Message in a bottle? How about in a barrel?
Day 8: Galápagos Islands – Floreana Island (Punta Cormorant, Post Office Bay & Mirador de la Baronesa) Devil's Crown Friday, November 02
In the morning, snorkel at Devil's Crown which is a shallow sunken crater that makes for one of the best snorkeling sites in the islands. The submerged volcano has clear blue waters and a variety of colorful fish. Sea lions were seen in the water and seabirds nest in the rock crevices .
Lunch onboard. Afternoon excursion to Post Office Bay that is on the northern side of Floreana Island. This is the site where whalers used to "mail" their correspondence. A barrel was used as a mail box and held letters from sailors across the globe. If a passing ship was heading where the mail was addressed, the captain would collect and deliver it.
Although the barrel is no longer the original one, the system still works since we visitors continue to collect and drop off mail.
A short walk from the famous barrel will take us to a tunnel formed by laval flows. From the lookout point enjoy great views of resident seabirds. Mirador de la Baronesa is a basaltic tuff formation located in la Olla Bay, between Punta Cormorant and Post Office Bay. The site earned its name from letters written by Baroness Eloisa Von Wagner and the Wittmer family describing the area.
Web links here:
Ghosts of the Galapagos, the Baroness Eloisa von Wagner Bosquet
http://www.calnative.com/stories/n_ghosts.htm
http://www.galapagosislands.com/galapagos-history/galapagos-modern-history.html
Wiki - Floreana Island
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floreana_Island
Photo of Margret Wittmer, Original Settler of Floreana ...
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/6874212
Floreana: A Woman's Pilgrimage to the Galapagos by Margaret Wittmer
Photo 1. The Floreana 200 year old post office.
Photo 2. Looks more like a barrel than a post office box?
Photo 3. Us sorting thru what mail we might be able to deliver. I took 6 hoping to learn from those who are the addressees. That story for another time.
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https://picasaweb.google.com/magwheel44/2012GIMPDay8Of17
It’s always hard saying goodbye )-:
Day 9: Galápagos Islands – Santa Cruz Island (Bahia Ballena, Bahia Eden & Cerro Dragon) Saturday, November 03
Enjoyed our visit to Bahia Ballena (Whale Bay). The cove of green sand is located at the base of Cerro Dragon (Dragon Hill) on the west coast of Santa Cruz. The beach contains a large amount of olivine crystals, green in color, that were formed from volcanic materials.
Lunch onboard, than a dry landing on Santa Cruz for a walk to Dragon Hill. Went to a saltwater lagoon and saw pink flamingoes (-:
Then hiked up Dragon Hill to see a beautiful view of the bay. Needed to watch where we stepped. Also see WDD – wild donkey dung - along our path! This area has an interesting Scalesia forest and is the nesting site for numerous reintroduced land iguanas. What’s a Scalesia forest you ask? Web links here:
Scalesia forest on the Galapagos Islands
http://www.galapagos.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/footprint4-scalesia-loss.pdf
Scalesia trees & shrubs
http://galapedia.darwinfoundation.org/Scalesia
Scalesia Zone Flora Voyagers
http://www.johnellert.com/Namaste_Reflections/PhotoLocations/Galapagos/Pages/index.html
Photo 1. A great end to a perfect sea adventure. A toast from the crew.
Photo 2. Even a special desert from Chef Humberto - Feliz Viaje Amigos – Happy Travel Friends. Need I say more?
Photo 3. We sailed into the sunset – gorgeous.
Click here for today's online photo album.
https://picasaweb.google.com/magwheel44/2012GIMPDay9Of17
https://picasaweb.google.com/magwheel44/2012GIMPDay9Of17
Day 11: Guayaquil - Flight to Lima (delayed) Monday, November 05
Early breakfast at hotel. Transfer to the airport for morning flight to Cusco. Flight issues keeps us in Guayaquil. Went back to Hotel Oro Verde for a “few” hours to wait things out. Better than sitting in airport lobby with little seating until flight arrangements confirmed. Arrived to Lima and spent night there.
Photo 1. The next day’s flight was to take us to Cusco. Instead, a diversion to Lima, with great accommodations made by Daniel.
Photo 2. Lima, the capitol, has 10 million residents – everywhere you look – people and housing.
Photo 3. My nightly electronic gadget housekeeping. Many batteries need charging.
Click here for today's online photo album.
https://picasaweb.google.com/magwheel44/2012GIMPDay11Of17
Day 12: Flight to Cusco. Bus to Sacred Valley (Yucay) - Chincheros Town & Ollantaytambo Ruins. Tuesday, November 06
Ugh, up at 4 a.m. To catch flight to Cusco. Scheduling error yesterday had us spend night in Lima. Then bus to Sacred Valley. We visit a Chincheros town including a visit to a weaving cooperative, where you we met with locals and learn about the weaving styles and techniques.
Next, the Pisac Market, which dates back to the ancient Andean days when people in the highlands depended on trade. The natives trade vegetables, herbs and potatoes for things like matches, oranges and medicines.
Then to Hotel Boutique San Agustin Monasterio de la Recoleta. Very nice. Tasty food wonderful rooms and great views of mountains with ice cap! After lunch, presentation on origin of potatoes and biodiversity in the Andean countries by Profesor Maywa Blanco Zamalloa, faculty from University Agronomía in Cusco.
This is followed by a trip to Ollantaytambo, a town with original buildings of Inca construction. Here the Inca retreated to make their last stand in the highlands against the Spanish. Running water still flows through the town streets in aqueducts. The terraces above the town still are farmed by hand. The pinnacle above the town is a small burial ground.
Another lecture early evening was by Dr. Theo Paredes, an expert on Andean Culture. He talked about Machu Picchu and its spiritual and mystical significance to the ancient Inca.
Geographic features & Photographs around Urubamba, in Cusco, Peru
http://travelingluck.com/South+America/Peru/Cusco/_3926438_Urubamba.html
Hotel Boutique San Agustin Monasterio de la Recoleta
http://hotels.travelingluck.com/hotel/propertydetails/236113?cid=304686#
Profesor Maywa Blanco Zamalloa
http://tagreen.wordpress.com/2010/10/25/sacred-valley/
Dr. Theo Paredes, PhD – Study of Andean Culture
http://www.crescenterra.com/theo.html
Peru book - Kantupata beyond Machu Picchu
http://www.amazon.com/Kantupata-beyond-Machu-Picchu-Paredes/dp/6124554704
Wiki - Ollantaytambo
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ollantaytambo
Photo 1. Wow, streets have no traffic @ 4 a.m.
Photo 2. Finally, made it to Cusco. Back at high altitude we get a cup of coca tea while boarding our bus.
Photo 3. I keep seeing these same photos – even on the travel brochures. Will it look that way?
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https://picasaweb.google.com/magwheel44/2012GIMPDay12Of17
Day 13: Machu Picchu (Aguas Calientes) – Excursion to UNESCO World Heritage Site. Wednesday, November 07
After breakfast at hotel took train from Ollantaytambo to Machu Picchu following the Urubamba River with spectacular views of the Andes. We would have taken the train form a station a city closer if the floods from last year had not eliminated part of the tracks and roadway. As it was, only a 20 minute bus ride over a new “path” along the river to catch the train.
Along the way, went thru several climate zones; from alpine to tropical. Checked into Inkaterra Hotel, another w-o-w place. Orchids and birds everywhere. Then took bus to the Machu Picchu Ruins with lunch planned at local restaurant near the archeological site. Continued the afternoon guided field trip in and around Machu Picchu Ruins.
This ancient Inca city was “rediscovered” in 1911 by Hiram Bingham, a Yale graduate. With the group was a U.S. senator fascinated with Inca archaeology. Bingham found Machu Picchu, with the help of a local farmer who knew about the ruins, while searching for Vilcabamba and Vitcos.
Bingham hypothesized that the site was a "citadel," existing for strategic and defense purposes. He also speculated that the site was a refuge for Cusco's Virgins of the Sun, based upon the finding of skulls there, although not scientifically classified as female. Breakthroughs in archaeology since 1985 have, taken as a whole, supported the emerging view of Machu Picchu as a ceremonial and administrative center for a very populous region. Machu Picchu was built, flourished, and then fell into demise within a period of 100 years.
Today, a special day, will add a few more photos to the story.
Photo 1. Looking out room window can see clouds or maybe water vapor coming down from ice caps on mountains?
Photo 2. Stopped into the chapel on the hotel property, formerly a convent from Spanish times. Am saying “thanks for the memories.” I am here at Machu Picchu area – finally. Had to also say thanks that we were not ill like a few members of our group. They went to town for outside medical help. “What if“ you had all these plans and got so close, but couldn’t go farther?
Photo 3. Breakfast was tasty. Even saw the ill ones from yesterday looking much better. They said they were glad to have better health. They have returned and are “ready” to visit their “dream.”
Photo 4. Yep, that’s me – I am here – Machu Picchu!
Photo 5. Carol too. She set things up. I am just there “for the ride” of my life (-:
Photo 6. Wow, it does look just like the pictures.
Click here for today's online photo album.
https://picasaweb.google.com/magwheel44/2012GIMPDay13Of17
Day 14: Cusco - Orientation to Aguas Calientes/Train and Bus to Cusco, Thursday, November 08
Breakfast at hotel, then guided excursion around the town of Aguas Calientes Visited the local market. Some participants got up before daybreak to revisit Machu Picchu and try to catch sunrise from the “sun gate.” This is the location where many of the Machu Picchu site overview photos are taken. Unfortunately, our visitors were challenged with low cloud cover that made photos they expected, impossible )-:
We met with the MP early morning visit group around noon in the city plaza. Had lunch at hotel we were originally planned to stay in. The substituted location was more than enough compensation for the delay in leaving Lima. Went to Aguas Calientes train station with trip ending at Ollantaytambo station. Normally we would have went to next station, but both road and rail still under repair from heavy flooding of Urubamba river last year. From the Ollantaytambo station took bus to Cusco. Web links here:
Hotel Inkaterra
http://www.inkaterra.com/en/machu-picchu
Photo 1. Hotel Inkaterra grounds were tropical and lush. Just after this photo, turned to watch a flock of maybe 6 green parrots disappear in the tree cover.
Photo 2. Carol, and my “new” old friend, Martin. As I age, so do my friends, some of which are/were 20+years my senior. The oldest, Bruce, died at age 97 a few years back. I keep trying to add the dimension that Bruce suggested decades back – always add “new” friends, from both ends of the age spectrum. As you age- this gets increasingly more difficult.
Photo 3. Here’s Carol trying to add some new friends who are on the younger end. Will they remember us? Probably not, they never “knew” us. We though, seem to be able to carry the images in our mind for decades (-:
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https://picasaweb.google.com/magwheel44/2012GIMPDay14Of17
Day 15: Cusco - Introduction to Cusco & Sacsayhuaman Ruins. Friday, November 09
Excursion through the city of Cusco. The center of Cusco is a history lesson. Modern and colonial buildings are built on top of Inca foundations, and colonial churches dominate the central square. Visited the Qorichanka, an Inka sacred site. After the Spanish conquest in 1532, during the division of Cusco’s lands and buildings, the Qorikancha fell to Juan Pizarro, one of Francisco Pizarro's brothers. Before his death, Juan Pizarro decided to donate the Qorikancha to the Order of Preachers (Dominican Order). Founded in 1534, Cusco’s Saint Dominic Priory (Convento de Santo Domingo) was the first Dominican convent in Peru. Web links here:
http://www.qorikancha.org/PortadaENG.htm
Qorikancha’s altar
http://ephemera.cat/bloc/2009/07/06/notes-from-peru-1-qorikanchas-altar/
Notes from Peru Inka stonework.
http://ephemera.cat/bloc/2009/07/22/notes-from-peru-2-inka-stonework/
Field trip to the Sacsayhuaman Ruins. The fortress of Sacsayhuaman forms the head of the Puma design of old Cusco. It is a mystery how it was constructed, since the stones are not found in the region, and most of the blocks weigh more than a ton. The largest rock weighs more than 300 tons. Sacsayhuaman is constructed of huge polygonal blocks which interlock with one another.
Lunch at a café in the main plaza, the center of colonial architecture of the city. Good food and great music by the 5 – Brothers Roque.
Pre-dinner presentation by Gustavo León Flores, an expert on the history of Inca and Andean musical instruments. He demonstrated over 2 dozen different unique Andean instruments, plus had many others for us to view. He played many of the instruments he talked about. A very talented person both with instrument and voice. Web links here:
Photos of Gustavo’s instruments from another online site:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/vernonalferd/sets/72157624880097258/?page=6
Photo 1. Ticket used for entrance to Qorichanka
Photo 2. Display of representation of gold panel that had adorned walls of Inka temple. Details above in web site on Qorikancha’s altar.
Photo 3. Sacsayhuaman Fortress Ruins with rocks the dwarf us.
Click here for today's online photo album.
https://picasaweb.google.com/magwheel44/2012GIMPDay15Of17
