10th - Quito

When we landed at South Plaza Saturday afternoon we encountered more land iguanas which were even more colorful than the ones we had seen in the morning. We also got a chance to spot some exotic birds that pass by the islands. These were horribly fast and therefore very difficult to get a decent photo of.

Land iguanas

Exotic bird

When returning to the boat and started sailing to our last destination, we were followed by more than 20 frigates, that went from flying next to the boat to sit in large amounts on the roof. We also got a brief sighting of a small whale (only the fin came up a couple of times, so it was impossible to see what kind it was), and shortly afterwards we saw in the distance a manta ray jumping out of the water several times (which it does to get rid of parasites). Later at night we were met by a couple of sharks and a sea lion.

Jumping manta ray

Frigates sitting on the boat

Sunday morning we got up very early in an attempt to beat the other boats at landing at North Seymour to see frigates where the males have their front sack (the red patch you see in the other photos) inflated. After an hour we came back to the boat, had breakfast and were dropped off at Baltra Island where we got the plane back to Quito.

Frigate with inflated sack. Very manly!

They can only fly for a short while with the inflated sack, and it's usually because another male has forced them away from where they were seated.

The trip was very rewarding, and I can recommend it to anyone who wants to see some unique wildlife and environments. But be prepared to get sick and tired of sea lions… The people who only did the shorter trips actually said that they would have wanted to stay longer, so if possible, choose the 10-day trip. Big thank you to Raul our great waiter/bartender who was always happy (and was going on 2 weeks leave after 6 weeks on the boat at the same time we were leaving, which basically made him sunshine on legs the last night on the boat), and to Diego, our great guide who seemed to be all-knowing and very competent.

Now, Monday morning I am sitting in the hotel room, finishing this part of the blog, and waiting to depart to the airport to get to Lima.

1st - Arrival

I have now arrived in Quito after 19 hours of transport. Despite being able to cope with the 22 hours to Australia, I was surprised of how much more problematic I felt this was. Probably because I didn't get much sleep before the day of departure, spent most of the day stressing around before leaving and the entertainment system in the plane was pretty much screwed. If you didn't get a black screen when selecting a movie or tv show, you probably just got something else. I was also sitting next to a guy with very long and pointy elbows - my patience is generally pretty short with people who don't try not to constantly poke the neighbour on the plane. On the other hand I had 4 meters of leg room which was awesome! Arriving at Amsterdam I located a self-service transfer machine to see if it was possible to upgrade myself to more room on the long haul (the 40 euros I paid last year when going to Africa for this was a great success), but every time I tried I got an error. I had to pay €70 for the upgrade, but I felt it would be worth it. So I found a help desk, and after the employee had been messing around on several different computers she had managed to give me the seat. And she did not see any reason for me to pay fot that. So I'd say that was probably the best 0 euros I have paid so far...

Now I am sitting in my hotel room (fast stable and free wireless internet!) and recovering from the trip. Had a nice bath and shave which was very much missed. We have a briefing at 1700 (right now it's a little past 1000, we are 7 hours behind DK), but until then it's a matter of relaxing and maybe finding something to eat somewhere. I feel completely smashed and wouldn't like anything better than getting some sleep - but that would probably not be a good idea. Damn time zones and potential jet lag.

Quito from my hotel room