why we work -- journal

Wednesday, December 29, 2004

Greetings from Easy Cyber Cafe in Port Ayoro, Santa Cruz Island in the Galapagos!

This is our third night in the Galapagos and we do not even know where to begin. We saw more on the first day than we had hoped to see during the entire trip. Here are the highlights- snorkeling with a GIANT sea lion, seeing schools of spotted eagle rays, sea turtles galore, golden eagle rays, white tip reef sharks in THREE FEET OF WATER, sea lions, fur seals, baby sea lions, red footed boobies, marine iguanas, land iguanas, frigate birds, pelicans, herons, baby masked boobies emerging from their eggs, baby red footed boobies learning to fly, sea lion pups nursing from momma, lava lizards, puffer fish, HUGE parrot fish, large rays LEAPING entirely out of the water, mating sea turtles, and dolphins swimming with the boat. The absolute most amazing part of this experience is how the wildlife seems to be completely at ease around humans. It is impossible to describe how cool it feels to get within inches of sea lions and other creatures.

Speaking of the boat, we are VERY pleased with our decision. The 100 passenger boats seem like cattle calls and we are loving the personal attention we receive aboard the Seaman. The boat easily accommodates 16 passengers, all of whom are great to travel with. The food has exceeded our expectations and we get three huge meals a day - this morning was banana pancakes! The crew is great and go out of their way to make sure that this is a great vacation.

The weather has been fantastic- there are cloudy periods here and there but we are thankful for them as we are now as dark as natives. There are several activities a day -always a mix of snorkeling, hiking, panga (dinghy) tours, etc. We have filled 2 memory cards and this is day 3 of 7! Good thing we have the 1 gig spare.

Tomorrow we are going to the Darwin Research Center and then heading for Floriana tomorrow evening. Likely will not have internet access before we return to Quito on January 3, so for now, Happy New Year!

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Sunday, December 26, 2004

Greetings from the Hotel Sierra Madre - a $2/5 minute cab ride from the Marriott. We are in room 9, which is on the 2nd floor (great, once we figured out than in America that means the third floor). We didn´t even bother bringing the 50 pound scuba bag upstairs since we´re leaving early tomorrow am and don´t plan on any diving related activities before then.

Spent the morning at the pool, we think it´s in the high 70s or low 80s. We think we killed the thermometer since the mercury now has three stripes at the top. Not sure what we are going to do now - it seems like a lot is closed on Sundays. But this time tomorrow we´ll be in the Galapagos!!!

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Saturday, December 25, 2004

For not knowing what we were going to do today, we were pretty productive.

We hired a cab to take us to the Mitad del Mundo (the center of the world). The driver, Juan, first took us to see the Pululhula Crater - a HUGE creater in the center of a volcano that last erupted 2000 years ago. There were a few communication difficulties, like when we asked when it had last erupted and he said "2000" - which we figured meant the year 2000 so we thought we were being quite adventurous. It was a very pretty view, and unlike Haleakela in Oahu, you can drive right to the vista.

After the crater, we went to a "museum" (Museo de Sitio Intinan) that is the actual location of the equator - seems that the huge monument was built a few degrees off. Our guide showed us several interesting "proofs" - like how EXACTLY on the equator, water drains straight down, and then how a few feet north of the equator the water drained clockwise, and a few feet south of the equator the water drained counterclockwise. So the myth about "toilets flush in the reverse in the southern hemisphere" is actually not a myth at all. She also showed us how it was possible to balance an egg on the head of a nail, although since I had not tried this in other places it wasn't as convincing as the draining water demonstration. Most importantly, she explained that because there is a more equal gravitational pull, we weight 2 pounds less here. This is a good thing, since our luggage is a bit over the allowed weight :) Our guide also showed us the process of making shrunken heads, complete with science-fair like posters outlining the nine steps of the process. We saw a hutch of guinea pigs, which she explained are a delicacy in Ecuador eaten on holidays and celebrations such as New Years. The museum had three llamas, which are common in Ecuador as they are a source of wool.

We also visited the official equatorial monument, and took the elevator to the top to have a look around. We could see the snow covered tip of a volcano peeking out from behind a mountain range. There was an ethnographic museum that we sped past on our climb down the stairs.

It really didn't seem like Christmas today. Not only because I'm not eating lobster, but because there were so many people out and about. Everytime the car stopped, people would approach selling small goods and asking for money. The coveted position seems to be right after the toll booths (toll is .40, so most just give the .60), but apparently this position is earned as it was usually occupied by elders. We saw a LOT of traditional Ecuadorian clothing - the hats (like the one Morgan is wearing) are actually VERY heavy felt. There are two predominant colors in women's ponchos and skirts, bright magenta and purple - I don't think I've seen these exact colors anywhere.

Spent the afternoon by the pool. Our new thermometer showed that it was 110 in the bright sun (we think this is because the thermometer is black), however it dropped to a cool 80 in the shade. THe pool area is quite nice, with a waterfall and very pretty landscaping (lilly of the valley, cali lillies, poppies, and bougainvillea. Come to think of it, we saw a lot of flowers driving around too. We didn't spend too much time at the pool, since even with SPF30, we were roasting. We are on the equator after all.

Just finished dinner at La Hacienda (the not-buffet restaurant in the Marriott). We are thinking of designing shirts that say, "no, we are not part of the Xpedition group" because they seem to ask us that wherever we go. Guess that will change when we check out of the most upscale hotel in Quito.

Tomorrow we check out of the Marriott and check in to the Sierra Madre Hotel and meet the rest of the Seaman passengers. We might find internet access somewhere along the way, but if not, look for a post on 3 January - hopefully we'll have seen something interesting between now and then :))))

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Greetings from Quito, Ecuador.

That HAS to be the most hassle-free travel experience we have ever had. Exit row to Miami, plenty of time to make our connection, bulk row to Quito, 1 minute line at immigration, luggage arrived right away, $5 cab to the Marriott - no problems whatsoever. Well, security at OHare was...interesting. We asked to have our bag of film manually inspected, since we have heard of the xrays ruining high speed film. So - in addition to swabbing the plastic bag in which the film was contained, the TSA agent removed every roll of film from its canister and swabbed each one separately. But hey, if its making the skys safer, no problem. Yet another reason to go digital.

The Quito airport was clean and efficient and it was about a 10 minute cab ride to the hotel. It was after 11pm, but there were a ton of people out on the streets, including one group crossing the street in a candle-lit procession, we assume on their way to mass. The Marriott is NICE - brand new, efficient, and clean. Our room is quite large, with the usual mix of bath products, robes, and chocolates. We're enjoying it while we can since tomorrow we move to the other hotel and then onto the boat.

We were up early this morning and went to the breakfast buffet. There were a strange number of other people dressed in adventure travel garb, and we soon learned that this was the hotel for the Celebrity Xpedition - those lucky...people.

A funny thing about this Spanish keyboard - the keys have the Spanish layout with all of the special characters, but when you type them they type the English equivelant. Makes finding things like quotes, brackets, etc. wuite interesting. So someone better click through using he Marriott link above because it was darned difficult to figure out.

Not sure what we're going to do today. The weather is nice - sunny with some clouds, haven't seen any rain yet. From what we've seen from our room, we're surrounded by mountains. We might try to hire a cab for a quick tour, although since it's Christmas we're not sure. The guide book in the room lists several places to visit, all of which are footnoted with "NOTE:Do not go here at night because there are theives and burgalars." Just like home :)

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Friday, December 24, 2004

We were up around 5am this morning, not because we have an early flight but because we both finally realized that WE'RE GOING TO THE GALAPAGOS. This destination has been on our list for as long the list has existed. And it's always good to leave Chicago when it's...ZERO.

We might be able to check in from Quito, but that might be it since we won't have internet access on the boat. The Celebrity Xpedition was out of our price range so we are on the "tourist class" Seaman. (insert inappropriate joke here)

We're certain that we have exceeded the luggage allowance of 44 pounds per person. We were doing great until we weighed the darned dive bag(shown on left in photo below).

BUT, the new camera bag rocks! and is going to make schlepping 17 pounds of camera equipment a whole lot easier.

So for now, adios amigos :)

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Thursday, December 23, 2004

Galapagos Packing List:

CLOTHING
2 pairs of shorts
1 pair of convertible pants
5 short sleeved t-shirts
1 long sleeved shirts
1 anorak/windbreaker
2 bathing suits
socks/undergarments/pajamas

MISCELLANEOUS
Tevas
Tilley Hat
Deck of Cards
Journal
Quick dry towels
Toiletries (including Dramamine and "just in case" Cipro)
Bag of Munchies Snack Mix
Bag of trail mix

WEAR ON PLANE
Long pants
Long sleeve shirt
Fleece
Hiking shoes

CAMERA GEAR
(1) Nikon Coolpix 5000 (for video/audio)
(1) Nikon Coolpix 880 (for macro)
(1) Nikon D70 w/18-70 lens
(1) zoom lens (didn't use)
(2) Battery Chargers
(4) Rechargeable Batteries for 5000/880
(1) Rechargeable Battery for D70
(1) Wide angle lens for 880 (didn't use)
(1) lens adapter for 880 (didn't use)
(3) Chamois lens cloths
(1) 1 Gb microdrive
(3) 512 Mb compact flash cards
(2) 256 Mb compact flash cards
(1) Nikonos V with 28mm lens, and SB-105 Flash
(4) Rolls of 400 speed film for Nikonos
(1) Disposable underwater camera
(1) Small dry bag (used for camera equip. inside backpack)

SUN & REPELLING PRODUCTS
(1) Banana Boat Sport SPF 15 (8 oz.)
(1) Banana Boat Sport SPF 30 (8 oz.)
(1) Banana Boat Oil Free SPF 8 (4 oz.)
(1) Banana Boat Faces SPF 23 (4 oz.)(2) Cutter Outdoorsman Insect Repellent (5 oz. - 21% Deet)
(1) Caladryl Calamine Lotion (6oz.)
(1) Bottle of Aloe

DIVE GEAR
(2) wetsuits (5mm for me, 3mm for Andy)
(2) sets of masks/snorkel/fins/booties
(2) hoods (didn't use)
(2) bcd's, regulators, gauges
(1) dive computer
(2) dive logs/c cards

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Monday, December 20, 2004

Finally seeing some real progress on the demolition of the Sun-Times Building. The picture on the left is from November 19th, and the picture on the right is from today.

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Wednesday, December 15, 2004

In preparation for our upcoming trip to the Galapagos, we recently spent some time in the pool trying to figure out the darned Nikonos.

Here's a close up of Andy - I sure hope that the creatures in the Galapagos like to pose as much as he does :)

And here's a shot of me, photoshopped to make it more interesting.

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