Blake and Deb Far Away

About two hours north of Quito lies the Mindo Valley, a cloud forest area famous for its bird life, butterflies, orchids, and waterfalls. It’s a beautiful natural area and we stayed at a unique Airbnb called the Bird Tower – a four-story rustic tree-house-like structure in the middle of the jungle. It’s tall and narrow with really just one room per floor, all connected by ladders. The bathroom was on the lower floor, kitchen/living above that, bedroom above that, and finally crowned by an observation deck that puts you right in the tree canopy with all the birds. Deborah really surprised me, not just by agreeing to stay at this place, but by being the one who suggested it in the first place. As it turned out we both loved it. Mind you there are some challenges such as mosquitoes and navigating ladders in the middle of the night when nature calls. But the experience of being immersed in nature in a quiet, peaceful setting was all worth it. We heard more birds than we saw, and saw ...

Most people visiting the Galapagos end up staying at least a day or two in Quito, Ecuador’s capital and largest city. With its international airport it is a natural gateway to the islands. But it has some charms of its own including a well-preserved historical center full of colonial era buildings, grand plazas, and several museums. We spent a day there before our Galapagos cruise and three days after. Quito is perched high in the Andes at an elevation of 2850 m (9350 ft). Walking around you definitely feel the altitude, especially in combination with the hilly terrain and steep sidewalks, and especially if you’ve just come from someplace at sea level. Quito doesn’t have a reputation for being the safest of cities, and indeed we think Deborah got pick pocketed there by a little old lady. What happened was I unwisely navigated us down an alley with poor visibility and at one point turned around to notice this very short (not uncommon in Ecuador) older lady walking directly behind ...

The small island of North Seymour was our (sadly) last real excursion on our Galapagos cruise. The highlight was seeing the frigate birds during mating season when the males inflate their red balloon-like throat sacs and shake and shiver to attract females to their nest. It’s quite a display – one which I’m grateful I didn’t have to employ to attract Deborah. Also on this island we had another close look at some blue footed boobies. We were sad to say goodbye to the Galapagos. Despite the considerable expense to tour the islands, it was totally worth it. We would actually consider coming back to tour the western islands, probably with the same cruise ship. In the meantime, we still have more of Ecuador to see before we head back, but it will be hard to top the Galapagos. Male Frigate Bird showing off The white-headed bird in the foreground is a juvenile The frigates form a distinctive silhouette when they soar There are actually two kinds of frigates: Gr...

Located at the extreme southeast of the archipelago, Española is one of the oldest of the Galapagos Islands (about 4 million years). The Waved Albatross comes to the island to breed starting in April, so we were there in time to see them, but they hadn’t yet arrived in large numbers and we weren’t able to witness their mating ritual, which apparently involves an elaborate dance and lots of beak clacking. We did see loads of Nazca Boobies (sometimes called Masked Boobies), as well as marine iguanas, gulls, mockingbirds, lava lizards and, of course, sea lions. The latter were mostly evident on the white sandy beach of Gardner Bay on Española’s northeast coast. Marine Iguana More Marine Iguanas Suarez Point on  Española  Island Nazca Booby Baby Nazca Booby (a hungry one) Marine Iguanas with their own private pool Marine Iguana swimming Galapagos Hawks Friend Susie with the blowhole in the backgroun...