Update From Quito, Ecuador

Our Gate 1 Travel guided tour through Ecuador was wonderful, mostly because we had an excellent guide, but also because this is a beautiful country. The tour ended last Tuesday morning and we moved to an apartment we had rented in the Mariscal Sucre area of Quito. The plan was to sightsee, but Elaine had picked up a bug somewhere on the last day of the tour and our 3 days in that apartment were spent quietly while she recovered. So we rented another apartment for 3 more days and managed to get in a little sightseeing but now I have the bug!! Nevertheless, tomorrow we are taking a 4 hour bus ride to Baños, a very picturesque smaller town where we will rest some more and also explore. There are hot springs there because of the nearby volcanoes, and if we are feeling up to it, will probably try those. My intention was to give you a detailed report of our travels so far and include some of our pictures. Since I am not up to doing that, you will have to wait. I also need to learn how to put pictures on this blog from the photo storage area of Elaine's iPad since I have never done that. If anybody out there knows this, please educate me!

January Update

Hi from Park Sierra. Today is the last day we will be here for a while. Tomorrow we drive down to San Diego where we will stay with Darran & Marielle until Monday morning. That day we take the train to LAX and stay in an airport hotel overnight. Early Tuesday our flight leaves for Quito, Ecuador. Our flight arrives very late that night (11:45PM) which is unfortunate because our 8 day quickie tour of Ecuador starts immediately the next morning. It is with Gate 1 Travel. After the tour ends, we have booked an apartment in Quito for 3 days through airbnb.com. Then we will explore Ecuador on our own, probably visiting Mindo, Cuenca, Banos, and other places, until Feb. 8. On Feb. 9 our 8 day Galapagos Islands adventure starts. First we fly to Baltra, from Quito. The islands are 600 miles off the coast. Then we board a small yacht which holds 16 guests and 7 crew. Twice each day we will board Zodiac boats to explore various islands, the main goal is seeing as much of the unique wildlife there as possible. The main activities will be hiking and snorkeling. We selected our boat, the Angelito, because it was recommended by friends who did this trip a few years ago - they just loved the naturalist who accompanies every excursion, Maja. So, we will be doing posts from Ecuador, if we find that adequate WiFi is available. If not, you will have to wait until we get back after Feb. 18 to get our report.

Pictures Added

I went back to the blog post about our Med cruise and added some pictures and commentary. Enjoy!