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Peru, Ecuador and The Galapagos, Travel

Our Peru, Ecuador, and the Galapagos Islands Adventure – The Galapagos Islands – Part IV

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Sunday 8th – Not your normal Post Office

We had an early breakfast this morning. We were off to the Post Office to send our post cards home.

Overnight we had crossed from Puerto Ayora to Floreana Island. We anchored off Post Office Bay, the site of the world’s most unusual Post Office.

The Post Office

It is a barrel mounted on a pole. It works like this. You put your postcard or letter into the barrel. The next ship that comes along sorts through the mail in the barrel. If anyone finds something that they can deliver they take it with them. When they get back home they take the letter or postcard along to the address and pop it through the door. We didn’t find anything that we could deliver, but our friends Helen and Tony found a card addressed to some one in the town that they live in, so they took it home with them.

The origins of the system go back to the whaling days of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Outward bound whalers would stop at the island to top up their water supplies and, unfortunatly, grab a few tortoises for fresh meat. They left mail for home in the barrel, where it would, hopefully, be picked up by a homeward bound ship. Once they got home the mail would be delivered. There probably were other barrels scattered around various islands in the Pacific, but to the best of my knowledge this is the only one that survives.

We sent three postcards, to Diane’s kids, they all arrived within a month of us posting them. Unfortunatly none of them managed to talk to the people who delivered them.

After posting the cards we went for a walk around the area. The wild life, as always, was abundant. Although we saw nothing that we hadn’t seen before. Sealions were everywhere, as were Marine Iguanas, I did mange to get photos of a Blue Footed Booby, a Galápagos Yellow Warbler and a Wedge Rumped Storm Petrel.

It was then back to the boat to get ready to go snorkelling. In many ways snorkelling has been the highlight of the the trip. Considering all the other things we have seen, that takes a bit of doing. This morning’s snorkel was no exception. The range of underwater life on show has been amazing. I just wish I had decent videos or photographs to show you.

Snorkelling

After our snorkel, it was back on board for another excellent lunch. The food on board has been excellent. It is very locally based, ingredients wise, and Ecuadorian with an international twist.

Dolphins

Just after lunch, we were met by a school of, I guess two hundred Bottlenose Dolphins. Very Impressive.

In the afternoon Diane and Tony decided that they would like to go kayaking. I decided to snorkel from the beach. This was possibly a mistake. The visibility was not very good and there was not as much in the way of fauna as on the other outings. It was still enjoyable though. Wandering along the beach afterwards I bumped into a Sealion or two (obviously), Sally Lightfoot Crabs, which have amazing colours, and a Lava Lizard.

Sharks

After dinner we were treated to an amazing display of sharks. I think they may have been attracted to our lights. They seemed to be busy hunting flying fish. Or possibly sealions, as there were a few Sealions there as well.

The Galapagos Affair

Floreana Island was also the location of one of the Galapagos Islands strangest stories. In the early 1930’s Floreana was settled by various European settlers looking for utopia. Led initially by Friedrich Ritter and his partner Dore Strauch, the were followed by the Wittmer family. The hoped for paradise never materialised and quickly descended into a struggle for survival. This was not helped by disagreements between the Ritters and the Wittmers. Later, in 1932, an Austrian self-proclaimed “Baroness” Eloise Wehrborn de Wagner-Bosquet arrived, with a pair of lovers in tow. By 1934 four of the seven settlers had either died or vanished in mysterious circumstances. It was the basis for the 2025 film by Ron Howard, “Eden”

A fuller account of the mystery can be found here: The Galapagos Affair

The Wittmer family survived the chaos and run a small hotel on the island.

Monday 9th – A day off

This marked the end of the Western Loop round Isabela, Fernandina, Santa Cruz and Floreana Islands. We headed back to Baltra as some passengers were leaving us and others were joining. The ship also needed resupplying.

Supplies

It also gave us a chance to catch up with laundry and other things. I was going to say blogging, but as you can see I am still quite a way behind.

In the afternoon we did head off to a beach called Las Bachas on Santa Cruz for snorkelling, swimming or just wandering around.

Las Bachas

Then back to the ship for a beer, dinner, more sharks then bed. Tomorrow we were heading North.

Peru, Ecuador and The Galapagos, Travel

Our Peru, Ecuador, and the Galapagos Islands Adventure – The Galapagos Islands – Part III

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Saturday 7th Tortoises and other creatures

Today we woke up anchored in the bay off Puerto Ayora. Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island is the largest town in the Galapagos Islands. It is the M.V Santa Cruz II’s home port. It is also, and more relevant to today’s excursions, home to the Charles Darwin Research Station. This was our first port of call on Santa Cruz.

After landing and negotiating the Sealions and Marine Iguanas littering the wharf (National Park really should have a word with them) we took a gentle walk along to the entrance to the research station.

We saw a lot of birds on the way there. None of which I could identify.

The Charles Darwin Foundation, which the research centre is part of is dedicated to the conservation of the environment of the Galapagos Islands.

” As one of the most renowned planetary treasures, the Galapagos Islands have played an unrivalled role in the history of science. For more than 60 years, the research undertaken at the Charles Darwin Foundation has focused on furthering our understanding of the natural systems, their relationship with those living in the archipelago, and the intricate and delicate balance between climate, mankind, and nature.

Major research efforts have also focused on the prevention, control, and eradication of invasive species to maintain Galapagos as one of the best-conserved archipelagos in the world.”

The man himself.

The most visible research and conservation programme at the centre is concerned with the preservation of, probably, the Galapagos’ most notable animal, The Giant Tortoise.

The Giant Tortoise (Chelonoidis niger), which has or had several subspecies. Some of the subspecies are now extinct, others are critically endangered. In the 18th and 19th centuries the tortoises were hunted for food and oil. Because a tortoise can live for a long time without either food or water, the were seen as a source of fresh meat, by the crews of passing ships. The Floreana Giant Tortoise became extinct in exactly this manner. Other sub-species were badly depleted by this practice. Introduced animals, mainly but not limited to rats, cats and dogs also wreaked havoc on the tortoise population.

This link takes you to a list of all the sub-species of Galapagos Tortoises, showing their current conservation status.

We were shown round the various breeding enclosures where tortoises are reared before the are returned to the wild.

As you can see, giant tortoises are not always giants at least to start with.

Eggs are harvested and the incubated in temperature controlled conditions. This is necessary as the incubation temperature influences the sex of the hatchling. Warmer temperatures produce more females and cooler temperatures more males. With global warming more females than males were being born.

After having looked round the enclosures we went to meet “Lonesome George”. His stuffed remains to me more exact.

Lonesome George (Spanish: Solitario George or Jorge, c. 1910 June 24, 2012) was a male Pinta Island tortoise (Chelonoidis niger abingdonii) and the last known individual of the subspecies. In his last years, he was known as the rarest creature in the world. George serves as an important symbol for conservation efforts in the Galápagos Islands and throughout the world.

After having had a look around the museum attached to the centre, it was time to go and meet the Giant Tortoises in the wild.

But first we had to get there. We had two options, be lazy and get the coach, or cycle there. Diane, because of her knee took the coach. I decided to cycle. This was possibly a mistake, because it started to rain as soon as we got on the bikes.

Cycling through the rain

Also the bike was probably the worst bike I had ridden in years. It also did not have electric assist. I have probably become too used to my e-bike over the past few years.

Wet but unbowed, the gallant cyclists at our destination.

We visited a sugar cane plantation for lunch. Before lunch they showed us their production process, or to be more exact, the way they used to produce sugar.

Crushing the cane
Fermentation
Distillation

They also produce a type of rum, my feeling is that the process is slightly more sophisticated than that shown above. The end product is still a bit rough though. I bought a bottle for my friend Toby.

After seeing and sampling their various products, as well as sugar and alcohol, they also grow coffee and cocoa, we had a rather good lunch.

The sugar cane plantation is on one of the migration routes of the Giant Tortoises. So after lunch we got to see them in the wild. Actually, we had seen quite a few on the way into the plantation. If they are on the road they have right of way.

An intrepid wildlife photographer

It is quite surprising exactly how large they are. The biggest of them are around a metre, maybe a bit more, in length. They like to bask in ponds in order to cool off.

After our tortoise encounter we went back to Puerto Ayora to catch the Panga back to the ship. We stayed behind for an hour or so, to do some souvenir shopping and have a beer, which came with fresh plantain chips on the side.

As we sat on the pier waiting for the Panga we were fascinated by the marine life that we saw. There were Sealions and Marine Iguanas of course. In the water there were sharks, rays and turtles. On the rocks there were herons and crabs.

After that it was back to the ship for a briefing on the next days activities, then dinner and bed.

Peru, Ecuador and The Galapagos, Travel

Our Peru, Ecuador, and the Galapagos Islands Adventure – The Galapagos Islands – Part II

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Friday 6th Isabela and Fernandina Islands

Overnight we sailed from Santa Cruz round the north of Isabela and by breakfast time we were anchored off Punta Vincente Roca.

After breakfast the first item on the days agenda was getting kitted out for snorkelling. HX supply all the equipment required, including short wetsuits. It didn’t take too long to find a wetsuit that I could fit into. As well as the other kit, fins, a mask and snorkel and a buoyancy vest. The latter was fairly important for me initially. I wanted to snorkel, but I hadn’t done it for about forty years. I had never snorkelled in deep water before. I was understandably slightly apprehensive. The buoyancy vest reassured me.

It may seem surprising that a wetsuit is needed to snorkel on the equator (Punta Vincente Roca is actually on the equator). The water in the Galapagos can be surprisingly cold. The Humboldt (a.k.a. Peru) current brings water all the way up from Antarctica, and while it does get warmer on its trip north it is still only 18-19 °C by the time it gets to the Galapagos. Spend twenty minutes in that and you will begin to feel cold.

Isabela Island – Punta Vincente Roca

It was slightly overcast when we set off in the Panga. We went initially on a tour around the base of the cliffs of Punta Vincente Roca. Our naturalist guide Alex explained the geology of the islands. The Galapagos Islands are volcanic and very young geologically. Isabella, the island we were visiting is less than a million years old. It still has active volcanoes. The most recent eruption was in 2018.

Ready

The cliffs are home to many birds, including flightless cormorants and blue footed boobies. They are also home to Sealions and Galapagos Fur Seals. The Galapagos Fur Seal is actually a sealion just to confuse you.

Flightless Cormorant
Fur “Seal”

Having had our geology lesson and a close look at the wild life, it was time to discover the underwater fauna. We were already suited up, so all we had to do was slip our masks and fins on. We had a short briefing on what to do in the water. Basically it was instructions about how to signal back to the Panga and other snorkelers if we were in trouble. Also how to indicate that we were OK. In addition we were told that sealions are quite curious and not to worry if they decided to investigate what we were doing.

We had bought an underwater video camera before we left home. What I should have done was learn how to use it. There are a couple of quarter decent clips, which I might include in later posts, but most of the footage is, unfortunatly, rubbish.

However, even though, I have no photographic evidence, the experience was amazing. Within a minute of entering the water I had a couple of sealions come close enough to me to touch. Parrot fish and Yellow Tailed Surgeon Fish were everywhere. There were also several Green Sea Turtles swimming around, completely ignoring us.

Underwater at Punta Vincente Roca

This video was shot by the professional photographer/videographer that we had on board. It is not my handy work (unfortunatly).

After our underwater excursion, it was back to the ship for lunch. and recover for our afternoon hike on Fernandina Island.

Fernandina Island

Fernandina Island is the youngest island in the Galapagos group. It is also the furthest west. It is less than half a million years old, geologically speaking, hardly even a toddler. It is still an active volcano. Its most recent eruption was in March 2024.

Geological interlude
The Formation of the Galapagos Islands

The Galapagos Islands are a group of volcanic islands situated in the eastern Pacific Ocean. They lie approximately 600 miles west of the coast of mainland Ecuador.

Geological Origins

The archipelago was created as a result of volcanic activity. This process began when the Nazca tectonic plate moved eastwards across a stationary hotspot—an area where magma from deep within the Earth rises up towards the surface.

Island Formation Process

Each volcanic eruption over this hotspot gradually deposited layers of lava. Over time, these successive eruptions built up the land, eventually forming the islands that exist today.

Variation in Island Age

The Galápagos Islands display a range of ages resulting from the movement of the Nazca Plate. This geological activity has given rise to a distinct pattern: eastern islands such as Española and San Cristóbal are the oldest in the archipelago. These islands have ceased volcanic activity and are now geologically stable.

In contrast, the western islands, including Isabela and Fernandina, are comparatively young. These islands continue to experience frequent volcanic eruptions, indicating ongoing geological processes.

Isabela Island Formation

Isabela Island stands out as the largest landmass within the Galápagos archipelago. Its size is the result of the merging of six separate volcanoes. This unique formation has contributed to its prominence among the islands.

Physical Features

The majority of the islands possess a conical shape typical of volcanic origins. These formations are characterised by steep slopes and elevated peaks, with some summits rising more than 5,000 feet above sea level.

Back to the adventure

We had a dry landing on Fernandina, which was good as I could wear my walking shoes. The lava floes would have been a bit rough with any other footwear.

Arriving the first job was to pick our way through the Sealion bodies arrayed along the shore and in the scrubland behind the beach.

Sealion
Another Sealion
More Sealions
Sealion playing dead

As well as sealions everywhere there were also Marine Iguanas everywhere as well. (And a few lava lizards)

The scenery in the Galapagos Islands is generally quite rugged and barren. This is not surprising given the recent origin of the islands. The wild life however is very varied. In general the animals act as if you don’t exist. which is great. In general you can get close enough to them to take most of your photos with your phone.

Arriving back on board, we had time for a shower and a change of clothes before pre-dinner drinks on the after deck. The sunset was spectacular. This meant that we were able to take lots of romantic looking photos.

Me and Di
Helen & Tony
Helen and Di

Dinner was good, then it was time for bed, as another busy day was scheduled for tomorrow.

Peru, Ecuador and The Galapagos, Travel

Our Peru, Ecuador, and the Galapagos Islands Adventure – The Galapagos Islands

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Thursday 5th – Arrival

We were finally off for the main bit of the adventure. Our voyage round the Galapagos Islands.

As we had been living out of partially unpacked suitcases for a week. One thing I was definitely looking forward to, was being able to unpack properly, and not having to repack for eight days.

This morning, we hoped, would be the last early start for a while. We weren’t completely wrong.

On our way

So it was up early,again, a slightly rushed breakfast, then onto the coach to the airport.

The flight had a brief stop in Guayaquil, to refuel and pick up a few extra passengers. We were finally off to the Galapagos Islands.

They take bio-security very seriously in the Galapagos. As well as having to make various declarations that you do not have any nasties with you, you bag is searched and sealed. You are not allowed to break the seal until you get on board the ship. Arrival is a bit like arriving in New Zealand. The plane is sprayed before the doors are opened to kill any stray bugs. You have to, again, certify that you do not have any inappropriate food stuffs and the like. One step beyond NZ is that your bags are X-rayed after you arrive. The process was all pretty seamless.

The transfer from the airport on Baltra to the ship was equally seamless. Our baggage was collected at the airport and the next time we saw it is was in our cabin. There were buses to take us from the terminal to the dock where we were taken by Panga (the local name of what we would call a RIB or Zodiac) to the ship.

Intrepid adventurers on their way to an adventure
Frigate Bird

On arrival, we were greeted with a cold drink, then shown to our cabins. Afterwards we had a welcome briefing, boat drill and lunch. We were given just about enough time to unpack, before being whisked off on our first hike.

The Western Route

HX (the company we were traveling with) has three routes that the MV Santa Cruz II takes around the Galapagos Islands. Initially we would be following The Western Route, visiting Santa Cruz Island, Isabela Island, and Fernandina Island. We then came back to Santa Cruz Island before visiting Floreana Island, and finally coming back to Baltra Island, where some passengers left the ship and others joined.

While we were having our briefing, boat drill and lunch the ship was cruising along the north coast of Santa Cruz. We anchored of Dragon Hill, where we went ashore for a hike. My guess is that Dragon Hill (Cero Dragon in Spanish) gets it’s name from the dragons that live there.

The “dragons” are iguanas. There are two types, Marine Iguanas and Land Iguanas.

Land Dragon
Sea Dragon

We were divided up into groups of ten or twelve for our hikes and other excursions. Our group was The Gulls. Each group had a very knowledgeable local naturalist to guide us. They also made sure that we kept to the designated paths, to avoid disturbing the wildlife. The landing at Dragon Hill was a wet landing, meaning, the Panga runs up onto the beach where you jump out into the shallow water and wade ashore.

The first part of our walk took us past a brackish lagoon inhabited by flamingos, black necked stilts and a couple of lava gulls.

Pelican
Blue Footed Booby
Beach
Lava Gull

The Lava gull, also known as the Dusky Gull, is the world’s rarest gull. It is only found in the Galapagos islands.

Diane (and Diane) after a wet landing.

After an interesting hike during which we saw Land Iguanas, Marine Iguanas, Flamingos, Black Necked Stilts, Lava Gulls, Blue-footed Boobies and Pelicans, plus a few other birds that I didn’t identify, it was back to the ship for a shower and a change of clothes.

Before dinner we were given a briefing about what to expect tomorrow. That was followed by Captain’s welcome cocktails, or in my case a beer, and an introduction to our crew. Dinner was excellent. Then it was time for a small whisky as a nightcap and then bed.

While we were asleep the ship sailed to our next destination.

Peru, Ecuador and The Galapagos, Travel

Our Peru, Ecuador, and Galapagos Islands Adventure – Quito

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Tuesday 3rd Cuzco to Quito

Another early start, though not as early as yesterday. It was a civilized five thirty a.m. wake up call this morning. We actually had time to sit down and eat breakfast before heading for the bus to the airport.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, our hotel, in Cuzco, the Palacio del Inka, was a remarkable hotel. It offered excellent food, luxurious rooms, and brilliant staff. It had everything you could want in a hotel. There was also a lot of history associated with the building. We didn’t get time to appreciate it. Because of the schedule we were on, we might as well have stayed in a Travel Lodge.

This is my only criticism of the holiday. I would have liked this phase to have been slowed down a bit. An extra day in Cuzco would have been good. Our son did a tour of South America a few years back and said that he really loved Cuzco.

On with the journey.

To get to Quito from Cuzco we had to fly via Lima. The first flight left Cuzco about nine and arrived in Lima about an hour and a half later. We had about an other hour and a half to wait for our flight to Quito. That flight took about two and a half hours. By the time we had cleared immigration and customs, and got the bus to our hotel it was six p.m. when we arrived. There was not much to report about today. The quinoa bars that Latam Airlines serve as an in-flight snack are OK. Still, I would have preferred a packet of crisps.

Our hotel was another Marriott hotel. All the hotels we stayed in were Marriott hotels. The JW Marriott Hotel to be exact. It was a modern glass and concrete building, but reasonably attractive. The rooms were comfortable and the food was good

A pair of very curious travelers.

Wednesday 4th – Chocolate, policemen and The Centre of the World.

We had a moderately sane start to today, our tour left at 9:30. Waking up at 7:30 gave us enough time to actually sit down and enjoy breakfast.

Chocolate

Ecuadorian chocolate is probably the best in the world. A visit to an artisan chocolatier was the first stop on our tour of Quito and its surrounding area.

Indemini Baez has been going for about twenty years and is the product of an Ecuadorian-Swiss couple Bertrand Indemini and Cristina Baez. The chocolate pedigree is there. We were given a short history of the origins of chocolate. We were then introduced to how they make their chocolate. Their beans are carefully sourced. All their beans are fairly traded, and they keep track even down to community and plantation level where each batch is sourced.

We were given a demonstration of how the chocolate is made. Samples of their various products were tried. Most of their chocolate is in the 55% to 100% cocoa solids range. ( The 100% stuff is an acquired taste.) They also make an interesting white chocolate, based on cocoa butter and barley.

They also add things such as chilli, black walnuts and Inca peanuts to their bars.

Obviously there was an opportunity to buy some of the chocolate. Which we did, with the intention of taking it home as presents. Some of it even made it back to the UK. It is very good chocolate.

Policemen (and Jesuits)

Following our chocolate experience, we went for a walking tour of central Quito. We walked to the Plaza Grande, home to the Presidential Palace, various other government buildings and more police than you could shake a stick at. They all were very friendly, almost cuddly. (Unlike some of the police we met later when we were stranded in Guayaquil, more of that in a later post). I think they were meant to be a reassuring presence, which they were. But there were a lot of them.

Friendly Cop
Probably Friendly Cops
Presidential Palace

Moving on from the Plaza Grande we visited the Iglesia de la Compañía de Jesús (the Jesuit Church). It is, to my taste, a bit over the top. They have slightly over done the gilding, overdone it to the extent, that if the church was melted down, it would probably solve Ecuador’s national debt. Check out the gallery to see what I mean.

By this time it was more or less time for lunch. We were whisked off to the El Cráter Hotel, which as the name suggests is on the edge of a volcanic crater (no longer active). The Cráter Pululahua to be precise. The views from the terrace were impressive.

Moderately interesting, useless fact; the city of Quito is built over the craters of seven inactive volcanoes.

The lunch was also good.

The Centre of The World

After a short llama encounter we travelled on to Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World). Ecuador, as it’s name indicates is bisected by the Equator. Quito is very slightly to the south of the line. It was fun to stand with one foot in the northern hemisphere and one in the southern. Giving Diane a kiss across the hemispheres also had to be done.

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Other than taking a few photos there wasn’t that much else to be done there. There were a few shops and places to get a coffee. There was a reasonably interesting display of the history of Ecuador inside the tower, but other than that nothing to keep you on site for longer than an hour.

It was then back to the hotel for what we thought would be our last night on mainland South America.

There was a bit of time to kill before dinner. As the hotel had a pool I decided to have a swim. I had sort of forgotten about the altitude (2850 metres). Being about five hundred meters lower than Cuzco, and because I was becoming acclimatised to the it, I was no longer getting out breath just walking. Swimming was different. I found that I could only manage about ten meters before having to stop for a rest. It was nice to have a swim though.

Then it was dinner and bed, before another early start as we headed off to the Galapagos Islands and the reason we had spent the amount of money we did.

Peru, Ecuador and The Galapagos, Travel

Our Peru Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands Adventure – Machu Picchu

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Monday 2nd

Today was a day that held the possibility of being disappointing. Machu Picchu is a place that is on everyone’s bucket list, and possibly the most Instagramed place on earth. What if it didn’t live up to the hype and expectations?

The day started early, very early, a wake up call at four a.m. early. Our wonderful hotel had breakfast waiting for us, with the option of a take-away. It was difficult to drink enough coffee to wake me up properly. I filled the largest cup available to take with me.

We had to be in a place called Ollantaytambo to catch the train to Machu Picchu. The bus journey there was uneventful, I dozed most of the way. Well apart from when we hit random speed humps placed in unexpected places. We travelled down the Sacred Valley, also called the Urumbamba Valley, as it follows the course of the Urumbamba river.

We arrived in Ollantaytambo in time to catch the 08:00 train to Aguas Calientes.

The train journey takes about an hour and a half. We travelled along the banks of the fast flowing Urumbamba River, through spectacular Andean scenery. On the way we were entertained by a shaman who gave us some of the history of the place. There was also quite a lot about the spiritual and practical uses of coca leaves. I didn’t quite follow all that he told us about the spiritual significance. Still, the practical uses are helping relieve altitude sickness and keeping you awake. There were coca teabags in our hotel room for that purpose. (For relieving altitude sickness, rather than keeping you awake). They are also the raw material for the manufacture of cocaine, but he didn’t dwell on that.

Our Shaman
Coca leaves
Urumbamba River
Urumbamba River

After we arrived in Aguas Calientes, we took a short walk from the station. We then caught a bus to Machu Picchu itself. It is a very long and winding road up to the ruins. Spectacular, but it can also feel slightly scary. Especially if you are not keen on looking down vertical drops of a few hundred meters. After about twenty five minutes we arrived safely at the ruins. But it was the easier way. Well compared the the route our daughter, and also a couple of our friends, took to get there. They walked the Inca Trail. I would point out that they were a lot younger than we are now.

The number of visitors to the site is carefully controlled. Likewise, the parts of the site we were allowed to visit were regulated. There are three designated routes. I went on route two, which has a fair amount of climbing. Diane was still having some trouble with her knee. She chose the low level route three. She also had her own personal guide.

My one piece of advice to anyone planning to visit Machu Picchu is make sure you have decent footwear. You need at least a good pair of training shoes. This is not a place for flip flops.

Now that I had arrived, what did I think of Machu Picchu?

I was not disappointed. It is as spectacular as the publicity suggests, possibly more so. The choice of my photos below only hint at how spectacular the site is.

Our guide was very knowledgeable and entertaining, but I did not absorb everything he told us. This Wikipedia Machu Picchu page link offers a more detailed account of the site than I could manage. It is also more accurate than I would have produced.

One thing I do remember though . The tree pictured in one of the slides above is there because someone put their walking stick in the ground. Then forgot about it. It took root and grew into the tree that is there now.

It took about two hours to walk around the site. I don’t know that we saw everything, but we saw enough.

The trip back down to Aguas Calientes was slightly less scary than the trip up. This was possibly because I knew what to expect with the views of the drop offs. After we arrived back in the town we had a short walk to a restaurant for lunch. It was fine if nothing memorable.

After lunch we had about an hour or so to kill before we caught the train back to Ollantaytambo. So naturally we spent it looking for toy llamas for our grand-kids. Diane also liked the look of some of the silver bangles that were for sale. So she bought some.

The trip back to Ollantaytambo, was similar to the trip out. We had entertainment on the way back as well. This time, we had a theatre group. They presented the tale of two star-crossed lovers from the pre-Columbian times. It was entertaining.

It’s also worth noting that the train had an observation car. This car, with its glass roof, gave an amazing view of the valley.

We arrived back in Ollantaytambo after about ninety minutes. It was beginning to get dark. We found our way back to the bus to take us back to Cuzco. Two hours later we were back at our hotel.

We had dinner and then straight to bed. Ready for another early start the next day,

It was a very long day. It was worth it though. Machu Picchu was every thing that I hoped it would be. It was visually spectacular. It was historically and architecturally interesting. Possibly arriving at dawn, having walked the Inca Trail, might have made the experience even more memorable. Even so I will remember the day for the rest of my life. A genuine bucket list experience.

Please note that the feature image is AI enhanced.

Peru, Ecuador and The Galapagos, Travel

Our Peru, Ecuador and Galapagos Adventure – Cuzco and Sacsayhuamán

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Sunday 1st

Welcome to the, “If it’s Sunday it must be Cuzco” phase of the holiday.

We had breakfast early, to allow enough time to get to the airport for our flight to Cuzco. Lima’s traffic is diabolical.

There were a few problems with Diane’s wheelchair assistance at the airport. But they were overcome. We arrived in Cuzco without any further problems.

The only problem we encountered was due to the altitude. Cuzco is situated at 3,399 meters (11,152 feet) above sea level. This can lead to altitude sickness, especially if you arrive straight from sea level, as we did. Diane and I only suffered from shortage of breath, due to the lack of oxygen. Some of our party were quite ill.

Our hotel, the Palacio del Inca, was spectacular. It is housed in a five hundred year old colonial mansion.

It has a large number of original paintings from that period.

We arrived late morning and after a quick lunch we were whisked off to explore.

First we called at Museo de Sitio Qorikancha. Which was more or less next door to the hotel. The museum is situated in the former Church of Santa Domingo. This church was built on an Inca Temple called Qorikancha which was a temple of the sun. The small museum gave a picture of what life was like in the temple, before the arrival of the Conquistadors. The ancient city of Cuzco was the capital of the Inca empire.

Our time in the museum was short but interesting. The artifacts on display were not that much different from those we had seen at the Larca museum in Lima. What was interesting was the way that the temple had been constructed to withstand earthquakes.

If you look closely you can see that there was no mortar used in the construction. This allows the blocks to move freely, during an earthquake. You can also probably see that the openings are trapezoid shaped, rather than rectangular. This gives extra strength compared to a normal rectangular shaped opening.

After about thirty minutes we were whisked off to our next stop. The fortress temple of Sacsayhuamán. On the way there we stopped for a view over the city.

Diane made a new friend.
Cuzco

Sacsayhuamán is an incredible place. It was probably built in the 15th century during the reign of Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui. The blocks of stone that it is built from are huge. It is difficult to conceive how they were moved and put into position. The Inca did not have slaves as we understand the concept today. But there was a system of conscripted labour. There were around twenty thousand labourers working on the site at any one time.

Archaeology carried out on the site indicates that may have been occupied from around 900 CE. Some theories suggest that the site was first built upon during the Killke period (900 to 1200 CE). This period preceded the Inca.

The site is still used today. Peruvians continue to celebrate Inti Raymi, the annual Inca festival of the winter solstice and new year. It is held near Sacsayhuamán on 24 June. Another important festival is Warachikuy, held there annually on the third Sunday of September.

The photos give an indication of the size of the blocks that were used. The site is not as spectacular as it would have been when the Spanish first arrived. Just as every farm within fifteen miles of Hadrian’s Wall is built with stones from the wall. Similarly, almost all the older buildings in Cuzco were constructed using stones from Sacsayhuamán. Fortunately it now a UNESCO world Heritage site.

From there we moved on to an alpaca and llama farm. where we got to meet and feed, but not lick, some llamas and alpacas. We also got to see some of the amazing woven wall hangings that they did. The designs are based on Inca designs. They were wonderful, but unfortunately out of our price range. There was also some very attractive knitwear, fashioned from alpaca wool.

By the time we got back to Cuzco it was getting dark. We were dropped off in the main square which was near our hotel. It was an attractive space, but again we didn’t have a lot of time to explore.

We needed to be back to the hotel for dinner. The next day was going to be a very early start.

Note: the featured image is AI generated

Peru, Ecuador and The Galapagos, Travel

Our Peru, Ecuador and Galapagos Adventure

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We have been off on our travels again. This time to South America.

Diane and her friend Helen like the occasional exotic holiday. They have been to Costa Rica and Namibia in the past. About this time last year they started plotting planning again. The Galapagos Islands were suggested. Various options were explored, but they eventually settled on this trip with HX Expeditions. This time, however, they generously allowed me and Helen’s partner Tony to tag along.

For my part, I left the planning to Diane. I did have a problem finding suitable clothing for a tropical expedition, in January, in Kingston. If I had been going skiing, or ice climbing, no problem, but lightweight quick drying clothes, not so easy. I eventually found some trousers, but couldn’t find the type of shirts that I wanted.

We were told that the ship would supply all the snorkeling gear we needed. So I didn’t need to worry about that. They do supply all the required gear. I decided to get a couple of SPF50 rash vests from Decathlon. You don’t normally need to worry about getting sunburn swimming at the Malden Centre.

Friday 30th January: Getting There

Our car turned up at 03:15 to take us to Heathrow. There are no direct flights from London to Lima, so we flew with Air France via Paris.

Diane unfortunately managed to damage her knee during our Pilates class the Sunday before. It had improved, she was still having trouble walking, so we asked for assistance at the airport. Having assistance made getting through security easier. But it also meant some hanging around waiting for a person with a wheelchair to show up.

All aboard the love train

The flights were fine, if long, at twelve hours. Diane decided to upgrade us to business class, which was worth it.

We landed in Lima (Peru) about 17:00 local time. We retrieved our bags and then fought our way through Lima’s traffic. It was about 20:30 when we arrived at our hotel, the AC Hotel Miraflores. We ordered a sandwich and a beer from room service, then went to bed.

Saturday 31st January: Exploring Lima

This would be the last morning for a while that we would have breakfast at a semi-sensible time. After breakfast, we met at about 09:30 for a walking tour of Lima. The hotel is situated a fair way from the centre of the Lima, so a bus was laid on to take us to the centre

We commenced our tour in the Plaza José de San Martin. It is named after the liberator of Peru, General José de San Martin, who proclaimed Peru’s independence in 1841. It is an attractive square, but had rather a lot of police hanging around. Not sure what for. Our guide did mention that the plaza was often the focus point for demonstrations and protests. I don’t know if they were expecting one later in the day.

We walked along Jiron de La Union, the main street. We passed the impressive Basilica de La Merced on the way. We didn’t go in, we didn’t have time.

c19th drawing of the facade

I hadn’t realised it initially, but we had started on an American in Europe style tour of Peru and Ecuador.

We carried on down Jiron de La Union until we reached the Plaza Mayor (Main Square). It has the Presidential Palace on one side. The Town Hall takes up the second side. On the third side, we have the Archbishop’s palace and the Basilica Cathedral de Lima. The fourth side is shops and restaurants.

Archbishop’s Palace
Presidential Palace
Town Hall
Inside the Cathedral
Wedding
Impressive Nativity Scene

We had a look round the Cathedral. It looks very much like any other Catholic cathedral. However, because Lima suffers frequent earthquakes, the cathedral has been destroyed several times. It is now largely constructed from wood and adobe bricks. The Cathedral also holds the bones of Francisco Pizarro, the Conquistador. (The bones on show are replicas)

We left the cathedral, and the wedding that was in progress. We gave our regards to President Balcázar then headed back to the bus. Our next stop was the Museo Larco. On the way there, we passed a pre-Inca pyramid.

The Museo Larco is an impressive collection of pre-Colombian art. Their website tells how the collection came about, and explains the museum’s purpose today. The museum is situated in a private house and is privately owned. On display are pre-Colombian textiles, pottery and metal work. It was all impressive, but as with the conquistadors, it was the gold that caught the eye.

Part of the museum houses a collection of Inca and pre-Inca erotic art. The collection is mainly pottery and were quite graphic in some cases. This being a family friendly blog, I have not included any photographs. For those of you interested, this link takes you to the Erotic Gallery website.

We had lunch at the restaurant attached to the museum, which I would recommend. After lunch, we headed back to the hotel. Diane decided to have a nap. I couldn’t sleep, so I went for a wander. I found a statue of Peru’s most famous character.

We thought about going out for dinner, but I didn’t see anywhere that caught my eye on my wander. We were going to start early the next day. So, we decided to have dinner at the hotel. Then we went to bed.

Art, Travel

Singapore Travel: Last Day Highlights and Art Exhibitions

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Day 38/9 Dec 3rd/4th

Our adventures, which started back in October, were drawing to a close. Our last day had dawned.

After our day of decadence yesterday, today was always going to be more prosaic. So it was breakfast, then packing our cases for the last time. In the meantime, we had to figure out what to do after checking out at eleven. We had nine hours to fill before we would be picked up for our flight at eight p.m.

We decided on a visit to the National Gallery of Singapore . We left our luggage with the concierge. We decided to walk to the gallery. It was about a ten minute walk from the hotel. The walk took us down Bridge Street, across the river and past the Parliament Building.

Not an alien spaceship, but the new Supreme Court Building

The gallery is situated in what used to be the City Hall building and the old Supreme Court building. It is a confusing building to navigate. The two earlier buildings are separate but joined, making it difficult, for me at least, to know where I was.

‘We visited one of the exhibitions named “Glisten”. It was located in the Roof Garden created by Aotearoa/New Zealand artist Lisa Reihana. A link to where we come from.

After that we decided to have lunch. There are a variety of restaurants and cuisines to chose from. They range from a three Michelin Star French Restaurant, through Cantonese to Japanese to Catalan. We settled on the Courtyard Café which does, in its own words “Straits Asian food”. It was good, even if I had to peel my own prawns.

I thought the prawns would be peeled

After lunch we went round four exhibitions. The first of which was an exhibition of the award winners in a South East Asian Art competition. It was interesting if varied in quality and style.

After that we saw, what was my favourite of the exhibitions, “Becoming Lim Tze Peng”. Lim Tze Peng is a one hundred and three year old Singapore born artist. The exhibition traces his development and his route to becoming a national treasure. He is viewed in Singapore in a similar way to David Hockney in the United Kingdom.

The other exhibition that I liked was “Kim Lim: The Space Between. A Retrospective”

Kim Lim was a sculptor. Although she was born and educated in Singapore, she mainly worked in London.

She once said that her practice was informed “not so much [by] volume, mass and weight, but with form, space, rhythm and light”.

This is lazy on my part. But, I feel that the video above gives a better overview of an artist than I can. I knew nothing of her or her work before seeing the exhibition. I liked what I saw.

By this time, it was around 5:30. We were “arted” out. It had also started to rain. This was rain as I remembered it from my time in the Solomon Islands. Like a giant bucket of water being poured out. We decided to get a taxi back to the hotel. We would have drowned in the ten minute walk back. We already knew that taxi fares went up at peak times. Rain makes getting a cab more difficult and also, apparently, even more expensive.

Back at the Park Royal Pickering, we had a final dinner. Our faithful driver arrived at 8:00. He had been the same one for all our official excursions. He whisked us off to the airport and our flight home.

Our flight was delayed slightly but took off about one in the morning. Fourteen hours later we were back where we started thirty nine days earlier.

We had pre-booked a car. It took us back home to a cold and dreary New Malden by nine a.m. Duster was there to meet us, and I think he was pleased to see us.

Our adventure sadly was over.

Travel

A Day in Singapore: Marina Bay and Raffles Hotel

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Day 37 Dec 2nd

Our adventure was drawing to a close, but we still had two days left in Singapore before we flew home. We wanted to make the most of it. We had afternoon tea booked at Raffles at 3:30, but that was the only thing that we had planned.

Monday morning, we were up bright and fairly early. The plan was to visit Marina Bay Gardens, then take it from there.

After breakfast, we decided to get a taxi to the gardens. Two reasons, it was about a forty-five minute walk, and it was hot and humid. Taxis are fairly cheap in Singapore, off-peak. They get much more expensive at peak times.

The gardens are a mix of gardens with a sculpture park thrown in for free.

The artificial trees are impressive, even more so at night when they are lit up. Unfortunately I don’t have a photo to prove it. The gardens are worth a visit.

After the gardens we decided to visit the Art Science Museum. It is situated in an attractive flower shaped building.

It is part of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel / Shopping Mall complex. Like a lot of Singapore it is even more spectacular when lit up at night.

There were several exhibitions on in the museum. The one we went to see was called Future World

There were eight installations, more information is available if you click on the link above. They were all interactive but I particularly liked the first one.

Standing under the waterfall

The Sketch Aquarium was a lot of fun. You drew sea creatures and coloured them in. Then they were digitally scanned and they swam around the walls of the “aquarium”.

Diane’s green Jelly fish floating around. My shark is in there somewhere as well.

After all that excitement it was time to head back to the hotel. We needed to get changed for afternoon tea at the world famous Raffles Hotel. We couldn’t afford to stay there, but afternoon tea was an affordable luxury.

We decided we needed to dress up. I thought about wearing the suit I wore at Rob and Georgia’s wedding, but it was too crumpled. so I settled for a shirt and trousers. Diane chose her least crumpled frock.

The afternoon tea was great. A touch of colonial decadence.

After we had eaten most of our tea, there were too many cakes, we headed for the Long Bar. The Long Bar is the home of the legendary Singapore Sling

Long Bar and the Singapore Sling

In colonial Singapore of the early 1900s, when improved rail and road systems were bringing rubber and palm oil plantation owners to Singapore from Malaya every weekend, Long Bar was located at Cad’s Alley. Not a formal bar, but rather tables placed next to each other facing Bras Basah Road, it was known as ‘the rendezvous of planters’, a good vantage point for watching the world go by.

It was common to see gentlemen nursing glasses of gin or whisky, but etiquette dictated that the ladies could not consume alcohol in public. For the sake of modesty, they were served with teas and fruit juices. In 1915, resourceful Raffles bartender Ngiam Tong Boon decided to create a cocktail that looked like plain fruit juice but was actually infused with gin and liqueurs. Based on gin, it also contains pineapple juice, lime juice, curaçao and Bénédictine, while grenadine and cherry liqueur give it its rosy pink hue. This deliberately feminine touch, together with the use of clear alcohol, led people to believe the cocktail was socially acceptable for women. With that, the Singapore Sling was born and, needless to say, it became an instant hit.

Taken from the Raffles Hotel website

Diane’s cousin, who died last year, spent three or four years in Singapore when she worked for the Foreign Office. She was particularly fond of a Singapore Sling, and apparently often drank in the Long Bar. So we had to have one to remember her.

The peanuts are complimentary. You are supposed to brush the shells onto the floor. The Sling is very fruity, slightly too sweet for my tastes, and also very expensive at about £20 per drink. We only had one.

While we were waiting for our taxi back to our hotel, Diane made a friend.

Raffles Hotel Doorman

It was then that we discovered that taxis at peak time are more expensive than off peak.

We got back to the hotel sat down, and went to sleep. When we woke up we decided that we couldn’t be bothered to go out to eat. We weren’t that hungry anyway. So we changed into our pyjamas and called room service.

A really good light meal to finish off a decadent day.