![Ray[7,37]](2-25/Ray.jpg)
We take a panga ride before breakfast and see turtles, baby sharks, a school of brown and white rays, pelicans, and blue footed boobies.
We take a panga ride before breakfast and see turtles, baby sharks, a school of brown and white rays, pelicans, and blue footed boobies.
We sit here in the harbor waiting to be ferried to dry land and the bus to the plane. Now we wait at the airport. The men's room appears to be permanently locked. The boat crew certainly took better care of us. I want to take Pablo home with us - Pablo, who was always waiting with a tray full of snacks when we returned from the land trips. So now to slip out of that lifestyle I so easily slipped into seven days ago.
What cannot really be described about this past week is the sheer quantity and variety of life that was within arm's reach. The only indigenous mammal in these islands is the sea lions. This means that past infant stage most indigenous animals have no predators and no flight instinct. Hence, we walk and swim with the creatures instead of them fleeing at the sound or sight of our approach.
What to take: sun protection: sun screen, lip balm with sun screen, and aloe for when you miss a spot; cash for tips Credit cards are not as universal as in Europe.
In Quito, we take a taxi to Hosteria San Jorge. We keep going up and up on steep, winding, and narrow streets - as if we needed any additional elevation. Jorge himself greets us and shows us the sign he used at the airport when he tried to meet us at the first flight from the Galapagos. We were on the second flight.
The room is abode type architecture with high ceilings, tile floors, and a stone fireplace. It is also pretty cold - certainly colder than we have been in the last week.
When I wander the grounds a bit, I find a bullfighting ring and a white-shirted bow-tied fellow who follows me about but can speak no English. Jorge finds me shortly after I have no luck inquiring of my shadow the dining room hours. This site is apparently some 300 years old and was owned by the President of Ecuador in the early 1900's. Through the site runs a pre-Incan road to the coast through a mountain pass. They know this from the artifacts they've found along the road. We are at 2900m (9500 ft.).