Stumbling around Ecuador

You are being neglected, dear blog readers, not out of disrespect, but out of internet inavailability. I´ve just arrived in Baños after a few lovely days hidden away at a vegetarian permaculture hideaway in a place called Chugchilán. Yes, I know, me and permaculture. And the flushless toilet was quite delightful, but something in the food didn´t agree (the lack of meat, I´m assuming). Which did get me out of a day of hiking that left my travelling comrades somewhat destroyed. Apparently the natural wonders were overcome by the extreme hiking conditions which left some in tears, others merely miserable with exhaustion. Still, I had a nice day reading magazines and looking at the still-impressive view from the cabins. However it was a slight shock for all of us to find the usual travel mix of Brits, Euros and Aussies almostly completely replaced with North Americans. College students, no less. Earplugs were often necessary. It did shatter the tranquility at times. [Disclaimer: this slight malignment of North Americans in no way applies to any that I am actually friends with, so don´t bother with the complaint emails.]

There was also a six hour horse ride which was beautiful, if a little challenging by the end of the fifth hour. I´ll attempt to stick a photo up tomorrow.

I realise that I haven´t described Galapagos in much detail, so I might try to put some thoughts together offline and paste them in tomorrow.

Will spend a few days here in Baños hoping the local volcano doesn´t explode whilst enjoying hot springs and then I head to Guayaquil on Thursday to catch my flight to Cuba on Friday.

Finally some photos

I´m just working out how to include photos on this thing, so following are a few from the Galapagos and hopefully I`ll be able to add some from Argentina in the next few days.

If you click on the photos you can see them in a larger size.

One of many new friends.

We never got tired of these guys, and I developed quite a good imitation of the sounds they make.

Someone to watch over us

Frigate birds would accompany the ship for hours while we were sailing.

Our ship, the Sulidae

We were the scourge of the Galapagos.

Albatrosses, or should that be Albatri?

Definitely one of my favourites - and amazing to watch flying.

The man in charge of our ship

This is Max our captain. Max didn´t say much, but captained well.

Volcano walking

Ambling across a lava flow.

Pinnacle rock

A lovely volcanic vista. Sharks on the left bay, Bitey the sea lion on the right.

Our first landing

Amazing red sand.

I´m back, and this time I´m a lot saltier ...

I´m hopeful that tomorrow I´ll actually be able to post some photos on this thing since it will save on a few thousand words. Suffice to say the Galapagos Islands didn´t disappoint in offering an entertaining assortment of fearless creatures (except the crabs - they were the only shy ones). So much so that Jason´s casual warning to Ed of "don´t step on the albatross" was applicable to many other species. While I was quite smitten by the prehistoric iguanas (both marine and land), the millions of sea lions (more affectionately called lobos locally) won a strong place in my heart, especially Bitey, an adolescent who was supremely entertaining at first (although the teeth were unsettling), became vaguely annoying (especially when he chased away a penguin so attention wasn´t diverted from him) like a child who doesn´t know when their audience has tired of their cuteness.

Our ship was the Sulidae, a 110 year old sailing boat which looked like a pirate ship and came complete with pirate flag. It really was lovely, and I´m sure others on other vessels were jealous. One thing I wasn´t quite expecting was how far apart the islands actually are, and how much time it takes to sail between them. Fortunately a lot of the travelling happened at night, which left the days free for exploring, and the nights for trying not to fall out of bed. No vomiting was experienced within our group or on our boat however, which was to be commended.

Our guide was certainly friendly, if a little unable to ascertain when the group wanted to move on to the next site. We did find ourselves stranded at one point on an island with no food, water or radio when the scuba group didn´t return (their fates took second place to our own survival concerns) but apparently Kate has a good photo of me flagging down another boat (I´d recently watched Open Water, and thus had learned the stupidity of watching any nearby boat casually depart). Apparently the dinghy lost the scuba divers (who spent half an hour floating in the middle of nowhere - so they really were having an Open Water experience) for a while.

The crew were an entertaining bunch, with a great cook (in a tiny kitchen) and a bartender/all-rounder who saw himself as the Arthur Fonzarelli of the group. Tune in again for more info on our travel mates, who were an entertaining assortment of stereotypes from Germany, Switzerland, Austria, UK, USA, Canada, Israel and Italy.

Ecuador

Arrived happily in Ecuador and only suffering a few headaches from the altitude. The old town is quite beautiful in parts and it´s been fun meeting up with Jason, Kate and Ed (fellow Australians) although I feel a little guilty speaking English. We´re off tomorrow to the Galapagos Islands which should be thoroughly pleasant. There´s even an active volcano in the islands at the moment - and so I´m wishing I hadn´t watched that show about Krakatoa back home. Definitely feel the change into backpacker mode from sophisticated and urbane Porteño. But am thankful for the safety in numbers and the fact that we´ve stumbled upon the "mature traveller" backpacker location - The Secret Garden. Ie, no drunk twentysomethings, except for the vague German help.

More in a week when I return.

Final BsAs thoughts

Things I´ll miss:
Pastries galore (yes, I´m as big as a house); lots of energetic crazy people; idealists who still believe there´s more than just capitalism; set menu lunches; lots of cute puppies (although, see below for downside); Graciana, Maria, la familia Miró, Marcelo, Oscar, Elsa y otros.

Things I´ll live without:
Dog poo everywhere; smell of dog poo; not being able to look at buildings due to dog poo precautions; overly complicated procedures for most needs or activities; slow old people blocking sidewalks.

My final triumph last night was winning (well, actually it was a tie) a name-that-tune competition at a pub. Although I did get laughed at for saying the "52" part of B52´s Love Shack in English. Thanks also to Blondie and Londonbeat for helping me win a free beer.

Don´t cry for me ...

Well, it´s time to leave Buenos Aires and all too soon. I do have a small balcony from which I will be performing abovementioned song as my parting gesture, as they have locked me out of the Casa Rosada amidst accusations of heresy, or something similar. Maybe treason. Although I think I´d have to be a citizen for that. What is it called when you walk into a country and mock all that it holds dear? Aside from being "freedom-loving" ...

I feel a little like I am being wrenched away against my will - what is up with free round-the-world tickets where you can´t change your dates? Hmph. Still, with one eye on the last month in Buenos Aires, and the other looking towards new adventure in Ecuador ... well, I´m looking a bit like Kirschner I guess ...

I´ll be boating around the Galapagos from the 17th, so you´ll have to waste time on the internet in other ways for a week or so, but I should be able to fit in an update or two from Quito before then.

More theatre

Went to another play last night called "Open House" although the English title was deceptive. Once again didn´t understand that much, but the acting was great - even I could tell that. It´s quite strange to me here that independent theatre tends to run just one night a week in a space, hence you have up to seven productions in one space at a time. Bit of nightmare for set changes - and they still use full sets for many of the productions. But there are definite advantages - much easier for a show to build an audience over a longer period of time - the show last night was almost full and it was a Monday night. It´s really exciting that there´s so much theatre here and it´s so well patronised, due to a combination of cheap prices, a well-educated public (they still have free tertiary education) and good nighttime transport.

After overhearing some North Americans yesterday I realised that there really aren´t many tourists here, considering it´s such a good combination of dynamic and cheap. I recommend it ...

Woops

As I mentioned earlier, one of the frustrating things here is that many things have often difficult-to-deduce codes of practice, such as milonga behaviour, drink-buying procedure, and gelato purchase at the place across the road (you choose your size, pay the man, take a ticket, move to the other counter, request your flavours, get passed on to another assistant, then request your extra "taster" flavour that goes in a special part of the container, determine whether you need a lid, determine whether you need dry ice on top for transport - no, but it´s fun to have - and take your gelato). Unfortunately the other night I confused my gum wrapper with my bar entry ticket, which was worth one drink. It was only when I went to order a drink and pay for it with my gum wrapper that I realised the drink ticket was wrapped around a piece of chewed gum and lying in a corner somewhere. Que lastima.

Out on the town

Went out to a pretty cool club last night called Palacio, however I´m still having a bit of trouble getting used to starting so late. It´s weird to sit at home watching TV until 2am and then decide to go out. I still can´t quite work out how the locals with jobs do it - they do seem to start work later, but not that much later. The music was a bit disappointing (you know how I like having lyrics to sing along to) but they did drop balloons from the 25 metre ceiling. Apparently popping them is some sort of tradition, although it does sound uncomfortably like a massacre. They also have an all-you-can-drink policy (once you´ve paid the entrance - about $A10) which oddly doesn´t get ugly - in Australia it would be nightmare of collapsed bodies and vomit.

Well, I only have a week to go here in Buenos Aires which is a bit sad - but exciting adventures await in other countries. Some technological hiccups have prevented me posting photos thus far - if they´re not resolved, I´ll just have to have a slide night when I get back (for Australian viewers).

Pedestrian Peril

In attempting to unravel the mysteries of Buenos Aires road rules, I have discovered (fortunately without injury) that the key is realising that "Walk" lights are merely suggestions - that in this moment there is slightly less chance of being run down by a taxi. In reality, I think the signs are more a warning to taxi drivers that there may be pedestrians who need to be weaved around, or else nudged out of the way. It´s a delicate game of daring, whereby checking to see if it is safe to cross is an admission of defeat, and yet in playing chicken, the taxi drivers have a distinct advantage. Of course the task is further complicated by the dog excrement which seems to gather at street corners, perhaps itself defeated in attempting to cross the road.

Tango fever

So last night I went to a milonga (tango hall, also a type of tango apparently) with my landlady Elsie(who goes three times a week). I didn´t attempt dancing, although I could have gone earlier for lessons. It´s not really my style though (unless it can be adapted to Dirrrty) but watching was definitely fun. Not so much for the dancing, which can be a bit impenetrable (especially when there´s lots of people on the dancefloor) but for the social experience and all the rules about choosing partners. The trick about watching it all is not to inadvertently ask someone to dance by looking at them (quite easy to do). I had a lot of fun working out who Elsie was interested in and who she was trying to avoid eye contact with. I did accidentally have eye contact with people a few times but avoided a dance commitment by steadfastly refusing to ever look at them again.

A mystery

I´ve noticed that on seemingly every corner here, one can find a paint store. In fact there are large chains of paint stores that compete with bold signage in primary colours. I assumed that this signified a national obsession with remodeling one´s apartment every season, but have not yet found anyone local who can attest to this behaviour. In fact, those I´ve spoken to seem not to have noticed the preponderance of paint stores. I did notice though, on the way to this web cafe, an edgy young couple running across a busy road and into one of these paint stores. I can only imagine that their autumnal refresh consumed more Malbec Maroon than they had anticipated, and they were halfway across a wall.

Testing the limits of my understanding

Went to see a play last night - small independent theatre that wasn't too overloaded with dialogue, but still it was an effort to understand - although the theatre scene here is great - lots of stuff going on - cool small spaces with little bars and stuff, and really cheap too (even for the locals) - makes the ever increasing prices back home seem ridiculous.