Isabela Island Galapagos

I left Santa Cruz two days ago to venture over to the Island of Isabela. The boat ride was a mixture of adrenaline rushing thru my body along with tons of sea water pouring on it... I sat next to a lady who told me she goes from island to island 2 times a week for the past 10 years and this ride was one of the worst she had experienced. We had seas that were about 10-12 feet at times, one guy who puked along the way and 13 others who were a little greenish grey in color. I chose to sit at the end of the boat... I was the only one soaked from head to toe for our 2 hour ride, our 2 hour ride ;) Gilligan's for ya!! But I was also the only one with a smile on my face and the wind and water in my hair.

Yesterday, I took a 4 hour walk along the beach and there were, sea lions, land turtles, marine iguanas, various birds and crabs afoot.

The streets of Isabela are primarily composed of sand and old boats pepper peoples yards here and there to really give it wonderful beach vibe.

I would share photos with you but it would take all year to post them so I can only share my words with you for now.

Isabela is not as populated as Santa Cruz but it is also suffering from tourism, cars and politics..... Last nite when a lady found out I was a photographer she wanted me to photograph the dead animals... As an amimal lover I found this disturbing yet the fact is, eyes need to be opened. I want for Quinn, my nephew to visit these islands one day and I want for him to see it the way I have seen it and not desolated and abandoned.

The issue is the cars... The drivers are careless and are killing off the wildlife. Why not make bikes the mandatory form of getting around, the island is so very small?? The construction is another issue and the mounds of litter hidden being houses is a problem as well.

I took a bike ride today to get the full effect. Last nite I met several people who have lived here for many years and have seen the drastic changes but they blame the political figures for not making a change. I tried to explain to them that if they are not careful that in 10 years the Galapagos will not be what it is today... Once the animals disappear from the over fishing, pollution and carelessness of the natives it will be just a volcanic island that had a beautiful but sad history.

When I returned from my bike ride I spoke to a lady who maintains the bikes and she asked me to come and speak to her students tomorrow at the college... I am quite nervous as I do not fare well in front of crowds but I want to get the word out that change will start with them. Not to wait for things to be put in motion my the PTB but by initiating it themselves and to start caring for this very precious land. Why not start a pick up trash day??? Everyone knows each other here, so make it a fun day have a BBQ, give prizes to the most trash collected and make this Island the pristine place it used to be.....

Mr Darwin would be sad to see how his beloved islands have evolved, to be sure...

Aside from the issues I am taking amazing photos of the people of the islands and am quite proud of my work., I hope that I will be able to make a book that truly shows the beauty of Ecuador as well as the nature of the people and the diversity of the land.

Last nite at Beto's Bar they had an amazing duo of father and sun who played the blues... I will get his name as he is quite famous... the nite was beautiful and many frineds were made... also met some amazing people from the US and one up and coming 18 year old named Alex who I will be doing a photo shoot with soon!!

On my way to have dinner ;) A hug and kiss to all my friends and family!!!

Los Gemelos and The Lava Tunnels

For the past few days I have walked to be what seems miles and miles, how I will miss walking to new and diverse destinations when I return home. Los Gemelos and the Lava tunnels are located in the highlands of the Galapagos on the Island of Santa Cruz. I hired a guide to venture out with me and he explained that Los Gemelos was created when a volcano erupted and once the lava settled it dropped hundreds of feet beneath the earth. If you were not aware of the creation of the Galapagos it is all created by volcanos and the land is the result of the lava. Most of these volcanos are sleeping or dormant at this point but one did arupt a few months ago in the island of Fednaninda.

So we traversed the island seeking cool pics which I will upload a little later and show you here. The internet is dreadfully slow and I find so many better things to do than sit and wait for pages to upload....

Yesterday i ventured back out to Tortuga Bay since the skies had finally cleared up and the sun felt amazing on my skin. So amazing that I did not notice the wave that swept over me, my camera gear and my cell phone.... Thank goodness Canon make a quasi waterproof camera!! My cell phone on the other hand had to be chased my be as the ocean wanted to take it away!!! Can you believe they fixed it for $15 ??? In the states they would have said, here are the new ones we can offer you to purchase.....

Did i mention, I LOVE ECUADOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My family will have to find a way to visit me once I find a way to move here. I think I would be quite content living in the states half a year and living in paradise the other half....

Here are a few pics of the Tortoise farm and the huge turtles that reside here. And a couple of other photos as well.

Tomorrow I will go to Finch's bay and take a water taxi to get there. Sounds neato!!

Galapagos, a small walk to Tortuga Bay

Today I headed to Tortuga bay, it was truly a beautiful day and I only wish for just a little less rain... I will be headed back when the sky clears as it is truly a magical spot. Here are just a few photos from todays venture out.
I am going to OM out while the photos take a year and a day to upload..... Ommmmmmmmm

I heart Ecuador ;)








Lava Lizard Chillin


One if my favs!!!


Hummmmm maybe this one is....


Love love love the grey skies against the very aqua blue water~~~


My totally amazing diggs


And finally a view of my room!!

Galapagos Day two....

I find it interesting that I am learning ever so quickly that the things that you plan for are not half as good as the things you never intended to do. I was supposed to be in the Galapagos for my entire stay while in Ecuador but little by little my plans changed and I thank God for those little changes. As I have mentioned before I am so very fortunate in meeting the beautiful people who have been a very big part of my sojourn.

Yesterday was my first day back in the Galapagos and so much has changed since my last visit. It is no longer the quaint town with animals of all sorts crawling the streets yet has become a city with buses and noise and tons and tons of people. I can not wait to be on a boat away from all the movement. My first nite was a bit depressing as my room had a lovely view of a cement wall , a faint smell of pee and the sounds were not the barks of sea lions but honking horns and such.... I was ready to get on a plane to go back to the quaint villages that I had stayed in. I phoned a friend in Ecuador who suggested that I look for a three story yellow home and ask if I could stay there for the week... and so I went looking for the home. Once she opened the door I knew everything was going to be OK. The energy that surrounded me was warm and welcoming, I will take pics to show you where I will be staying for a while.

I have learned that energy can be a beautiful and quite ugly as well and can be easily stirred in either direction. I sat alone today eating lunch when a man came and sat next to me. We ended up talking for a bit and then he took me to his gallery where he presented me with a stunning pair of silver iguana earrings and a beautiful Batik scarf hand painted in my favorite colors. He told me that he wanted to give this to me because I changed his day, he is an artist like me and we shared a beautiful day in a very short amount of time. I will take photos of him and his gallery and he will be part of my book.

So remember one thing, try not to plan your life, leave doors open for beautiful moments to happen and I believe you may be pleasantly surprised.

All the images below were taken with a little point and shoot, tomorrow I will bring out the biggie and I look forward to taking and sharing some beautiful images.





OK, so i am a bit impatient as many know and i just cant wait for all the pics to upload, promise to get more pics up soooooooooooooooon!


xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Waterfall Vilcabamba... sorry its sideways......

If you use the bottom square on the video you can see the vid in full screen!!

Cuenca and beyond....

That is correct, I changed my plans a bit and endended up taking a car ride with some new friends to the beautiful town of Cuenca!! I am enamored with Ecuador and how the towns are so different from each other in comparison. I am actually in Guayaquil now but for the past two days I was in Cuenca. As we drove thru Vilcabamba the vistas were breathtaking, it was a rainy day so the clouds hung low, and when I say low they are so low that we drove straight thru them. It created such a beautiful atmosphere, we listened to some very Zen music and the ambiance was complete. We told stories, sung, danced and laughed in the car. As we zipped by there were horses and cows, native village people in colorful clothes hanging corn and clothes from their homes, roosters,donkies and dogs running wild!!! The air was so very very fresh and crisp. Ahhhhhhhhhh Ecuador!!!!

So, once we arrived in Cuenca, Cynthia (my new sister from Maui) and I took off for some interesting shopping. I bought a beautiful pair of boots and a lavander poncho along with some gifts for my loved ones at home... And she purchased some beautiful hand made crafts for hers. along the way there were many things to choose from to eat, the real thing that I could identify was the grilled rooster feet... I have lost about 7 lbs, lolol. But the food really is amazing as we went to have an Italian dinner that nite with Cynthia, Juan his Tio Maurico and Michael. We had the most delicious wine from Argentina and the yummiest Gnocchi since my visit to Italy. The conversation was as beautiful as the people who surrounded me. Maurico and I walked home and the others went by car. As we strolled the streets of Cuenca we entered a magnificent church and I cried as I was so taken by its beauty and the energy within... What a beautiful nite, indeed!!!

The streets of Cuenca are not like those of Quito or Guayaquil... The streets and buildings remind me of Italy, old and historic. Vibrant colors and vibrant people set the scene. I have many beautiful photos to post and will attempt to do that today.

I should be headed to the Galapagos on Sunday.... Stay tuned!! I am going to the boardwalk in Guayaquil now to take some more photos of this incredible adventure.

Chicken Feet.....










Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Fresh Strawberries!!!! The sweetest ever!!




















Inside the Historic Inca Hotel In Cuenca, this is where I stayed one nite...


Me in the Cajas National Reserve, tons of beautiful pics from there, more to come...


Cajas National Reserve


Clouds descending...

Vilcabamba and the Jocotoco Reserve

I was up and ready by 6am with one cup of cold coffee in my system... The day was beautiful if not a little chilly. Ernesto, my guide, and I hopped on a bus and headed for Tapichalaca.. I may be off on the spelling on that one... The journey is a 2 hour one in which we had to stop for about 40 minutes while they cleared a landslide... ahhhhhhhhhhhh la vida loca!!!! Once the landslide was cleared away we were on our way.. oopps not yet, one more landslide to clear up... I was told that many had to wait about 4 hours so we were lucky to have only waited 40 minutes.. La valor es la pena.. I am told this means its worth the value, and so it was. The park was located in a cloud forest which inhabits well over several hundred varieties of birds... Everything was moist and fresh, I managed to slide down the mountain a bit and caught it on video so I have to post that one!!!! We stopped and had a backpack lunch of hot coffee and a cheese sandwich.

Once we were finished with our 4 hour hike we waited for the bus and waited and waited... Finally we started walking, up the mountain to catch a bus along the way. My thighs are offically flab free!!! Whoot whoot!

Yesterday way a chill out day to recoop from the hike. I went with Juan Deigo and his crazy uncle Maurico to the waterfalls. Along the way we saw people training roosters for a cock fight, of course this did not sit well with me but there have been many times I simply must close my eyes as they are not accustomed to seeing such things.

The waterfall was amazing and seriously cold. They held my hands so I would not slide down the river and I dunked my body in the water!! It is the water that comes from the snowcapped mountains and must be about 55/60 degrees, not sure how my toes did not fall off. I laid on the hot rocks to warm up and finally went in for a second round of torture, loving every minute of it!!! Afterwards we had a crazy car ride home, macho men.... ay yai yi!!!!!

Today I will go on my final hike with the most wonderful Ernesto and then tomorrow I will head back to Guyaquil and pack for the GALAPAGOS!!!!!!!!!!

xoxoxoxooxoxoxox , me

VILCABAMBA Day 2

I arrived in Vilcabamba after an amazing 10 hour drive by 2 buses. It is more amazing than I could have possibly imagined. The views are beautiful and I cant wait to put the photos up- the one photo I did not take was the one of the spider the size of my hand staring me down in the shower. Needless to say I RAN OUT soaking wet and went to get someone to take care of the matter. When he came to get the spider he explained to me that is was actually small in size.... Today I hired a guide to take me hiking, once again the views of the mountains are dramatic and the climate is perfect!! I will write more tomorrow. I miss and wish you all were here!!!!