Why not, Ecuador and the Galapagos here I come!

The following is my daily travel journal, my stream of consciousness while creating this fantastic DuVine Adventures trip for our clients in the Andes and Galapagos:

Day 1 – Today I was deep in the Andes, 2 hours from Quito, in a place referred to as the highlands, where I crisscrossed the many villages of the Otavalo indians.  The villages were characterized by children running and playing in the streets, women washing their clothing in buckets or making bread, whole families loaded up on a single horse, and people selling ponchos and hats as well as men herding their sheep, true village life.

There is a great culture here in both dress and food, with women wearing these traditional white and black dresses with a black hat which look stunning and the men all wearing white pants and slippers.  The locals all love eating pig, corn, avocado and potatoes as well as many interesting fruits and vegetables, with one fruit that looks oddly like an artichoke.

I am right on the Equator with volcanoes that go over 14k ft.  Tomorrow I will explore the national park and seek out more primitive villages.  People here are very nice and have their own dialect of Spanish.  Alberto my guide is a local and knows everyone.   It is rustic so it is not for everyone – but the traditional Hacienda I am staying in tonight is a gorgeous old estate at the base of the volcano…looking over the green valley.  Today was a good day!

Day 2 – Went to the famous market town of Otavalo – Where they sell rugs, hats and hippy pants, it was amazing.  I have so far created a good route, which will wow our clients with the experience of the local people and traditions! So amazing. This is a very well organized and colorful market.

I heard music off in the distance, so I walked into the old house, dark packed with people in the traditional dress, mostly men and mostly drunk, they were celebrating a wedding? Monday morning at 11am..maybe it was a continuation from the night before.

Wow, Wow! The music was so powerful and loud. It was like a war chant or something I can not explain it but the music had such meaning and such a powerful sound with the guitars and drums and the people where all in a trance. I felt as if someone was a musician and was in the room, a guitar player, that they would have reached Mecca. It was awesome and loud and clear.

Small men in black shirts and white pants, some in long ponchos and black hats and long pony tails.
They were smiling from ear to ear and love that I was there.  But…they kept giving me a drink…out of a old Sprite and Coca Cola cans. A drink called: firewater…they said made out of coca leafs. It is their Grappa or so called tequila.

Anyway – I was some what nervous to drink the “fire water” as I am not a fan of drugs. I was imagining it had cocaine or peyote. Anyway – I drank one shot…as my guide said it was homemade tequila, famous in the Andes as firewater. They make it from the plants and wow it was nice and I was glad to not pass out!

Day 3 – Funny guide story: I was at the Equator, and my guide Alfredo was tired. So when we were leaving…he took – what he thought was eye drops from the van…to give some moisture to his eyes.

Next thing I hear is ahhhhhhhhh…and he throws the tiny (supposed) eye drop solution down. I look at it…it looks like an eye dropper…says on it…”eye irritant” I read the back…Do not put in your eyes if so, go directly to a doctor and flush with water.

I am no doctor but I flushed his eye with water.

Long story short…he dropped nail polish glue in his eye. I felt bad but I have not laughed that hard in a long time…as he had to open his eye with his hand. Thank God I had a bottle of water.  He was ok – we laughed for a long time..as he can not read well…he thought it was for irritated eyes…not an eye irritant.

Anyway – my guide, Alfredo is smart with local knowledge and he is very funny (see the video in this blog post). He wanted us to eat piglets (guinea pigs) yesterday..it is a delicacy…I asked for fresh rolls that we get at the book store instead ..he did not answer …next thing you knew I had piglet with potatoes and a crevasse.  They love eating pig out here.

Off to the Galapagos with Alfredo..who knows what is next. I keep telling him I want to ride a giant turtle!

Day 4 – Walked with so many tortoise – which are land turtles.  Many are over 100yrs old.  Saw sea lions just laying on each other, many types of iguanas, huge pelicans and so on.  Had to take a boat taxi to the hotel and had a wonderful dinner with locals and ate octopus Caesar salad – which blew my Tevas right off my feet, ate lobster Galapagos  and local Cajun fish at a gorgeous restaurant on the water in the small tiny harbor. (Andermatt Harbour)

It is very quiet out here and the animals definitely rule.  The Galapagos has 7 islands – 3 main ones (very small) but that is where the commerce is…and the “Galapagos” are a natural park…once you land you have to pay $100 to enter…as the entire place is a national park reserve…so you can not mess with nature or any species.  There all types of trees, bushes and cactus.

My favorite moment on the day was seeing 2 sea loins (basically seals) laying on each other like you would see men/women on a couch relaxing watching TV.  But they were sitting on the dock chilling as the waves were going by..and I felt like a visitor to their home.  It was magical.

I definitely feel like a visitor in the home of a bunch of happy land and sea animals.  I am having a blast and making many new friends.

Had a great dinner in the harbor. Today I am off to go sea kayaking, hope to see some penguins and sharks.  Place is a big park – so everything that happens must be regulated and you can not – I say you can not mess with nature.

Just realized, that I am 900 miles off the coast of Ecuador in the Pacific. By the way – quickly – the main reason there are so many wild species here…is that 4 currents all arrive on the volcanic islands (different water temps) and the species have had to adapt for thousands of years. Weather is unstable – many different climates on the islands.

In closing, in no other place in the world will you find so much diversity per square mile as in Ecuador.  The DuVine multi-sport adventure combination interconnects distinct ecosystems with a variety of sporting activities and is the ultimate way to enjoy the immense ecological diversity of Ecuador. The Andes and the coast each features its own biological and ethnic distinctiveness, which is best experienced by the means of a kayak , snorkel, bike and foot.

Anyone who will join us will enjoy creative routes that cross through areas of great natural and scenic value.  The indigenous communities we visit along the way will leave you with a sense of Ecuador’s rich cultural identity.  You will ride past snow-capped Andean volcanoes, and through exhilarating paramos (highlands) or cloud forests on unpaved roads and trails.  Off  to the Galapagos Islands, which will allow you to get up-close and personal with the world’s most fearless wildlife, with the help of your kayak, mountain bike, and snorkel.  Of course, at DuVine we always handle every detail of your trip and provide only top-notch adventure and naturalist guides to accompany you, so that you can focus on enjoying the adventure of a lifetime.

Get ready to come to Ecuador and the Galapagos.

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