Lima

traditional house with balconies

Looks like an early Keith Haring - Is from the Incas though...





(real?) Abercrombie, Nautica, what have you for $2

view from Larcomar
Larcomar on the cliffs of Lima
Lima is just as your usual busy South American metropolis. Millions of people looking for fortune in a mix of very poor and ancient and hyper rich and modern. We decided to stay in the modern / rich part of town: Miraflores when life is  very convenient and  luxurious. The old town has some interesting parts (mainly churches and museums) which are very worth while to visit. The killer feature of Lima is I think its location: between mountains and the Pacific. In Miraflores on a steep sloop a new development "Larcomar" is the place to be to do some shopping and to have a meal while watching the sunset. Is the the place where everyone in Lima comes and to enjoy the view it seems.
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The day I met Ricardo Palma

Sure, with Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa Peru has his first Nobel winner, but it was Ricardo Palma who put Peru on the literature map first with his epic Tradiciones Peruana. Like Aisopos and Grimm before him he used traditional Peruvian stories and blend them into very interesting and funny shorts.
He is also one of the founders of modern independent Peru, so no wonder that so many things (Streets, Universities, schools etc.) are named after him. We visited his house in Miraflores Lima which is just as it was when he died back in 1962.
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Last night in Ecuador - a humming bird and a steak with new friends



Mason, Eddie, Karen, Tom, Meg, Marque
Part of the fun of going on a National Geographic vacation is that you meet all kinds of interesting and nice people like Mason, Karen, Tom and Meg (see picture) with which we had an "instant click" and shared many memorable lunch and dinner with. Luckily for us they also where spending overnight in Guayaquil on the way back - so we had a chance for a sort of farewell dinner at the Hotel.
In the garden of which we saw this tiny humming bird.
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Farewell - this was truly a once in a life time experience

Our last night at sea and we dream of all the animals we have encountered and the many, many wonders we have seen. This is really an unique place on earth. As it must have been millions of years ago. We are sad to leave - but new wonders are waiting for us in Peru :-)
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Sleeping with Sea lions








All those (early) wake up calls can really make you tired: but luckily during the day I have a chance to sleep on the beach (if the Sea lions are not making to much noise and the babies are not to playfull)
It is our last day  of the week stay - which seems much much longer - and still we see some new animals, like the hammer head sharks, all kinds of fish (both under water) and young Albatrosses. They practice their wings before they take off for a (non-stop!) two year flight across the ocean.
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The Post Office, Dolphins and Rays





On one of the Islands here the is a "Post Office" where people leave letters for other to pick up and to deliver. We left a couple and took a couple to deliver in Holland. It actually seem to work better then our TNT post system with all the strikes...
On our way the captain saw dolphins and we were off with the Zodiacs to watch them. They too were happy to see us and stayed a long time in our company. After that we visited a shallow mangrove bay where the rays get serviced against parasites by small fish.
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Camcorders are out.





5 years ago when you were on vacation everybody was carrying camcorders are filming every single event. now I noticed nobody is using these things anymore and (digital)photography rules. is it because of the editing or just because we do not want to bother our friends with a whole movie? look at YouTube: you seldom find a classic holiday movie on it...
I also noticed that very few people even know how the movie feature of the point and shoot cameras works...

Next to the big animals we have seen the famous (Darwin) finches, mockingbirds (which can be very curious indeed) and lots of pretty flowers on the islands. Every morning I start out with yoga / stretching lessons of Roxane on the sun deck.(JoJo will be happy) We also crossed the Equator and got our certificates from the captain. 
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There is almost as much staff on board as there are passengers, so we are really pampered. the service, food, explanation of the naturalists is all excellent and it surpasses my high expectations.
Is this the best way to see the Galapagos? Yes it must be!
Anyway - every day I expect that I have seen it all - but then just around the corner there is yet an other animal which comes up to you.
Today we had our first swimming games with the sea lions (which are in the video that I am making and publish later - I hope)
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The secret of how to become 200 years old: move very, very slowly...




We had a rocky night, but the motion sickness pills did their job - and we didn't notice any discomfort. We arrived at Puerto Ayora at the Santa Cruz Island. Here is the Charles Darwin Research station where we had a look at the captive breeding program of the giant tortoises. And of course to see lonesome George, the tortoise who is the last of its species.

Then we were of to see the giant tortoises in the wild and I was amazed how many there are - everywhere were you looked you almost literally stumble over these animals.
The amazing thing of the Galapagos animals is that they really do not fear people, so you can come up very close to them. Sometimes they even approach you. That is the case with all kinds of animals: pelicans, sea lions, tortoises, lizards you name it... It's an exceptional experience and one you will remember for the rest of your life I guess.
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After a very early wake up call at six we found out that the ship anchored at Bartolomé island, after sailing there at night. we climbed to the summit of the volcano and had a magnificent view of the island and its famous pinnacle rock. 







We snorkeled at the beach which was completely deserted except for some sea lions, a hawk, sea iguanas, crabs etc. etc. down under were many, many fish in huge schools. after this we were immediately on our way to the next stop: Santiago Island where the zodiacs brought us ashore to see seals and many many other animals.
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This is not a zoo - The animals seem to visit us...




nimaWe had to get up very early to catch our flight to Baltra. This island was - as many- in WWII an important strategic point in the pacific for the Americans. So they build a landings strip (as they did on Easter island) which is still used today for flight to and from Mainland Ecuador.  Here our home for the coming week the ship "Islander" was waiting for us in the harbor. After the standard safety drill and other briefings we were on our way to our first destination: Seymour Island. here we saw our first blue-footed boobies, frigate birds (both with chicks) and some land iguanas.
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