Galapagos Unplugged!

Ok, so you know how people say Disney is the most magical place on earth?

To that I say, False. 

The answer to this conundrum, dear readers, of the most magical place on earth, is the Galapagos Islands. Protected as a World Heritage Site, the islands offer a ridiculous amount of sub-climates and sub-ecosystems. One day, when we were hiking (slash I was falling into) a volcano, our guide, my BFF for life Julio, told us there were 30-something sub-ecosystems. Huh? 

I have been up til 3am for the last several weeks trying to figure out how to put this trip into words. Ok, part of that statement is true. I've been up til 3am but that's Buenos Aires' fault, not my tongue-tiedness about the Galapagos.

Regardless, I will say that the way to do this trip, if you are so inclined, is to do it with a smaller group. I would not recommend a 100-person cruise, not just because I would need an IV of Dramamine in me at all times/40 16 oz bottles of ginger ale, but because...we just did cool stuff. For example:

-There were 6 of us. 

-ROW Adventures is the only tour group with permits to camp on the islands. We camped for 2 days and I was lucky enough to have my 30th birthday at our campsite/happy hour on our boat watching the sunset (see FB for photo evidence). 

-Because there were so few of us, we saw way more wildlife up close and personal...like the day we were snorkeling and I just kept yelling, "Shark!" in quick succession to be annoying slash Jaws-like. But seriously, there were 4 sharks circling. It was absurd.

-Sea Lions just hung out next to us in the water. They would come out of nowhere and swim right up to your nose like a rocket and then stop and seemingly laugh in your face.

-Impromptu surf lesson! (See photos)

-Great conversation and great new friends

-Big cruise ships can't go to the lava tunnels we went to one day. If the tide is off, no one can go, so it was a bit touch and go even for our small boat. But when we got there....wow. There are these lava formations sticking up all over the place, and it's entirely likely you can capsize, but we did it! And then we got to snorkel with all sorts of wildlife.

-We got to learn lots about Ecuador from some passionate Ecuadorians including our guides. They spent time with us at meals, on the boat, etc really sharing their culture, history and present-day with us. What a cool thing. 

-Homemade food at the campsite, on the boat

I could go on and on about the sheer uniqueness of this trip, but instead I will leave you with some pictures.  When I say that these pictures don't do this trip justice, I wish there were another phrase I could use, because that phrase doesn't seem to do this trip justice. :)

This is a little out of order (who knows why, really) and it gets a little long, mainly because I'm incapable of figuring out how to put more than one picture on the same line. Sigh. Maybe in my next lifetime. But I promise you, these are worth it!

Oh, and a special thanks for Rose, Brian, Laura, Paul and Helen for not only sharing their pictures with me, but for also making this a truly once in a lifetime trip!

  Blue footed boobies! Look at those feet!

 Brian swimming through an underwater cave at the Lava Tunnels

 Craziest sea turtle in the world- look how close!

 "Oh, it's on." "I will wreck you." So it went. 

 On our volcano hike...ocean in the background, lush green behind us, cactuses and 12k yr old lava rocks. Pretty gnarly (Californian for 'cool')

 Boobies' feet!

 Apparently it's rare to see more than one flamingo. We saw 14. As Seb put it, we had good karma. Yea that's right. 

 Rosie had some fun with some sand pellets leftover from ghost crabs digging on the beach. I reap the benefit of her labor.

 The gang!

 Find the iguana! The camouflage they have adapted...just out of this world.

 Julio eats his 4th wasp because...why not? 

 Sea cucumber!

 Our fearless leader! 

 Insert Jaws music here. 

 Chillaxin and breakin the Sunday Blue Laws in Guayaquil 

 Ill-fated surf lesson. Attractive surf instructor (jesus), idiot Jill sitting around doing pilates poses. 

 I feel like we're reenacting Backstreet Boys' "I want it that Way" (yes, I just said that) or U2's "Beautiful Day" here

 Underwater snorkeling!

No puedo creerlo- queda un mes!

With a tad over a month left before the next Jill adventure begins, I thought it an appropriate time to share a shortlist of the things I will and won't miss about this pretty amazing country.

What I Will Miss:

1. The Men. 
I mean, seriously. This country has more than its fair share of good looking men (and women, to be fair). See exhibit A below. I'm not sure how this person exists in real life, but he does. I swear to you. Unless I was drunk from the 3 pounds of meat I consumed that day and he was a mirage.  Also, see Exhibit B: Every trainer that works at my gym.

2. The Food.
Yowsa, these people know how to eat well and cook well. I've never had so many choice cuts of beef, bottles of wine, homemade pasta, fresh veggies and other amazing delights in my life. And so affordable too!

Here are some of my favorite wineries in case you're looking for something new:

http://www.montecinco.com.ar/monte5_web_english.html
http://www.catenawines.com/es/wines/dv-catena/dv-catena.html
http://bodegaazul.com.ar/azul/ingles/
http://bodegarucamalen.com/

You can also buy wine from this wine tasting place in BA- they have a distributor in the US. You can't go wrong with any of their wines. I would know. Please.  And it ships quickly.
http://www.anuvawines.com/

3. How Long it Takes To Do Anything.
It is my dream come true to sit around for 3 hours sharing a meal with friends. It is also my dream to actually take a lunch break with co-workers in the office and chat for an hour. These people have it right- more relaxation is good for the soul (and my stomach, knowledge of wine, etc). It's also been fabulous for getting to know people better, honing my already moderately bearable conversation skills and not drinking the fabulous wine as quickly as I might want to in my head.

4. The Mamacita-ing on the Street.
God, Who else is going to tell me how great I look right after the gym when I've just run 4 miles and have on 4 layers of clothes?! I'm beside myself with sadness.

5.  The Late Nights.
I've really gotten on board with the late nights, leisurely late dinners and just generally not being on the go-go-go here. When I went home for Julie's wedding and my mom wanted to have dinner on the table at 5:30, I was all, "But...I just had...lunch. What...do you mean?"


What I Will Not Miss: 


1. The Men: This is generally not true. Please. See #1 above, honestly, people. What I mean by this is what is discussed in #4 below.   On the contrary, the men I've gotten to know here are pretty neato, as a general rule.


2. The Food.
What I mean by this is the lack of diversity. Swayz, do not stop the car from JFK until we can get an IV of salsa in me stat (accompanied by 3 baskets of tortilla chips).  Also, a chicken cutlet sandwich with honey mustard sauce and everything on the KFC menu, except if they still have that Double Down sandwich thing, because that's just gross.

3. How Long it Takes To Do Anything:
Why, God Why, Do I need to allot 30 minutes to go to the ATM on the corner?!

4. The Mamacita-ing On The Street.
Ok Sir, I did not need to know what you'd 'do to me and my 3 friends at the same time' just now as we passed you on the street.  Also, does that jam work for you ever? Like, what's your success rate? Just wonderin'.

Here Kate's very timely and accurate depiction of what I've experienced here as a woman- could not have said it better myself: http://www.kateclick.com/blog/2012/06/18/piropos-the-fine-argentine-art-of-sexual-harrassment/


5. The Late Nights. 
I am all about the dancing, singing, eating, wine-ing until the cows come home sorta lady, but 7am last weekend? A Philly bar with a last call of 1:30 has nothing on BaAs? People don't show up anywhere here until after well after 2am. Please...I am just craving someone to tell me to go home!

When I think about it, it's hard to believe this amazing adventure is coming to a close in just over a month. One thing's fo damn sho: Necesito aprovechar el tiempo que queda aca en Buenos Aires!

5 Fun Facts about Ecuador

While I rummage through literally thousands of photos from the Galapagos and try to make sense of what just happened to me, I will reward you with an exciting entry about some of the dozens of things I learned about Ecuador through the amazing people I met there.

Here's kinda how Ecuador is, a happy place:

1. The official currency of Ecuador is the US Dollar. Maybe you knew that. I didn't. What? Why? Isn't part of a being your own sovereign nation all about raising your own currency? I did some digging with our guides and friends we met along the way and found out that in 1999 the sucre lost 67% of its value and then 17% more in one week, ending at 25,000 sucre to the dollar. What! The president at the time changed the currency to the dollar and as a result, there were protests leading to his removal, but the next dude kept the dollar anyway. They still issue sucres under a dollar in coins, so you could get a handful of quarters and random foreign coin as change. They also love the Sacagawea  dollar. LOVE.

2. The government heavily subsidizes the price of gas. For the last umpteen years, gas has been $1.50 a liter. Not bad. But people are worried about when the government runs out of money because...

3. Since Rafael Correa became president, the number of government agencies has quadrupled. Lots more social programs, social security, public health programs, which are good, but also a lot of money being funneled to random agencies that not everyone is behind and thinks are needed, but it's hard to do very much about it since...

4. Although it's mandatory to vote, there are dozens of candidates, fragmenting the vote. Yep, mandatory to vote (as it is in Argentina) and if you don't, you don't get your government issued ID, which like us, you need for a multitude of things. You can pay for it, but it's really expensive for the average citizen.

5. President Correa really doesn't like the press. Or free speech a lot of times.  On May 28, for example, he asked the citizens of Ecuador to boycott the press. Recently before that, he took 2 journalists to trial for printing a book about things his own brother told them about Correa's corruption and when they were found guilty asked for $160 million (or thereabouts, I was on my 3rd glass of birthday wine when this conversation was happening) from each of them in damages. Huh?

All in all the Ecuadorians I met were very proud of their country and the progress its made in the last few years. There are problems, they all acknowledged, but overall, they are happy with their lives and passionate and proud about being from Ecuador. It was cool to be a part of for 10 days. What a cool place and a cool people.

Next up- Galapagos Review!!!  Here's a sneak peak:

 Yowsa. Amazing landscapes all over that joint

 Blue footed boobies (hold the jokes) look at their feet! Look how close we are!

Bday sunset from the boat happy hour