Day 2: Mexico City —> El Nevado de Toluca —> Mexico City.

Since we had the extra 36 hours before our friends arrived, I thought it would be fun to go for a hike to mix up the itinerary a bit. I checked out some websites on fun day hikes and settled on one that is ~2 hours outside of Mexico City that reminded me a bit of when we went to Crater Lake.

Marc was not really excited when I told him that our guide for our hike was picking us up at 6am this morning. But we managed to get up on time and Marc got his pastries for the ride out to our hike. Crisis averted. He also promised to return when we got back to try the chocolate cake.

Our guide, Carlos, was on time and ready to go. It was still dark for most of the ride out but as we got closer, we were able to see lots of fog over in the direction we were slated to hike at. Admittedly, I was also a tad nervous about the hike. The duration was fine, but I experienced some altitude sickness on a hike at a similar altitude during Operation Cincuenta. I wanted to be careful (see that, DAD!) and smart. Carlos gave us a couple of options, so we took the easier one that was ~3 hours of hiking and about 5 miles.

Off we went and we started at 13,500 feet to climb to a max of 14,500 feet. Doesn’t

seem like a ton of elevation gain, but at this altitude, you feel it quickly. We took our time and got to the top where we could see both lakes, although one of them was covered in fog at that particular moment. Then the fog quickly dissipated as we walked down to the lakes.

First up was Lago del Luna, the smaller of the lakes. As we approached, it started to get sunnier and sunnier so it was time to shed some layers. The lake started to show different colors, which was really pretty. We continued on to Lago del Sol, which allowed us to get a close-up of the summit of Nevado del Toluca. The fog was moving around rapidly, so we were trying to be efficient in getting photos. What was great was that we had the whole circuit to ourselves. No one else out there. Carlos said that on the weekends that this trail is packed.

We made our way to the other side of the lake and decided to eat a little before the climb out of the craters. Marc and I told Carlos about Crater Lake, which is still one of my favorite places that I have visited in my time in the PNW. He definitely wanted to learn more as we were trying to compare both locations. The fog started to roll back in as we made our way back up. It was a workout, for sure, and then I wanted to see if we could hike to a higher lookout point to get a better shot of Lago del Sol, which is obscured at the top of the official trail loop.

Fortunately Marc and Carlos were game, and we hiked up a bit more because we needed more elevation, right? The fog was pretty thick but since it wasn’t windy, we stayed up there for about 5 minutes and guess what, the fog moved out a bit. More photos. After that, we headed back to the car and started the ride back to Mexico City. Along the way we were held up by a traffic accident (no injuries) and then we saw a government car of some kind in a drainage ditch in the middle of a major highway with a bunch of police around. Hmmmm. You can’t make this stuff up. I wish we could have stuck around to find out what happened there!

All in all, Carlos was a fantastic guide and we were lucky to have him. We made it back, Marc got his afternoon pastries and we just chilled for a bit waiting for our friends to arrive.

While waiting for our friends to get settled, Marc got his 1st mezcal tasting in at the hotel bar. Honestly, it smelled absolutely revolting to me but Marc seemed to enjoy it, so that’s good. Him and Jason sampled another mezcal at dinner. I’m sure Marc will have more to say on this topic as the week progresses. Later on, we had a great meal at a local restaurant that included duck buñuelos (SO GOOD), pork tacos, chicken with mole negro, manchamanteles and escamoles (look this one up - we have precedent on this one from Operation Cincuenta). On the dessert front, Marc had a whole page on the menu dedicated to chocolate. All in all a good day.

PS - We will have a later blog post on food. Have no fear.

Day 0 & 1: Seattle —> Mexico City, Mexico

Most of our trips begin with an early flight based on our preference for being first flight of the day when possible. The European ones are closer to dinner time but they serve you a full meal and then everyone “tries” to sleep.

This one involved eating a regular dinner at home and then going to the airport for a 10:30pm flight. This is day 0. We walked over the the gate just before boarding time and they were announcing our names to come up and validate our passports. We had checked in online so nobody at SeaTac had scanned them up to this point. They may have been announcing a call to us for the past 30 minutes.

We stood around as the boarding was delayed by a ton of underage children traveling by themselves that had to be dealt with first. They finally went down to the plane and they took people needing assistance. We were in first class so we went next and the children were all being taken one at a time to their seat so not off to the fastest start. We finally got in and sat down and remarkably the plane detached from the boarding area around 10:30 which was amazing.

I don’t sleep well, if at all, on airplanes. Jill will tell you I can sleep on command just about any other time. She had some ZZZquil pills and I asked for some. It might have helped. The flight in the air was in the 5 hour range and there was some decent turbulence at many points along the way. I’m guessing I snoozed in small few minute doses waking up often as we moved into day 1.

We got off the plane around 6am which was the schedule. We were handed immigration forms walking off and had to fill them out among the masses before getting in line to go through customs/immigration. It would have been nice to get these in the last 30 minutes of the flight and been able to just walk into the line.

The non-Mexican line was insane but we worked our way into the roped area because before that it was just chaos. After a couple minutes barely moving, they randomly opened the ropes about 5 curves ahead and directed the line to start moving over the the Mexican immigration line. We moved up and into the people being sent over and they cut it off about 5 people behind us. This line moved way faster and we probably cut 20-30 minutes off entry time being over there.

Our driver was outside the customs area and quickly got us to the hotel. We unpacked most items and set an alarm for just under 2 hours later. I don’t think it took me long to fall asleep on command outside of an airplane. That was a great chance to try to reset to a time zone 2 hours ahead but not really losing the day and really messing up sleep at the end of day 1 as well.

We had a light breakfast in the hotel and then headed to the park (Bosque de Chapultepec) right next to the hotel to walk around. We were unable to withdraw cash from the ATM inside our hotel and we should have gotten some at the bank right next to it before walking around. We decided to walk up to the castle but there was a pat down / bag check area along with lockers but we didn’t have any local currency to get a locker. We were close enough to the hotel that we went back and got cash and ditched the bag for the morning.

We walked up to the Castillo de Chapultepec and were forced to drink the water in hand as they don’t appear to allow water inside a lot of places that you pay to get into. It was a beautiful place with some amazing art on the walls along with some museum-like collectibles on display and great views of the densely treed park around us an the tall city buildings beyond. You can see straight down Paseo de la Reforma from there which goes by our hotel. On Sundays, they close it to traffic until 2pm and people walk and bike it without the distraction of vehicles. It’s similar to Bogotá.

We walked back down the hill from the castle and grabbed the backpack before heading to lunch. It was a quick 15 minute walk to Contramar, which is a heavy seafood restaurant with hardly anything that didn’t include things from the sea. I used to tell people “I don’t eat my own kind” meaning creatures that love/live to swim (not a fishy fish eater whatsoever). I guess after Operation Cincuenta in Dec and now day 1 here I have to retire that statement. I ate 3 seafood dishes. Ceviche Contramar, a tuna tostada with avocado, and some taco like mahi-mahi. All very fresh and delicious.

We then walked from lunch to the Centro Historico area which has some pretty beautiful buildings and lots of activity during the day. We will be going here again on Tues with Rebecca and Jason so we looked around a little for pre-planning and went to the Museo. This shows the history of this temple that was built and then added 7 layers on top of getting bigger and bigger as it went. We had walked around a lot today in the sun without sunscreen and this museum also made me chug my water. So I was starting to feel the dehydration and sun on my neck. I told Jill I’d just sit inside the indoor portion while she walked around more. We ended up leaving and just getting back to the hotel to hydrate, plan day 2, clean up a bit, and get ready for dinner.

We ate at the hotel but they didn’t have the lamb tacos tonight which was a bummer. They did have something that Jill noticed - duck with mole and other goodness. That’s what I got and it was delicious. While we were looking at the menu, we decided that we tend to try to go with local wines and they had some from Mexico. We aren’t sure this will happen all week, but I confirmed we should do it if something seems interesting. Then Jill texted our friend, Erik Segelbaum, to ask about wines from Mexico and he wrote back quickly with 2 of 3 producers that were on the very limited list! Erik has many talents, with one of them being how to master beverage programs at restaurants as well as how to get a label into a top beverage program.

I ordered a really good margarita so Jill got a glass of the only Mexican wine by the glass. It was a cab from the oldest producer in the Western Hemisphere (thanks Erik) and then we just ordered a bottle for dinner. Believe it or not, it was good AND it was the cheapest red wine on the menu. I encourage readers to find out where in Mexico wine grapes are grown.

As we walked out of the restaurant past the fountain back into the hotel, I was staring at the pastry/coffee area. I had spoken with the guy working there earlier about opening time. 6am. Perfect! So after dinner he waves as he sees me and I loudly “woo-hoo” this occasion which raises a smile.

And with that we are closing the first very full day in Mexico for the both of us.

Day 23: Bogotá, Colombia

After the chaos of the past few days, and yesterday in particular, Marc and I had a much needed ‘sleep-in’ day. We didn’t really have much planned for the day since we were originally supposed to be coming back from the Amazon, so we just kind of rolled with it. Fortunately for all of my travel in my previous job, I was able to use my status to get us a pretty late check-out time as our flight is not until 1:30am tomorrow.

The city of Bogotá does a number of cool things fitness-related on Sundays. They close streets for pedestrians, cyclists, etc. They also run fitness classes in the street. We were able to see one from our hotel window. It was entertaining to watch. The sun was shining and the temperature was very pleasant (mid-70s). Marc and I had some re-arranging of our clothes in our luggage to take care of, and then we wanted to get outside since the weather was nice.

Our friend, Marcelo, is a Bogotá native and happened to be in town with his family. We were meeting them later for dinner, but he texted me in the morning about a good local market near our hotel in the neighborhood of Usaquin. Marc and I walked through it and he said it kind of reminded him of the booths at Pike Place Market back home. It’s always fun to see what people sell in markets in other places. We also checked out a local mall called Hacienda Santa Barbara (Go Gauchos!).

On the walk to lunch, I saw a sign for a place that teaches English called ‘Wall Street English’. Hmmm. Do they teach students how to speak like Gordon Gekko? Or is it more like this scene (see #4) from the movie “Stripes”? We had lunch at Local by Rausch, and Marc had a rum and coffee concoction called an ‘Aroma Café’ that he seemed to enjoy a great deal. Plus we tried a local dish that we hadn’t had before called ‘mazorca desgranada’ with braised brisket. Very tasty!

We walked back and watched Red Zone as we packed everything up. Marc and I have been getting a kick out of the Spanish announcers doing Red Zone (they use 2, as opposed to 1 in the US) during our time in South America. Interceptado! That was my favorite line. LOL. Unfortunately the Giants defense couldn’t do their job.... again, so it was a loss for Big Blue to the evil Cowboys. The game between the Cowboys and the Seahawks next week is going to suck as I despise both teams. 

Anyway we checked out and stored our bags before heading over to dinner with Karin and

Marcelo. On the way, we saw some more Christmas lights in one of the squares. They really do a great job with the lights in Bogotá. When we met up with our friends, they said that Medellín does an even better job with the lights. Dinner was way entertaining as we recapped our South American adventure, and Marc had some more fish. The choice of having some wine may have been suspect as we had to stay up for our 1:30am flight that was still 3 hours away.... And so it goes. 

You can find more pics of our adventure HERE.

Day 22: Calanoa --> Leticia --> Bogota, Colombia

Plans change sometimes and flexibility is important.

It was muggier and warmer overnight than the previous night if that is even possible. At some point, probably 3-4am, I saw lightning across river taking a good 10+ seconds to hear thunder. It was dumping rain. It felt cooler and I rolled over back to sleep. I didn't know until we got up around 6:30 that the warmth/humidity was causing a lack of sleep for Jill. She mentioned that she wanted to see if we could get back to Bogotá a day early. I said ok but also felt very glad that she booked the Amazon. She likes to enhance travel itineraries. Galapagos was the base. Amazon was the spice.

I am glad we hiked 11k yesterday with two guides through the jungle. We saw some interesting stuff and sweated far more than any other hike of that distance and relatively slow pace with barely any elevation change. Just high heat and a humidity sweat box while walking through mud. But we've done that!

Calanoa staff and Ramiro our guide were super accommodating as they easily helped us get the flight a day early as well as a boat down the river to get to the airport. Ramiro came with us and since we left a little earlier than we would have the following day he said we'd hit one or two spots along the way with pink dolphins since we only saw the grey ones yesterday afternoon. After about 45 minutes we pulled into a calm area in shallow water and BINGO! Pink dolphins! They don't come out of the water as high as the greys so spotting and capturing on camera is more difficult. We hung there for 15 minutes and I took tons of photos that were late. But I got one that might show a bit despite dolphin being further away than desired.

We then finished journey to Leticia and went to the airport. Once there, Jill could communicate with the outside world again on her phone so we arranged extra night in Bogotá plus dinner.

Seated next to me on flight was Brazilian dude in green and yellow shirt who appeared to have purchased a scarf with Colombia colors and wording. He literally took dozens of selfies in this dual outfit before takeoff as well as halfway through the flight. He just kept adjusting something like the scarf or the window lighting or the phone angle. Then he threw on his jacket and did it even more. A lot more. Somewhat entertaining.

As we appoached Bogota airport, the plane suddenly turned up engines and aborted landing. They said something in Spanish and then another sparse announcement in English. Several minutes later they indicated that we were flying 30 minutes to Cali rather than circling for another landing.

We finally got explanation that there was something preventing landing so we were landing nearby and refueling and waiting to hear when we can fly safely to and land in Bogota. Once on the ground, we could look things up and found no issues on Twitter or Google. FlightAware was showing flights landing in Bogota. Not making any sense. THEN we got story from flight attendant in first class. There was a dog on the runway and they couldn't get it off. Our flight was "low" on fuel so had to land somewhere rather than circle indefinitely. Dog probably was cleared after it was too late for us to just turn around and go back.

When we walked out of airport the car we had the W Hotel hire for us wasn't there. Unsure if the flight issue caused this but after being unable to contact hotel we hired a taxi. They were quoting strange amounts and switching between pesos and dollars. We finally settled on 35,000 pesos which is just over $10.

We minimally unpacked and got our big bags we left there a week prior and Jill showered. We then went to a good dinner at El Chato and then back for some COOL AIR sleep (and I showered). Crazier day than expected...

Day 21: Amazonas, Colombia.

 ‘Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.’

Marc and I woke up to blue’ish skies after last night’s rain. I had a hard time sleeping because it was so hot and humid. The temp might have dropped down to 80 degrees but the humidity remained the same. But I was excited for our hike in the Amacayacu National Park. We had a great breakfast and loaded up for our 11k walk in the jungle.

Ramiro was ready for us and brought along another guide, Hiro, who lives in a local indigenous village with his family and works for Calanoa (where we are staying) part-time. We definitely were happy to have him along. We went by boat, which had some technical difficulties, and were dropped off on the side of Matamata Creek, which was named after a pre-historic turtle in the area. Hiro was wielding his machete a fair amount on this “trail” that wasn’t exactly well-marked while Ramiro explained all of the different things we saw along the way.

As with anything in Colombia, it wouldn’t be a tour without a Pablo Escobar mention. Ramiro told us about a dude who was more evil than Pablo - Julio Cesar Arana. He killed indigenous people as opposed to politicians, which is whom Pablo went after. Julio was big in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and terrorized many. Anyway back to the walk, which was MUDDY. Our hiking boots would have been no match for this terrain. It was mud, mud and more mud. Calanoa loans a pair of wellies for every guest and you do need them. It was slick and I was glad I schlepped along my trekking poles for this part of the trip. 

The walk took about 3.5 hours and while it wasn’t hilly or at altitude, it was mentally taxing because of footing as well as some dicey crossings. This region is in transition from the dry season to the wet season, so many “rivers” are now being “created”. Plus we were warned about this area being more prone to mosquitoes than where we were staying (already significant). I had Deet plus long sleeves, long pants and a rain jacket. I was sweating bullets in 95 degree heat with 98% humidity. It’s like being in a steam room fully dressed without the eucalyptus and being constantly paranoid about slipping and falling into mud. 

Along the way, we saw a sloth who was doing a great job of living up to it’s name that was high up in the trees. Then we saw a Tamarin monkey and a Black Titi Monkey. Ramiro pointed out some other really cool things in the jungle here. He showed us a malaria antidote called ‘abuta’ that the locals use since they can’t handle our medicine, just like we can’t drink the local water. We learned about the ‘ice cream bean’, which is really a fruit (sorry, Lisa).

Then he showed us an ant that acts as a mosquito repellent called ‘ichichimy’. You put your hand on the tree where the ants are and they come on to your hand. Then you rub your hands together and the ants give off a scent that the mosquitoes don’t like. If I didn’t see it myself, I wouldn’t have believed it but it worked. We then saw these massive termite blobs on the side of trees but Ramiro didn’t have a Spanish translation for that. These blobs were 3 feet long on the side of a tree. Continuing on the ant theme, we saw ‘arrieras’ which were ants that were acting as farmers. We literally watched them carry leaves for farming and not for consuming.

I really enjoyed learning about the ‘walking trees’. Because the area is coming out of dry season, we can see the roots of lots of trees that are about 10 feet high. In about 3 months, the water level will rise another 10+ feet. It was fascinating to imagine this area with so much more water. Then we also saw a tree called a ‘capirona’ that peels itself to a nice and shiny coat. 

After the hike, we walked through an indigenous village called St. Martin, where about 700 people live. Hiro showed us his home and let us use soap to wash our hands. His family was very nice to let us clean up there a bit and have a snack before catching the boat back to Calanoa. The residents of this village live a very simple life and they are very happy. the drawings on the side were very cool. I’m just going to say that if you’re reading this blog, you’re in a very lucky place based on what Marc and I saw today.

We went back to the lodge for lunch, and showed Ramiro some of our pics from the Galapagos. Then we went out to search for pink dolphins. The sky was clear and being out on the boat made it seem relatively cooler. We didn’t see any pink dolphins but we saw some grey ones although they are hard to capture on camera. It was a really nice afternoon to be out on the water. When we returned from the dolphin expedition, Marc went to take some pics and ended up with 7 or 8 Tamarin monkeys just hanging out by the dining tent. IT. WAS. LOCO. Then we saw some in the trees. Very cool.

After catching a pretty sunset, we had dinner in the tent with the 2 other couples

who are also staying at the lodge. Both are really nice and very friendly. One couple is from England and one is from Colombia. And for being so remote, the food at Calanoa is pretty awesome. I have had some kind of catfish both nights and both were really good. Marc approved as well since they were so fresh. No night tour, so we went back and finished SOMM 2 before crashing. It was hotter than last night when we crashed so I took a 2nd shower to cool off (the one time when not having hot water can come in handy).

You can find more pics of our travels HERE.

Day 20: Armenia --> Leticia (and beyond), Colombia

Going to the jungle day...

Early wake up before 6am to get to airport in Armenia so we could fly to Bogota for quick layover before flying to Leticia in the Amazonas of Colombia. The staff at Hacienda Bambusa really wanted to make us breakfast and pack juices and coffee for our early ride. We just asked multiple times for something simple like ham & cheese sandwiches. Those turned out perfect at the airport while waiting for the first flight.

We then boarded flight to Leticia. Looking down from 5-15k feet as we neared the town, all you can see are clouds, rainbows, and trees. The landscape in all directions is trees. I also saw some rivers that are tributaries to the big one. Welcome to the jungle.

Ramiro picked us up. We got quick tour of town heading to our speedboat that would soon take us 56k up the Amazon to where we planned to stay for 3 nights. It's about 1.5 hours upriver.

When we first got on the boat we were told the tiny island across the water is Isla de La Fantasia. You can walk over to island close to where we were at the end of dry season. They river has risen 7-8 meters so crossing on foot isn't possible until several months from now. We went about 600M down this side area in Leticia that move their houseboats/docks up and down by season - 15 meters low to high so that you can get on a boat to go up or down the Amazon. We were next to Brazilian town Tabatinga and also an island called Santa Rosa between Colombia, Brazil, Peru (it belongs to Peru). On other side of island the Amazon is wider than the mass we could see but we were officially on the Amazon. In this region you can move freely between the 3 countries for about 100 kilometers up or down the Amazon river.

Araza (Brazilian) fruit juice served as we got to check in at Calanoa and reviewed our planned tours. We had a huge dump of rain come down for 20 minutes. Luckily for us that didn't happen as we came up the river and sat in the dining hut that was covered.

We were shown our accommodations which is a nice hut named araza (fruit mentioned above) with screens everywhere plus a bed with netting entirely surrounding it. Downstairs under bedroom was a shower and toilet. Just one dial on the shower - cold. Refreshing...

We got situated and took some photos. We learned that the view across the Amazon from our hut in Colombia was 7k. We also learned the mouth down at the end can be about 35k across. We started watching Somm II on Jill's tablet and a new rainstorm came down with such loud drops and volume that we couldn't hear the video and just paused it for a while until the storm blew over.

We got part way through before heading to dinner. We were the only new arrivals today so we learned some things such as the bug nets work well, Deet does not play well with any plastics, and that you will get bites no matter what plus other tips.

Tarantula

It was raining during dinner but let up part way through. So our evening walk in the jungle was not skippable. We walked for just under an hour looking at various creatures that come out at night as well as listening to all of the sounds. It was an interesting start.

Day 19: Ibaque, Colombia.

Regular followers of Team Beck are likely aware that I am a non-coffee drinker. I have never liked the smell, texture or taste of it. No coffee ice cream for me. No espresso-laced desserts for me. On some level, this is good and bad for Marc. He gets almost a full 2nd dessert I may only want a spoonful of, but as the baker of the house, he tends not to experiment with coffee in desserts as much as he would probably like because of my dislike of coffee.

So why are we in the ‘Coffee Triangle’, you may ask? It’s Operation Cincuenta and since it’s all about Marc, we go for coffee given his love of artisanal coffee. I promised Marc that when we got here that I would participate in any and all coffee tastings scheduled. I couldn’t promise loving coffee when all was said and done, but I was going to give my best. 

But first we had our private cooking lesson with the head chef of the hacienda - Ruben. We met him and went to the market with Guillermo, our guide, and Giovanni, our driver. We picked up some veg, meat and other goodies. Along the way (with Guillermo doing an ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC job of translating), Marc and I asked Ruben about weightlifting plus we talked about specific seafood and veg that we have in the Pacific Northwest. 

The questions about lifting came from the fact that Ruben is built like a tank and has arms that could probably break people like they’re a twig. Not sure if Guillermo has ever translated on these topics, but we all seemed to have fun talking about lifting weights, burpees, and other crazy workouts plus sharing videos and pics. We found out later that the boys in the kitchen were impressed with Marc’s shoulders (well, duh - those swimmer shoulders are pretty dreamy) and my front squat PR video.

Ruben walked us through how to make empanadas with cheese only and with beef and

cheese. Plus we learned how to make carimañolas, chuletas and a combo dessert that is best described as chocolate, coffee, dulce de leche and Oreo cookies.  Guillermo stayed on to translate and we all had lots of laughs in addition to learning how to make some tasty food (and have bad carbs for days). And yes, the food was really tasty if I may say so myself.

As Marc mentioned in yesterday’s blog entry, some candle torch blew up towards the end of the meal and almost hit me. Today, Ruben was attempting to showcase the texture of the dulce de leche mixture and as he squeezed the bag, it went flying towards me which also required some agility and dexterity to avoid it all from landing on me. Never a dull moment. As we were finishing up the meat course, we figured that since the dessert would benefit from a ‘set’ period to firm up that we should do the coffee tasting now and have dessert later. Off we went!

Given my dislike for coffee, I decided to treat this activity almost like an academic exercise. Going back to the book reco we made earlier in the week, the way coffee moves from plant to bean to cup is somewhat similar to wine. I kept the bulk of my questions focused from that angle and actually learned a great deal more than I was expecting on this topic. Guillermo also informed us we were going to have a test, which I thought put me at a disadvantage since I don’t like coffee but his reasoning was my wine knowledge would help counter Marc’s taste buds. Hmmmm.

We tasted at an old estate that is owned by the family of César Gaviria, who was President of Colombia when they killed Pablo Escobar. It was very traditional and we learned a bit about how those homes were laid out in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Marc and I also learned how houses with red indicated a liberal political belief from the family in those times. Blue meant conservative beliefs. 

Guillermo explained to Marc and I about the process from seedlings to harvest to being sold to a coffee producer. Coffee here is harvested 2x/year. We learned how it takes 2.5 years from when the seeds are first planted in a nursery to the 1st harvest of the coffee fruit. The peak of a coffee fruit tree is the 3rd harvest and they are pruned in a major way after the 5th harvest cycle. As with wine, the branches are pruned in a less aggressive way throughout each harvest to ensure the best fruit gets the right nutrients.

During the tasting, we first reviewed flavor profiles and aromas, and Marc and I had part 1 of our test. We were given individual water glasses with salt, sour, sweet and bitter and had to guess which one was which. Tie. Then we had part 2. Again, we tied each other using a set of aromas developed by Jean Lenoir. Then we tasted 2 coffees - one was beyond horrible. Guillermo said it was ‘aggressive’ in the favor. I used the word ‘obnoxious’. Then we had a 2nd coffee where it still wasn’t great but I’d call that one ‘aggressive’ instead! Anyway, the test ended in a tie between us.

We came back, packed and had the tasting menu offered by the hacienda. Trout is the local fish in Armenia and I had it for dinner the night before. Tonight they had a ‘trout ceviche’ on the menu. It was really good, and even better, Marc finished all of his! I don’t think Marc has collectively consumed (willingly) as much seafood in his life as he has on this trip. I consider this a victory. Unfortunately I am still not a convert to drinking coffee but I really enjoyed learning about how it was made. We also had a surprise frog visitor during our meal.

We knew we were going to have an absurd amount of dessert between the 2 of us because

of the tasting menu and the 4 desserts we had from the cooking class. Marc and I met a nice family from Brooklyn a couple of nights earlier and in that party were 2 parents and 2 “kids” in their mid-20s. We knew they likely had the metabolisms to take on our “donation”. The dessert with the tasting menu was too “coffee oriented” for me. That said, the tasting menu dessert had a liquid nitrogen component and any leftovers were thrown into the pool, which generated a very cool visual. The dessert we made was great and when the crew from Brooklyn tasted it, they concurred. Score. It must have been the Oreos. 

Marc and I are off to the Amazon tomorrow morning. Internet, if they have it where we are staying, will likely be limited. So if you don’t hear from us for a few days, let’s hope it is because of no WiFi and not because the jungle animals came after us. We hope to be back online on Sunday afternoon. Thanks for tuning in!

More pics HERE.

Day 18: Armenia, Salento, Cocora (Colombia)

Colombians eat/celebrate with family on Christmas Eve and open presents at midnight and often stay up all night drinking. Then they like to go out for lunch, dinner, movies etc to escape mess of a house on Christmas day. Many are also apparently severely hung over. So we started our full day a little early in an attempt to beat crowds by 11am and later.

While driving to Salento, we went by former house of Carlos Lehder Rivas and heard how he flew drugs over an island in the Caribbean then power boated it to Miami. And then when extradited to the US how he attempted to take down everyone including Pablo Escobar. And then the crazy stuff Escobar did to avoid extradition by offering to build his own prison to avoid being turned over to the United States.

We then learned about the Juan Valdez coffee character and how the first guy portraying a farmer from Colombia was neither a farmer nor a Colombian but rather a foreign actor.

We hired a Willys Jeep in Salento to take us to Cocora with our guide. Our Jeep was from 1954 and had the engine rebuilt once. The ones that have all original parts are worth over $30k because they are beloved.

Hike over 500 meters in altitude gain to Finca la Montaña ending at 2860M (9400ft) early enough in day to be ahead of the crowds and with some gorgeous weather with great view of Morogacho at the top across a valley. This view happens less than 5x per month. Then we hiked back down taking about 2.5 hours total for high altitude hike.

I told our guide, Guillermo, over lunch about eating ants and worms the other day in Bogota and he said he could not do that. I also told him about the Coloma coffee liqueur and he said that and one other one are good and he'd show me as we walked through town. So we went into a store while walking the main street toward Plaza Bolivar and he pointed it out. The proprietor offered a taste of another one that was sweeter but not as good in my mind. Then she offered Jill and I a small chocolate piece. Jill ate it to discover coffee bean inside and made the greatest face that had me and Guillermo laughing so hard.

During lunch our guide also told us about one of the great wonders of Colombia that nobody knows about that he wants to visit. It's the Caño Cristales - the river of five colors. It looks amazing but getting there isn't easy and only colorful part of the year (July-September). First you fly from Bogota to Villavicencio then another plane to La Macarena then a guide can potentially take you the rest of the way which might be multi-hour hike. But wow. Just read more about it.

We went to Jesus Martin coffee shop for coffee. This guy really started the good coffee revolution in Colombia for locals. The country was exporting basically everything and keeping the crap locally and he wanted Colombians to also enjoy the good stuff.

We had dinner with Kyra and her mom Adele who we spoke with this morning. I noticed last night that Kyra got up more than once to visit the chocolate table while we were still halfway through our meal. I was starting to think some chocolate needed to be saved for ME! So I told them this morning I was worried about the chocolate supply and found out that she lives in Gig Harbor (near Seattle). At the end of our meal just as we finished dessert, one of the candle torches by our table blew up and in slow motion I watched the fireball in the air flying toward Jill and I'm just thinking "don't land on Jill, don't land on Jill". It landed between her and the person at the table behind us. I was relieved there was no "stop, drop, roll" necessary. But we all got up and I moved us into the courtyard away from the other 5-8 candles. Staff even told us that this happens from time to time. Yikes!

Day 17: Bogotá, Colombia —> Armenia, Colombia (Coffee Triangle).

Today Marc and I left Bogotá for the Coffee Triangle, where we will be spending Christmas. It was a very quick and an easy flight to get there, which was nice. We were picked up at the airport by the place we are staying and were surrounded by mountains and lots of different crops. It was pretty and a change from what we have seen so far on this trip.

Side note on Bogotá: We will be back. I was a bit bummed that we didn’t have more time to explore, but I really liked what I saw and experienced. Really cool vibe, lots of parks, good layout of the city and excellent food. 

When we arrived at the hacienda, it just felt so peaceful. The layout seemed very traditional and has lots of flowers, places to chill and beautiful views to take in. The staff was really warm and friendly, and had our room ready to go plus our itinerary for our stay. Unpacked, had a nice lunch by the pool, and also applied bug spray (yep, we’re now in a place where the bugs are “friendly”).

Our guide came to pick us up at 2:30pm for a tour so we could learn more about what is grown on the property. We went through a bamboo forest, where we were chased down by cows (kind of reminded me of this incident on the ‘Australian Walkabout’) - literally they followed us and blocked the entrance out of the forest. Fortunately our guide had a good distraction and we escaped unharmed. 

Guillermo, our guide, is in the process of becoming an official ‘Coffee Taster’, which is a rigorous course of study similar to the ‘Court of Master Sommeliers’ process. As the non-coffee drinker of the couple, it was interesting to see how some of the process parallels to winemaking. If you’re interested in the comparisons of coffee, wine, cola, tea, spirits and beer, Marc and I can’t recommend this book enough.

We then learned some interesting facts about Colombia from Guillermo. Colombia is a country that straddles both the Atlantic (via the Caribbean) and the Pacific Oceans. It also has 2 different mountain ranges, 3 glaciers and 2 deserts. This leads to 86 different microclimates and the weather forecasts being about 50% correct (hmmm). They also have 1900+ species of birds. We are now at 3600 feet of elevation in the Coffee Triangle as opposed to the 8300+ feet of elevation we were at in Bogotá.

We looked at cacao plants and talked in depth of how the plant grows, is cultivated and then how the beans are extracted so they can be sold. This set us up well for the cacao tasting that we had later on in the afternoon. Amongst the cacao plants were lots of banana trees. We learned that the bananas take lots of moisture out of the soil, which helps the cacao plants. Also for those who were always curious about the difference between plantains and bananas - the former is a veggie and needs to be cooked. The latter is a fruit and does not need to be cooked. 

Marc and I then went to our chocolate tasting class, which had similarities to the one we took in Peru. This one was more in-depth and was led by the chef of the property itself, Ruben. Guillermo stayed on to translate for us. The main delta between today’s experience and the one in Lima was around the grinding process. In Lima, we skipped the step of grinding roasted beans until a smooth paste. Ruben ground them into a chocolate paste in the shape of a ball so the output was less chunky than in Lima. Basically it was ground down until the cocoa butter was separating from the rest. 

We also learned that Peru and Colombia have many similarities around cuisine and gastronomy, but the main difference is that Peru has done a better job of promoting it. As we were talking to Reuben, we started discussing how cassava and yuca being used in Colombian cooking fairly frequently as a starch. It dawned on me that I might have better success with the cassava flour that we experimented with earlier in the year as a thickener. Arrowroot is a gluten-free thickener used in Paleo circles, but it doesn’t always work how I would like in my dishes. I am excited to try this when we get home! 

After the class, the property prepared a special Christmas Eve dinner outside with really nice lighting. It was a set menu and they had more chocolate treats than Marc could ever ask for. It was a beautiful setting to watch the sunset with a cocktail or two. All in all, a wonderful start to our chapter in the Coffee Triangle.

Day 16: Bogota, Colombia

We met a private tour guide named Juan at hotel at 9am to show us around until lunch. As we drove to first destination on a Sunday, we saw so many folks on bicycles and learned the city shuts down many roads on Sundays and people love it. They've been doing it since the mid 70's.

We learned about the legend of El Dorado and the Spanish search for gold. They even heard about Lake Guatavita and attempted to drain it for gold.

We then reached Monserrate to visit the top. You can hike it and we would if we had more than a full day here but we want to see much more before lunch. So we took the funicular up for the great views and to look around the top then ride it back down.

We then headed over to La Candelaria to see the buildings on main square and the surrounding area including some sanctioned graffiti art. We went into Museo del Oro to learn just a portion of the history that gold has played in this area.

We then went to have some delicious lunch at Harry Sasson since it was closed for dinner because they close on Sundays like many places in Latin America.

After lunch we walked 4.2k back to hotel and managed to enter a couple of shopping malls looking for Coloma Licor de Cafe Gran Reserva. The first place didn't have any but directed us to VIPS which had it so we bought a couple bottles to bring back.

We relaxed a bit and prepared bags for final leg of trip. Plan is to store large checked luggage at hotel we are in now in Bogota since we are coming back here in a week before having dinner and flying out late overnight. So small backpack carry ons for coffee plantation and the Amazon forest bug festival.

Day 15: Galápagos Islands (Isla Baltra) —> Guayaquil, Ecuador —> Bogotá, Colombia.

Today is mostly a long travel day. Bags were pretty much packed for phase 3 of ‘Operation Cincuenta’ last night. Got up, had breakfast, enjoyed the last views of the islands, chatted with our new friends, and then we all took our final zodiac ride to land to head to the airport. The lounge at the Baltra airport was a hot, sticky mess. We were joking around with our fellow passengers. A few were continuing on with their adventures. Most were heading home. 

When we got to Baltra on 12/15, we were immediately told that the WiFi on the boat didn’t work. I got in touch with 5 groups of people immediately to tell them how to reach us in the event of an emergency and that was it. And when I was able to re-engage on 12/21 after we docked in town for a day of tortoise watching and an afternoon of shopping, nothing had changed in the world. 

I mean - the political situation is still a cluster. My New York Giants still suck. I’m still getting the crap kicked out of me in my weekly pick ‘em NFL pool. Nothing new. Yes, lots of drama going on in the world and stuff did happen this week that I would have normally kept tabs on, but did it matter when I reconnected 7 days later? The lack of internet also caused something amazing - people actually engaging with each other. WTF? Mind blown! Anyway.....

For Marc and I, the size of the ship was perfect. 40+ passengers — so not overwhelming in terms of lining up for excursions, food, or whatever. You were able to get to know your fellow travelers and also have your own downtime, if you chose to do that. We had a pretty social boat and people mingled about even if they came on with a group. The bar *MIGHT HAVE* been running so low on provisions that the crew needed to restock when we got to Santa Cruz on Friday to get us through the last night of the cruise. Don’t judge.

In addition to celebrating Marc’s 50th birthday, we had a couple celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary with their daughter and their son-in-law. Another couple was celebrating their 35th anniversary. All goes to show you that you should always embrace the positive and “eat the damned cupcake”. Good role models for the Becks’.

So we landed in Guayaquil, and had about 3 hours before our next flight to Bogotá. The lounge here was an utter oasis compared to the one in Baltra. Air-conditioning, plenty of chargers, decent WiFi to upload the 600+ pics we took in the Galápagos and a shower, which was lovely since we were literally landing in Bogotá and heading straight to dinner. 

When Marc and I landed in Bogotá and while taking the car service into the city, I was struck by the Christmas lights that were up all over the place. John, one of the guys from our trip, gave us a heads-up about this and he was right. It was really pretty. Based on what I was able to discern in the dark about the skyline, I was excited to see what the city looked like during the day knowing it is surrounded by the Andes.

We had dinner at Restaurante Leo, which came highly recommended. Let’s just say that

while the food was very good, it was definitely on the esoteric side. Literally bugs and worms esoteric. The kitchen offered Marc an opportunity to see the worms up close after he said the momojoy dish “wasn’t bad” and he politely declined. While at dinner, a couple got engaged and we applauded. Our server informed us that the gentleman is a regular at the restaurant and is a native English speaker. Most of the back of the house staff come out to congratulate the happy couple. His new fiancée speaks Spanish. Neither knows more than maybe 500+ words in the other language. Whatever works, right?

That said, Marc had a local coffee liqueur at dinner that we literally started investigating while still at the restaurant if we could get it at home. If not, clothes are going to be left in Colombia to make room in our luggage. Make no mistake about that! Tonight is also the night that we start the 15-day cycle for our malaria pills, which I am not looking forward to. I’ve heard nothing but unpleasant side effects when taking these pills. Let’s hope these are kept at a minimum for the both of us.

Day 14: Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz Island (Galápagos)

Most people live on this island if they live in the Galápagos. This is the home of the National Park Service as well as the Charles Darwin Research Station. They keep young tortoise hatchlings for 4-5 years of the 10 remaining species until their shells are thick and hard enough to withstand most attacks and then methodically release them appropriately. Some live over 100 years and some still die for various reasons including as prey.

We bused up to the highlands to see wild giant tortoises on some property the family shares with the Charles Darwin Research Station. The tortoises roam across many properties freely navigating from the beach (laying eggs) to the highlands (hanging out most of the time). They had us all put on mud boots which I was quite thankful for once we started walking. The turtles just sit in a lot in mud puddles to regulate temperature. The boots got tons of mud and poop all over them. There were so many turtles to look at and then after our walk we got to climb out of the boots and leave them to be cleaned. Our shoes were perfectly clean.

We bused back into town to visit the Charles Darwin Research Station. They raise tortoises from each island for about 5 years and release them when their survival rate will be extremely high. The younger ones shells are not tough enough to withstand some predators and so many were taken from the islands before it became a national park that they are trying to get species per island back up to levels before humans intervened. Humans also brought non-native things like goats, rats, and more that altered things considerably. They've tried to eliminate as much as possible.

We stayed in town for a couple of hours for a long lunch that had WiFi. It was actually kind of nice to be free from outside communication while touring the Galápagos for a week. This helped everyone mingle more after activities rather than stare at screens in silence.

I originally wanted to be on the smallest tour boat here which is typically 16 guests. There are pros and cons to that over what we got (41 guests on boat that maxes at 48) or the 100 person boats.

The 16 guest boats can anchor closer to things to get to shore landings and snorkeling stuff spending less time in zodiac unless that is the activity for morning or afternoon. You get to know everyone really well on those boats. One thing I didn't realize is that the certified naturalists that must accompany everyone in the national park areas can deal with at most 16 people. This is why those are the common size. You only need one naturalist on board. Hopefully they're really good because you're only going to get their perspective. We have 4 of them on our boat - it could get away with 3 but we go in max groups of 12 on our zodiacs. We get different perspectives from each of them and it's been interesting learning from them all. I like the size we ended up with not feeling too crowded as 100 would likely make me anxious waiting in line for every zodiac excursion.

Day 13: Galápagos Islands (Isla Genovesa), Ecuador.

Marc and I found out last night that today was going to be our final day to snorkel. We had a couple of less than awesome snorkel sessions so many of us had high hopes for our last session this morning. But first we had a walk on Isla Genovesa, which one can call a mecca for birds. 

We were on the 1st boat out to shore and the “dry landing” was definitely an adventure. Actually many of the “dry landings”, which mean your feet aren’t supposed to get wet, have been very adventurous with balancing the tide and where the boat is letting off folks. This could be a variation of the boat being a foot under the landing or a foot over the landing depending on the wind. Today we had to be ready to go at the perfect moment for someone to grab you and for you to jump on land. Fortunately no injuries getting out of and back on to the zodiac when we were done with the walk.

Marc and I saw short-eared owls, blue-footed boobies (yes, you read that correctly), red-footed boobies, Nazca boobies, mockingbirds, frigatebirds, hawks and plenty of other birds to make ornithology enthusiasts go wild after we climbed Prince Philip’s Steps. We saw a small chick being protected by the mother as well as eggs that have been laid but have not hatched as of yet. The bonus was seeing those owls as they really blend well into the habitat.

After the walk and returning to the boat, we had our final snorkel. As the floor was rocky

as opposed to sand, we were hoping the conditions were better for seeing some cool wildlife under water. We did see sea lions (fur and common types), but we also got to see a school of golden cownose rays whizz by us. That was pretty awesome and Marc captured some great video until he was literally kicked in the face multiple times by another snorkeler in the area.

Marc and I decided to opt out of the afternoon activity and just napped/read. It was nice. While we were chilling, one of our fellow passengers saw a ‘hammerhead shark’, which is what I have really wanted to see on this trip, but I was too late. Looks like I won’t see them on this adventure but it was fun being on the lookout. We had a nightly happy hour and then dinner on the boat. But more hijinks awaited....

It was karaoke night on the Xperience. We had musical talents spanning the gamut of decent to, eh....., not so much. Note that I fall in the latter category. Most of the people in the room did contribute on at least one song, which was fun, but I think our guide leading the session was happy when the clock struck 10pm and called it a night for everyone. 

More pics posted HERE.

Day 12: Isabela Island --> Bartolome & Santa Cruz Islands (Galápagos)

We sailed all night from the northwest part of Isabela Island over to Bartolomé Island. There is a short hike to a peak on this island with gorgeous views that happen to be photographed a lot. If you Google the Galápagos you probably see a photo from this lookout without looking very long.

There is a pinnacle rock visible from there that would become our morning snorkeling expedition once we returned to the ship for a quick change. We were on the first zodiac for snorkeling.

SHARK! I finally saw a shark on this one. It was white finned and perhaps 4-5 feet long but not huge in diameter. It was just cruising along and I turned on video and kicked with the fins to keep up. In person it was visible but barely since the section of shore I was closest to was sandy and the water was murkier than I'd like. The video does a poor job of revealing the shark despite following it for 10-15 seconds while recording. I'm going to have to get video from others on board and also perhaps see more sharks!

We ate lunch and chilled on the upper deck for a couple of hours after lunch. Mostly a nice breeze that helped induce a nap for me... All these activities are awesome but also energy draining.

We stopped near Las Bachas Beach on Santa Cruz Island and there was a beach walk with optional snorkel or swim or skip the walk and head to beach for snorkel, swim or beach time. I signed us up for the walk, but we switched to skip that. We were last group to the beach and the conditions weren't great for snorkeling. It was tough just doing a wet landing and getting out of the zodiac.

I went in with mask no snorkel but couldn't really see anything as the waves were churning sand too much. Nobody else came out as far as I did (past the break line) so I came back in and took off wetsuit and mask and just swam a bit. Fortunately they let us leave shortly thereafter as there was nothing visible other than birds and a marine iguana and we were originally going to stay for sunburn for 2 hours. We got first zodiac back to boat to clean up for the evening.

The walking tour that we skipped saw flamingos! That would have been better use of that time but the WaterClown in me wanted more water time when we skipped the walk.

The cocktail hour at 6 involved a ship circumnavigation of Daphne Island just north of Santa Cruz. It's a volcanic cone that has a crater floor that is an important breeding ground for Blue Footed Boobies. We have many pictures of these birds.

So we had another good evening at dinner on the boat. Then I saw a tray of dessert drinks delivered to a table that had the couple celebrating their 50th anniversary this week (Friday) and their kids and those that joined them. It looked amazing. I walked over to ask about it then ordered one for myself.

They called it KAB - Kahlua, Amaretto, Bailey's plus ice and an Oreo cookie. Wow! I don't know proportions and cannot look it up as I write this with no internet access, but yum! Great end of evening dessert.

We went up to top deck after dinner and hung out in cooler air chatting a bit. I learned a new phrase from some 60 year olds trying to make the best of everything. They know I'm turning 50 shortly and told me that your 60s are the "go go" decade, your 70s are the "slow go" decade, and your 80s are the "no go" decade. They didn't give me the 50s decade phrase so perhaps add several go's to the 60s phrase. So enjoy it now! Seems about right...

Day 11: Galápagos Islands (Isla Isabela), Ecuador.

Gosh. It was a full day even though the itinerary didn’t make it seem that way when we went through everything last night.

Because we have a decent amount to travel on the boat today, we got off to an early start with a walk around Urbina Bay on Isla Isabela to hopefully see some land iguanas and tortoises. Marc and I got out on the 1st boat so it meant we would be 1st on the trail before the other 3 boats. We had a wet landing for this morning’s walk, which means no dock, and while we were getting out of the zodiacs, we saw some more penguins and pelicans. 

Not 5 minutes into the walk, we see a tortoise come out of the brush. It was a “small” one and our guide guessed it weighed about 80 lbs. In last night’s briefing, they told us that if we see a tortoise on our walk that we needed to be very quiet so they didn’t get alarmed. But our guide was talking so loud because she was so excited, we were kind of worried that it would retreat. It actually kept it’s head out for a long time as we were standing there so we snapped a bunch of photos.

Along the way, Marc and I spotted a few land iguanas, which are more colorful than the marine iguanas. All in all, we ended up seeing about 10 of them on this hour long walk, which was pretty cool. Some of them were well camouflaged into the habitat so it was hard to get good pics of some of them. As we came around the bend, our guide saw a massive male tortoise walking away from us. She guessed that this one weighed about 400 lbs. 

This was one big dude. We knew we needed to get past the tortoise at some point to

finish our walk so we had to wait for an opportunity where we could pass on the side. Our guide was pretty stoked. We continued our walk, saw a couple more tortoises in the distance and then as we turned another corner we saw two tortoises walking towards each other - a huge male and a female. We didn’t know if this was going to be a mating thing or what, so we all were watching with a fair amount of anticipation.

As it turned out, the female wanted nothing to do with the male and just “scurried” past him. I didn’t know tortoises could move THAT fast but hey - we are learning. We definitely got lucky with how many tortoise sightings we had and our guide said that we were one short of her record. She was psyched at the different sizes of tortoises that we saw. It was really a great walk and it was only 9:30am when we returned to the boat.

After we got back, I decided to improv a workout on the top deck. Jumping rope on a moving ship is a bit of a challenge but I didn’t kill myself, so that’s a plus. Then they had a movie for us that is hard to explain called “The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came To Eden”, which is based on a book. Somehow Marc and I got sucked in and then it ended at a weird part, so now we are committed for part 2, which they are showing tomorrow. This movie definitely falls into the ‘you can’t make this stuff up’ bucket. 

After lunch, we had some time to relax so I finally started one of the books I downloaded to my Kindle - “The Bettencourt Affair”. So far, it has been an interesting read - it’s about the family who founded the L’Oreal company. Then we went out for a deep sea snorkel at Vincente Roca Point, where you jump in the water from the zodiac and not the beach. We saw more sea lions, turtles, penguins and tropical fish. Others saw sharks, but we didn’t see them unfortunately. Then we had a quick turnaround for a ride on the zodiac to see more wildlife. We were expecting to see more flamingos, marine iguanas, penguins, etc.

If we have an activity that mostly everyone opts into, we will have 4 zodiacs out on the water with a naturalist and a driver for each one. They do a great job at keeping us safe while ensuring that we have fun. As we are out on the water, they are typically communicating with each other in Spanish via walkie-talkie about timing, conditions, etc. It’s generally pretty measured in terms of tone..... until this afternoon.

All of a sudden, lots of loud chaos is coming over the radio and I’m trying to make it out since I was sitting right next to the naturalist. I thought I heard “orca” but I wasn’t sure but all I know is that in a few seconds that all 4 zodiacs were heading in the same direction past the boat. And then I saw why - we were in the vicinity of not just one killer orca whale, but two killer orca whales! 

The drivers of the boat did a great job getting us close, but “mostly” not too close. At one point, we were about 20 yards away from one of the orcas in some decent chop so it was not a dull 15 minutes by any stretch. We got some great pics and one of our fellow passengers captured an awesome video of a poor sea turtle and one of the killer orcas (watch carefully). 

Everyone was pretty much buzzing when we all got back to the boat after that whole

sequence of events! The way the guides were acting reminded me of this episode when we were in Tazzie on the Australian Walkabout in 2013. And we still had our official “Equator crossing”. Yep, we crossed over the Equator into the Southern Hemisphere before dinner and had the opportunity to watch it all from the bridge of the boat. Super cool. We had crossed the Equator a few times on this trip, but this time we were actually awake for it! After that, cocktails, wine, dinner, laughs and some more bevvies under some starry skies.

What a day. More pics posted here.

Day 10: Santiago Island --> Isabella & Fernandina Island (Galápagos)

The day began before 3am because we sailed all evening and overnight. Around 2:30am for at least 90 minutes we were going over some waves possibly going around the North end of Isabela Island and a drawer in the closet was opening and closing regularly along with hangers in the closet bumping the door. And we had a full day planned - both long walks and both wet entry snorkeling adventures.

We pulled into Tagus Cove right at breakfast time and dropped anchor. This cove has centuries of rock carved graffiti from boats who've been here long ago. We took the long hike option which went up part of a volcano for about 30 minutes passing above Darwin Lake along the way. The lake is extremely salty like the Dead Sea. We got some great views along the way and saw a Galápagos Hawk and ventured back down to the zodiac.

We thought we were going back to the boat because that was this option while the other was zooming around in zodiac looking for animals like penguins and turtles. But we were basically shown both sides of the bay too since we had time and we saw more penguins on rock rather than in the water than the boat designated for that assignment.

Sometimes better lucky than good.

It was a quick turnaround to a wet snorkeling expedition in which you just pop into the water from the zodiac rather than getting into wetsuit from shore. I prefer this method as it is less of a mess to clean when returning to the ship at the end. It's also just plain fun falling backwards off the zodiac into the water. The water over here in the West is colder but not too bad in the wetsuit.

We saw penguins swimming, lots of turtles, playful sea lions, and other fish. Some folks saw a shark but we missed it. I got some great photos and videos of all that we saw. Catching the penguin is tricky because it's so fast, but I got a great video keeping it on screen for 5-10 seconds.

As we ate lunch, the boat began the short journey over to Espinoza Point on Fernandina Island for the afternoon adventures that awaited.

We had another wet snorkeling expedition to start at 3:30. We got on second zodiac and by the time we got to drop area, the first group had been in for a few minutes and the overall team decided it was too choppy and difficult to navigate around a rocky outcrop with waves breaking over them. They were getting back into their zodiac.

So we went around that outcrop by boat and were dropped in calmer water. It was murkier than the morning but we still saw new stuff. I got good photos and videos but we actually got on the zodiac early since visibility was not as good as the morning snorkel. Still very enjoyable.

We got back to the main ship and had to quickly change into walking attire for the late afternoon adventure. That involved mostly marine iguanas. Lots and lots of them. And then even more. We also saw sea lions and cactus and other cool stuff but focus was marine iguanas. I've seen a lifetime worth in one afternoon.

We had 5+ minutes to shower for the day when we got back on the boat. We were still relatively early for drinks and dinner because basically everyone was showering too. So we got pictures and enjoyed dinner before learning more about tomorrow expeditions and the Galápagos in general.

The marine iguanas eat algae and they've evolved a gland that takes salt from their blood and allows them to spit it out rather than going through system. El Niño years are particularly bad for them so they've also evolved to shrink body mass by 20% or more to handle fact that the algae doesn't show up in those years and main food source simply isn't present.

Great day!

Day 9: Galápagos Islands (Isla Rábida and Isla Santiago), Ecuador.

I downloaded a bunch of books to my Kindle in anticipation for not having WiFi and having lots of downtime. A miscalculation on my part and I’m talking about the having lots of downtime. The boat serves breakfast at 7am on most mornings and then the last activity ends at roughly 10pm. Now none of these activities are mandatory, but most seem pretty interesting so why wouldn’t you try to maximize your time here?

Our boat has a max of 50 passengers and we are at 41. Everyone has been incredibly friendly and inclusive. We all seem to acknowledge that we may forget someone’s name and no one is going to care. Just be nice and positive, and no one is going to give a crap. With the exception of a lovely couple from Germany, everyone is American. The boat has a crew of 22 people, and they all seem to be very busy between keeping our rooms tidy, maintaining the boat, cooking us endless amounts of food and ensuring our safety. 

Other than the WiFi not working so we could ensure our photos are secured in the event we drop a phone/camera in the water, we don’t need much of anything. Note that when Marc and I went on a tour of the bridge of the boat, we saw a whole new satellite system that was supposed to rectify the WiFi problem. Honestly I just want my photos off of my local devices. Whomever really needs to get in touch with me has a way to do just that.

After breakfast, we went on a walk on Isla Rábida where we saw lava lizards, flamingoes, sea lions (no, they are NOT seals) and a couple of marine iguanas. It’s pretty warm but I would say that even though we are hovering right near the Equator that it is not excessively hot - that whole being on the water thing. Then we went on our 1st snorkeling expedition from the beach. We saw some colorful schools of fish, a spotted eagle ray, and starfish. It was pretty cool. 

After lunch, we went to Isla Isla Santiago for a little hike. Marc and I had the opportunity to see more Sally Lightfoot Crabs, a few more marine iguanas and a number of unique birds. Plus more sea lions. It was super cool. Those crabs have a red color, which really stands out against the black lava rocks.

Marine iguanas didn’t always know how to swim. They learned to swim in order to survive. They are vegetarians and learned to hold their breath for an hour so they can graze on seaweed, since the Galápagos didn’t have much vegetation for them to graze on. Too much seaweed for the iguanas leads to another issue - too much salt. So they have massive “sneezing” salt capabilities. FROM. THEIR. BLOOD. Yes, you read that correctly. 

We came back, showered, ate with the group and then had the overview of activities for the next day so we could choose our activities. Then they showed us a video on the animals of the Galápagos. By the time we went to our room, it was 10pm. Something tells me I won’t be making much progress on my reading list.

You can find more photos on Dropbox here. Note: We have already have A LOT from the Galápagos chapter. You have been warned.

Day 8: Quito --> Galápagos!

The day we arrive for the primary purpose of this adventure Jill has dubbed Operation Cincuenta.

Despite getting up @ 6am to head to the airport, it's still mostly a travel day even when starting in the same country as the destination. The Galápagos National Park charges $100 per person when you arrive on the islands. This we took care of with our tour company long ago. We didn't know that each person also must get a transit control card for $20 that contains passport info and allows you to enter and leave based on when you say you are returning. Insane process that nobody at the airport in Quito seemed to understand. We got it refunded to us when we arrived because we had in fact already paid that too!

We got on a shuttle bus to board the plane. 3 open doors letting people on the bus. To get off though everyone had to plow through the middle door only as they apparently want to control deboarding chaos in some sinister manner.

It appears that all flights go to the Galápagos from Guayaquil, Ecuador so we had a quick stop over before heading out over some Pacific Ocean to actually get there. We stayed on with about 1/2 the plane full and then more joined us before departing for real destination.

Once we landed in the Galápagos I was so stressed about making our boat. Our flight was 30 minutes late and we had under an hour to "be checked in" (which felt nebulous). We had bags to collect and customs to go through and I didn't know how close it would get. We were the first two up the sidewalk to the airport and someone came out of the VIP lounge at the perfect time with our boat company sign. We walked in and were reassured that there was another plane still in the air so we were ahead of the crowd! I felt so much better immediately.

We then got word to contact anyone now because the boat has no internet. We were told just lots of time to enjoy nature for the next week. While sitting at airport waiting for later flight, we both wondered after an hour why our phones were still on mainland time. The Islands are equivalent to Central Time but are taking "island time" to switch... Our boat told us they just stay on mainland time by clock even though it isn't that time here. It's definitely light later.

We got on board and had "lunch" at like 4:20-4:45 then saw presentation of Black Turtle Cove - Santa Cruz Island. We were given 5-10 minutes to get hats, jackets, sunscreen, cameras and come back for Zodiac ride to see this. We were the first two people on the first departing Zodiac. I was READY!

We saw so many creatures in this cove area including the black turtles, Sally Lightfoot crabs, brown pelicans, rays, sharks, and blue footed boobies. Even though boat got a late start to the day, they pleased us before going over tomorrow's morning and afternoon walks/snorkeling and serving us dinner. They're going to keep us busy all week. They said we'll be tired by the end and need a vacation.

Black turtle cove by zodiac...

Day 7: Quito, Ecuador.

Today Marc and I got off to an early start because we were going to be heading south of Quito to Cotopaxi National Park to hike near the Cotopaxi Volcano. For context, Quito is situated at an altitude of 9350 feet so that’s pretty high for the Becks’. Our travel medicine clinic advised us to bring altitude sickness pills for this part of the trip and a future part of the trip. Due to some of the other meds we will be taking (i.e., malaria pills at a minimum), we were hoping that because our stay in Quito is relatively brief that we could skip them for this component of the trip. 

Marc and I met our guide, Carlos (wearing a Yankees hat so I knew we would get on just fine), at the park entrance and he took us to a few sites along the way to head up to where we would do our walk. The weather definitely improved from a viewing perspective as the morning progressed. We saw other volcanoes such as Rumiñawi and Sincholagua, as well as Laguna Limpiopungo. You can still see lava rocks from the 1877 eruption along the way to Cotopaxi.

Cotopaxi tops out at 19,347 feet and is the tallest active volcano in the world. It is part of the Andes mountain range. For comparison, Rainier tops out at 14,411 feet. The parking lot for the Cotopaxi Volcano itself is at ~15,000 feet. Maybe the highest altitude I had hiked previously was around 10,000+ feet.

Given how high the summit is, people who are climbing to the top generally get to the park a few days early to acclimatize themselves. We did not have that option. Our goal was to hike to the refugio from the parking lot. This refugio is the last point hikers can take shelter before they attempt to summit Cotopaxi. The hike was less than a mile and went up 1000+ feet.

The only catch for what seemed to be a short hike was that we were starting at 14,765 feet and hiking to 15,960 feet where the Refugio Jose Rivas was located. It was cold. I still had a decent amount of layers and felt slightly “Michelin-man” like. Truthfully, were not as properly prepared as we should have been from a clothing perspective. That added to the challenge of being at such a high altitude. 

I took lots of breaks, and did a fair amount of huffing and puffing but we made it there in roughly 50 minutes. I was gassed and I definitely felt the altitude. Of course, I forgot the aforementioned altitude sickness pills and left them at the hotel. DUH! Lonely Planet called this hike a ‘lung buster’ and, yeah, that would be an accurate way to describe it!

Fortunately we took plenty of pics on the way up because as we were coming down, Cotopaxi definitely started to hide behind some clouds. I also saw a guide with a Red Sox hat - glad he wasn’t our guide! We decided that we were going to skip lunch and have our driver, Mario, take us from Cotopaxi straight to the “Old Town” area of Quito. 

As Marc mentioned yesterday, traffic in Quito (and in Lima, for that matter) is pretty bad during the day, especially at rush hour. Since both cities do not have any kind of real mass transit, everyone drives or takes a taxi, which is essentially the same as driving. You also get to breathe in lots of toxic fumes while sitting in traffic. So we timed our return to Quito for the middle of the day to avoid traffic, which still was pretty bad by US standards (yes, even Seattle standards). 

Mario walked us around “Old Town”, which had some impressive architecture. We started at Plaza Grande, which has the Presidential Palace and the Metropolitan Cathedral. We then walked to the Iglesia de la Compania de Jesus, which had some pretty jaw dropping designs on the ceilings and the walls. Construction on the church began in 1605 and didn’t finish until almost 1800. We also walked through the Iglesia y Convento de San Francisco.

Then we checked out Casa del Alabado. The focus of this place is around pre-Columbian

(not Colombian) artifacts. Some of them were made as far back as 4000 BC! The artistry and handiwork on these items really blew us away, especially the detail on the really small pieces (think the size of your thumb). We have all of the pics, along with some descriptions on Dropbox here.

Walking back to the car in the public garage, we kept hearing car alarms going off. I don’t even know if people really pay attention to car alarms anymore. I feel like 20 years ago (when I was living in NYC), they went off so much that people just were desensitized to them. But they go off constantly. As a matter of fact, we had car alarms going off constantly near our hotel until about 3am last night!

On the way back to the hotel with Mario, I observed that Quito has their own version of “squeegee guys” - anyone who lived in NYC in the 80s/early 90s knows what I am talking about. We saw lots of people selling various things like fruit and water along the side of the road, but then we saw one guy who was juggling machetes in a “very liberal way”, which was a Marc quote. Go figure. 

We did some laundry (yay for upgrades that have a washer/dryer in the room), packed and had dinner at Zazu. Excellent local ingredients that were well prepared and great service. Tried some wine from Ecuador, which was good and a first for us. I submitted my football picks for the next 2 weeks and hope that the lack of a working injury report won’t kill me any more than when I do have one to reference in my “pick’em pool”.

Marc and I are ready to head off to the next phase of our adventure, which is the main event for Operation Cincuenta - the Galapagos. We may have internet. We may not. In the event we don’t post for the next week, we will stockpile our posts and upload them when we are back on land. 

Day 6: Lima, Peru --> Quito, Ecuador

Crazy drive through neighborhoods with hired driver from hotel. He knew where he was going and how to avoid backups by getting off main road for sketchy side areas. But definitely most aggressive driver we've had and slightly scary to experience although having watched several days of traffic not completely on the extreme. Good news when we got to airport his company has special entrance right to the front door. Taxis go with crazy regular traffic jam into lot.

Line to check bags had less people waiting than total places to check it. Super fast! Then international boarding line was about the same - straight through ticket/passport check then maybe 10 people putting bags on belt in front of us. I was amazed given we didn't have TSA pre check option.

This photo was taken at the GPS equator at 4:03 pm. Check out the shadow! You’ll read about GPS precise location and the magnetic location (we visited both - they’re only a few hundred meters apart).

Flight was maybe 85% full with empty seat next to us and clouds covering view of the Andes most of the way (sad for the window viewer in me). Jill found us some Priority Pass food for free (thanks Jill & Amex Platinum) before boarding. Restaurant was right next to our gate and we both chose a decent sandwich. Then we were offered a "coffee break" sandwich on board while flying which was nowhere near as good but I took one and basically ate the ham/cheese inside but left most of the bread alone.

Mario picked us up to take us to Mitad del Mundo - Middle of the World, Equatorial Line. The area next to the Lima airport is chaotic. The area next to Quito is perfectly paved roads and a sense of order.

We started at the reservation that has the digital gps latitude of 00°00'00" and learned a lot on tour there taking lots of fun photos. They stamped our passports at the end of the tour with a special stamp. Then we went to the magnetic monument area built by the French a while ago retaking photos of "the line" and structure for the second time. I preferred the first spot perhaps because of the tour although she shared depressing stuff like head shrinking and fish that swim into your urethra if you piss while swimming in the amazon river. She further enhanced the tour by telling us that when men died they'd be buried in pottery that was burned and if the wife was alive, she was buried with him alive. Very uplifting.

Getting to the hotel around 5:30 as well as going to dinner at 7:30 basically involved sitting in traffic for over an hour to go maybe 3 miles. And you get to breathe high quality exhaust the entire time. Welcome to peak traffic hours.

We went to Osaka for dinner in the traffic. It took us a while to decompress, but the food was delicious. I got a beef nikudito and pork belly main while Jill ordered several items to try and seemed to enjoy them all. Then I got a chocolate volcano dessert that was a good ending.