Ecuador Adventure #5, Quito

This is the last dispatch on Pinky’s and my amorous adventure in Ecuador. I’ve tried to be brief in my descriptions, but the experiences have been so overwhelming that brevity has been a challenge. So, those of you who have been able to sort through all of these, I hope you have had some modicum of enjoyment from following us. On Thu, I left Pinky and went on morning and afternoon “advanced deep-water snorkels.“ I was led to a cove in Pta. Espinoza, Fernandina Is, where I observed countless large marine tortoises swimming around, along with a variety of fish, and I almost swam into buy a large sea lion (or it into me.) The water was cold, so we all wore wet suits, something I had never done before. (Never too old to try something for the first time.) I tried out my GoPro and am ho
peful the results are acceptable. Friday’s highlight took place on South Plaza, Santa Cruz islands, where we observed a frigate attack mother and father swallow tails and their chick, trying to steal the regurgitated squid the parents delivered, and probably the chick as well. It was an extraordinary, up close wildlife experience that we will never forget. I took an amazing photo of the attack, which I posted on Facebook. On Saturday, we returned to civilization at Puerto Ayora , a city on Santa Cruz of about 20,000 population, where we visited the Darwin Research Center and its giant tortoise breeding facility, which has been successful in re-introducing tortoise populations on islands which had been impacted by human introduced goats and cattle (now largely removed.) We departed the Galapagos Sunday to return to Quito and toured sites in the Andes, where we saw Pululahua (an extinct volcano ), a variety of hummingbirds, a small coffee tree reintroduction “finca,” and a tiny chocolate production operation in Mindo. This was a great way to finish our adventure, where we experienced events and saw wildlife we will never forget and made many friendships among the 95 or so we shared our adventures with.

Ecuador Adventure #4, Isabela Island & Fernandina Island, Galapagos Islands

Wednesday we experienced two unscheduled special events that Pinky and I had never seen before, except on TV. The first required our awaking at 5 AM to go on deck to observe in early morning darkness the bright glow of flowing lava from the Sierra Negra volcano on Isabella Island. Because the island is uninhabited, as are most of the Galapagos islands, there was no danger to humans. Volcanic activity has been

quite common over the years – in fact the islands were all created from volcanic activity. The second happened when we were returning on our zodiac from Urbina Bay on Isabella Island and saw a mother and pup hump back whales, which passed between Isabela Is and our ship. To watch such large animals breach from below the water’s surface is unforgettable. Actually, everything we have seen and experienced here in the Galapagos is unforgettable! Our hike around Urbina Bay included stops to examine huge tortoises, serenely munching on poison apples – at least they are poisonous to humans. Our hike on Thursday took us across very slippery lava, where Pinky and I walked hand-in-hand to avoid slipping and falling down. We saw all sorts of wildlife on Isabella Island, including stinky marine iguanas, lots of sea lions, including a mother and her hours-old pup, flightless cormorants, “Princeton“ crabs and a Galapagos hawk. So far my pictures are great – it’s hard to for them not to be considering the subject matter. When friends and family have nothing better to do for a few hours, I’ll be happy to show them off.......For those who may be interested, I have posted a few on Facebook.🌎

Ecuador Adventure #3, Española Island, Galapagos Islands

On Sunday we flew the 600 mile distance across the Pacific ocean from Quito to Baltra Island, Galapagos, where we boarded Celebrity’s Xpedition, a 300 foot long ship with an occupancy of 100 passengers. This is our home for the week. We started touring the islands by circling Daphne Island, and then cruising over to Espanola Island on Monday, where we took a zodiac, a motorized raft that transports 14 passengers, to a remote beach for a walk in the morning. We observed sea lions and a variety of birds and were impressed about how unimpressed the animals were with humans, virtually ignoring us. After returning to the ship for lunch, we circled back to the island for a more difficult hike across a rocky trail to observe more birds, including a “group” of albatrosses. Pinky and I trekked relatively slowly so as not to run into trouble with the difficult terrain. Needless to say, I’ve been taking a myriad of pictures, so many on just the first day. Tuesday was another day of exploration, this time on Floreana Island, with excursions in the morning and afternoon, separated by a lunch break on ship. The afternoon was highlighted by our observing blue footed boobys repeatedly diving from high in the sky into the water to catch fish.

Ecuador Adventure #2, Quito

We spent the first of two nights in the elegant JW Marriott Hotel in Quito, 15 km south of the equator, and joined others who are included in the Celebrity Tours prequel‘s to a Galapagos Islands adventure. After a tour of Quito, located on the ruins of an Inca city at elevation 9350, we were bussed to the hall of the world park and museum, where Pinky and I stood on the equator. With short breath, which comes at such a high elevation, we observed draining water and clockwise just a few feet south of the equatorial line and counterclockwise a few feet north of the equatorial line. The museum also showed how the indigenous people made shrunken heads, and we saw a few of them on display. The grandchildren would have loved this! Also, the indigenous people went around totally naked, and the men had to strap their members to keep them from flopping through the jungle. Pretty amazing all around!

Ecuador Adventure #1, Quito

To my traveling friends and family – Pinky and I are about to embark on yet a new amorous adventure, and I am taking the liberty of including you on what could be a series of brief Dispatches highlighting our experiences. I should add that already this adventure has not been without its drama, as we had planned to travel with Sam and Connie Mitchell, who dropped out at the last minute due to Connie’s appendicitis attack. Unfortunate! Today we are at the Marriott Hotel in Quito and will be taking a tour of the city before disembarking tomorrow for the Galapagos islands tomorrow.

South Africa Adventure #5, Camp's Bay, SA

Our room @ South Beach, Camp's Bay was bright, cheerful & modern, complete with an efficiency kitchen & a fridge stocked with breakfast makings, wine, beer - not bad! The hotel was yet another boutique, with just 9 rooms and an underground garage, but with another 19 under construction to its left. The hotel fronts on Link Rd., a short street intersecting the M6 beach road @ both ends. Along the beach road there is a string of restaurants, and across the road a park, a wide sandy beach and the Atlantic Ocean, which is too cold to swim in. After breakfast Thursday, October 29, we embarked on a bit of a mystery ride, heading south toward Cape Peak and along a winding road full of hair pin turns and dropoffs to the ocean, all with a noticeable deficiency of guide - or, guard - rails. We reached a treacherous lookout at the top of Chapman's Point, where we stopped to lose our sweat, take some photos & prepare for more angst in negotiating curves & turns while driving along the left side of the road. Pinky said not once but at least a dozen times that this was the last time she'd be vacationing with me where I'd be driving on the left side of the road.

We finally made our way to the west side of Cape Peak to an amazing spot just south of Simon's Town called The Boulders, where there were hundreds of penguins lounging about on large rocks & sand. We never figured out why the penguins picked this spot, but they seemed to really like it there. We backtracked north along the easterly shore to the Harbour House, where we had lunch reservations. However, getting through the village of Kalk was beset with a long delay due to road construction, and we arrived :45 past our reservation. Non the less, our table next to the window was waiting for us, with spectacular views of the surf breaking over the boulders and even a couple seals sunning themselves there. After another great lunch, we trekked south to Cape Point Drive, which led us through a national park to the end of the road where we were transported by van to a precipice with a lighthouse and overlook at the southern most point of the cape. (But not of Africa, which is a 2 hour drive east.) Again, we were treated to outstanding views on a fortunately clear day.

Our return trip to Camp's Bay had no less drama than did our trip down, as we had more twisted roads with extraordinary dropoffs as we made our way up the west side of the cape. To avoid Chapman's Point we took an alternate route that extended our twisted route at least an hour. Nevertheless, we made it bank in time for our 7 pm dinner reservation @ The Bungalow, where we enjoyed sundowners to a wondrous sunset and a fine dinner. (Note a plug for Uber: using Uber for the short ride to The Bungalow cost R 23, or $1.70, but using a taxi for the return trip cost R 70, or $5.15.)

Friday, we did nothing adventurous, taking the day off to enjoy our hotel and explore Camp's Bay waterfront, and enjoying sundowners & dining Italian at one of the restaurants along the beach road. As all good things come to an end, so did this Amorous Adventure, necessitating our taking a noon flight Saturday, connecting in Jo'burg to Dulles, arriving @ 6:30 am on Sunday.

South Africa Adventure #4, Cape Town, SA

We arrived by South African Airlines to Cape Town on Saturday October 24 and took our BMW upgrade to the Blackheath Lodge in the Sea Point district of Cape Town on the Atlantic seaboard. The lodge served as our base of operations for exploring the greater Cape Town area for the next three days. Blackheath is another boutique hotel, just 19 rooms, that served glorious breakfasts to get us going for the day. Sunday afternoon we drove the windy coast road east to Hout Bay and its indoor market. There was lots of food and music, and I was particularly taken by a local band, Oceans Rift, jazzy with a banjo, if you can believe that!

Monday was a tourist day of mixed success. First on our list was Table Mt., which rises 3500' and for can be seen anywhere in Cape Town. When we drove to the base, we encountered a queue of nearly 1 1/2 hours for the gondola to the top. The wait was worth it, or so we thought. The views were terrific, and the day was sunny and clear with seemingly limitless visibility, but with strong, gusty winds that could blow you over the wall! When we heard thar they may be closing the gondola because of the winds, we bee lined to a short queue for the ride down, and not long after reaching the bottom we heard the horn announcing that the mountain would be closing. We had booked an afternoon tour of Robben Is, but the delays at Table Mt. prevented us from making it. Instead, we went for a late lunch at The Waterfront, filled with countless restaurants, high end hotels and many boats. As those who know me would understand, I spent a lot of time in the Blackheath phone with the South African government trying to convince them to credit us or reimburse us for the missed tour, but to no avail. So, I rebooked for the Wednesday and paid the fare a second time. For dinner, we met up with a couple we met on safari, Lee & Lilly Gunn. Lee is a retired rear admiral, & we never saw Lily without a hat! Our meal at the Kloof House, was not just great for the fine food and company but because the restaurant clearly had served as a brothel in years past.

Tuesday was the quintessential tour of South African wineries. We hired a driver for obvious reasons and visited four, our favorite being the most elegant venue, Delaire Graff Estate, where we enjoyed an excellent lunch overlooking spectacular views of the countryside. And what a day - sunny, dry & hot, near 100 degrees F. The next day we finally made to Robben Is., where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 18 of his 27 years of incarceration as a political dissident. Our guide for the bus portion was hilarious and articulated the curious history of the island. Things can move slowly in Africa, and one of his many lines was, "in Switzerland they have watches, in Africa we have time." Our 2nd guide had been a political prisoner there from '86 to '91, and he took us through the prison, where we saw Mandela's cell. Depressing, but a good lesson in seeking reconciliation rather than revenge for the mistreatment toward so many over so many years. lunch were "rugby burgers," presumably celebrating the 2015 World Cup (where South Africa subsequently took 3rd) at the Waterfront, from where we drove to Camps Bay to check into our next stop, South Beach Hotel.