As I posted in the previous post, I ended up staying a bit longer in Rosario than originally planned because of a few things. Mainly because I felt as though my help was truly needed, but also because the other teachers father died and classes were canceled for a full week and I didnt want to leave without saying good bye to the kiddos! That week I studied and did some farming, and extra time to explore around the area. Unfortunately most afternoons were rainy and the nights usually very rainy... This really made me want to head out. My host brother and I ended up becoming quite close and the extra conversations really helped me a lot with spanish and to understand a lot more about life in Cuellaje or Rosario than what I could see from the surface. It was really truly a challenge to keep the kids entertained... usually they just wanted to play games from the very first minute of class. Discipline was quite difficult at times, and the wide variety of levels like I said in the previous post, and lack of technology. The students in Korea and I would sing all the time, especially younger ones. Much easier to hold their attention, dance and move with music. So I pulled out as many simple english songs as I could, but not the same as the silly guys on youtube!
After I left I headed towards Banos a beautiful town in the mountains that actually seems a little bit like Cuellaje but more tourist things to do. There was an awesome tree top swingset to play on... the largest drop off in the world or something.. Called Casa Del Arbol. Other activities, visiting the zoo, the famous hot springs, and biking down a path of waterfalls. After Banos I headed back to Quito to see the carnaval festivities... which well were pretty disappointing to say the least. Just a bunch of kids throwing water or spray foam at strangers. there were big water fights in a big park there and that was mostly it. Seems like an interesting reason to have two days off work right? After Quito and being pretty cold for a while... I decided it was time to get back to the beach and head to Montanita.
I arrived by overnight bus and met the girl sharing my room.. she was going with some friends to another beach so I joined them. They were all from Argentina and the spanish they speak in Argentina is very different from Ecuador or anything else I had ever heard. They use a lot of different slang and some letters have a few different sounds.. That beach was playa rosada. The next day we went with another Argentinan friend to Olon, the next beach over. Two days I rented a surfboard and really started to get the hang of it! But heard it was much cheaper to do it in Peru. After looking for a while for flight to Galapagos and seeing that the price didn{t seem to change finally just decided to just book it.. I had only 4 days from booking the tickets until my plane took off from Guayaquil (Ecuadors largest city, but not the capitol). Also visited the poor mans Galapagos, Isla De Plata and Puerto Lopez which was one of my favorite hostels so far for the cool vibe and very environmentally friendly with hammocks all over, a stocked kitchen (sometimes hostels literally have pans that dont have anything left on them and a plastic knife... or the stove doesnt work, etc) book exchange, good music, and area for camping. From there I headed to Guayaquil the day before my flight to prepare.
After finding the hostel eventually... adventures in buses, lack of directions and Ecuadorians unable to read a map! I went to the supermarket to buy food for Galapagos. Because Galapagos is soo expensive in general and taking a lot of money from my trip I wanted to spend as little as I could. One way was to bring food. So I brought pasta, peanut butter, jelly, tostado that I made (hmmm kinda like popcorn but a bigger kernel that you pop on the stove and salt), chifles (hmmm kinda like chips made from platanos) , and some cookies. When I got there I bought some bread and fruits and veggies and really only had to eat out twice at the end of the trip.
The only downside of Galapagos was the price and the fact they are all about money. The islands are only about tourism, and a tiny fraction about conservation and people working with the animals, etc... Because of this it seems like they do whatever they like money wise. One dollar here, one dollar there, etc, etc! Not to mention, just getting off the plane costs you 100 buckeroos! EEEK. Hopefully that money is going to the right places.
I did not see a single piece of trash on any of the beaches and was definitely very very clean.. So that was really nice to see. They do a good job regulating which dive companies can go where so everyone is not going to the same spot at the same time etc. It seemed pretty well maintained to me. From Puerto Ayora after finding a hostel with two guys from Argentina I met on the bus, we headed to Charles Darwin research center to see some of the tortoises and land iguanas. Then we went to the beach. The beach was filled with these huge iguanas, which later learned they were everywhere these iguanas and have very little fear but sometimes spit at people. That night some guys needed more people to fill a boat for diving at a fraction of the normal cost.. we saved 50 bucks! It was 110 for two dives, lunch and snack, which is quite expensive but for Galapagos seriously a steal. The boat was this awesome yacht and an awesome group from all over... Canada, states , Holland, Colombia and Argentina. The dives were incredible... I had never seen so many things during one dive. Swimming in a school of fish sooo large that literally the water all around you goes from bright blue to black.. almost a little scary because you lose your dive partner. In diving you should always have sight of your dive partner. And behind that school of fish were some sharks floating around. Not to mention the different coral, things on the ground. AMAZING. While the second group did their dive, we snorkeled and swam with some sea lions and turtles. Then the second dive was kind of a drift
dive where we just floated along in the current, got to see hammerhead sharks multiple times and tons of amazing fish.
Next day one of the guys from Argentina and I headed to a beach we could walk to called tortuga bay... absolutely incredible. There was a beach with perfect sand and light turquiose blue water then around a corner a cove with calm water with some trees for shade and calmer water. After this we headed to Las Grietas.. two rocks that kind of formed a canyon. There were some fish inside of these rocks but the canyon was really cool to see.
Following day we headed to another island, Isabela. From when we arrived I knew I would like it... There were penguins playing next to our boat, turtles on the boat ride, and sea lions chillin in other boats. another amazing beach and clear colored water that you could see to the bottom. We rented bikes and visited another tortoise breeding center where they have tons of adorable tortoises of all sizes trying to repopulate them. Flamingos chillin on a lake.. they were so cool to see playing in the water and flying. The bike ride was really really hot, I think it was probably like 95 degrees with some humidity! Sooo a swim
in the beautiful water was much needed. Next day was another beach day for me! Thankfully there was a tree that shaded the beach the whole day. The sun in galapagos is like no where else ive ever felt before.. hence the red blanket always around me in nearly every picture!
The Tunnels tour was the following day. There were a school of golden manta rays, penguins to swim with, and awesome tunnels formed in the water where sharks hung out, more turtles, sea horses, and the biggest lobster I have ever seen in my life! The group was interesting, there was a couple from Poland sailing the world who... thought they were all that and got way too close to the animals with their fancy cameras even after the guides specificially asked them to not get so close. Multiple occasions they scared away the sharks before everyone else had the chance to see them. Bummer. The tunnels
ally glad i had chosen to get a wetsuit from the travel agency. This tour was 80 bucks and included lunch and snacks. Lunch was tuna sandwich, lots of fruits and cookies and crackers with some juice. The next mornign we did some more swimming with penguins and turtles, and stingrays. All such magical creatures! The sea lions were sometimes a bit moody but if you were stationaryey would walk as close as they wanted to. While I was laying down had one literally come so close I could have shaken his hand and he got sand all over my towel.
themselves were beautiful and tons of fun to swim through. Surprisingly, the water was kind of cold. I was re
The next day our favorite dive company (Nauti Diving) was unfortunately already booked for the next day and we didn{t want to retun to the exact same spot so we had to find another dive company. We werent super thrilled with our only choice it turned out alright. It was a small boat, and a bigger group with lunch that was sandwiches that we made ourselves. Nauti spoiled us! We saw very similar things as the previous dives but as always interesting to see different corals, different fish, and just be down like little mermaid. there were definitely more hammerhead sharks that got much closer to us so that was awesome to see! After that I thought about doing another dive... but really wondered what more there was to see? The last dive, Gordon Rocks is only recommended for people with a lot of dives. While I do have my advanced dive certification I don{t have that many dives... but after galapagos I have 18! Wooo.
I did another beach day at tortuga bay because its incredibly beautiful... then my final day I did a day tour of santa fe which is the other direction of isabela and the places I dove hoping for a change of scenery a bit... It was incredibly beautiful. The snorkeling in the first place wasnt anything too special, but in the second cove the water again was this amazing turquise color and from the boat you could spot sharks, rays and turtles and go swim towards them. Tons of sea lions chillin on the rock wall. Our final stop was a secluded beach that was also mind blowingly beautiful. This tour also included a lunch that a guy working on the boat cooked for us, rice, salad, patacones, and delicious breaded fish. YUM and of course snacks and fruit. I think all in all I spent about 1400$ for everything in the galapagos which is over a month of normal travel in other countries.... in essentially 9 days, but it was absolutely worth every penny. I wish I could have gone on a cruise but I didnt have any luck finding a good route, for a price I was looking for.. But maybe when I go back another time! Galapagos is definitely a top in my book. Landscape so unique, almost seemed like AZ in some ways, with so much wildlife that you could find everywhere, and such clean and pure beaches... everywhere you look! Incredible.
After I landed back in Guayaquil I walked from the airport to the huge bus terminal about a mile apart to get my ticket into Peru.
Galapagos in Video
After I left I headed towards Banos a beautiful town in the mountains that actually seems a little bit like Cuellaje but more tourist things to do. There was an awesome tree top swingset to play on... the largest drop off in the world or something.. Called Casa Del Arbol. Other activities, visiting the zoo, the famous hot springs, and biking down a path of waterfalls. After Banos I headed back to Quito to see the carnaval festivities... which well were pretty disappointing to say the least. Just a bunch of kids throwing water or spray foam at strangers. there were big water fights in a big park there and that was mostly it. Seems like an interesting reason to have two days off work right? After Quito and being pretty cold for a while... I decided it was time to get back to the beach and head to Montanita.I arrived by overnight bus and met the girl sharing my room.. she was going with some friends to another beach so I joined them. They were all from Argentina and the spanish they speak in Argentina is very different from Ecuador or anything else I had ever heard. They use a lot of different slang and some letters have a few different sounds.. That beach was playa rosada. The next day we went with another Argentinan friend to Olon, the next beach over. Two days I rented a surfboard and really started to get the hang of it! But heard it was much cheaper to do it in Peru. After looking for a while for flight to Galapagos and seeing that the price didn{t seem to change finally just decided to just book it.. I had only 4 days from booking the tickets until my plane took off from Guayaquil (Ecuadors largest city, but not the capitol). Also visited the poor mans Galapagos, Isla De Plata and Puerto Lopez which was one of my favorite hostels so far for the cool vibe and very environmentally friendly with hammocks all over, a stocked kitchen (sometimes hostels literally have pans that dont have anything left on them and a plastic knife... or the stove doesnt work, etc) book exchange, good music, and area for camping. From there I headed to Guayaquil the day before my flight to prepare.
After finding the hostel eventually... adventures in buses, lack of directions and Ecuadorians unable to read a map! I went to the supermarket to buy food for Galapagos. Because Galapagos is soo expensive in general and taking a lot of money from my trip I wanted to spend as little as I could. One way was to bring food. So I brought pasta, peanut butter, jelly, tostado that I made (hmmm kinda like popcorn but a bigger kernel that you pop on the stove and salt), chifles (hmmm kinda like chips made from platanos) , and some cookies. When I got there I bought some bread and fruits and veggies and really only had to eat out twice at the end of the trip.
The only downside of Galapagos was the price and the fact they are all about money. The islands are only about tourism, and a tiny fraction about conservation and people working with the animals, etc... Because of this it seems like they do whatever they like money wise. One dollar here, one dollar there, etc, etc! Not to mention, just getting off the plane costs you 100 buckeroos! EEEK. Hopefully that money is going to the right places.
I did not see a single piece of trash on any of the beaches and was definitely very very clean.. So that was really nice to see. They do a good job regulating which dive companies can go where so everyone is not going to the same spot at the same time etc. It seemed pretty well maintained to me. From Puerto Ayora after finding a hostel with two guys from Argentina I met on the bus, we headed to Charles Darwin research center to see some of the tortoises and land iguanas. Then we went to the beach. The beach was filled with these huge iguanas, which later learned they were everywhere these iguanas and have very little fear but sometimes spit at people. That night some guys needed more people to fill a boat for diving at a fraction of the normal cost.. we saved 50 bucks! It was 110 for two dives, lunch and snack, which is quite expensive but for Galapagos seriously a steal. The boat was this awesome yacht and an awesome group from all over... Canada, states , Holland, Colombia and Argentina. The dives were incredible... I had never seen so many things during one dive. Swimming in a school of fish sooo large that literally the water all around you goes from bright blue to black.. almost a little scary because you lose your dive partner. In diving you should always have sight of your dive partner. And behind that school of fish were some sharks floating around. Not to mention the different coral, things on the ground. AMAZING. While the second group did their dive, we snorkeled and swam with some sea lions and turtles. Then the second dive was kind of a drift Next day one of the guys from Argentina and I headed to a beach we could walk to called tortuga bay... absolutely incredible. There was a beach with perfect sand and light turquiose blue water then around a corner a cove with calm water with some trees for shade and calmer water. After this we headed to Las Grietas.. two rocks that kind of formed a canyon. There were some fish inside of these rocks but the canyon was really cool to see.
Following day we headed to another island, Isabela. From when we arrived I knew I would like it... There were penguins playing next to our boat, turtles on the boat ride, and sea lions chillin in other boats. another amazing beach and clear colored water that you could see to the bottom. We rented bikes and visited another tortoise breeding center where they have tons of adorable tortoises of all sizes trying to repopulate them. Flamingos chillin on a lake.. they were so cool to see playing in the water and flying. The bike ride was really really hot, I think it was probably like 95 degrees with some humidity! Sooo a swim in the beautiful water was much needed. Next day was another beach day for me! Thankfully there was a tree that shaded the beach the whole day. The sun in galapagos is like no where else ive ever felt before.. hence the red blanket always around me in nearly every picture!The Tunnels tour was the following day. There were a school of golden manta rays, penguins to swim with, and awesome tunnels formed in the water where sharks hung out, more turtles, sea horses, and the biggest lobster I have ever seen in my life! The group was interesting, there was a couple from Poland sailing the world who... thought they were all that and got way too close to the animals with their fancy cameras even after the guides specificially asked them to not get so close. Multiple occasions they scared away the sharks before everyone else had the chance to see them. Bummer. The tunnels
ally glad i had chosen to get a wetsuit from the travel agency. This tour was 80 bucks and included lunch and snacks. Lunch was tuna sandwich, lots of fruits and cookies and crackers with some juice. The next mornign we did some more swimming with penguins and turtles, and stingrays. All such magical creatures! The sea lions were sometimes a bit moody but if you were stationaryey would walk as close as they wanted to. While I was laying down had one literally come so close I could have shaken his hand and he got sand all over my towel.I did another beach day at tortuga bay because its incredibly beautiful... then my final day I did a day tour of santa fe which is the other direction of isabela and the places I dove hoping for a change of scenery a bit... It was incredibly beautiful. The snorkeling in the first place wasnt anything too special, but in the second cove the water again was this amazing turquise color and from the boat you could spot sharks, rays and turtles and go swim towards them. Tons of sea lions chillin on the rock wall. Our final stop was a secluded beach that was also mind blowingly beautiful. This tour also included a lunch that a guy working on the boat cooked for us, rice, salad, patacones, and delicious breaded fish. YUM and of course snacks and fruit. I think all in all I spent about 1400$ for everything in the galapagos which is over a month of normal travel in other countries.... in essentially 9 days, but it was absolutely worth every penny. I wish I could have gone on a cruise but I didnt have any luck finding a good route, for a price I was looking for.. But maybe when I go back another time! Galapagos is definitely a top in my book. Landscape so unique, almost seemed like AZ in some ways, with so much wildlife that you could find everywhere, and such clean and pure beaches... everywhere you look! Incredible.
After I landed back in Guayaquil I walked from the airport to the huge bus terminal about a mile apart to get my ticket into Peru.
Galapagos in Video
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