Day 91 - Into Colombia from Quito to Pasto

It was one of those days that we were dreading somewhat, but both Ecuador and Colombia have upgraded their roads both sides of the border, and so the riding intially was "champagne" grade, with much divided road and great surfaces, plus a few corners to add spice, initially in sunshine. Two years before, JC had had a very tough time of it here, as they were still building the highway. The weather started off as cool and clear, then became hot, then rained steadily after the border. We had it all.

We had lunch at a restaurant just before the border, where I chose Tapia, a kind of fish with rice and really enjoyed it, in fact I chose to miss dinner later on.

The border was very busy, with lots of locals, plus chains of refugees from various countries like Venenzuela, and a few motorcycle riders from other countries such as Canada and Germany as well.  We passed out of Ecuador very easily, and negotiated with some local touts to change money from US dollars to Colombian Pesos, of which there are approximately 3,700 to the dollar! Older men and women were walking around the border waving very large wads of notes and calling out "Cambio!"

Getting the bikes through was another matter and took some hours. In essence we were applying for a temporary importation license for each of the five moto's. This requires applying online, and we employed a local lady at the border, to input all of our details, both personal, license and registration information which she did for $5 each, from a laptop in the front of her little shop in "no mans land" at the border. 

It was slow due to the large amount of data required (in Spanish), including third party insurance called a SOAT which we had luckily purchased before, just for Colombia. One challenge we had is that the Registration paper for each bike looks completely different from each State in Australia, and we had a truck from Victoria, and bikes from ACT, NSW and Queensland! Officials kept asking what all the differences were, and whether the ACT was a State! (For the purposes of the explanation we kept it very simple and said yes). So we then received an email with a password, followed by a second email that used that password, and later after a long review of our data by the Customs Officer, a third email of Authorisation. 

So it was almost dark when we took off in the rain, and an hour later entered rather hectic traffic in the town of Patos as we head north. I was first to arrive this time as Ned was slower in the rain, then Willy helped me diagnose a fault on my bike (in the dark street using a copied piece of software from BMW) which was a false earthing of the petrol pump, and which so far has not caused me any riding issues - pray it does not. 

The hotel was nice and new, and tomorrow is another day as we head north to Bogota over a couple of days, via Popyan.

It 

Day 90 - Quito Cathedral and Guayasamin the Artist

We are staying an extra night in Quito to see some of the town, and Sheryle had prepared a long list of places to visit, using AI which was fine, but many of the places had moved or closed down.

Anyway, we walked a long way (it seemed) from the hotel into the Centro area of Quito, following the script and that lead us through some nice parks and into the Main Plaza. This was not quite as we had expected, believing it would hold more of the old Spanish buildings but in fact was a modern Capital City in the main and was particularly noisy with buses and trucks tooting at each other. Only the inner streets were made pedestrian only. 

Once at the Plaza we tried to find a coffee shop with WIFI (so as to navigate to the selected spots) and so we went to the Tourist Office for assistance. Their response was that none of the city coffee shops offered WIFI. We were slightly amazed that we could not find even one, as I had not purchased a SIM card for my mobile phone in Ecuador, so navigating to places using Google Maps, proved impossible. I did have a paper map, but as these are "tourist" all the streets are not named - again presenting a challenge. 

As it happened, the main Cathedral was on the square, so we decided to visit. They have a system in South America where many of the cathedrals have a small Museum at the front, for which they can charge a fee, and it is through this that you access the Cathedral itself. Its a way to make money and stop a flood of tourists which worked well. At the ticket office they offered two rates, one of which included visiting the cupolas of the church, which we took. 

What a gem! Having visited the main part, a young man took us up a range of secret tunnels, barely enough to crawl through, and requiring some ducking and squeezing to get through, especially up the spiral stairs. However, we made it and what a brilliant view it was, across the Plaza, and up to the virgen statue on a nearby hill. There were only two others with us, so we had a clear view and could take perfect photos. 

After this, we caught a taxi to an area called La Mariscal, which has more local cafes and also the Artesnal Markets. We stopped for a coffee thank god, and also a small sandwich, then headed off to the markets where Sheryle bought some gifts for the kids and we then walked over to the Swisshotel, where there was a speciality jewellery shop and also a cholocate shop. She imbibed at the latter too. 

By this time we had had enough in the heat and headed back to the hotel for a short rest, before taking another taxi to the previous home of Ecuador's most famous artist, Guayasamin (pronounced way-a-sa-min). Not only was the art amazing, but the house was outstanding in a spanish way. We loved it with it's huge rooms, massive studio and spectacular view across a pool and grasslands. The house now shows a wide range of his work. He had also built a kind of modern chapel (like a big black box) called the Capilla del Homme (Chapel of Man) which he dedicated to peace and no particular religion or sect. It won an architectural prize and also a UNESCO Peace Prize. 

Day 89 - Banos to Quito, Centre of the Earth

Our day started in the rain at Banos (like "Bath") but this quickly reduced to a dribble and the sun came out as we headed north.

I was taught about Quito when I was a child at school, and it had always been on my bucket list to visit. We were told it was the only city on the equator, but it fact it is about 16 kilometres south of the equator in reality. It is the only capital city on the equator, as the suburbs have extended north and south of the city centre and reach the actual equator now. 

Quito was established by the Spaniards as their first city in South America around 1534, and is now the capital of Equador with a population of 2.7 million. The city sits at 2850 metres so our short ride yesterday took us "up hill" back to the high country from near the coast, and we wondered whether our altitude-legs had remained. Indeed they seemed to be fairly good. The riding was easy and useful as it was Ned's first full day with the group, so following the expressway was straightforward until the end when we rode up a very windy cobbled hill road to the Hotel Quito which is on the top of the ridge and outside of the city centre, which we will visit tomorrow. 

JC had organised us to take a mini bus to the north to the actual equator, where there is a large monument and museum. It shows a long yellow line down the pavement so that you can stand in both the northern and southern hemisphere at the same time, which we did, with photos. There is also a table where you can practise balancing an egg on the top of a nail, which is rather straight forward when you are at the equator! We were interested to know where the 00:00 point is in the world as this is actually 78 degrees west from Greenwich. The zero zero point is off the west coast of Africa near Guinea, and is known as "Null Island" an actual fictious point. 

The other thing of interest here, is that the sun passes straight overhead at the two solisitices of course, and there is a very large sundial where this can be experienced at the right time of the year - 22 June and December. 

After our tour and lunch, we returned to the hotel, and Sheryle and I prepared to go out to a very fancy restaurant call ZaZu, which was a $2 cab fare away. We did this and had a spectacular meal with a couple of glasses of wine. This included a flaming dessert.

However, we are not used to all the food so well, and I have lost a lot of weight due to eating only two meals per day. I was actually able to measure my weight for the first time in the hotel, at 95 kg, a signficant drop from my highpoint last year at 106 kg. I feel much better for it.

Day 88 - Banos and the Tree House Swing

 Today, I had not taken enough notice of the route details, and missed the lunch restaurant all together. We were riding from Gauyaquil to Banos, so as to be nearer to the Capital, Quito for tomorrow.

While unhappy about that, I did manage to get a hamburger at the Sanjay hotel where we are staying just across from the Hot Baths that are spiritual to the local people. 

When Sheryle arrived, she had researched the local area, and so we took a taxi up to the Highest Tree House and went on their swings and zip lines which was so much fun, especially over the huge drop towards the volcano. It was a delightful afternoon as it happened. 

We then returned and went to the local spa across the road. The water was Caliente (hot) and we enjoyed it a lot, although Sheryle's favourite Haviana thongs were purloined by another visitor!

When I awoke this morning, I found out that a long time friend from Australia, who had gone to live in the USA and become a citizen, had passed away at a very young age. Maybe he was about 63, but I will check.

Day 87 - Flight from Galapagos to Guayaquil

This was transport day with lots of short legs as we head back to Guayaquil from Galapagos. 

This is a one hour bus trip, then a ten minute boat ride to the airport island, then a short bus to the airport, where we stayed for an hour waiting to bord the packed flight. We got home on time and lost an hour flying east. We then returned to the hotel, and took a few minutes taking photos of our bikes for the Colombia bike pass, then for the export back to Australia. 

We had room service which we have not done on this trip!

Day 86 - Second Galapagos Day - Darwin Centre and Highland Tortoises

This was our second full day on Galapagos, and our first excusion before lunch was to the Charles Darwin research centre. Here they are focussed on breeding the tortoises from the various islands. 

An average tortoise lives between 120 and 170 years, but thousands were killed for food in the 1800's reducing the population from about 400,000 to less than a quarter of that now. There are fifteen different species, most from different islands, with one of those now extinct since the last died in 2012. 

So breeding is a big deal. They collect the eggs from the ground a few days after they are buried by the the tortoises. This stops dogs and pigs digging them up and destroying them. They are taken to the research centre and incubated very carefully using a hair dryer to keep the incubators in order! They are kept at 28 degrees for males and 29.5 degrees for females. The photos show the small tortoises at a few weeks old, then some months and years. They are kept very well protected as there is a strong market for stolen tortoises, at about US$25,000 a piece! A local gang comprising conservators, police and customs agents was recently caught and jailed for their theft. 

Probably the most interesting feature is that the tortoises have developed over time to suit the island that they come from, so studying them is key for the Centre. One called "George" in my pictures died in 2012 and has been to the taxidermist in the USA, as he is the last specimen of that species, having been reared and looked after by a local ranger for 40 years. He was estimated at 170 years old. 

After lunch together at the Bhia Mar again, we caught a bus up to the highlands to see three things. The first was two large sunken holes or collapsed tunnels. The second was to a long lava tube about 400m in length on private property, requiring a steep step entrance, and a small squeeze midway through the tunnel. At higher sections, the roof was about 20m high and was quite impressive. 

The third, was an extension to the farm, with lots of large tortoises on it. They were fascinating to see in their natural environment as they are so famous on Galapagos, but didn't do much for me - just an interesting curiosity. So we took a bunch of photos of course. 

We drove back to the village and had a delightful but overly filling dinner at Isla Restaurant, with the sandy floor. We also did some clothes shopping!

Day 85 - First day Boating at Galapagos

For our first full day at Galapagos, we had been promised a full days activity on the water, and this it turned out to be. At first we thought we would be sharing a power boat with six others, but in fact had it to ourselves. We all met at the dock, a short walk from the hotel, where many others were lining up at their boats in the warm sunshine. Our power boat was about 30 feet with three outboards, two larger ones being a Suzuki and a Yamaha and a back-up outboard. 

We took off out of the harbour, and headed east to Santa Fe island. The first snorkeling spot was near to a rocky shore, we reached about an hour after leaving. There were many birds on the rocks and a mass of fish in the sea. We had a delightful time snorkeling, and I managed to get some good video of a single sea lion as he swam around me. 

We moved onto another site, where there was a beach in a quiet bay, and other boats showed up too, but the water was very clear and fairly cool. We all got in, and Sheryle and others climbed out fairly quickly, but I went on with the guide and tried to video lots of sea lions, but ended up with a bunch of stills instead! I did manage to get some shots of a white tipped shark and a sole turtle. (Note that there are both tortoises and turtles on Galapagos, the latter in the water, the former on land).

At this same spot we had managed to catch a small yellow-fin tuna on the way in and the crew soon turned this into sashimi and some cooked tuna for lunch along with salad. Top day. 

The last stop was back on "quite beach" through a small wavy bar, on the home island of Santa Cruz, about 15 minutes from port. It was a top day.

Sheryle and I then went for dinner at Bahia Mar, and excellent local restaurant.