Bella Isabela

 Isabela Island has a totally different vibe to Santa Cruz. All the usual suspects are here: the blue footed boobies, sea lions and giant tortoises but there’s the added attraction of a 2 mile stretch of loveliness called the Playa Puerto Villami.  

 

Despite a lack of sun loungers, parasols and hippy hawkers selling crap jewellery (thank god!) this gorgeous beach gives the island more of a holiday feel. And that’s fine with us.

We make some really good friends on Isabela too...

David and Margo from Vancouver Island who promise to show us around when we're there in April. Here's Margo sampling cactus slime with Wend.

And the McCays from Colorado, living proof that blondes really do have (and are) more fun. 

This bunch of chancers amuse us at the fish market. Subtlety not their forte.

Beach life is all well and good but only a fool comes to the Galapagos simply to top up his tan, so we busy ourselves cycling, walking and – on one memorable day joining a boat tour to Los Tuneles – an incredible maze of arches, columns and rock pools formed only 6 years ago when lava from the erupting Volcan Sierra Negra reached the ocean.

The pools are home to a myriad of wacky wildlife (of course they are – we’re in the Galapagos). When we're snorkelling we see turtles (above), white tipped reef sharks, a huge stingray and the cutest seahorse. 

While from the boat it's the birdlife that takes centre stage. Penguins? In tropical waters? Very strange.

Galapagos yellow warbler. Again, not a lot of subtlety going on with that plumage.

We spot these nazca boobies from a distance. Smaller and far less common than their blue footed cousins they are still big on character.

On the way back our captain, a man I had foolishly placed my trust in, asks Wend to take control of the boat. Madness.

The trip is a highlight of our stay on the islands and it’s safe to say the islands have been a highlight of our time in Ecuador but then this amazing country is all highlights. My pal Keith summed it up most eloquently when blogging about the place a few years ago:

“If anything poignant can be said of a country blessed with something of everything - bustling town and laid-back country, rugged coast line, sandy beaches, humid jungles, snowy mountains and an almost unfair amount of wildlife, it is possibly that Ecuador doesn't have a USP, unlike sexy Brazil, proud Colombia or outlaw Argentina. It just has it all”

Colombia next. Another country Keith told us to go to. Maybe I’ll just cut and paste his entire blog and add some of our photos at strategic points along the way.

Land Cruisers

Spotting the people who have just arrived in the Galapagos islands isn’t difficult.

They stop to photograph everything. No animal, vista or scrap of vegetation escapes the lens; which is hardly surprising really as almost all the creatures here are remarkable, every landscape a winner and even the flora seems other worldly.

Whimbrel eyeing up his dinner

After a couple of days the mania wears off though. You get used to sharing a bench with a snoozing sea-lion, you take it for granted that the sun setting over the hillside will be amazing and you convince yourself that those cactus trees you’ve never seen anywhere else are just fancy plants. 

Have a seat sir, take the weight off your flippers

So instead of reaching for the camera every 2 minutes you realise it’s better to just sit back and soak it all in. Generally with a big smile on your face.  

Blue footed booby. Can't imagine how he got his name

When budgeting for the trip we changed our minds about visiting these islands twenty times. It can be very expensive to come here. Like, thousands and thousands of pounds expensive, especially if you sign up for one of the cruises that hop from island to island. Which of course is way too pricey for us.

Pink marine iguana taking it easy

Endemic to the Galapagos its the world's only swimming lizard

We had just about given up hope when I read on one of the travel forums about a way to visit on a shoestring (well, a relative shoestring, no-one reaches here for pennies). Basically, once you've taken a hit on the flights from mainland Ecuador you ditch the boat idea and opt for a land-based gig staying at backpacker hostels and B&B's. 

Brown pelican, another animal endemic to the islands

This actually works much better for me as I used to get seasick watching The Onedin Line (younger readers will have to google this cultural reference). The hostels are no more expensive than in Quito or Guayaquil and there's loads to see and do on land. So we're really chuffed.

Galapagos mockingbird. We named this one Atticus

Pretty flamingoes. Not endemic but suitably weird 

We have just spent five days on Santa Cruz island which was incredible and are now on Isabella island for five more. By the time we come to leave I fully expect to have run out of superlatives.

Second city highs

We have a quick stopover in Ecuador’s second city, Guayaquil. Bigger and more populous than Quito, it used to have a reputation for being a bit of a roughhouse. Large areas were deemed unsafe for tourists, especially after dark so it wasn’t a town to linger in for any length of time.

Thankfully all this has changed. Some serious money has been thrown at the waterfront and many smart restaurants and bars now compete for the tourist buck. This is right across the road from our hostel so we don’t have to wander far to keep ourselves entertained.

Three blocks back from the river are a couple of ‘must sees’: the large neo-gothic cathedral and the pretty Parque Seminario which is home to a large gang of iguanas. 

They obviously associate people with sustenance so are very laid back and comfortable with crowds. 

The local birdlife appreciate them as much as the tourists.

Wend then manages to sweet talk the bloke who maintains the city’s famous Moorish clocktower to let us in for a gander. 

We have the tower to ourselves so take our time to appreciate the workmanship of the ornate stairwell and clock mechanism in the belfry. 

The clock actually pre-dates the tower by 90 years; imported from London in 1842 it still keeps perfect time. This makes us come over all patriotic, we puff out our chests and shout to all the foreigners below that we’re British and the best and when we get home there’s going to be a massive Brexit dividend waiting for us.

But everyone thinks we're either boring or mad and no-one cares.

Later we take a ride on Guayaquil’s ferris wheel. It starts raining while we’re up there giving me an opportunity to get arty farty with my photography. 

Behind Wend you can see one of the oldest parts of town, famous for the small lighthouse that sits among the brightly painted wooden houses.

Here it is before it started raining.

And afterwards. 

Whoever granted the planning permission for the tower block wants shooting.

Yes, we like Guayaquil a lot.

Amazon prime

This country really is extraordinary. Yesterday we we’re sat in jeans and jumpers supping pints of real ale; today it’s shorts, vests and pineapple juice. We’ve only been on the bus for half a day but we’re back in the tropics, this time in the Amazon rainforest.

Yes folks, that Amazon, the one that’s home to the world’s mightiest river, the place where some indigenous folk have never set eyes on a white man, the one where if you’re lucky you’ll spot a boa constrictor, a colourful macaw or a shoal of narky piranhas. The biggest, baddest forest on earth.

 

We’re at the Sinchi Warmi lodge about 30 miles inside the forest, and of course, given that it has a total area of over 3 million square miles, this means we’re barely in the forest at all.

The weird and wonderful birdsong, 90% humidity and fact that 2 tourists were recently killed by anacondas in our neighbourhood make it Amazon enough for us though.

We really know we’re in the jungle the next day when Fabio, the resident Bear Grylls, starts sharpening his machete in readiness for our 7 hour hike into the unknown. 

There is a trail, of sorts, but Fabio reckons it hasn’t been used for a good month and because everything grows so quickly here he spends much of the time hacking away at the undergrowth.

Having lived here his entire life Fabio really knows his onions and points out all the stuff that’ll kill you (innocuous looking plants), the stuff that’ll save you (harmful looking plants) and the stuff that simply makes life more bearable if you choose to live in this environment.

 

We see many strange bugs.

 

Some beautiful ones too. 

And these cheeky monkeys.

At one point Fabio chops down a massive tropical palm leaf and weaves a designer handbag for Wendy and a fetching hat for me. We love Fabio.

Because of the humidity the walk is exhausting. Much harder than the hikes we’ve enjoyed in the mountains, but a fantastic experience. A bonus awaits right at the end when Fabio tells us we’ll be climbing into his boat for a ‘cruise’ back to the lodge.

 

The boat has been hollowed from a single tree trunk. It wobbles, it lists and it leaks so badly that to keep us afloat Wend has to bail for the duration (I would’ve helped but I was sitting comfortably at the dry end).

On yer bike

Back on the bus this morning and three hours later we’re dropped off in beautiful Baños.  This is by some distance the most touristy town we’ve visited on the trip. But the crowds come for good reason, it’s a lovely little place nestling in the valley beneath the huge (and very much active) Volcan Tungurahua.

We only have a two day stopover, so make good use of our time by hiring bikes to cycle the 20km route through the Ruta de la cascadas.  

Like everything in Ecuador the canyon is massive, with trees (lots of trees!) and some curious rock formations – can you spot the gorilla in the cliff face?

This is brilliant fun. Not least because its downhill all the way, and once we reach the end we pay a bloke $2 to load the bikes into his van and cadge a lift back to town.

Right at the end of the trail is the Pailon del Diablo (devil's cauldron). We’ve seen some impressive waterfalls on the trip but these take the biscuit. If you don’t mind getting soaked there’s even an opportunity to stand behind the main torrent.

As I said, all good fun.