ecuador | days 6-10: galapagos islands: isabela

NEWS FLASH: I SUCK AT BLOGGING!

sorry guys i've been terrible at this blogging thang. and im sorry if you are sick of reading about ecuador, but i'm not done yet!!! so anyway...

the two hour boat trip from puerto ayora, santa cruz to puerto villamil, isabela. WOW. i still cannot believe i survived it. the boat was tiny, fit about 20 people at the most, and loved to bounce on the waves. and by bounce i mean jump in the air 30 feet then crash back down on the water. over. and over. but modern medicine is marvelous. took a couple dramamine and bam. i was out like a light.

we arrived to the docks, dazed and confused, drenched in sweat and still drowsy from the dramamine.

isabela may be the largest island of the galapagos, but the town of puerto villamil is a lot smaller than puerto ayora, at least in the touristic sense. there are maybe 5 restaurants to choose from, and maybe 10 hotels. a couple places to rent scuba gear and book tours. the overall impression we got from isabela was that everything was so much more laid back. we had 4 relaxing days on this wonderful island and enjoyed every bit of it.

typical isabela

view from the beach in front of the hotel

view from our hotel balcony

we met henry when we first arrived at the docks of isabela, while waiting for a taxi. he is quite a character; he went on and on about how the people of puerto ayora are crazy for working so hard and how he hated boat tours with strict schedules. he offered to take us out on his boat, sans itinerary. fully embracing the laid back lifestyle, we went back to the docks a couple days later, got a couple beers and some ceviche, sat on the beach and waited to henry to show up. and as soon as we were done eating he appeared out of nowhere, hooked us up with the snorkeling gear and we were off.

the beach at the docks

the man, the myth, the legend: henry!

penguin island

snorkeling in the middle of the ocean!

iguanas again. typical.

the cutest thing i have ever seen! baby seals in love!

the camera had water on it.. sorry dilz!

the wall of tears, or muro de las lagrimas is a must see, not only to see the incredible man made wall and scenery around it, but for the little attractions along the way. branched off of the 6-mile trail were small beaches, overlooks, lava tunnels, and lagoons. unfortunately i wasn't smart enough to charge my digital camera the night before, so there aren't many pictures from this outing. we DID have a fabulous photoshoot with our friend lonesome jerry, the lost penguin.

concha de perla is a nice little place for snorkeling; luckily the couple times we went huge crowds of people were leaving just as we got there so we got the place to ourselves.

cool little bird guy.

underwater shots!

the giant tortoise breeding center was closing when we got there i think, but we still managed to do a quick lap and check them out.

this sign marks the beginning of the trail. so perfect!

the galapagos has great trails!

beautiful turtles

real subtle guys.

and now, i wrap up this post with the two things i will miss the most about this magical island...

i miss you kitty!!! [and lobster dinner]

toodles,

ronald.

candy shoppe lesbian? bodybombs. and wild turkeys.

so much has happened since i last blogged. i have been a negligent blogger. [shun!] but, things have been a little crazy, and i've been trying to keep my head above water. apparently, i really stink at saving money, which tends to cause problems when your computer dies and you need to pay bills...but, life is good, so i shant complain.



well, ronald and i got back from ecuador and moab, respectively. we both had great trips. i will upload pictures as soon as i get a computer, in which i can edit those pictures. she has filled you in on roughly half of her trip already, so i will divulge about my trip now:



first of all, the wild west is incredible. the landscape out there needs to be seen by everyone, especially if you live in this country. go there. and soon. the red rocks will seriously take your breath away. theyre just so big and beautiful. me and brittany were in awe of the size of the airport when we got off in grand junction. it was the equivalent of my dad's local airport, which is super tiny. the three of us spent part of our afternoon in grand junction, touring the wineries there. we got to try a bunch of meads, which i had never had before. and they were delightful. we bought a bottle from a winery and a raspberry chocolate satin from the meadery. we enjoyed both over the course of our trip. the satin was fantastic!



we traveled the two hours back to moab, with pitstops to see a great falling down bridge and other various scenic spots. we had a nice time catching up over jodi's awesome chili and mashed taters. we stayed at the house she lives in that night before transferring the next day to her boss's place for the rest of our stay. we nicknamed it "the lodge" and it was equipped with a hot tub, which i nicknamed a "hot tub time machine" when i started drinking the satin and polygamy porters together.



our first full day we hiked the entire loop of arches national park, which was over 7 miles. and it was nice. we didnt huff it, we just kinda took it slow and moseyed along. took lots of film [to be posted at a later date]. ate lunch up on the rocks. did some cliffhangers. scaled some rocks. the usu.



the next day we did two hikes! yes, i know. i dont remember the name of the first one. but the second one was up to delicate arch. wow. but not before the greatest lunch in history: at MILT's! so, green chilis are a moab thing, and at milts they have this burger. i got it w/ bison, so good. and it has green chilis, a spicy sauce, LTO, and yes. you better believe it was something out of this world. coupled with a banana milkshake and DELICIOUS fries. magnifique!



at delicate, the views are so amazing. i couldve sat up there for a day or two. but the mean photographers were getting mad anytime someone stood in the arch. and the sunset was all cloudy. so we left before we needed our headlamps to get back down.

the RTNA pose at delicate!

we had set up a campsite at the sandflats so we grabbed our hotdogs and smore supplies and headed out to camp! after a very successful start to our fire, some of jodi's friends joined us for smores and PBRs. a fun time was had by all. i had to camp in my own tent, so i was a little scared, but there was minimal complaining and i actually slept. so, i now like camping and would like to do it more in the future. we broke camp early so we could go make a serious brunch at the lodge. after brunch, jodi and i decided to do the rim trail, which was essentially a vertical climb for a mile or two. good on the buns. we met back up with britt to walk around downtown moab, and then we got mojitos....wow. those were some seriously fantastic mojitos! and we had fun drinking them too. we returned to the lodge for my birthday dinner of pasta with mushrooms. and the rest of that night was pretty fun....! we had to get up early to take me to the airport the next morning. and i did not want to leave, but duty calls. if you ever get the chance to go to moab, do it. its really great there.



that was a few weeks ago. since then, i went to blacksburg to see my ronald. we had a girly good time with friends christine and mandy. we went to a winery there and spent some time in floyd. went to a great little place for lunch called oddfellas. local and very yummy. we saw wild turkeys. we drove in the mountains. we went to studio. helped mandy pin up for thesees. went to the cellar. and did bodybombs at the mill. a great blacksburg day. we met with our littles for breakfast at gillies the next morning, had froyo with old pals, and then i hit the road.


a solid few weeks. oh, and the title of the post. so, in floyd there is the general store, which has penny candy. and ronald LOVES penny candy. especially mary janes. which are great. and at the mill, this turkish guy that we met, had some of the candy that ronald offered him. he then proceeded to ask mandy if ronald was a lesbian. she was floored, in a silly way, and wondered why someone would ask that, right after she offered them candy. and thus, the term candy shoppe lesbian was coined.



and done.
larry