Since I’m practicing the art of not planning for this upcoming RTW trip I haven’t yet decided where exactly I’m going to go. However, I have a rough idea of where I think I want to go come January. First off, I want to take a road trip through the United States to see some of the things I haven’t seen yet and to skate the best skate parks it has to offer. I’ll go from Texas to California to Vancouver, Canada and somewhere in between hit Colorado and Salt Lake City which aren’t exactly on the way.  I’ve found that Chris Guillebeau is going to have the World Domination Summit in Portland, Oregon and if things work out I’ll hit up that conference. Then in the summer the TBEX 11 conference is going to be in Vancouver, Canada which I’ll hit up as well.

I haven’t planned anything from where I’m going to stay, what parks I’m hitting, or even what cities I’ll be going to. I’m just going to take it day by day as I travel around.

After I’m done with my USA tour I’ll head back to Houston for a few weeks and then… Wherever the wind blows me. Right now, I’m thinking it’s going to be

1. Central America – to finish up my Spanish studies and get fully fluent.

2. France – To visit my nephews, tour around Europe, and learn French.

3. Asia – It’s calling my name.

                          

I’ve had a lot on my mind lately. I had always told Curtis (my ex-boyfriend) that he was the only reason I was in the States and if we ever found ourselves not together, that I’d leave to travel the world. When we broke up I felt like I had to live up to that statement.  I knew for a long time that it was what I was meant to do. I just didn’t expect us to break-up so the whole RTW trip really came out of nowhere.

Curtis with Zulu

I had about 6-months to figure everything out and 2 of those months have gone by already.  I’ve got to sell everything, get my dogs taken care of, talk with my doctors to figure out a plan of action (I require constant medical care for an injury I sustained in a car accident), and decide where I want to go.  It’s now 4-months until my departure date and only one of those items really concerns me. I don’t care about letting go of my things; I can always get more should I decide I want that life back.

Snuggle with Zulu

When my dog Buffy died I felt empty, like there was a void in my heart. I had Buffy since I was 5-years old and her passing was very difficult for me. I was 22-years old and didn’t really know life without a little dog.  I really wanted a dog so 6-months after her passing I found Kibu. Kibu is a half poodle, half Papillion mix.  I’m not a big fan of poodles, but I responded to an ad in the paper and decided to see what she was like.  She was the cutest thing ever and I knew I had to have her. Kibu is the smartest dog I’ve ever known; Sometimes I swear there is a little human in there.

Kibu at Watch, like she always is.

Zulu (right) with her best-friend Katy (left)

When Curtis and I got together we decided on a whim to get her a sister.  We ended up back at the breeders and got her niece, Zulu. Zulu is the sweetest most laidback dog ever. I guess since I was planning a life with Curtis, I didn’t think about long-term travel and the implications of another dog at the time. However, I don’t really regret getting Zulu because she’s enriched my life in so many ways. Our plan was to take off every few years for 6 months to a year and his parents would take care of them while we were gone. Now that plans changed things are different.  He can’t take the dogs since he’s a pilot and is gone frequently. Even though the original agreement was that he would get Kibu and I would get Zulu, neither of us can bear to separate them.  They are sisters and they really love each other. Every day for about an hour they play by running around the house and attacking each other.  Kibu takes the older sibling role seriously and looks after Zulu.

Kibu and Zulu playing as Katy watches and tries not to get trampled

I know that I would be extremely unhappy if I stayed here in the States for my dogs. Times change. At one point I saw myself in the whole domestic role, but now I don’t. They are 3 and 6 so they still have plenty of life left. I talked to my parents about taking them. I know that my parents, especially my dad, would give them lots of love and the attention that they deserve. My mom however has put the gauntlet down and told me she doesn’t want them. She then went on to lecture me and said things to make me feel really guilty and bad about the whole ordeal. It’s not like my heart was already hurting or anything… Gee, thanks mom for understanding and helping me feel better.

Sleeping with the dogs at Tammy's.

My heart cried that day.  I love these dogs more than anything and I want them to go to a place that makes them happy, but at the same time understands my situation.

It just so happens that earlier in the day Curtis had told me that his mom had asked to take care of them.  She asked. He didn’t say anything to her. She wants them, she loves my dogs and has taken care of them before when I went to South America. That is when Curtis and I were together though. I just think it would be weird to show up 2 years (or whenever it is I come back) later and want my dogs back. Would it be better to relinquish them to her? They’d get to see Curtis when he visited.  I could visit but since they live in the middle of nowhere it would be weird to stay there.

Zulu taunting Kibu from the bed.

I know that Kibu would be happy wherever she was. She adapts well and makes herself at home wherever she is.  The second she sees me she’ll come running to jump in my arms and lick my face to death.  When I came back home from South America, she did just that.  Zulu however, is depressed without me. I know this. It breaks my heart. Last time she was with Tammy she was so depressed they kept taking her to the vet. The day I came home to pick her up she didn’t rush up to see me like Kibu. She ran to Tammy instead and it broke my heart to pieces. She wasn’t sure if I was here to be with her or only to say hello and abandon her again. She was very reluctant to give me her heart again or any sort of attention. On the drive back when she realized we were going back home, she pee’d on my head in the hotel to tell me how she felt about the whole ordeal.  I just want to be happy and I want Zulu to be happy.  It sucks that I’m Zulu’s happiness.  The whole thing breaks my heart into pieces.  That little dog has stolen my heart.

Tammy (Curtis’ mom) wants to take the dogs not only because she cares about both Curtis and I, but because she also loves my dogs. She would do anything to help either of us achieve our dreams no matter what those dreams are and what she thinks of them. I’d rather have my dogs go to a home that wants them, than force them on someone who takes them on as a burden.

EDIT: My parents went to see the movie Eat, Pray, Love and I think it really helped them understand what it is I want to do and why I want to do it. They’ve decided that they would take on the burden of my dogs and make a lifestyle change for me so that I could be free to do as I please. I think that’s awesome and it makes me really happy.

So I’m thinking… Should I give them to my parents? Should I let Tammy take care of them with the premise I can get them back at any time? Would it be better for my dogs to just give them to her? Should I give them to my parents with the notion that Tammy will take them at any time if they become too much? My heart is breaking just thinking about it.

Since I made my decision to travel I’ve cherished every moment I’ve had with them. It really made me realize how I should appreciate the things I have in my life, because you never know when they will be gone.

Taking Zulu home after my 5-month backpacking adventure.

                          

I accidentally deleted my database in the move to WordPress in the redesign.  The site is not yet complete, so bear with me as the blog continues to be developed. Since I deleted the database I  will have to re-upload my 200+ stories from my travels around the world (along with ALL of the photos!) so that may take a few weeks to get everything back up. Thanks to everyone at Pecha Kucha that enjoyed my speech here in Houston! Boo Yah.

If you haven’t already please “Like” my new Where is Jenny? FaceBook fan page! http://www.facebook.com/pages/Where-Is-Jenny/134076163304125?ref=sgm

                          

I had always dreamed of traveling to far away places and living an adventurous unconventional life, far from the safe traditional upbringings of my childhood.  I marched to the beat of my own drum and was always being reprimanded for my creative and adventurous outlook on life.  I was worked like putty to fit into a mold already made for me since the day I was born. “Girls don’t do that” and “Your going to break your neck” are phrases that repeatedly haunted my childhood.   I was expected and forced to follow a path that had been laid out before me.  Because of the backlash and disappointment I always received I felt an extreme sense of guilt to not do what was expected of me.  It would have been easy to fall into that path, but I would be lifeless, miserable, and unhappy.  I’d be sitting in a cubicle trying to climb the corporate ladder and play office politics while simultaneously working towards the allure of the retirement carrot placed in front of me.  Is this what life is supposed to be like?  Work your entire life and give up the best years of your life for a time that is not fully guaranteed.  Then, if that retirement time does come your body is already well past its prime both mentally and physically and you likely will be incapable of living your dream.  It just never made sense to me.

When I graduated college I came to a point where I needed to decide where I wanted to go career wise.  I visited an ad agency in town to interview their staff and see the logistics of how this type of job worked.  I left disgusted.  I didn’t like what I saw.  I was passionate about design and being creative, but didn’t see this as a viable option for me.  ‘What now?’ I thought while feeling lost.

A design contest I had entered and won got me an entry into a student conference in town.  It was there a speaker talked about how he started his business straight out of college despite the naysayers.   It was like a light bulb went off in my head… if he could do it, so could I. I made a leap of faith, without any career experience, and started working as an independent graphic designer. My friends, family, and college career services all expressed deep concern for my well-being and worked hard to persuade me otherwise.  I had already made up my mind though.  It was done.

I was told I would fail, never be successful, and should quit being ridiculous and get a real job.  Actually, I’m still told that I should get a real job.  Although the first few years were rough I eventually made it.  I put in a lot of hard work and it paid off.  I made a good living and was able to live out whatever dreams I had at the time.  I was an amateur motocross racer backed by sponsors, volunteered in Vanuatu, traveled throughout the States, and backpacked South America for 5-months.  Even in my success the people I wanted to be most proud of me weren’t.  In fact, they were disappointed.  I could always see it in their faces and hear it in their voices.  The way they talked about me and the way they talked about others were completely different.  It broke and continues to break my heart.  They never said this unconventional path was easy.  Despite being criticized for every little thing I did  and being the black sheep of my family I continued on my path.  After all, it’s my life. Had I listened to them I wouldn’t have had any of the amazing adventures I’ve had thus far such as swimming with sea lions in the Galapagos, finding the Lost City in Colombia, or watching a volcano explode.

My business was doing well and I had just returned from my volunteer trip in Vanuatu. It was my first time out of the country and opened up my eyes to the world.  It was the happiest time of my life and I instantly knew I wanted to travel and learn more about the world.  I was reading many travel blogs and people on around the world adventures and was inspired to do the same.  I began to prepare for and plan my 3-year trip around the world.  I started www.whereisjenny.com and documented the process.  Then entered a boy named Curtis.  He had just returned from a trip backpacking in Europe with his dad and expressed similar interests.  We fell in love and my life changed.  I put my RTW (Around the World) trip on hold and began building life with him.  We settled into a routine and always talked about one day taking off to travel.  He was a pilot and was always on the road. I envied that.   One day, my wanderlust grew too strong and I had to take a trip myself.  We came to the conclusion that I would take a solo 5-month trip through South America (the 1^st leg of my planned 3-year RTW) and maintain a long-distance relationship.  Upon my return we would save up for several years and take off for 6-months to 1 year to backpack every continent in the world throughout our lives together.

When I returned home from South America I was a changed person.  I really struggled to fit back into routine and start this life again.  I had found out what I wanted and had a renewed passion for it.  After a year of routine a situation popped up that Curtis and I had to deal with.  The situation made me realize that although Curtis and I were great together and we had an amazing relationship we wanted different things out of life.  If I stayed with him, I could see myself settling into a routine and life I didn’t necessarily want.  A quote popped up that said, “Life is too short to make compromises,” and it was then I decided to leave the relationship.  Since Curtis was the only reason I was living in Houston I knew it was time to open up the next chapter in my life.  My dream of traveling the world would become a reality.  I stopped thinking about what I should be doing and started thinking about the things I wanted to be doing.  This all leads up to the moment I’m in now.  I’ve decided to sell everything I own and leave for the ultimate adventure around the world.  Where will I start? Where will I go? How long will I be gone? These are all questions I don’t have answers for just yet.  We’ll just see where the wind takes me.

Visit my site, read my adventures, and watch me go through this life changing process.  I’ll be working hard on my businesses prepping them for full on location independent working and ending this chapter of my life here in Houston as I sell all my belongings. Leave everything behind and come with me.

                          

Where is Jenny has been a source for my thoughts, travel experiences, and trip planning since early 2006.  It has gone through many phases since then including a bad decision to move to Drupal CMS.  Drupal (and the developer that built it) left much to be desired with a lack of functionality and user friendliness. I’ve made the decision to move back to wordpress and put Where is Jenny back on the map.  Where did all the blog entries go? Well, in the move I accidentally deleted the database! Oops! Over the next few weeks I’ll re-upload my old stories, so come reminisce with me.

I’ve recently decided to begin a new life. I’ve left my boyfriend, I’m giving up my dogs, and I’m selling all of my possessions to travel the world indefinitely. To celebrate this new lease on life I’ve decided to overhaul the Where is Jenny brand.  Not only does it look different and have better functionality it has a new editorial direction. It will continue to host my travel stories along with information and resources on around the world travel, backpacking, and location independent working.

Where is Jenny is back and bolder than ever! The theme will be completed over the next few days! Be sure to let me know what you think!

                          

Day 12:

Today I awoke at 5am when they started the motors for navigation.  I then dozed in and out of slumber until it was around 7am and time to head up to the dining room to get our grub on.  For breakfast we got a plate of mixed fruit to start along with a fresh squeezed juice and either coffee or tea.

After we finished our fruit we got a plate with an egg, a slice of weird cheese, and a slice of some kind of meat.   I ate the eggs and we sat there for a bit.  Finally, somebody asked where the bread was and they forgot to bring it up so we ended up with a nice fresh hot loaf of bread for each table.  I guess that is what the cheese and meat was for.  The cheese here in Ecuador is weird.  I don’t like it at all.  They make these really thick slices (like half an inch) and it doesn’t really have any flavor at all.  I’m not a big fan of awkward cheeses so I usually passed on it.  The texture is different as well and not my thing.

We started to head to the island around 7:45 am on Isla Santa Fé.  The islands here each have about 4-8 different names so sometimes it gets really confusing.  Each time the Galapagos was visited back in the day by the Spaniards, Ecuador, English, whomever they each gave the islands different names… I’m not sure which ones stuck but some people use one name and other’s another.  They should just pick one and run with it.

We arrived on Isla Santa Fé where the landing was dry and they brought the boat up to a dock and we had to jump off the boat onto this little narrow dock that was slippery.  There were black rocks all around us and seals just hanging out doing their thing.  There was a sea lion that we saw when we first got off the boat that was missing half of it’s body.  Our guide told us that a shark had bitten it and it was very lucky that the alpha male was allowing it to be in the colony because the blood attracts sharks.  He told us that a shark had eaten it.  Throughout the tour he showed us other scars on sea lions and told us they were from sharks and that the sea lion learned that sharks are not their friends.  (Our guide seems to know what happened to each and every animal and their brother on this tour… to the point where it’s obvious he’s making it up!)

We were told if we were lucky we would get to see a seal giving birth but that it usually happens in the early morning or late evening.  He told us that the frigit birds were waiting and looking for seal lion placenta to steal from recent births.  This area was kind of a maternity section and the male sea lion would stay around for about 3 weeks before he would be replaced by a bigger better male.  Whatever male is there is the father or step-father to all of the baby seal lions in the area and protects them.

Along the trail there are many dead sea lion babies.  Our guide tells us it is because the passengers touch the babies and they lose their scent.  They gain the oils and perfumes of the person petting them and then the mother can no longer tell what baby sea lion is hers and the baby starves to death.  I’m not sure how true that is, but it has been repeated to us every day at least 3 or 4 times along the trail.  “You know what happened here… I’ve told you before.”  “Do you know why this baby sea lion died? Why? Because somebody pet him.  That’s why! It’s not their fault.  They didn’t know.  I blame the guide.  Maybe they didn’t know. Maybe they didn’t tell them. Maybe they didn’t care.  I don’t know.”

The baby seal lion is highly protected by the mother for the first week of their life and then they are free to wander about and play with other lions.  Our guide told us you don’t want to get near a newborn sea lion because the mother is known to be highly aggressive to protect it for that one week.  They grow quite quickly and it is up to the mother how long she nurses the baby.  We saw several seals nursing some only a few weeks and up to two years old… one was almost the size of the mother it was taking the milk from.  I think the minimum is 5 months and the max is 3 years for nursing a baby seal lion.

We watched the babies play around in the shallow water and learn how to fish and swim with each other.  We were so close to nature it was incredible.  They are not scared of us at all and are very curious towards us.

Next we saw some land iguanas that were about a foot in body length plus the length of their tail. (They are much smaller than the iguanas we saw yesterday.)  This island has an over population of iguanas and a shortage of food.  One male iguana owns each cactus and owns the fruit that falls from it.  To show us this spectacle of nature our guide would throw rocks and see what the iguanas would do… their ears are very good, but their eyesight is very bad.  One iguana was confused and jumped to see what the rock was while the others laid still.  He then took a small piece of cactus fruit and threw it in the middle of this pile of about 15 iguanas.  They all jumped and started to fight for it.  A female iguana got the food and gobbled it down spikes and all.  It is very painful for the iguana to eat this way and not clean the cactus of the spikes before eating it.  She must do it otherwise the food will be stolen from her and she will not get the food that she desperately needs.

We sat and watched.  The iguanas communicate with each other by bobbing their heads up and down at each other and the male iguana after the female was finished eating started bobbing his head up and down and she ignored him for a bit and then bobbed her head a bit too.  (Granted we are only a few feet from these guys).  Then he jumped and started to attack her because she ate the fruit from his cactus tree! It was insane! Our guide told us that the iguanas that have black mouths have been eating seal poop or meat for food to survive and are very sick.  Iguanas are naturally vegetarians so to suddenly start eating meat or seal poop is not good for them and makes them sick.  There is not much the park can do about the overpopulation and the sick iguanas.  The islands are heavily affected by el niño and there was a drought two years ago that killed a lot of the cactus on the island so the land iguanas now suffer.  The iguanas are now digging at the trunk of the cactus and trying to push it over for food… this will cause food for a few weeks or a month, but then they will be left with one less cactus on the island, which hurts them even more.

The cacti on this island are very different.  They have a large tree type trunk and then they have the regular cactus flat spiked leaf with small balls of cactus fruit attached.

Next we walked over and saw a baby Swallow-tailed Gull and her parents.  The baby was tucked away under a rock and the parents were nearby.  One parent was missing who was going to get food for the baby to eat.  The parents take turns getting food and taking care of the little guy.

As we were walking our guide pointed out a bloody seal lion and a small baby and told us that she must have given birth this morning.  There were several frigate birds nearby waiting to get the sea lion placenta and were diving down to get it.  The mother sea lion will not let any animal get within 4 meters of her newborn and will do some crazy tactics if the bird tries.  The birds were testing her boundaries, but we saw no crazy actions taken. There are tons of little baby sea lions here of all ages.

We continued our walk along the trail and stopped at a little cliff where we watched some sea lions in the reject bachelor pad where they were hanging out to gain size before they could take over and become the alpha male in the maternity ward or something like that.  We sat and watched the action for 15 minutes or so.  It is a dangerous place for the sea lion because if they make a mistake it can cost them their lives in this area depending on the tide and if they jump at the wrong time on the rocky ledges.

We continued on and stopped and one by one we got to go down near a cliff and check out this baby bird that was hanging out under the ledge.  We were told to be very quiet as we went down there to take photos of it.  I was careful not to lean back or I would fall down the rocky ledge!

We continued the walk and didn’t see much more besides beautiful scenery and more iguanas, sea lions, frigit birds, and blue-footed boobies here and there.  When we were heading back to the dock we saw a hybrid iguana which there are very few of on the island and don’t live past 7 years old.  They are half marine iguana and half land iguana.  The marine iguanas were not marine when they arrived to the Galapagos Islands.  They evolved out of a need to survive and can go up to 30 feet under water to feed off of the algae in the sea.  We’ll see more marine iguana’s in the days to come.

We then headed back to the boat where our ‘snack’ was awaiting us.  Today it was popcorn! Yum.  After hanging out for a bit we then started our navigation to another part of the island, which was about an hour of motorboating.  The boat is really … really slow!

When we arrived we had about 3 hours to snorkel around the boat.  There was one area that we could not enter because it was dangerous with alpha male sea lions where they have had a few incidents in the past.  Our guide told us that a alpha male bit off part of a Chinese woman’s face or something crazy like that.

I really didn’t feel like snorkeling and wondered if we would have other chances.  The sky was cloudy and the water was cold and I didn’t have a wetsuit and the only thing I had for a swim suit were the boy swim trunks I bought and a sports bra.  Stina and I decided to go anyways and it was COLD.  She didn’t get a mask and find and tried to go without them.  Once we were in the water she decided she wanted some, and I asked one of the crew members if he would get us a pair and he said he would for $10.  Screw that… and with that we swam out.  (I had some snorkel gear that my tour agency gave me.)  She headed back to the boat shortly after we got to swimming to the area to find sea turtles.  I saw a few turtles, manta rays, and lots of fish before deciding to call it quits.  Others saw sharks, sea lions, turtles, manta rays, and other really awesome things.

I was on the boat when one of the crewmembers offered to take us out on the boat to show us the sea turtles.  I took Stina’s camera that was able to go underwater without any special housing.  It was pretty sweet.  We then started to take photos of the turtles when the German couple gave us their used up disposable underwater camera and took Stina’s from me to get a good photo of the turtle.  Off they went with the camera and we were in the boat looking into the water to see some of the sea life.  We saw some turtles and sea lions dancing in the water. It was pretty cool, but I was cold and didn’t want to get back into the water.

Upon our return many of the others were coming back from their swims.  The German couples were able to get some good photos of the sea lions and turtles and were really excited about it.

Afterwards we all got changed and ready to go ashore for a small walk around the island to see some more iguanas, sea lions, and stuff like that.

It was a wet landing so we had to wear sandals and shorts… it was cold so I opted to wear pants and roll them up.  On this island there weren’t that many iguanas, which is much different than the situation on Plazas island where there are many iguanas and not enough food… and are also very sick.  On this island there is plenty of food and not that many iguanas.  We found one hanging out by a cactus and our guide was throwing rocks again to show us how good their ears are.  He then threw some flowers because these land iguanas also like to eat flowers.  Soon as the flowers hit the ground the iguana made a beeline for those flowers and ate them quickly.  Our guide then decided to grab an entire cactus pad and throw it on the ground near the iguana.  The iguana headed towards the cactus pad and then spent a minute pulling off the thorns with his paws by scratching it.  It is much different than the other island where they race to eat it spikes and all.

After he was finished scratching off all of the spikes he started to eat the cactus.  We watched him eat for a few minutes before continuing to walk.  We saw a few mice and mockingbirds along the way.  The mockingbirds of the Galapagos are an example of an adaptive radiation.  Unlike their better-known counterparts, they do not mock the sounds of other birds and make their meal from lizards, small finches, abandoned boobie eggs, and insects.  They have virtually no fear of people and follow you out of sheer curiosity.

We continued our walk down the path and didn’t see anything else besides more mockingbirds, lava lizards, ad a few iguanas here and there.  We arrived at the beach where we were dropped off and we had about 30 minutes at the beach before pick up.

Stina, Dominic, and I chatted it up.  We witnessed 6 mockingbirds having a stand-off just a few feet from where we were.  They were chirping at each other and jumping around and they got into teams and were dancing around for quite a while. It was quite amusing to watch and I got a video of it on my little camera.  Then some seals in the background starting going at it.  They were jumping all over each other making these really loud noises and carried on and on and on as they got closer and closer to where we were.  The while they were trying to get it on, one of them took a poop.  Eww.

You gotta watch your step in these parts because there is sea lion poop everywhere and it is stinky.  Very stinky.

After watching the sea lions, mockingbirds, and other wildlife the shore boat headed over to pick us up and we went back to the boat.  After spending a few minutes cleaning up dinner was ready for us and we began to eat.  Our voyage to the next island is 6 hours so our captain has decided to take off directly after dinner.

The Italian couple had offered me some sea sickness pills and I decided to take them up on their offer.  About 30 minutes later dinner was served and I started to not feel so well.  I ate as much as I could.  Tonight was pizza and I was served Hawaiian, but it was made with that nasty Ecuadorian cheese.  Ewww.  I ate as much as I could, but all the sudden I got that taste in my mouth and I knew it was going to be bad and I excused myself from the table and ran down below.  I then puked… and puked… and puked.  And then when I thought I was done… I puked some more.  I went back up to the dinner table afterwards and played with my food until it was cleaned up and everyone headed up on deck to prepare for the long voyage ahead.

I stayed in the dinner room curled up in a ball in a corner.  Then I decided I needed something down in the room and I headed down there to go get my pillow and a few other items.  I didn’t make it more than a few seconds before I started to puke again.  It was getting worse and worse so I grabbed a bit of toilet paper and then ran up to the dining room as I was wiping puke off my face, arms, and shirt.  I then sat there and blew my nose and got all the nasty stuff off.  My piece of toilet paper wasn’t quite big enough but I said screw it and went back to my corner and fell asleep (there was no real room on the deck so I stayed in the dining room).

A few hours later I awoke to find the crew setting up their beds in the dining room.  I decided, even though the voyage was hours from being over, to head down below to go to sleep.  I should be used to the waves by now, plus there is nothing left in my stomach. I headed down below and felt a bit wheezy for a few minutes, but eventually fell asleep without problem.

                          

Day 11:

Today Yoshi awoke me at 5am trying to tell me to get up because she booked a SCUBA trip and had to be ready by 7:20 am.  I informed her that her time change was wrong and she had two hours to kill before heading to go SCUBA and to wake me up again then.  She sat in the room and read or did something while I vaguely slept.

She awoke me again this time at 7:20 and we said our good-byes.  It’s fun to meet so many great people on the road and have intimate moments together sharing space, experiences, language, laughs, and crossing cultural barriers. The sad part is you meet so many great people you’d like to continue to have in your life, but know that you likely won’t ever see them again unless by chance your paths cross again.

I got up to head to the bank to get some money and it told me I had reached my limit for the day and I couldn’t withdraw any money.  I ran into Alex on the street and he asked me if I had the money and I told him about my ATM woes.  He questioned whether I had the money and I assured him I did.  He told me to check the ATM on the other side of town because sometimes if one doesn’t work the other one will.  We agreed to meet at the office in 15 minutes. I headed over to Banco Pacifico and sure enough it worked and I was handed another $500.  I headed to Iguana Travel to meet Alex, but he wasn’t around.  I headed towards the dock where I last saw him and ran into him within a few minutes.  We then headed back to the office where I tried on some snorkel gear to bring on the Flamingo and headed out to the hostel to pick up my bags.  Alex assured me my guide would be waiting for me.

I headed to Liro Del Mar and checked out.  I left the keys at the front desk and told the girl that I would be leaving and the Japaense girl, Yoshi would be staying another night but was out for the day SCUBA diving and would pay upon her return.  (Damn my Spanish is getting good!).   I then got some breakfast and took a taxi to the bus station with all of my bags for $1.  I arrived to the bus station and was checking out the stores while I was waiting for the 9:30 bus (I missed the 9:00 one).  I turned around and the entire bus station was gone…SHIT.  I ran outside and everyone was already on the bus ready to go.  I threw my bags under the bus and jumped inside.  Apparently I didn’t realize that you had to buy a ticket inside and they never asked for it so I got a free ride.  The last buses I rode you paid once you were inside the bus.

I took the 45-minute ride back to the ferry dock.  I took my bags from under the bus and moved them to the roof of the ferry.  I jumped on the ferry to make the short crossing back to the other side.  When I got to the other side I walked up the stairs and grabbed my bags off the top of the ferry and then went to get on the bus where there were lots of people waiting.  They didn’t’ have a place to put your bags under the bus so I had to carry them on the bus.

We made the short 5-minute ride to the airport and I had my bags and walked off the bus.  I didn’t walk 20 feet when a man approached me and asked me I was on the Flamingo.  I said yes and he told me there were two other people waiting for me to head to the boat and we would wait for a bus to take us to the port that was 5 minutes away.  He told us we would only have to wait a few minutes, but that turned into an hour.  The bus wouldn’t leave until it had enough passengers to fill it so we were waiting for a flight to come in so that the bus would fill up and we would head out.  During that time I met Stina who was a blonde haired girl from Norway.  She was really nice and was traveling through South America and Central America for about 6 months and was already 2 months into her trip.   I also went to grab some candy and water at the airport and upon my return to my bags the bus was ready to go and we jumped on it.  Her friend Oslo was also from Norway and they met earlier when traveling during a GAP tour for Brazil and Peru and were sharing some expenses along the way.  He was quite quiet while Stina and I chatted it up.

We took the short ride to Baltra, a military area where the Flamingo was waiting for us.  There were some seals hanging out on the benches and an iguana on the dock.  Our guide told us not to get close, as it was a sea lion bachelor pad for all the rejects that weren’t quite big enough.  We took some photos and waited for the shore boat to come pick us up.

We jumped on the shore boat and put on our lifejackets for safety.  We took a short ride to the boat where we were met by the crew and a few of the passengers hanging out in the eating area.  We were led to our cabin and I put my bags down and headed up on deck.  I started to meet a few more people and soon they started to get the tables ready for our lunch.  Our guide then came down and explained what we would be doing for the rest of the day and tomorrow.

I was the only native English speaker on the boat.  There was a couple from Germany whose names I suck at remembering (sorry – the girl is in Quito for a few months working at the embassy in Quito while her boyfriend was visiting on holiday), Mita from Holland (traveling for 9 weeks), Petra and Dominic from Switzerland (traveling separately each for about 6 months), Stina and Oslo from Norway (each traveling for about 6 months, maybe more), and Martin and his wife from Northern Italy (on holiday).  All of them spoke German except Oslo and me.  The girl, Stina, could understand German since she took 3 years in school, but wouldn’t speak any.  The Italian couple were from a part of Italy that was German speaking.  A few were here just on holiday, but most of us were long-term travelers of 2 months or more.

Lunch was ready and I was asked if there were any certain foods I didn’t eat.  I let them know I was allergic to mushrooms and I didn’t like fish.  Tuna steak was for lunch so I got a big batch of rice instead.  Lunch always starts with a bowl of soup and then comes the main course… which are very large portions.  I ate as much as I could and told them not to serve me so much because I wasn’t a big eater (They never listened and always served me a ton of food- that mostly went to anybody else who wanted it or waste.)

We then took off and went to our first stop, Plazas Island.  It was a semi-wet/dry landing.  We pulled the shore boat up to some rocks and jumped from the boat to some rocks that we had to climb over.  I changed my lens on my camera and got ready to take some photos of the wildlife.  We first came across the Frigate bird where the male has a big red pouch that blows up really big when they are trying to pull the ladies.  Our guide told us the bird was confused because there were not females around and he was just practicing pulling out his red pouch.  There are two kinds of Frigate birds here on the Galapagos Islands the Great Frigate Bird and the Magnificent Frigate bird.  They are large and black with long wings, hooked beaks, and forked tails.

We then came across the Galapagos Hawk who was flying in the air waiting for some scraps.  They are endemic to the Galapagos and are found on most islands in the Galapagos catching their prey which includes lizards, young iguanas, rats, grasshoppers, etc. There were a few Frigate birds that were within 15 feet of us with a baby chick begging for some food.  He was hollering and screaming and finally the mother bent over and puked into the babies mouth.  We watched them feed and then the baby chick started hollering for more.  It was amazing to be so close to nature.

We followed the path to a Blue-Footed boobie who was just chilling out.  There were several younger ones around, but they weren’t old enough to have blue feet yet.  The boobies lay up to 3 eggs as a sort of insurance policy, but usually only allow one to survive.  Survival of the fittest.  The boobie family (red, blue, and Nazca) are incredible divers and plunge to a depth of 8 meters to catch their prey.  They are colorful, interesting, and a pleasure to watch.  Sometimes they do a little dance for you.

We came across a dead blue-footed boobie and our guide went on about how he saw that exact bird alive just a few weeks ago when he visited the islands and that his brother killed him because the Boobie birds only allow one of their eggs to hatch and live as part of a survival of the fittest type of thing.  We walked a little further and saw another dead bird and again we got a wild story about how he knew exactly what happened to him.  Sheesh.  My guidebook was right when it said the backpacker boats don’t usually have very good guides.

We then were on the look out for some iguanas that were in mating colors of red and yellow.  We saw several trails of Iguanas, but were having no luck.  We would see their tracks and their fresh poop and finally we came across a fairly large iguana that was hanging out on the path.  In the National Park we are only allowed there with a guide and only allowed on a designated part of the island that is clearly marked.  The National Park decides what boats can be at what islands at certain times and when they can go to shore with the passengers to visit the islands.

The iguana was about 3 feet long and was quite large but of normal colors and not mating colors.  The land iguanas grow to about 3 feet at their largest.  Their yellowish-orange belly and brownish red back make them more colorful than their cousins the marine iguana.  The land iguanas live in the more arid portion of the islands.  They mainly eat prickly pear cactus by eating the pads, fruit, and spines.

The cactus provides both food and water for the land iguana who can go without fresh water for a year.  They find shade during the day and burrow into the ground at night.

We walked a bit more and came across some lava lizards that I don’t remember much information about because I was fooling around with my camera when the guide was talking.  We ended up on the coast where we saw many sea lions.  They were walking around and lounging about.  They usually lift their head up if you get close just to check you out and then go back to lying down or whatever they were doing.

We then saw an iguana in the distance with mostly mating colors, but still not fully there.   We walked along the coast and enjoyed the beach and the nice surf and sea lion activity.  We then met the boat where we walked to a rock and a sea lion was lying there.  We crept past it to get into the shore boat and headed to the Flamingo.

We were welcomed with a small snack of popcorn and went upstairs to lounge on deck where we got to know each other a bit more.  The rest of the people on the boat (minus the Norwegians that joined me at the airport) were on an 8-day cruise and we were joining them for their 2^nd half.  They went up to the Northern part of the islands and now we were heading to the Southern islands of Santa Fe, Española, Floreana, and ending on the main island Santa Cruz (where we started).

We all chatted it up until dinner was ready around 7pm.  We had some sort of chicken and it was okay.  Everyone then went up on deck and we all talked and started drinking.  Dominic had two bottles of rum and the ship offered bottles of beer that you could buy by putting a tick next to your name on a paper on the wall in the kitchen.  They also offered coke.  I don’t like either so I was SOL on special drinks.

The sunset was absolutely amazing and we were in a peaceful harbor to sleep and hang out for the night.  Early in the morning (around 5am) we would start our passage to the next island, which would be around a 2-hour navigation.

After some good laughs and sitting up on deck, watching the night sky and experiencing several shooting stars I headed down below to go to bed.  What a great way to end an amazing day.

The bed the assigned me to was really small and on top.  As the boat rocked I felt like I was going to fall off and I was really uncomfortable and in pain so after an hour or so of that, I decided to climb down into Dominic’s bed and sleep there until he came down below to bed.  I could hear them up on deck from my room having a good time…  He never came down and fell asleep on deck instead.  Lucky me!

                          

Day 10:

Last night I was under the understanding that Lupe would wake me up at 7:00 so I didn’t worry about looking at the time, setting an alarm, or anything once I awoke.  I just laid in bed and waited and dozed in and out of slumber.  Finally, I got up and looked at the clock and realized that it was 7:30.  I jumped out and put on my jacket and beanie.  It is cold in the mornings so I have to get all dressed up to stay warm.

I ate my breakfast of strawberries, kiwi, and pineapple with my cinnamon tea.  Lupe asked me if I wanted some eggs, but it just didn’t sound good to me today so I declined.  They say that I eat like a bird because I eat so little.  I make sure that they serve me little amounts of food because it either goes to Christian or the dog if I don’t finish my plate!

I went up stairs to take a shower and then get dressed and ready for the Galapagos.  I had two pairs of sunglasses and decided I only needed one so I brought a pair out to Lupe and asked if she liked them.  She loved them and they looked really good on her so I told her she could have them.  She was pretty excited.

I then grabbed my bags, said my good-byes, and put my bags in the car.  Maurcio and I took off and he dropped me off at the airport.  We had a nice talk along the way and he asked me several times if I would check in with them and write them.  I assured him I would.

I headed to the airport where I went to a special part of the airport for Galapagos destination where they searched my bags and I had to pay $10 for a special visitors card that had my name printed on it.  (Pretty neat, but nobody told me about this extra expense!) They then put my bags through x-ray and made sure I had no food on me or other certain items.  I then went to the Galapagos check-in and then through airport security… which was nothing compared to the US.  They had this huge 50 gallon barrel of knifes and other confiscated items, but it was only 1/3 full.

I then waited in the airport for a while and my ticket said “gate 0” but there was no gate 0 so I was a little confused.  I saw the guy next to me had the same ticket so I asked him.  We then talked a while and I was asking about his trip to the Galapagos.  I read in the guide-book that you can’t be too friendly towards Ecuadorian guys because of the cultural difference they think it means something else when a woman talks to them and I don’t want to give the wrong impression at times.

We then boarded and had to walk on the ground for about 100 yards and then headed up a staircase to our plane.  I was in the very back and near a Japanese girl whom was also alone.  I spent the flight writing blog entries.  They offered me a biscuit type snack and a drink. The flight to Guayaquil was really short and the airline staff is really lax about having electronics out and having your seat reclined back… a huge difference from the states where they are really anal about it.

The plane then had to refuel and do all sorts of stuff so we were there for a while.  They finally started to bring the new passengers aboard and this Ecuadorian man was in front of me and as soon as he sat down he turned around to talk to me and was asking me all sorts of things.  We had a good conversation and then it turned ugly. He started asking me questions I wasn’t comfortable with and then if I would be his “friend” and he could get me a place to stay with him in the Galapagos because he lived there.  I finally told him that I didn’t want to be his friend because I didn’t know him and he gave me a dirty look and left me alone after that.

The flight took off and I continued to write blog entries, but stopped to eat the food they served me that was full of mayonnaise (which I absolutely hate)… so I spent some time scraping it off of my ham sandwich.  I really hate being a picky eater at times!

The plane landed and everyone was so antsy to get off the flight… when I was getting my bag they were trying to get ahead of me in the aisle so I let them and I was at the very back… like I really cared.  They were freaking out trying to get more in front of other people by trying to move up the aisle… Then they opened the back of the plane and guess who was first off! Ha.

We all walked down the runway into the airport located on Baltra Island where we had to pay a $100 park entrance fee and then have our bags inspected and searched (again).  We then waited for baggage claim which was them taking the bags off and placing them on the ground while they had us wait behind this fence.  I saw the Japanese girl, Yoshi, standing there so I approached her and asked her if she was alone and if she had a place to stay tonight or any reservations.  She told me she didn’t so I asked her if she wanted to find one to stay at together.  She wanted to.  They then opened up the gate and like cattle we all herded out to get our bags and then have them checked with our baggage ticket before we were allowed out of the airport.

There were several busses waiting and we started to get on the first one, but it was so full we jumped on the 2^nd bus.  The bus took us on a short 5 minute ride down to a ferry where we had to put our luggage on top of the roof and then make a slow, but short 10-minute crossing (for .80) to Santa Cruz where we then got on another bus to take us into the main town Puerto Ayora ($1.80).  We sat together and talked about life and what we were doing.  She was on a 2-month trip in South America and travels a lot to various places around the world.

The bus dropped us off at the dock in Puerto Ayora and we grabbed our bags and asked directions to the hostel that she had a name written down of.  We had no idea where to go so we ended up walking a while and asking for directions again.  Finally, I understood the directions and we made it there within 5 minutes.  The hostel we ended up at was Hostel Liro Del Mar where we each paid $15 for a private 2-bed room with a fan and a nice cold shower (no hot water).

We were starving so we decided to find a place to eat and ended up at Café Hernán where we ordered pizza (Hawaiian for me) and I decided to give the watermelon juice a try.  The watermelon juice was okay and not my favorite although I love watermelon fruit.  The pizza was fantastic and hit the spot.  I almost ate the entire thing!  Afterwards we decided to walk around to the tour agencies and see if I could find some day tours to do since a cruise would be much more money than I wanted to spend.

Yoshi said she saw an information center so we headed near the port where she saw it.  We walked inside only to find out it was a church! We laughed and then headed out to find some tour agencies to get some quotes and whatnot.

After walking into several tour agencies and talking to them the most economical solution seemed to be a 5 or 8 day cruise.  The rates for SCUBA diving were all the same… either $130-$150 depending on how far away the dive spot was.  That’s expensive and I wanted to spend a few days diving, but decided that I would have to limit myself to one that included 2 dives in the same spot.  It seemed that Gorden Rocks was the best site to see the best sea life.  I found several last minute cruises that were around $3000 but would be given to me for around $1500… that was way too much money and way more than I wanted to spend.  I finally went into a tour agency called Iguana Travel with a Russian guy named Alex.  Quite the character he is.  If only I could explain in words what went on in that office.  It was quite entertaining to say the least.

Alex gave me two options with one being “more better.”  I had the option of a 5-day cruise with the Flamingo (motor vessel) for $680 or on a sail boat for 8-days for $1100.  I found that I really wanted to go to Isabella island which was not part of either cruise.  It had a volcano where you could horseback ride around the crater and see the lava inside… I love volcanoes so it’s a must-see for me.

Alex and I were joking around and I was making fun of him most of the time, but he took it with stride and we had several laughs.  The Flamingo boat had only room for one more and was leaving the next morning.  I told Alex I would be back in 30-minutes with my decision.  Yoshi and I walked to 2 more tour agencies and found that they were offering the Flamingo at an inflated price (over $100 more).  I decided to go back to Alex and take the Flamingo cruise the next day.  It was a bit stressful for me because I knew that I wouldn’t be able to have internet and I had a few things to tie up with work before I left.  Therefore, I had to scramble to make sure I could get it taken care of while I was away on my last-minute decision to go on the Flamingo within a few hours.

Finally, I decided to just go for it, and told Alex I would take it.  He asked me to pay him and I handed him my credit card.  It was then he told me that the Galapagos was like, “cash island” and I had to pay in cash.  Damn. I only brought like $150 with me to the Galapagos.  He told me I could go to the bank and get out $500 and get another $500 in the morning.  So off I went to Pacificio Banco where I pulled out $500 and headed back to give it to Alex.  I was unsure that I would actually being going on a tour because the whole deal seemed so sketchy, but I for some crazy reason trusted him with this little ghetto receipt.

Alex told me I had to meet him at 8:30 in the morning to give him the rest of the cash to pay for my trip and then head to the bus station to catch the 9:00 bus to the airport where I should ask for the guide of the “Flamingo” who will be waiting for me.

Yoshi and I then headed back to the room to drop some things off and then walked around town for a few hours to check it out.  I realized that I had forgotten to pack my bikini or any kind of swim suit so I went looking for one.  I finally settled on some cheap board shorts for $9 and one of the sports bras I had in my bag.  The suits on the island were either too expensive or didn’t fit me.  I have a hard time finding something to fit in the states so it was much more difficult here.  I stopped at an internet café to make some calls via Skype and then we headed to the grocery store where I bought an underwater camera and some cookies in case the food on my cruise really sucked and I was left hungry.  We walked for a while and I was hungry craving some fries so we started to look for a restaurant to get some food.  It was 10 PM by now and all the restaurants were closed.  We walked into one that was just closing and talked them into selling us some fries.  We got a huge platter of fries for $3.50 and some fresh limeade.

After we finished eating we then decided to call it a night and headed to Liro Del Mar, the hostel we were staying at.

The Galapagos Islands (UNESCO – World Heritage Site and Biosphere Reserve) are very special islands distributed around the equator and consist of 13 main islands with 6 smaller islands and 107 rocks and islets. Isabella is the largest of the islands and makes up over half of the total land area of the Galapagos.  The oldest island is thought to have formed between 5 and 10 million years ago.  In 1959 only 1,000 to 2,000 people called the Galapagos their home and now the population is somewhere between 30,000 and 40,000.  97.5% of the Galapagos is considered a national park with exception of the areas of the island already colonized.   43,496 square miles of the ocean is declared a marine reserve, second only in size to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.

The origin of the Galapagos Islands is volcanic.  They appeared from lava eruptions that came from the bottom of the ocean.  Lave from more than 2,000 craters has continuously altered the terrain of the region.   The islands move to the East at a rate of 1-2 inches per year.  As they move east they move away from the hot plates they were born on and the volcanos become dormant or non-existant.

During the 17^th and 18^th century pirates found the Galapagos a safe place to hide, repair their vessels, and stock up on fresh meat, killing tortoises by the thousands.   Pirates found that the tortoises could live on their vessel for up to a year without much food and were a great source of fresh meat for their meals.

Late in the 18^th century came the whaler fleets who made the Galapagos islands a center of operations, but left when the profits weren’t worth the costly, lengthy routes.  These events both left a devastating impact on the islands.  Thousands of Galapagos turtles were killed, and the introduction of domestic animals has greatly impacted and disturbed the environment and way of life, in which the Galapagos animals once lived in harmony.  These events are the reasons for having such a strong conservation campaign in today’s Galapagos.

Introduced plants and animals such as feral goats, cats, and cattle brought accidentally or willingly to the islands by humans, represent the main threat to the Galapagos. Quick to reproduce, these species decimate the habitats of native species.  The native animals, lacking natural predators on the islands, are defenseless to introduced species and fall prey.  Part of what makes the Galapagos so special is that the animals don’t have any natural predators so they have no fears that allow humans to get extremely close and gain curiosity of us.

Charles Darwin arrived in the Galapagos Islands on September 15^th 1835 and the first place he visited was San Cristobal Island.  He visited a few of the islands and spent 5 weeks there.  When he returned to England in 1836 he used what he had seen on his voyage to develop his theory of evolution, where he believed that species change over a long period of time (evolve) to suit their environment.  He found that many birds, animals, plants, and reptiles had developed differently from the same ancestors.  Over millions of years they have slow adapted to the different environments around them by the process called evolution.

There are 13 species of Darwin’s finch, a small sparrow-like bird, in the Galapagos Islands.  Each species has adapted – or evolved – depending on the type of food that it feeds on.  This is shown by the different beak shapes they have and other differences.  For example, the large ground finch has developed a broad, wide beak, for cracking hard seeds.  The cactus ground finch has a long, down curved beak, for reaching down into the cactus flowers upon which it feeds.

                          

Day 9:

Today I woke up and got ready to do some errands before heading to the Galapagos tomorrow.  I went down and had breakfast with Lupe as usually and we talked for a while.  I asked her where the Post Office was and she gave me directions in Spanish that I mostly understood.  I then asked her for a box to put all the handi-crafts I bought in Otavalo to send back to the United States.

She gave me a small parts box that I packed up very nicely and covered in tape.  I put the address on the front and spent about 10 minutes making sure the package was good to go.  I then grabbed my day pack and headed to the Post Office.

I walked for about 10 minutes until I got past the park and turned around and there was the post office.  I headed inside and asked the man how much to send to the United States and he told me he must open my package.  I was really upset after all the time I had spent making sure the box was perfect and secure for it’s journey to the States.  Finally, I obliged and he cut it open and saw that it was only handi-crafts that I said was in there and he called the police officer that was outside the store inside to go through the box too.  He then told me he needed 2 copies of my passport.  I started to argue about why he needed that.  (I was a bit confused most of the time because this was all in Spanish!) He said he needed it for the paperwork required to file for all packages leaving the country.

Finally, after making me wait about 20 minutes they decided my package was okay and they started to tape it back up and then covered the address up by wrapping the entire package in brown paper and made me write on the outside the address again and my address and telephone number in Quito, Ecuador.

When it was all said and done, it was about $37 to mail the package.  I told the man that was very expensive and he then put 12 $3 stamps on it and 3 $.01 stamps on it and off my package went.

I then started to walk to the airport when I realized I only had an hour to get there before my noon deadline or my seat would be relinquished.  I put my ipod on with some good music and headed that way.  It was about a 30 minute walk from where I was and I was unsure of where in the airport I was actually supposed to go.  I got really hungry and had to stop and get a quick snack.  A little taste of home with a small bag of Mega Queso Doritos and some Ecuador Coconut cookies (that were extremely good), and a Dasani Water.  The Dasani Water bottles here are much different than those in the states.  They are tall and skinny and have a very small label.

Once I got to the airport I went to the front desk to ask the lady in Spanish where the TAME office was.  She gave me directions and off I went.  I was in the international section of the airport and I needed to be in the Domestic area since the Galapagos is part of Ecuador.

I found the TAME office quite easily and I asked the lady if she spoke English and she replied, “no.” So I then told her in Spanish that I had a reservation that I needed to pay for to the Galapagos that leaves tomorrow.  She couldn’t find my reservation and I gave her my passport and told her it could be under my nickname of, ‘Jenny.’  After about 5 minutes of searching she found it and I paid via my Mastercard.  When she told me the amount I started to ask her why it was more expensive because the price on the internet was about $50 cheaper.  She told me it was only for Visa on the internet at the lower price and that my only choice was to pay the price she stated.  I asked if it included the $100 fee to enter the Galapagos upon entry and she replied, “no.” I finally finished paying and signed the receipt and she gave me my papers and told me what time I needed to be at the airport and all of that good stuff.  I was pretty proud of my ability to speak Spanish in the conversation.

The Galapagos is a huge budget breaker, but I had a good October and I’ve heard that it is well worth the money spent plus I’m halfway there already so why not?  The animals have no predators and are used to humans being close so it’s a unique experience you can only get one place in the world.  This lack of predators has allowed several of the species to evolve so much that some of the animals and fish have 40 or 50 different variations that can only be found here.  Definite evidence of evolution.

I then headed to a phone booth to call Fabian (whom I met off Couchsurfing and went to his Book Launch my first day in Quito). He is helping me with a Corporate ticket to Bogota, Colombia so that I don’t have to do the dangerous border crossing between Ecuador and Colombia.  It can be especially dangerous for Gringas like me so the money was well worth my safety.  Today was a crappy day for my budget!  It is okay though because I will make it up in the less expensive countries later on in my trip where I can live on about $15 dollars per day.

I got Fabian’s address to his office and hailed a taxi where I paid $2 to have him take me across town.  I hit the button to enter and headed up the stairs.  I met Fabian in his office where he was doing some work.  I looked through some of the books he published about touring 5 star hotel and restaurants in Ecuador as well as the ‘must-see’ places in the country.

He gave me this ticket that is blank.  You call a reservation office and then use the ticket and fill it out at the ticket point.  If you fill it out beforehand and need to change the date then you get charged a fee so he informed me to leave it blank and let the agent fill it out when I arrive at the airport.

Fabian then ordered lunch and Natalie was there and heading out to Colombia today so she was trying to get everything ready to be on the move.  Natalie has been in South America for 7 months and has a few more months to go before returning to Switzerland.  She speaks French, Spanish, and English fluently.  I didn’t realize that Switzerland was divided into three parts that spoke different languages (Italian, French, and ? ).

The food arrived and we dug in.  Fabian and I had grilled chicken and potatoes while Natalie had a salad.  I was happy to have something similar to American food and I loved it.  I ate as much as I could and drowned my potatoes in ketchup… American Style.

Fabian had to return to work so I headed out and took a taxi back to the house.  I had some work to do before heading to the Galapagos.  I did a few hours of work when David, a visitor to stay at the house, arrived.  We talked politics for a while until Maurcio arrived and invited me to a party his college was putting on.  It was on Friday and I wouldn’t be around so I declined.  This is David’s third time to stay with the family and he just returned from the Jungle.  He plans on staying here for a while, going home to work for a month or so, then returning to Brazil where he will travel around for a year or so before going to law school.

I then ate dinner with everyone and grabbed my stuff to call and talk to Curtis for a few minutes and then upload my work at the internet café.  I returned to the house where Maurcio and Lupe were getting ready to take me to “gringo land.”  It is an area of Quito that has a lot of hostels, clubs, restaurants, tour agencies, and backpacker stores.

Once we arrived we just walked around and looked at all the places.  Like America the clubs cost money to enter, but sometimes include drinks.  It was like walking in any downtown city in America.  Lupe and Maurcio were making fun of me saying I had a lot of ‘fans.’  Boys would walk by me and say things like, “Hey Baby,” or stare at me as I walked by.  Lupe thought it was hilarious. The attention was flattering, but got old pretty quick. Do they really think they can pick up girls like that?

After walking around for about an hour we headed out and drove around to see different parts of Quito before heading back to the house. I was over it pretty quickly. I didn’t come here to party or see shopping malls… I came here to have an adventure and see things I can’t see back home.

Once we arrived back at the house, I started to pack my suitcase and get ready for the wonderful Galapagos trip ahead where I have no reservations or a place to stay reserved!  I hear it’s cheaper to book on the islands.

                          

Day 8:

This morning I awoke around 7am and laid in bed for a bit since I’m not a morning person and it takes me a while to come to.  I finally got up and went downstairs where Lupe had my breakfast ready.  She cuts fruits for me everyday depending on what I like or want and has cinnamon tea waiting for me.  Lupe and her family make me feel at home and a part of the family.  It’s really great and I enjoy it so much I am thinking of partially staying in home stays rather than hostels for more of my trip that originally planned.  I also think it will help accelerate my Spanish skills.  Lupe and Maurcio already talk about how much I have improved in just one week and I haven’t even had time to study outside my Spanish lessons because I’ve been so busy wrapping up some projects for work, blogging, and traveling around.

Christina arrived around 9am as usual to start our Spanish lessons.  We have been practicing vocabulary, present tense, regular and irregular verbs.  Today we started on past and future tense and while future was fairly easy… past tense is much more difficult.  I haven’t had much English conversation since I got here so I am struggling with the ability to express myself in Spanish and talk about my life at home in the United States.  After a tough 4 hour Spanish lesson learning past and future tense with regular and irregular verbs we called it quits.

Christina had me fill out a note in her notebook giving a recommendation of her tutoring and we said our good-byes.   I was sad to see her go because she has been a great teacher for me.  She customized a lesson plan to fit my needs and was flexible to my schedule.

Afterwards, I ate lunch and rushed out to the internet café because I promised a client I would check in and make sure everything was okay with a project I was working on.  After everything checked out, I did some blog duty and headed back to the house where Lupe and I planned on going to the Historical center if it wasn’t raining and if it was we would go the next morning.

It was raining.  Of course.  Like it always does in Ecuador around mid-afternoon.  I sat around and was trying to map out my course to get to Iquitos, Peru from Quito, Ecuador and what I wanted to see along the way.  Ecuador has some beautiful untouched Jungle that would be great to see as well as some ruins sites.  I was trying to figure out how to get to the top of the river to float down to Iquitos, Peru.  Iquitos doesn’t have any roads leading in or out, so you either have to float down the river for a few days to get there for fly in.

Anyways, when Maurcio came home he told us it was only raining a little there and that he would bring us part way and we could take the bus the rest of the way and Lupe talked me into it.  Maucrio dropped us off at the bus station after a quick 15-minute ride and then we were on the bus for about 30 minutes.

We headed out to el Centro Historio once we got off the bus.  Quito, Ecuador was the first city to be given a UNESCO World Heritage Site and has a lot of history to it.  The Histocial Center is full of history with churches, plazas, government buildings, and stuff like that.

El Centro Historico is full of churches that are 300-400 years old.  It is believed that some of the churches were built over the Inca ruins in Quito leaving no trail of Inca behind.    When we arrived we had to walk up a extremely steep hill to arrive at the first church.  It was beautiful outside and inside.  There were also a few tombs inside of it of people that were important to the church.

The second stop was a plaza with many stores inside, but they were very expensive.  Next up was the President’s Building which hosted his office.  We went inside for a tour but found out the last tour had just taken place. Lupe started this sob story saying, “The Gringa is leaving Ecuador tomorrow and she really wants to see the President’s office. Blah Blah Blah.” She went on for about 3 or 4 minutes before they went to start whispering to each other and came back out.  They then took a copy of my passport and did a security check and brought us up to where the last tour was.

The guide asked me where I was from and if I spoke Spanish.  I said “EstadiosUnidos y pequito espanol.  They all laughed at me and I had no idea why.  Lupe grabbed me and said poquito.  (It wasn’t until I used pequito about 10 more times over the next day or so that I finally learned that pequito means little kiss and poquito means little.)

We entered the area where the president held conferences.  There was a painting from the 1600’s in there that was about 6 or 7 feet tall.  The chairs were hand-made Italian and the chandeliers were from Peru.   There was also a thick bulletproof material covering all of the windows.  We were then led down a corridor that had replicas of all the gifts the president has received here in Ecuador.  It was all kinds of hand-made items from all over the world.

The last room was where the Ecuador constitution was born.  A new one was written and put into play just a few years ago.  The room had paintings of all the presidents in office except for one because he was kicked-out.  They went from one on the left two on the right three on the left four on the right all the way to the last president.  The current president doesn’t get his painting on the wall until after he leaves office.

The guide did the entire tour in Spanish and then did a bit in English and I told him what I got out of it and I was mostly correct.  My Spanish comprehension is getting better! I did have a few questions for him because there were a few things I didn’t quite understand.  The chandeliers in this room were from Italy and I don’t remember where the rugs were from.

Once we left and got my passport back I walked outside and saw this big beautiful church on the horizon.  I asked Lupe if we could walk there, as it was only about 10 minutes uphill.  We headed up there and I was simply amazed at its beauty.  In America we don’t have anything that old with that much history so it was very new to me and I was left in awe.

The church was big and magnificent.  It had two towers in the front and these huge big thick doors.  We walked inside and there were a group of people praying.  The ceilings were high, it was very quiet, and the lights were dim.  I tried taking a few photos but my flash wasn’t good enough on my small camera.  There were big glass window paintings and sculptures of the important religious people.  I went to bend down to take a photo, and accidently kicked some loose board and it echoed so loud throughout the entire church.  Lupe laughed her ass off and my eyes got real huge and I hoped I didn’t disturb the people praying.

We walked outside and headed towards the theatre to check it out.  It was a cool building and we took a quick look at it before heading to the bus stop to head back home.

We took a bus to Maurcio’s work at the Chevrolet dealership because it would be quicker.  We were on the bus for about 45 minutes and it was horrible to be stuck in traffic! Maurico came out and we all jumped in the car and headed home.  Maurcio wasn’t feeling well and was a bit sick.  It took another 45 minutes to get home and Maurcio went to the store to get some medicine.  At the pharmacies here you can just buy the amount of pills you need rather than a huge box of 24.

We had dinner and I had a good talk with the family.  I then called TAME and made reservations to go to the Galapagos for Thursday morning at 9:45.  I got an open-ended ticket so that I could change my reservation if I wanted to stay longer.  They do not take credit cards over the phone so they hold your reservation until you go to their office and pay.  So I had to head to the airport and pay by noon tomorrow.  What a pain in the ass.

The family has a dog named Pookie.  He is about one year old and doesn’t know any tricks and doesn’t listen at all to the family.  In the time I have been here so far, I have taught him to sit, stay, and release (In Spanish of course).  He only listens and sits for me and I have been trying to show the family how to train their dog.  They have been amazed at my ability to make him listen and do what I want him to.  I talked in length about how to train him and they seem very happy with the progress.