Reach for your camera / thesaurus.... it's the Galapagos Islands!!

It wasn't a difficult choice to include a visit to the Galapagos Islands. It's not cheap to come here, but it's worth every penny. The message in the picture below's not wrong.



After a quiet night in Quito, my flight was around 3 hours via Guayaquil (from where you could also fly if you're not starting from Quito). Despite the inane and plain wrong commentary I could hear from the Americans sitting behind me, my anticipation and excitement grew by the minute, and by the time we'd touched down, I could barely contain myself.



It's surely only a matter of time before the authorities increase the National Park fee from the present seemingly low cost of $100 and maybe clamp down on visitor numbers.



There are various ways you can approach your time here. You can do a land-based trip or take a place on a boat cruise (or a mix). You can save up to half the price of a boat trip by arriving first and booking something here rather than booking from home - so if you have the time it is definitely worth getting the flight here and trying your luck.



I went straight to a recommended agency from the airport and booked a last minute discounted place on a 4 day boat trip taking in some of the more remote islands, with a view to spending a few days afterwards on 2 of the main islands - Santa Cruz and Isabela. If you take a 7 day trip you'd see the northern and southern islands. If you're on a 4-5 day trip you have to choose, but it's hard to feel you're missing out if you don't see everywhere as whatever you do will be special.

I was lucky to get the place on the boat for the following day - turning up and booking something locally last minute can apparently take days or even weeks, and it was Easter too so I thought it would be tricky, but it worked out just fine.



After sorting a boat place and a room for the night, I went with some girls from the flight to see the Charles Darwin Research Station. The Galapagos Islands were instrumental in Darwin's theory of evolution. The islands have never been connected to the mainland, and over hundreds of years the species that migrated here by floating or flying have developed distinctive traits and characteristics. Darwin recognised this and so, together with other observations came to posit his ground breaking theory. (Ironically, he was selected to participate in the famous Beagle voyage which landed here in 1835 on the assumption that he shared the pious religious point of view of the ship's devout captain.)



The research station itself is kind of nondescript but interesting at the same time. There are species of iguana and giant tortoises, the best known being Lonesome George, the oldest surviving specimen of his kind. There are other enormous males with which, like so many of the animals which make these islands so special, you can get up close and personal. You're not allowed to touch the animals here, particularly sea lion pups which can be rejected by their mothers if they carry human scent, but the fact they are tame and uninhibited enough for you to get so close to them, and the incredible variety of species here, are what makes this a truly unforgettable, unique experience.



After that first special introduction to island life, it was a bottle of rum with the girls and a night swim in the beautiful warm water to cap off the first day.



Boat Cruise - Day 1

Up at the crack of early, I took a bus back to the airport for a transfer to the boat. There are 14 of us plus the guide and staff, and we're well looked after with good food and comfortable cabins.



Today we went to the northern shore of Santa Cruz to a beach where giant turtles go to lay their eggs. It's breeding season but there were no turtles on the beach since they've already laid their eggs, as evidenced by the enormous pits you can see were created by these magnificent, clumsy creatures. We did see one swimming in the surf, bloody enormous it was.



We took a walk to a little lagoon and saw some flamingoes feeding there, though it's not a colony. We'll see one of those in a couple of days and it's sure to be a beautiful sight, in keeping with everything here.



We also saw plenty of crabs - particularly the beautiful Sally Lightfoot variety - hopping around on the rocks. I'm not especially a fan of the crab, and I'm happy to report I've never had crabs, but these were pretty cool.



No day here would be complete without seeing iguanas or sea lions, and we saw a couple of black marine iguanas sunning themselves on the sand. The sea was too rough for snorkelling, but we were able to swim in the beautiful turquoise water for a while. It was probably a good thing I didn't have my mask on, because a small shark swam through our group. If I'd seen it I'd have issued a small brown eel in fright, but they tell me the sharks here are pretty mellow and you can swim with hammerheads. Something to look forward to...



On our way to our overnight anchor spot, we were accompanied by a group of frigate birds. You can click the button below to see them flying with us.



Boat Cruise - Day 2

Up again at daybreak, our first stop was South Plaza Island, where a handful of sea lions greeted us. We wandered a trail around the island seeing more sea lions but the main attraction here were land iguanas, which are breeding here now so there were plenty.



Before I came here I was only really fussed about seeing sea lions, iguanas and tortoises, but it was also amazing to see lizards and some unusual species of birds like the blue footed booby and lava gulls. You can't help but get excited at everything - perhaps this is the closest feeling to being a child again and seeing animals for the first time.



After lunch we sailed to a beautiful little bay at Santa Fe island for snorkelling in more amazing water. My mate Adam would need to explain to me what the various fish were, aside from enormous parrot fish and spotted eagle rays. All I can say with certainty is that they were beautiful and it was a great experience I'll take with me.



Our late afternoon was spent sitting with a group of sea lions on a beach nearby. I could have sat there for days, watching them flopping around to settle in a new spot to laze around for a while before flopping to another spot. Click the button below to see what I mean.



We went for a short walk around part of the island and saw another species of land iguana, which wasn't in breeding season, plus some finches, Galapagos doves and mockingbirds. Back on the boat we saw a turtle swimming nearby so some of us went back in for more snorkelling. We didn't find that turtle, or any of its pals, but we did go swimming with sea lions, which was unforgettable. I couldn't stop smiling, which made it difficult to keep my snorkel in place.



Boat Cruise - Day 3

I woke at 4:30, wandered out to deck and was greeted by a shooting star and my first sight in a while of the Southern Cross. It was going to be a good day.



Our first stop was Española island, home for a few months to albatross migrating from further south. They're magnificent birds in the air - but not so graceful when taking off. Because of their enormous wingspan and weight, they can't simply take to the air like most birds - they have to walk to the edge of a cliff and launch off into the wind, ideally not plunging into the ocean below. They're not generally confident, so they'll often walk to the edge and try to pluck up the courage before chickening out (maybe that should be "albatrossing out"...) and waiting a few minutes before going to the edge to try again. They get there in the end, bless 'em.



They've only just started arriving in the last week, so we were lucky to get a glimpse. In a month's time this place will be covered with them.



We went on to a blow hole which shoots up a huge spurt of water with each crashing wave, before leaving a rainbow in the dispersing spray. Masked, or Nasca boobies were breeding round here so we saw hundreds of them nesting and preening themselves. The famous blue footed booby isn't breeding here at the moment so we only saw a couple of them.



On the way back to the boat we were treated to the sight of land iguanas making their nests. They fight for nesting rights on spots of ground, and it was interesting watching the duels unfold. The battles are short and not especially violent but they can get airborne.



In the afternoon we sailed to Gardner Island and bay for more snorkelling in a cave and around a rock off the beach. On the beach itself were hundreds of sea lions lazing or flopping around, as they do.



We had to leave a little earlier than planned as one of the passengers had been ill since before the cruise and the antibiotics he'd bought in Peru weren't helping. It turned out the "antibiotics" were in fact aspirin, which explained a lot. (I guess the moral of that story is always check your medication carefully if you're buying it on the road. I met a couple of guys in Colombia who's asked a pharmacy for valium to help them sleep on the bus. The stuff they were given was for epilepsy sufferers and left them feeling spaced out for days. But I digress...)



We sailed to San Cristobal, one of the bigger islands, so he could get some medical attention and real antibiotics. Several of the boat's crew and el capitan jumped ashore too to see their wives for conjugal visits, having been sailing constantly for a few weeks without going to San Cristobal, which isn't on our boat's route. A couple of us also got off for a wander and were blown away by the sight of hundreds of sea lions lazing all over the beach, pier, and even on benches. How did they manage to flop up there?



They made a hell of a noise, with pups looking for their mothers and being barked at the 99% of the time they were going in for some milk from the wrong tit, and with the general bickering, barking and coughing we've come to expect.



Boat Cruise - Day 4

After another overnight cruise, to Floreana island, we had a short walk inland to a lava tunnel. It had been raining heavily there the previous afternoon so we weren't able to descend into the tunnel, walk around and swim inside, as planned. We walked back to Post Office Bay, where there's been a tradition since 1793 that you can leave postcards, addressed but unstamped. The idea is that you check the box and if there are any addressed to your hometown or somewhere you're going, you take it with you and deliver it yourself. I wonder when my nieces' and nephews' cards will reach them in NZ...



Having done the mail run and left some cards of our own, we went snorkelling off the beach and around the rocks with a huge turtle and two smaller ones.



From there we sailed to Devil's Crown for some amazing snorkelling among an incredible variety of fish, starfish, octupii and sharks. No brown eels from me either, which was a boon. They told us it would be like snorkelling in an aquarium, and on that evidence they're not wrong.



Afterwards we went inland to a lagoon where we saw a few flamingoes grazing, and then on to another beach with incredible white sand.



And with that, the activities were done and we set sail for Santa Cruz, and tucked into the rum. We did have a last minute treat when we found an extra passenger at around 4am. The wildlife really is everywhere you can imagine...



I changed my flight so I've got another week here. There's a few nice surf spots around which are not crowded and have easy waves. If, like me, you can't surf to save your life, it's ideal. That the beaches are stunning, with white sand and amazing water, is a bonus too...

Bogota - Medellin - Cali - Bogota

After a relaxed couple of days in San Gil, it was time to head for the capital to meet up with friends and have a big party in the big city. Bogota is massive, with over 7m people. Like other places I've been to in Colombia, it's flanked by hills which give a great view of the city if you make the trip to the top.



On my first night we went to a great club on the 42nd floor of what was once the Hilton. We had great views to go with a good DJ set, from the city lights at night to an impressive vista of the city in daylight when the sun came up.



After an extra lazy day due to a public holiday, I went to see a cathedral which is set in an enormous salt mine an hour outside of Bogota. It's one of Colombia's most notable tourist attractions, yet in true Colombia style you still have to ask the locals in the town where to walk, as there are no signs. They still extract salt here and from time to time miners are injured or killed, mines being generally dangerous places to work. The cathedral used to be in a different part of the mine but that collapsed a few years ago so they´ve set this one up in this part of the mine which is considered more structurally sound. I´m no fan of churches generally but this was nicely done and I couldn't help but be impressed with the way they´ve done this in the middle of a mountain.



That night I went back to Medellin to meet up with the trek group and we had a couple of good nights out there. I saw a few other people I'd met up on the coast too, so it was great to see them again too. We went to a water park one afternoon as well which was amusing. I got wolf whistled and harassed by a group of old Colombia women there. Animals, they were.



From Medellin 3 of us went to Cali for a change of scenery and to decide for ourselves what we thought of the place. You hear mixed reviews about Cali more than any other place in Colombia - people seem to either love it or hate it, and there seems to be an even split of opinion. Maybe they should rename it Marmite.



After the night bus and a small snooze we went to the zoo for the first day. I like zoos generally but I often get a minor guilt complex about some of the animals being caged, especially birds. This one wasn't too bad though, if a little dull. Cali is the salsa capital of Colombia (the dance, not the condiment...) so we were honour bound to go and see what it was like. Local friends of friends took us out to show us how it was done. The club was like many in Colombia and played a mix of electronica and salsa music, with no discernible mixing. Not for the first time, a local tried to teach me to salsa and underestimated my ability to make a hash of it. I can only hope her feet are okay now. Randomly I met Mick Cripps who played guitar and bass for LA Guns. He was a funny guy, had his own style and didn't give a shit.



Next day we went for a wander and after I went back to the hostel in the afternoon my 2 friends were robbed in a park. They weren't hurt but it was a reminder that, safe as Colombia is, there are still places not to be trusted when there are no police around. I didn't spend enough time in Cali or see enough of it to gain a solid impression but from what I did see, I can't be sure what the fuss is about. Maybe I shouldn't compare it to Medellin.



We went back to Bogota for a final party before the last of us from the trek went our separate ways. We went up one of the hills overlooking the city for a chilled evening. I noticed the altitude up there for the first time. Bogota sits at around 2,600m above sea level, and although I never felt the altitude in the city, the 500m or so higher on that hill definitely made a difference. I'll have to consider stopping smoking before I get to Maccu Picchu...



I went to another recommended attraction in Bogota - the Gold Museum. It houses an impressive array of artefacts from several hundred years ago. Gold was an integral part of life for the pre Hispanics and they used it for decoration, armour, to make musical instruments and to pay homage to and communicate with their gods. We went to the planetarium as well which was ok. I either underestimated how much spoken Spanish there would be or overestimated my ability to comprehend it. Either way, I left not much the wiser but it was still entertaining enough.



My last big night was a return to the club we'd been to on my first visit but the music was bad. A couple of girls I'd met the first time turned up and they took me to another place also several floors up. This high up:




And that was Colombia. I had a great time here, saw some great sights and met some great people. It was the perfect time to come - enough tourists are here that there is plenty to do, but still many people around the world have the mistaken impression that it's still dangerous, so it's nowhere near too touristy like some parts of Thailand. There are some small ways in which you get the impression that Colombia hasn't quite geared up for tourists, like the fact that postcards are almost impossible to come by. The people are really friendly and, whether because they're aware that their country is still shaking off its bad rep or just because they want you to like it, they are anxious to make sure you feel safe and have a good time. I hope things keep improving here and more people come to see what Colombia has to offer. It's not all about coffee and drugs. The police presence is undoubtedly a big factor in the safety here and in a strange way I think I will need to be on my guard more when I head south. Tomorrow.

San Gil

It's a 9 hour bus ride from Santa Marta to Bucaramunga, and then a further 2-3 to San Gil, which lies on the road to Bogota. They have a habit in Colombia of setting the air con to "very cold" while not giving you blankets. I'd been warned about this so had jeans, boots and a jumper on, but it was no match for the arctic blast of the AC. The other notable thing about any road travel in Colombia is that overtaking is almost compulsory, and encouraged on blind corners. Also, the double yellow lines seem to be considered as more for illustration than instruction. Still I managed to sleep most of the time and woke up just before Bucaramanga, and it was just a short wait for the connection to San Gil.



It's hard to know what to make of San Gil after being on the coast for 3 weeks. It doesn't immediately strike you as a pretty town, but then it depends on what you're comparing it to. It's not exactly Paris, but it's nice enough. There are tourist boards up all over the town which suggests they're trying hard to build this place into a destination for visitors. One side of town covers a steep hill and the streets gave me flashbacks of the uphills and downhills on the trek. As my Swiss friends from the trek, who I'm here with, said - "if they built streets on hills like this in Switzerland, we'd be fucked".



San Gil is the self styled "adventure capital of Colombia" so, aside from being an ideal location to break up a journey between Bogota and Santa Marta, there's a lot to do here to get the adrenaline going. You can do whitewater rafting, kayaking, canyoning, caving, paragliding and more. I thought the rafting was a little expensve so I opted for paragliding.

The take off was sweet...



and I'd say no part of it got the pulse going, but there was this...



...so there was a little adrenaline, although for the most part it was tranquilo.

There´s a beautiful gardens a short walk towardsthe edge of town, too, so I went for a relaxed day. There are old trees that stand majestically, with fir sweeping down. They had a kind of shabby elegance, like old women dressed up for a ball.



I was on my way to Bogota to meet up with the crew from the trek, so the nights were quiet for me ahead of a big weekend....

Ciudad Perdida, Parque Tayrona & Simon Bolivar

One of the biggest things on my agenda this trip was a trek through the forest and back for 5 days to see Ciudad Perdida - literally, the "Lost City". This remote outpost is said to have been founded around 800AD and was inhabited by the indigenous Tairona until 400 years ago. They were spread throughout this region of Colombia, all around the mountainsides of Sierra Nevada, with Ciudad Perdida (called Teyuna by the locals back in the day) as the capital of the region.



The tribes living in the lower areas around the mountains were massacred when they refused to adopt the religion and way of life favoured by the Spaniards. Although the Spaniards couldn't find or reach Teyuna and directly impose the joys of cultural and religious empire on the Tairona people there, the indigenous died out from starvation and malnutrition, as they were no longer able to leave their city to trade vital goods and services they needed to sustain life up there. The Spaniards were waiting for them lower down in the other villages, so it was too dangerous. The remoteness of the city, once a defensive bonus, turned their home into a prison.



After its abandonment, the city was lost for years until tomb raiders discovered it once more in 1973. When artefacts started appearing in the local black markets, the authorities revealed the city to the world. There are still indigenous tribes living in the area, and we passed a couple of small villages on the way.



In 2003 a group of tourists walking this trail was kidnapped by guerrillas but all were released after 3 months. The Colombian army now patrols the region and there have been no incidents since.



The trek was harder than I thought it would be. I knew it would be tough for me and I can't remember a more physically difficult 5 days, but it was absolutely worth it. Our group consisted of a Swiss couple, an Aussie with his Canadian girlfriend, 2 Dutch, an Aussie girl, an English guy and a kiwi (me). We were lucky - it was a good group and we got on well enough that we all spent several more days together after the trek.



The first day we were taken by jeep into a town from where we would start the walk. Our guide was the least likely looking guide you could imagine. A short, stocky fella who told me he'd knocked back 15 beers the night before was to lead us through the jungle and back. He was a great and knowledgeable guy, and was happy to answer any questions along the way. Once you got him started, he was off. I sometimes wondered if he would simply stop functioning if he stopped speaking.



The going was pretty easy for the first couple of hours, and we had our first couple of river crossings, which we would become very familiar with in the coming days. After the 2nd crossing we had a huge uphill which seemed to go on forever, and the heat made life no easier, with no assistance from any breeze either. When we finally leveled out it was just a short walk along a ridge to our first camp for the night. We slept in hammocks and got to bed early in order to get up early for the 2nd day. There isn't much to do at night on this trek, but that's ok - after the exertion of the day, sleep is much higher on the priority list than entertainment.



The 2nd day we were out on the trail in the early morning light and soon hit our first big downhill, which when you've got knees like a 90 year old is actually harder going than the uphills. So I now found myself in the unusual position of craving uphills and grimacing at the prospect of the downhills. And because you go back the same way you came, you know that each big uphill you do today will be a big downhill in a couple of days....



There isn't any wildlife to speak of on this trail, and some say that, like life, the trek is more about the journey than the destination. The surroundings are spectacular. There may be no birds or monkeys but the forest is an explosion of greens and magnificent trees, mixed with some amazing panoramic views over the occasionally open hillsides. Even though we left early on the 2nd day, it didn't take long to get a good sweat up, and we were relieved to reach our first swimming spot. I was especially relieved as it was after an enormous downhill which had my knees questioning the wisdom of coming on the trek.



After a refreshing dip we carried on towards camp 2 and passed a couple of small indigenous villages on the way. Some kids were more than happy to sit for photos. I guess they still enjoy the innocence of not knowing what outsiders have meant to their way of life for as long as Europeans have been traveling. I can't say I blame the elders that we passed for the mistrust and resentment in their eyes. Like everyone I guess, they just want to be left alone to live their lives in peace, but the reach of empire and exploitation is long, and doesn't have much room for exceptions.



It was only another couple of hours before we reached the camp, and it had started raining which brought some relief from the heat. I liked sitting on the rocks in the light rain taking in the forest. It reminded me of some parts of the South Island of NZ.



The 2nd day we only walked about 4 hours so it was an early finish and we had a lot of time to kill. I was enjoying just looking at the forest and the shapes of trees poking out from time to time through the increasingly heavy rain. After some big uphills and downhills I was happy to get to bed and give my aching body a break.



After another early night, it was another early start to make our way to the final camp. The terrain on the 2nd day had been difficult, but the 3rd day was much easier. There were more of those river crossings but no big hills. We passed a unit of soldiers monitoring the surrounding mountains and shared a joke and a smoke with them. I guess they must enjoy the novelty of tourists coming through to give them a break from the tedium.



We'd hoped to be able to reach the 3rd camp and go straight to see the city in the afternoon, but the weather had closed in so we were stuck at camp for another long afternoon. We occupied ourselves with cards and banter and (randomly) popcorn which the camp had prepared, until it was time to get another early night.



Day 4 and we were up at sunrise to get up to the city in good time. It was a short walk to the start of the steps leading up to the city, and from there it got tough. The steps - 1,200 of them - are all different sizes and mostly slippery, and it was like a mega session on the stairmaster. Not that I have ever been on a stairmaster but I guess that's what it's like.



Some people say there's not much to see there but I thought it was spectacular. There weren't standing temples like Maccu Picchu has. In fact there are no original standing buildings, so it's very much the remains of a site, but I loved it. It's unlike anything I've seen before and you could still see how much of an endeavour it must have been to put this city together all those years ago, on a steep hillside, without the tools we have today.



As we arrived at the most photographed part of the city, ideal for a par 3, a helicopter landed and from it stepped the local shaman (the dude in the white in the picture below), with a film and sound crew in tow to do some sort of interview.



I understand he's supposed to spend most of his time in the highlands with the indigenous people, but rumour had it that he'd been in nearby Santa Marta for the previous couple of weeks getting pissed and shagging women. It was amusing and also a little sad that someone who's traditionally supposed to communicate with the spirit world, whether or not through the use of hallucinogenics, had turned into an out and out party animal. I had to admire his style rocking up in a chopper and doing a doco before probably heading back to Santa Marta to get back on it.



It was good that the helicopter was there. We could relax for a while in the sunshine waiting for them to do their thing before negotiating our way back down the slippery steps. The girls from our group went down and had a massive photoshoot with a bunch of soldiers who were stationed above the city and who guard it, so they weren't complaining either.



With the greatest of care - this is the last place you want to pick up an injury - we made our way down the steps and back to camp 3 for a quick lunch before powering on back to camp 2. As we approached the camp, a storm hit and the final river crossing was impossible, so our guide took us another way and across another swollen crossing. It was a good way to get the adrenaline going again at the end of a hard day and, combined with the satisfaction of having reached the city, had us all in high spirits. As did the rum the Dutch had brought with them.



There was also some sort of party the guides and locals were having in camp as well so it was a good atmosphere all round and a nice way to spend our final night. I've said that there isn't much in the way of wildlife on the trail, but the major exception to this are the insects. They're enormous and not very friendly looking. Some people kept finding huge bizarre looking things and consulting the guide on how dangerous they were. The diagnosis was usually that the insect in question was harmless enough, but the treatment was always a swift flip flop from the guide to the insect putting an end to the issue. We'd found a scorpion on the 3rd morning at the camp so we weren't assuming anything was safe.



The final day was to be the hard one. On the 5 day trek, which we did, you spend the final day walking from camp 2 all the way back to the start of the trail, so it's 7 hours up those downhills and down those uphills from before. You could easily do this trip in 4 days, by making it to what was our 3rd camp on day 2, and that way you wouldn't have as much time to kill on the 2nd and 3rd afternoon. There's also the option of a 6 day trek, which must drive you insane.



One of the girls had caught a virus so needed to ride a donkey back. I was lucky enough to be able to stick my bag on there, so it made the final day less painful for me. Still it was a great relief to get back to the start of the trail and trade our boots for flip flops again.



Would I recommend this trip? You bet. But make sure you have decent insect repellant, zip lock plastic bags, good footwear, good socks and enough of them. For once I was organised and had the right kit, and that might have made the difference between it being too tough for me and not. One of the guys walked the whole thing in a pair of Converse trainers - a great effort. There was one bit on the 3rd morning where we had to scramble around some riverside rocks, with nothing to break the fall and nothing to hold on to. It's probably too dangerous in fairness (they were fixing it shortly after we went through), and someone has apparently died on the trail before, so we thought it must be here. But the Converse shoes did the job for this guy. So, you can do it without all the kit but it's probably not the best idea, especially if you go in the rainy season.



This was one of the hardest things I've done, and I guess maybe that helped to make it one of the best as well.



PARQUE NACIONAL TAYRONA



After the exertions of the trek, a bunch of us headed over to the national park just outside of Taganga.



We trekked a couple of hours to get there (because we hadn't had enough) slept in hammocks (again) and enjoyed a relaxed couple of days. Like with Playa Blanca when I was in Cartagena, the beach was empty after the boat left in mid afternoon. It was just what the doctor ordered and I probably should have stayed there a little longer but it was getting time to leave the coast and head south.



SIMON BOLIVAR

I should mention in passing Latin America's most revered hero. Simon Bolivar was instrumental in fighting for the independence from Spain of Venezuela, Bolivia (which is named after him), Ecuador, Colombia and Peru. Statues of him appear in towns and cities throughout these countries and it's hard to imagine what life would have been like here now without his influence. He came to a hacienda in Santa Marta to die, of tuberculosis, aged only 47. To have achieved what he did at such a young age (he was younger than me when he took on the Spanish) is something to admire, and I liked going to the place he rested his head for the last time. I'm reading a book about him at the moment so may add a little more as I go...