Galapagos Trip - Flowers

Dear Family and Friends,

When we went to the Galapagos islands, I was not even thinking flowers. The islands are mostly volcanic rock with little vegetation so I didn't have plants on my mind.

There are however, many nice wild flowers and after a day or two I started to take some photographs. Looking back at my pictures, most of the flowers I took pictures of were yellow, but since I wasn't really paying attention to begin with, I probably missed some other beautiful colors.

I do not know the names of the flowers, but this one looks to be related to a Hibiscus. It was growing wild. (Update: This is a Hibiscus!)


Here is an interesting plant and it was growing wild also. (Update: This is a Mimosa)


I think the following two pictures are of the same flowers. They captivated my attention so I pulled out my camera and had a grand time. Again, they seemed to be growing wild. (Update: Yellow Cordia - Coria Lutea)


Here is an interesting one. If you are able to identify any of these flowers, an email would be appreciated. I can then come back to this post and add the names.


Even the cactus was blooming.... (Update: Opuntia)

These last flowers were not wild. They were growing at a hotel we checked out. I think these might be "bleeding hearts."

Thank you Paul McFarling for your help in identifying these flowers. http://www.galapex.com/gallery_art.html

Tomorrow, I will post about the animals. I have been patiently posting about everything else but my heart is in the animal photos. I saved the best until last.

Oh, by the way, if you are thinking of coming to Cuenca in the future you might be interested in this great apartment. It is located very close to the historic district and all the tourist activities. This apartment belongs to our friends, Rich and Nancy, and they have lovingly remodeled it. If you want more information you can check out their blog. Rich and Nancy took us there yesterday so we could see the finished apartment. They have done a very nice job making it very comfortable. It will be a nice alternative to staying in a hotel room.

Love,
Nancy

Galapagos Trip - Scenery

Dear Family and Friends,

During our Galapagos trip we just saw a small slice of the Galapagos pie. We saw enough to know that it is a "go back to" place. There is so much yet for us to see and explore. In this post I will share some of the scenery of the slice of Galapagos we saw.

This was a very typical scene since our trip was land based. There were tourist stores about every third store in the town of Puerto Ayora. They carried most of the Ecuadorian crafts we get here, but most of it had Galapagos embroidered, painted or stamped on it. Very few Panama hats there, mostly cloth hats with ties for under the chin. Of course with all the boat trips, these are more practical.

Pelican Bay was in the center of town. This is where the fishermen bring their catch of the day, clean it and sell it. Pelican Bay is a very descriptive name as there are hundreds of pelicans that park themselves nearby in the trees. The boats are fishermen boats.


You can watch the fishermen clean their catch. In this photo you will see it was more than humans who had their eye on the cleaning process.


Here is one fisherman's daily catch. The people of Puerto Ayora just come down and see what is available, buy their fresh seafood and go home and feast.


We had only a couple of days when the sun really came out. Most of the time it was overcast. This had it's good and bad points. When the sun is out, colors are more vibrant and photographs come out nicer but one can get severely sunburned. When it is overcast it tends to be hot and humid but you stand a chance of not getting burned if you use sunscreen. Also, your pictures come out dull.

Here is another shot of the bay.

Chuck and Linda went on a adventure walk to the beach at Tortuga bay. In order to get to the beach, you have to walk 2.5 K through the lava and cactus...on a paved walkway. They came home with grand tales of how this is the most beautiful beach they had ever seen. So, one overcast morning, Larry and I accompanied them to the beach.

Here is a picture of Chuck and Larry admiring a cactus tree on the walk to the beach.


When we got to the beach, it was deserted. Of course it was, it was overcast and on the verge of rain. Since the sun was not out, we missed the beauty that Chuck and Linda had witnessed. This is because the beautiful blue and green ocean depends on the sun to make it so.


The long walk through the cactus and lava was very hot and humid. If I were to do it again, I would pick a sunny day because even though the walk might be very hot, the view of the beach at the end of the walk would be brilliant.

We took a day trip to the island of Floreana. The sun came out and the scenery was fantastic, the ocean was blue and green and the stark rise of lava jutting up out of the ocean was stunning.



Although the islands are far apart, we could see another island off in the distance.


We took a land tour which included a trip to the top of Floreana island. Even though the day was sunny, the top of the island was almost like a cloud forest. We learned that the first human child born on this island was born in a cave. The story told to us was that a German couple was escaping Germany in 1929. They asked to be let off the large ship on this island. The woman was pregnant. They were able to survive on this island, living in a cave. Their child, a son, was born the same year. He is still alive and lives in the Galapagos islands.

Inca Head

Our guide explained how the father, because they were living in isolation, wanted to educate his son. The father caved this head in a rock to teach his son about the Incas who had once inhabited the South American Andes.

Full face...



It is now a very popular thing for people to have their pictures made with.

On the next post I will share some pictures of the flowers we saw.

Of course, I am saving the best to last.

Love,
Nancy

Galapagos Trip

Dear Family and Friends,

We just returned from a week's trip to the Galapagos Islands. We have had friends return from there and tell us all about their wonderful adventures. Because it is so expensive, we knew that waiting to get residency in Ecuador would be to our advantage. As residents we receive a price break on airline tickets and park entry fees.

Last month Chuck sent out an email inviting friends to join us in a trip to the Galapagos. Larry and Linda responded that they would like to join in the adventure. Chuck found a house to rent online, so we shared a house on Santa Cruz for the week.

There is too much to share in one posting, so after pondering how to post about our trip, I have decided to divide it into this post and 3 others.... Scenery, Flora and Animals. This is the first of four posts about our trip.

Here is the first sight we saw after getting off the airplane. It is the Galapagos airport. The airport is on the island, Baltra. The airstrip was built during WWII by the USA military. It was used as a Pacific defense sight during the war. Other than the airport there is not much else on this small island, so in order to get to Santa Cruz we took a small boat.


After getting on the island, we took a taxi to the town of Puerto Ayora. This is the most populated town in the islands. The population is just under 10,000 residents. With tourists it is quite a bit more. Our taxi driver ended up being a tour guide of sorts. He took us to see a huge sink hole in the highlands of the island on our way to our destination.

Here we are in front of the sink hole.

We got settled into our house and then walked around the town. On the second or third day we took a boat tour to Floreana Island.

Here is Larry and Linda ready to head out.


When we got to Floreana Island, we went into the highlands for a great tour. We saw giant tortoises, iguanas, sea lions, many birds and beautiful scenery.

Here we all are gathered around listening to the tour guide tell us about the giant tortoises we were viewing.


Here is Tarzan Chuck leading the way.

And here we are trekking through the muddy, slippery highlands.


Linda and Chuck went snorkeling. Chuck said the fish were beautiful...big and very colorful.

Chuck doing his Lloyd Bridges impression.


Two members of our party of four were very active. Two members were more relaxed and savored the atmosphere in a more low key method.


One thing we especially all enjoyed was trying different restaurants.


This post is just an overview of our trip. The best is yet to come.

Love,
Nancy

WE HAVE A LOTS TO BE THANKFUL FOR

Dear Family and Friends,

THANKSGIVNG

If you are living in the USA I hope that your Thanksgiving was loving, peaceful and full of gratitude.

For those of us who live outside of our home country, occasions like Thanksgiving, Christmas and birthdays of our friends and family are sometimes a struggle to get through. This is especially true of Thanksgiving because in Cuenca it is just another weekday. Nothing special here unless you make it special.

Last Thursday our good friends, Rich and Nancy, hosted a wonderful Thanksgiving meal with turkey and all the trimmings. They have the whole story on their blog RichnNancy. I will add a few pictures here but for more pictures you can click the link to their blog.

Rich carving up the turkey.


There were 28 of us all together in their condo. They have a nice large area that accommodated us all quite nicely. Freddi (Brian and Shelley's little doggie) was also there and believe me Freddi did not lack for attention.

Here is Carolina bookstore owner, Carol, taking her turn hugging Freddi.


Here is Chuck chatting with Larry about our upcoming trip to the Galapagos. (more on that later in this post) If you examine this picture real carefully you might see the handy dandy photographer in the background.


All of the food was very good. Everyone brought something to share. Our visiting sister-in-law, Carol, made an "almost pumpkin" pie. There are no pumpkins grown around here that we are aware of so Carol bought some squash. She made this pie and it tasted just like the real thing.


Everyone had a really great time and we are so thankful that Rich and Nancy put this together.

FRIENDS

Last week Nancy emailed me and said that some friends of Bob and Rox were coming to Cuenca for a week. She said that they read our blog and wanted to meet us. We were excited to meet someone who follows our blog and we eagerly accepted an invitation to meet them. We all met at the Akelarre for dinner last Sunday night. (It is an odd feeling to sit across from strangers who know all about you already. But we are not the only ones, they know all about Bob and Rox, Nancy and Rich and Brian and Shelley.)

Here is a picture of Patty and Michael (new friends), Rich and Nancy, Chuck and Carol enjoying ourselves in the courtyard of the restaurant.


Patty and Michael live in Houston, Texas. They are planning on moving to Cuenca. As we shared dinner they told they were in Cuenca for one week and they hoped to buy a condo or two before they left. We thought this was quite ambitious of them, but by golly they did just that.

Here is Patty showing Carol the plans to their new condo at our Thanksgiving gathering.


Their condo is in the process of being constructed. They plan to be back in Cuenca in July to check on the building progress. We look forward to getting together with them when they return.

And speaking of friends, Friday night a group of us had dinner together at Zoe's Restaurant after the gringo get together.



GALAPAGOS

Chuck and I are going to the Galapagos next week with our friends Larry and Linda. This is a first time trip to the Galapagos for all of us. We are renting a house together and just planning it as we go. We are armed with information that we gleaned from Brian and Shelley about their recent trip. It is partly a fact finding trip. I will do a post about what we did when we return. I will also share what we learned about doing the trip without going through a travel agency.

I doubt that I will be able to post to this blog while we are away so it will be about a week and a half before I can post again.


MEDICAL UPDATE

When I left the USA, I was on blood pressure and cholesterol lowering medication. I found the blood pressure medication is available here at the pharmacy. So I have continued taking it. But, I have always hated taking the cholesterol medication because of all the negative side effects one reads about.

Since I have been down here I have been eating a lot more starchy foods than I use to eat back in the U.S. That is not hard to do when you get the $2.00 lunches because they usually consist of a small portion of meat accompanied by corn, potatoes and rice. Also, I do like my ice cream!!

When I went to the doctor last week, he gave me paperwork to take to the lab to have my blood work done. I went to have my blood drawn last week and I hand carried the results to our doctor on Friday.

When I was telling Patty last week about not taking the cholesterol medication, she suggested that I take a teaspoon of cinnamon every day. She said it would lower my bad cholesterol and she said it also lowers blood sugar. I was happy to hear this good news because I really am afraid of the side effects of the medicine.

BAD NEWS: The results of the blood work showed that my bad cholesterol was very high. My good cholesterol and triglycerides were in the normal range (I'm thankful for that!)

OUTCOME: Even though I told the doctor about the wonderful qualities of cinnamon, he highly suggested that I take the cholesterol medication he was going to prescribe in order to get it lowered. He said that I should also use the cinnamon each day.

I have also heard that aloe juice is good for lowering cholesterol so I will probably add that to the mix of treatments.

I will get my blood drawn again in 60 days and we will see what my cholesterol is then. He said if I can get it under control with the cinnamon regimen, diet and medication that I could try reduce the number of times I take the medication to three times a week.

I have decided to go with the doctor's recommendation, I got the prescription filled and am now back on cholesterol lowering medication. By watching my diet and taking the cinnamon each day I hope to be able to cut back on the pharmaceutical approach within a couple of months.

I'll let you know how it goes.

I have a picture to share with you before I leave. Chuck ordered lobster bisque Friday night. I was feeling a little ticked that I had not ordered it also. When he got his order he let me have a taste and it was pretty good. Then he dug down deeper in the soup and brought this little critter to the surface. Boy, was I glad I hadn't ordered that dish.

Love to you all.

Nancy

Nice Week

Dear Family and Friends,

We have had a very nice week. Carol Watson, our sister-in-law, is visiting with us. Every morning has been very casual with a late breakfast on the patio. Chuck and Carol go to the market for fresh fruit and fresh bread each morning. Chuck stops and gets the newspaper. Having the enclosed patio has really worked out great for us because we can use it in any weather.

Carol has been going to school each day from 1:00pm to 6:00pm. Several nights this past week we have met her at the school and had dinner downtown. There are so many new restaurants to share with her since her visit last year.

Monday night we met friends for dinner at Akelarre.

Friday, after going to both the Eucalyptus Cafe and Zoe's Restaurant for ex-pat night, a bunch of us ended up going to Otabe, the Japanese grill for dinner. We didn't get home until almost midnight.


And last night we went over to see Bruce and Charlie's new apartment and then on to Indian Bapu for dinner. Their place is fabulous. It is very spacious and the views are fantastic. Sorry, I did not take pictures of their apartment, but maybe after they have it furnished, they will let me share it with you through the blog.

Here are Charlie, Chuck and Carol at Bapu. We went upstairs to sit on pillows at the six inch high table. I am definitely getting too old for this. It is bad enough sitting down but very embarrassing when I have to get on all fours to get up. As usual, the meal was terrific. After dinner, we walked to the ice cream shop for dessert.


This past week I went to the doctor for a check up. Since I was sick I do not have the energy I feel I should have. He did the usual exam, weight (ugh), checked ears, throat, listened to my lungs, heart, etc. I was glad to learn that my blood pressure was normal. I go in Monday morning (after 12 hrs. fasting) for blood work. The doctor said I can get the results Monday afternoon. I will return to the him on Tuesday and we will go from there.

Medical care services are different here than in the USA. For example, I have to take a urine and stool specimen with me when I go to get my blood work done. To do this I must first go to a pharmacy and buy a specimen cup and whatever I will need to get the stool specimen.

Also, when the blood work is done, I will pick up the results from the laboratory and hand carry them with me to the doctor on Tuesday.

Oh, by the way, my visit to the doctor was $25.


PATIO REPORT

Even though we have not had the usual amount of rain, our patio is looking great. Chuck keeps everything watered and the plants are blooming as they should be since it is spring here.

The strawberries are doing great....

This geranium is a very dark red....very beautiful....


This purple fuchsia is very is one of our favorites.

So much for this past week.

We are looking forward to getting together with friends at Rich's and Nancy's house for Thanksgiving.

Love,
Nancy