Collage

The End!

Heading home...

I had to get up at 4am to get breakfast and take a cab to the airport at 5:15. The great thing here is that I am flying first class which makes it soooooooo much nicer and easier on the body.
We arrive in Miami and the line to passport control was over a hundred people. However, Miami is a Global Entry Airport so i walk up to the Kiosk and in two minutes I was finished and on my way to my connecting flight. Wow, was that awesome!!! I turn to look at the line one last time as it kept growing....I was happy I joined the program.

Final Overview

Needed an extra day in Galapagos to do nothing
Extra day in Quito: back to back flights are tough
Next time a full 3 weeks.

NYC Keychain Awards

Renee my guide
Cecilio my driver
Eduardo hotel manager
Diane front desk worker
Jose front desk worker/ chef Quito
Judy from Casa Judy

Review: Casa San Marcos..

Pros:
Awesome decor and beautiful house
Excellent WiFi
Big wonderful rooms
Great food
Location perfect
Price good
Staff excellent

Cons:

It can get chilly in the rooms but they give you a heater
Front rooms can get noisy

Shouts Outs

To all the service workers, guides, cab drivers, and to Pablo, Joe, Eduardo, Diane Fredrick from the Hotel Morrison the owner of the Casa San Marcos, Patrick and Judy from Casa Judy, Victor from Cusco Hotel, you all help make this an amazing experience.

Epecially, my amazing followers a big shout out to you...

Bye, bye Galapagos...

Said my goodbyes, grabbed a cab and off to the airport in plenty of time. Met a good guy on he plane, Richard from San Diego. Touchdown Quite 5:10 arrive at hotel about 6. I am tired....

Judy of Casa Judy behind her new wall..

One last coffee before departing....

Review Casa Judy

Casa Judy:

Pros:
Reasonable
Big rooms
Helpful staff
Good breakfast
Nice common area to talk with other guests.
Great views
Close to town

Cons:
WiFi not in rooms
Lousy soap/shampoo
Everything painted too white


Bottom line:

I would come back for a stay

il dolce far niente.....

I never leave home without it: My Kindle

Living: il dolce far niente: The sweetness of doing nothing...

Beach Journey III

The calmer lagoon

A satisfied bird

At time wary birds circling the snacks and other times eating good...

Beach Journey II

Like an army, the field of marine Iguanas...

Protected sand dunes for turtle breeding..

The Photos of the Beach Journey

I call it a journey because with the distance and all we saw in a condensed period of time that is what it felt like.

The gorge as we walk up the stone stairs..

The Path...

The cannon...

The beach not the lagoon...

Beach Day..

I hang around Casa Judy waiting to print out my boarding pas for the next day. I run into Joe the Geologist and we agree after lunch to hook up and go to La Tortuga beach,
La Tortuga beach is an interesting outing. The beach is a short cab ride or you can walk. It is not until you get to the path that the adventure really begins. You first need to climb up these stone stairs leading the the entrance house where you sign in and out. The beach closes at 6pm. By closing, I mean they lock the gate to the stone stairs and you are stuck inside. After, Joe and I sign in, you have a 1.5 mile walk to the beach then another half mile walk to the calm lagoon. Along the way, you are privy to animals, birds, interesting tress, cactus, and plants. The easy stone pathway seems to go on forever. We finally after stopping for many photos reach our destination.

Joe plans to go Kayaking. I agree to watch his stuff and hang out and read my kindle. I found and nice piece of log driftwood to lean against and sat down to relax. We had a good 2 1/2 hours of enjoying the lagoon. Along the way we saw a pack of marine Iguanas just hanging out on the sand. If you were not looking down you could trip over them. It is so funny, they just hang out there and let their picture be taken by us tourists. We found a rusted cannon that seem to wash up on the beach.

Sitting down to read, I had some snacks that I put out for the birds and many of them came by to feed. At first skittish but then they got comfortable to come right up to you. It was a wonderful enjoyable afternoon. Joe is good company. He is really into UFO's and Big Foot which for a scientist seems strange but that is his thing. He also had no idea what is a kindle. I found that amazing. I said you got to leave the house more ask you kids they would know. Finally, we end up in the Isla la Grille for a fish dinner before heading home.

Afterwards, we did the walk back all the way to town. This was a 4-5 mile walking day and boy am I tired..... I hope the various photos and information signs show up well and are informative.

Ahh, there is our cab...

Breakfast with friends.....

Up early, like that is anything new but it gives me the chance to catch up on email, the blog and just read. Over breakfast, I meet Pablo. Pablo is from San Jose, Costa Rica. We chat develop a rapport and exchange emails. I asked him about some travel advice within Costa Rica. He confirm what I thought that the eastern coast is more diverse. We talk about Havana and NYC. Pablo will be in NYC this week and next. I mentioned if he would like we could connect and I will show him old NYC.
We exchange business cards and emails.....I love meeting people from all over the world....

Bar Crawl and Dinner..

Joe and I planned to meet for some drinks at the Red Mangrove. After walking around town, I met up with Joe for some happy our, conversation and then some dinner at another place. Joe is a scientist who loves talking about UFO's, Big Foot and abductions. Strange but then again, in a good way and who isn't?

We did get a chance for some fun animal photos....

Sleeping sea lion

Some interesting photos...

Stroll around town....

The Lava Tunnel

The lava tunnels were difficult and messy to navigate. When I saw the steep steps and realize how muddy it would be I almost turned back but my driver was waiting for me at the end of the tunnel. This was supposedly the second largest lava tunnel in South America. For sure, it was my last.....

Wet stone stairs, down and down...

Lava stones...

The rocky walk in the tunnel good thing they give you a small flashlight..

The Two Craters...

Dig that wild hair...

La Tortuga III

Eating, they're animals!