Lonesome George

Jack and I went to the Galapagos Islands off of Ecuador on October 11th. We arrived in Quito and immediately welcomed the cool weather. We actually had to wear jackets and I put on my down vest. From Quito we traveled to Baltra in the Galapagos Archipeligo. Jack and I were so tired that we fell asleep for most of the plane rides (yes rides) and were completely disoriented, not to mention hungry, when we landed. Because we were so tired from our trip from Costa Rica and the 12 hour delay in the Panama airport, we missed most of the free food on the plane. I have to give this to Ecuadorian airlines - they certainly know how to feed people. The worst part was that I kept dreaming about them serving food, but was too tired to wake up to get any. So when I did wake up, taking off my eye mask, the loud and loquacious man from Philly behind us told us straight off how wonderful the food service was and all about the delicious little sandwhiches. We, however, had to settle for plantain chips and a coke in the airport.

We soon discovered that our adventure was going to make us intimate with our boat, GAP III, some of the wildlife and the eight other passengers onboard.

We traveled to four of the 13 large islands. The first day we went to a very small island to see sea lions. The docks of San Francisco Bay are nothing compared to the beaches in the Galapagos. We were so close that we were stepping over them to walk along the beach. Most were harmless, but watch out for the male sea lions! Get this - they only have control over the harem of females for four months before they duke it out with the other males again. I guess its natures way of making sure they´re not too inbred. I think we know more than we´d ever want to about sea lion mating.


Anyway, our second activity, snorkling, took us to frigid waters where we both almost died, not from the cold per se, but from the extreme waves. Brrr! I´m cold and tired just thinking of it. At some point, my senses came to me and I decided to hoist myself back in the boat. I felt a bit like a huge fish wrigling on the boat deck - and then there came Jack, an even bigger fish! I think his lips were actually blue. So much for him always being about 10 degrees hotter than me.

Our hiking adventures and subsequent snorkling activities were much more successful. We saw some turtles, sting rays, sharks (they were asleep than goodness!), and penquins in the water. Fish included of course. On land we saw the famous finches, land, marine and hybrid iguanas, hugh albatrose birds, pink flamingos, blue-footed boobies, and so many more birds. The hikes were my favorite. That´s where we got to see the most wildlife, plus the waters were cold and almost too cloudy to see anything.


One of my favorite hikes took us to Floreana, or Charles Island, where Charles Darwin spent 5 weeks studying the finches. I don´t care much for birds, so that didn´t interest me too much, but I was fascinated by the landscape. Everything was dry and it all looked barren. We learned that when El Nino that hit the island and made the flamingo population drop from the thousands to only a few hundred. Our guide explained that although hte plant life can survive for long periods without rain, the animal populations are extremely vulnerable. This makes it difficult for the islands, becuase they continue to move closer to Ecuador each year. Combined with the four different wind currents and the increasing tourism, the Galapagos are threatened in multiple ways - tourism and invasive species being the most dangerous. If you want to know more about convervation efforts, visit www.galapagos.org.




Another great trip was to the tortoise conservation center. There were met George. He´s the last of his species left and he refuses to mate. I would too if I were over 100 years old. Anyway, Lonesome George was amazing to see.


Everything was amazing to see. I do have to warn any future visitor though that the stay on the boat is not too much fun. First, although our group was really nice, you have to spend so much time with other passengers, so beware beforehand. Second, I, lover of all boats, got extremely sea-sick! Our cabin smelled of diesel and mildue, and everything stayed wet the whole trip. It took 2 days for me to feel steady again, just in time for my hike through the Andes. In short, we´re glad we went, and we´re glad to be off the boat!

Pictures Anyone?

So, I know I´ve promised pictures of our travels. There are a few glitches in our plan to provide you with the proof of our adventures: one, we are not always have good internet access; two, we do not always have the time necessary to download them; and three, most importantly, we are a bit lazy. So we apologize. I do promise that we are indeed traveling and not in some CIA training facility in Cuba. Have you heard that´s why they don´t allow Americans to go there? Yes folks, its because that´s where we really rule the world from. Can you tell I´m tired?

The pictures will come. Have faith. They will come.

Costa Rican Travel

There is something striking about Costa Rican roads. About a week ago, my husband and I were in the small Central American country, with no real agenda. All we wanted to do was relax and see some of the diverse landscape. So we made arrangements to travel to a small coastal town, a city with an active volcano and a cloud forest. To get there, however, we traversed some of the worst roads I´ve come across in my life. I first noticed the roads when we took a bus to Manzanillo from San Jose. Most of the road was well paved. Then came the bumpy, thrilling ride from the coastal town of Puerto Viejo to Manzanillo. Happily asleep for most of it, I was jerked awake as the road turned cavernous. Every ride out of the town and back, made perhaps five times total, became a stomach-turning adventure. I´d hold on to the seat in front of me and pray until it was over. If the weren´t for the extremely large potholes, the ride might have been like any other in Costa Rica: a jolty, noisy, exhaust-filled, regular ride. Walkers and bikers beware. However, this it was not.

I found out from one of our guides that the road was paved about eight years ago. The government, although praised by the US for its commitment to democracy, and indeed a ¨poster child¨ of sorts in the region for its stability, is still corrupt. The roads, as we learned, are evidence of this. Because the road was only paved with concrete a few inches thick, it quickly broke down. When I asked why the government didn´t fix it, I actually got a scoff in reply. Apparently I´m way too naive. Its too expensive for the contractors to fix, when they were the ones who overcharged and underworked in the first place.


As we continued our trip, the roads became a fascination for me. I avidly took photos and knew I had convinced Jack it was something to concern oneself with when he pointed out men working on the roads! It was amazing. They were walking down the street, not with a huge truck dumping concrete out the back while men put out orange cones to warn passers-by of the danger. Oh no! They were cranking the concrete machine themselves and hesitantly walking beside it. We had rented a car for the day, which I drove because it was a manual, so I swerved to the side of the road while Jack whipped out the camera. (You could say we were oddly fixated, yes.)


We continued to notice the streets, maybe me more so than Jack. But, goodness, I was driving on them! Not an easy task, especially when the car won´t go uphill without some coaxing, in pooring rain, and when the not-so-occasional pothole continued to make me shout profanities. (Ok, so I cuss like a sailor anyway when I drive, but this was outrageous!) Suffice it to say we were both happy to return the rental car and leave the streets of Costa Rica behind.

The Refuge

A few days ago my husband and I were in Manzanillo, Costa Rica, a quaint little costal town. We scheduled a trip to go kayaking in Gondoca Lagoon nearby, which is part of a national refuge of around 9500 hectares. So, we woke up around 4:45 in the morning, reminding me of my crew days in college, and headed to the meeting spot. Around 6:30 am, the time we were supposed to be there (thanks to a little mistake our alarm was set an hour early), a man, who later introduced himself as Omar, rode up on a bicycle and said we should head to the beach.

After arriving on the beach, we took a boat ride to a nearby organic farm, only accessible by boat, horseback, hiking or kayak to pick up our kayaks for the morning. Our guide, Omar, said the organic farm, Punta Mona (meaning Monkey Point), grows over 600 varieties of fruits and vegetables, perhaps some other crops as well. The farm is well-known in the area, and accepts volunteers to learn sustainable farming year round. Organic farming has been practiced in the region by the Bribri for hundreds of years. It makes sense then that the region should continue this practice. If you want more information on the organic farm, go to www.puntamona.org

After picking up our kayaks, we went to the lagoon, which is a part of the Gandoca-Manzanillo refuge, housing the organic farm, portions of Gandoca and Manzanillo and the lagoon. It is also the location where leatherback turtles lay their eggs every year - it is such a shame we missed this, as the high season is January to April. The lagoon, we discoved after getting our feet wet (and pretty much everything else), has amazing mangroves. Mangroves, if you are unaware, are unique in that they grow in areas where fresh water meets salt water. Because they are so delicate and cannot grow around other trees well, they adapted to suit these environments. They have become integral to costal areas, by acting as natural barriers to erosion. For that reason, many places, Florida in particular comes to mind, have discovered that eradicating the Mangroves can mean disaster for the natural ecosystem.

We then kayaked up the lagoon and viewed a variety of birds (sorry to say that I am not that knowledgable in this area and only remember the Osprey sighting). Omar mentioned that the area is home to 400 types of birds year round; however, as the rainforest is cut down, increasingly every year, more birds migrate to the lagoon. He says that somewhere around 800 birds can now be seen in the area!

As we continued along, and the hours passed, it now being somewhere around 8:00, my hopes of seeing monkeys deminished. However, Omar spotted some spidermonkeys in the trees, literally trying to pull branches over to make bridges. It was an amazing sight. We also got to see white-faced monkeys and we heard the howler monkeys. Luckily for us our one upshot of the excessively early morning was that we got to see a howler monkey crossing the road around 5:30 am; so the fact we missed them in the lagoon was not disappointing.

All in all, the trip was a phenomenal success. My arms ached liked they used to, a soreness I had forgotten, but relish; and we got to learn more about the area.
If you want to check out more about the refuge, go to http://www.moon.com/planner/costa_rica/mustsee/gandoca.html

Varities of Costa Rica

Experiencing Costa Rica avec un backpack is quite an experience. I guess visiting anywhere with about a 40 lb. sack is interesting (and mine´s on the lighter side, Jack´s is about 70 lbs.). After our four and a half hour plane ride, $18 taxi ride through San Jose at lightning speed, and our 5 or so hour bus to the quaint seaside town of Manzanillo, we found ourselves stranded with our packs. With nothing to do but walk, we ventured to the nearest hostel/ hotel possible. It is at the Cabinas Manzanillo that we have enjoyed the bare essentials. Indeed, for $25 a night we have a bed, two sheets and running water (some even heated, when its not half electricuting Jack, that is). I also discoved that my feet had swollen to about twice their size. Since we arrived they have gone down, so I´m attributing it to the stress of travel and not to any sort of insect bite or other sort of misfortune.


I have to say, thus far we are both lucky. As we learned from an Englishman and his Japanese wife who recently came from Nicaragua, the experience here is much more delightful. He had to endure a sickness while in Nicaragua during a major drought where no running water was available from 10 am until 3 pm. Imagine having the stomach flu and not being able to wash your hands or flush the toilet. I had no idea how good I had it!

The experience in Manzanillo is much like a drawn out Victorian novel: we sit, we wait, and we do a lot of scheming. Scheming on how to spend less, move less (its extremely hot) and scuba dive more. Scuba lessons have proven difficult to come by, not because they do not exist, but because we did such poor planning. We have however secured a place to learn on Sunday, in hopes of continuing the lessons for open water dives later in our travels. In the morning tomorrow we´ll go kayaking in a lagoon to see the monkeys and sloths before we go zip-lining in the evening. One site in Costa Rica I do not want to miss is the canopy. As we traveled by bus, we got an amazing view of men working on treacherous hillsides and mist filled valleys of lush forests. So I am particularly excited about the canopy.

We will then leave the eastern coast and head to the cloud forest. I look forward to sharing more with you. As we get to a better internet connection, I will try to post photos and write better entries. For now, we´re safe and enjoying our time.

Wedding Photos

To everyone who wants to remember the day, please go to www.adeleredingphotography.com and type in the password: joycejackpeters under "view proofs". You can also view a short slideshow - really wonderful - by going to
http://bigshow.bigfolio.com/?s=000007174&t=47feba571354f6ac79cb04a306dc0a0d We hope you enjoy!!!

Thus, with this, we're off. We're still packing, but we leave in just a few short hours. After moving out of our apartment in Denver on Friday night, this is just one more night this week without sleep. Why, oh why did I give up coffee?