1001 Places/Experiences to See or Savour #340 - Otovalo Market, Quito, Equador

1001 Places/Experiences to See or Savour After Remission #340

- Otovalo Market, Quito, Equador

(The Otovalo open-air market, about 70km from Quito is famous for its textiles. Seeing this cute little one on the shoulder of mummy, we had to stop to buy the llama-woven cardigan on sale. The road from Quito leading here gave some lovely views, including the 4630m high Imbabura volcano and the even higher 4939m Cotacachi volcano and its huge lake. Being Good Friday, the town of Cotacachi had a carnival atmosphere, but what we remembered most is their local dish called Fanesca - a mix of 5 different types of beans, the after-effects of which turned out to be deadly - a 'smoked-filled' hotel room that evening was its result)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1001 Places/Experiences to See or Savour #339 - Sea Turtles, Bachas beach, Galapagos

1001 Places/Experiences to See or Savour After Remission #339

- Sea Turtles, Bachas beach, Galapagos 

(Our final morning at Galapagos was framed by a beautiful sunrise at one end of the ship and a full moon at the other - glorious. Sea turtles nest on this Bachas beach, here on Santa Cruz island but our sightings were only of their prints on the white sand, while pelicans flew freely, with one frigate bird attacking a luscious red sallyfoot crab right in front of us. Wildlife aside, our trip included a few notable humans too, including our guide, Jessica Garcia, who made this trip special with her boundless energy, and a humanitarian Doctor Ali who took his skills to help in the recent Nepal earthquake. But one person took our breath away - a Texan man who looked like he's 75, hopping on and off the zodiac like a marine iguana, but his real age? 94! What inspiration indeed - we have over 40 years of world-travelling to look forward too - simply mind-blowing, just like the entire Galapagos experience!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1001 Places/Experiences to See or Savour #338 - Blue-footed Boobies, North Seymour Island, Galapagos

1001 Places/Experiences to See or Savour After Remission #338

- Blue-footed Boobies, North Seymour Island, Galapagos

 

(One of the big highlights of the Galapagos has to be the uniquely loveable blue-footed boobies here, with shoes that would make even Jimmy Choo envious. And they were flying all over North Seymour Island, together with the red-breasted frigate birds - see both videos below. Both birds brought out their weird but wonderful mating moves when we were there, making our time here so rewarding. The raw wilderness here was manifested by yellow iguanas munching on the cactus plant, with one swinging on a tree, sealions sunbathing, and by a dead sealion carcass along our path. This island rounded out our Galapagos trip so beautifully - one simply can't see these creatures together like this anywhere else on earth)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1001 Places/Experiences to See or Savour #337 - White-tip Sharks, North Seymour Island, Galapagos

1001 Places/Experiences to See or Savour After Remission #337

- White-tip Sharks, North Seymour Island, Galapagos

 

(The dinghies that ferried us in to the ship and out to the islands, called zodiacs here, ended in either wet or dry landings. Each was a fun-ride in itself, especially when the waves were a bit rough, causing sea-sickness for some. Hubby took up a snorkelling trip and came back with tales that were as tall as the mysterious Galapagos islands themselves, including sightings of 5 white-tip sharks just 10 metres away from the surface, and a few playful sealions which came to within touching distances. These sightings added to the hammerhead shark I saw circling around the ship on Day#1. They brought home the message of a truly wild, awesome world here)