SOUTH AMERICA TRIP
March 2009
I just returned from an amazing trip to the Galapagos Islands and Machu Picchu. Barbara Sadek, the Director of Education for the Society for Human Resource Management, who has become a friend since I have spoken at their conferences since 1997, accompanied me, and we both felt it was one of the best trips we have ever had.
We flew on March 6 to Quito, Ecuador, and met the other 12 people in our group from the University of Kansas and Georgia Tech University at a reception that night. Our wonderful guide, Danuta, was from Poland, and she stayed with us the whole trip. It was a very compatible and interesting group, and we shared many stories and experiences during our two week trip.
Our first surprise was how very beautiful Ecuador is. It is one of the richest countries in South America for resources, and over and over we heard, “No one here ever goes hungry!” They have 3000 varieties of potatoes (we ate MANY types of potato dishes and soups while we were there!) and 380 varieties of corn, just as an example. We spent the first day on a city tour in Quito, a world heritage site, which is surrounded by mountains yet only miles from the equator. The Spanish influence from the Conquistadors is evident throughout the city. The highlight was La Compana de Jesus, a church whose lavish interior is decorated with seven tons of gold leaf!
The next day we took a bus to several small towns that specialize in different handcrafts – Calderon, where they make intricate figurines from bread dough; Otavalo, acclaimed for its finely woven sheep and alpaca wool, and Cotacachi, a town renowned for its leather crafters. Barb and I did so much shopping that we had to have a bellman carry it all in for us! (We both ended up having to buy an extra bag for the trip, and I had to pay $95 in overweight charges at the airport….but we sure did have fun! 😉 We also made a photo stop at the Equator with a sign marked 0 degrees latitude which was quite impressive.
That day on the bus, a miracle happened. Danuta pointed out a beautiful glacier in the distance, and we all took pictures of it from the bus window. On the way home that afternoon when I looked back at my digital pictures, on the right hand side of the picture of that mountain, there was a perfect white cross in the clouds. NO ONE else had that in any of their pictures taken at exactly the same time, so I felt sure it was my husband, Charlie, watching over us from Heaven! In fact, we were in Ecuador and Peru during the rainy season, and we had not one single day of rain, I believe thanks to Charlie.
The cross in the clouds from Charlie!
The next day we flew to Balta in the Galapagos Islands and from there boarded our ship, the M.V. Santa Cruz, for the next five days. We were only allowed 44 pounds on this flight, so that was quite a stretch considering we needed snorkeling gear, hiking boots, and water shoes! When we arrived to board the ship, we walked past a gorgeous yacht named “Laura.” We later found out that it belonged to Prince Charles and that he was in the Galapagos at the same time we were! Our cabin was the smallest one I have ever seen – about 18 inches between our beds, but the food was good, and we had excellent guides, so it all worked out fine. That day we made a dry landing on Zodiacs to climb Dragon Hill where we saw many varieties of cactus and both land and marine iguanas everywhere.
I did a lot of reading about the Galapagos before we left since it is where Darwin was inspired to write “The Origins of Species.” We were blessed to see many of the species that are endemic o these islands (exist nowhere else) on our trip – the giant tortoises, the blue-footed boobies (my favorite), the Darwin finch, and magnificent frigates, whose males puff up their bright red chests to impress potential mates.
The second day on the ship we made a dry landing on Bartolome’ island, where we climbed 365 steps to the top of a volcano. These islands still have many active volcanoes, and this island is known for Pinnacle Rock, a famous landmark of the Galapagos. That afternoon we did a wet landing on Santiago to snorkel. Unfortunately, I was the first person off the zodiac, and the crew member did not hold onto me long enough for me to be balanced in the waves, and I fell into the water. We all thought it was really funny until I discovered that my brand new digital camera, which was in my fanny pack, got wet and was completely ruined! However, Barb and others offered to take pictures for me, so I could not let that ruin my trip.
Wednesday we made a wet landing on Rabida where we saw many sea lions, iguanas, and hiked to “Darwin’s toilet,” an interesting saltwater pool that appeared to be “flushing” continually. One of our favorite memories here was a baby sea lion whose mother had just returned from several days of food hunting. He barked and barked to greet her, and then we watched the joyful, playful reunion….just like a human child. That afternoon we went to North Seymour Island and hiked over huge boulders to see our favorite animals – the blue-footed boobies and the frigate birds. We even got to see a boobie mating dance!
Our last day was spent on Santa Cruz Island where we visited the Charles Darwin Research Station and saw many giant tortoises, including “Lonesome George,” the last surviving member of a subspecies. The next day we flew from San Cristobal to Guayaquil. Our favorite place there was Bolivar Park (named for Simon Bolivar) where there were literally hundreds of iguanas hanging from trees, piled on the paths, and sleeping everywhere. The children love it!
The next day we flew to Lima to begin our adventure in Peru. For both Barb and me, Peru was really the highlight of our trip. We stayed one night in Lima where we stored most of our bags and then took a small plane to Cuzco where we toured the Urubamba Valley and then visited Ollantayambo Fort, an Inca ruin. We also had some shopping time here at Pisac Market which Barb and I took full advantage of! We were not bothered by the altitude as we had feared; however, we drank lots of coca tea and ate coca candy which the natives feel helps one’s body adjust to the 11,000 foot altitude in Cuzco.
The following day we took a beautifully scenic 3 hour train ride to Machu Picchu where we checked in at the Inca Terra Hotel, a lovely place where we had our own bungalow in the rain forest. Late morning we took a bus up hairpin turns for our first spectacular view of Machu Picchu, one of the 7 wonders of the world. It was the most beautiful place I have ever been in the world! The stark Andes mountains surrounding such amazing ruins were breathtaking. It was one of the few Inca sites that was not destroyed by the Conquistadors, and visting it has been a lifelong dream of mine. It was a bright, sunny day, unlike nearly all the photos you see of it which are normally foggy, misty, and rainy, so we were able to climb to the top where the guardhouse is. It was a treacherous climb, even in the sunshine, so we probably would not have attempted it in the rain. ( I will write more about this in my blog next week, www.barbaraglanz.com/blob/).
Unfortunately, that night 7 of the 14 of us got sick from something at the buffet lunch at MP (cost was $33 US, so it was not a “questionable” place), but mine only lasted about 14 hours, so I was the luckiest. The next day we took the train back to Cuzco and went to the Inca ruins of Sacsayhuaman (they pronounce it “sexy woman!”), a fortress that was the site of a fierce battle between the Incas and Francisco Pizarro.
On our flight back to Lima the following day, we had an experience we will NEVER forget – about 20 minutes into the flight, the oxygen masks came down throughout the plane. Both Barb and I were absorbed in doing something else, so it was quite a surprise. Unfortunately, the announcement, as everyone was hastily putting on their masks, was only in Spanish – the flight attendants spoke no English—so we had no idea what was really happening! Finally they asked our guide to take the mic and tell us what had happened. Evidently, the pilot had pushed the wrong button……which did not give us a great deal of confidence for the rest of the flight! 😉
We did arrive safely, of course, and had a final day in Lima for a city tour. We all really loved the city of Lima. We got to visit the 16th century Casa Aliaga, constructed in 1535 by a member of Pizarro’s conquering forces. It has been in the family for 17 generations, and they still live there. We also visited the cathedral as well as the Plaza de Armes where the fountain is the center of South America. That night Barb and I had dinner at Rosa Nautica, a lovely restaurant on the pier in Lima. We were the last of the group to leave for home at 12:30 am on March 21st. We slept in that last morning, and I woke up feeling like the most blessed person in the world to be able to have such an amazing experience!
