Buenos Aires, Quito and Galapagos

Hi All... Yes, I´m still alive... We just got back to Quito today and I´ve just found out one of the hotel maids has stolen my good goretex wind proof rain coat... NOT HAPPY!!! Anyway, the hotel is claiming no responsibility (???) so somehow I have to go find a new one... Thank god Quito it´s a big city and I saw some outdoor clothing shops earlier...

Anyways... On a more positive note the last week has been great fun. Sadly I was only in BA for one night but its a huge place. The main shopping street reminded me of Amsterdams but without all the pot smoke... It would be nice to see more of it during the day as we got in at 7pm and I left at 6am... D'oh...

As expected, my plane was delayed in Lima so I didn´t get into Quito til late afternoon. I met another person from my tour in Lima so I scammed a lift with her transfer driver to the hotel and munched out on empanada´s for dinner... Yummy!!


In the morning we explored the old town section of Quito and climbed up a zillion stairs to get to the statue on the hill overlooking the city. This place is some 2000m obove sea level and I was really surprised how big it is. In the afternoon we met the rest of our Galapagos group and left early in the morning to fly out to Quayaquill (??) and then on to the Island of Baltra in the Galapagos.

The Galapagos is sooo cool!! When you first get off the plane and see whats basically a desert landscape you start to wander if perhaps this place is severly over rated but as the bus takes you on to the ferry and then the next bus you start to see how much contrast there is here. Over the last few days we´ve seen sea lions, penguins, turtles, tortoises, land and marine iguana´s, sea snakes, starfish, blue footed boobies, lava lizards, dolphins and loads of different fish species... And thats just the animals...

We went snorkling four times and I got to swim with sea lions, penguins, turtles, sharks and stingrays. Because its all national park and the government is very strict on preserving the environment (you cant even flush your toilet paper...) this place is teeming with wildlife and plants and is completely litter free. I took photo´s with an underwater disposable camera and can´t wait to get the film back and start putting some of those and my other pics on too. Even the ducks have had an awesome time. They´ve even made a friend...

So... We´re back in Quito for the next few days. Jane and I will be going to the Equator tomorrow and a couple days later my Conquistador tour with Gecko´s begins but I´m sure I´ll be able to add more before we leave!!