew that we wanted to go but didn’t know where to start. There are some many agencies, selling the Galapagos and it is difficult to find the right boat, the right price and the right time. Marie and Pascal wanted to go, too, so we joined forces and after 2 days of intensive research Pascal was the one who found the best offer. A five day cruise for $ 600 per person (Marissa was free), plus airfare from Quito to Isla Baltra, Galapagos. It was a really small boat but everything else looked good, so we booked it. The only “problem” was that we had to hang out at Graham’s place for a couple of more days before the cruise started. We decided to leave two days earlier and visit Quito. The flights to Galapagos left from Quito Airport, so we had to go anyway. Why not going earlier to see the city. Together with Marie and Pascal, we took a taxi for $ 8 per person - not bad for a 90 mile ride. How far does one go for $ 8 in Manhattan. I don’t even know if you get around the block....