In Both Halves of the World

Today we traveled to the Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World). After asking around about how to get there, we thought we had the directions figured out, but when we got to the first trolley stop, the ticket seller informed us that the trams were temporarily not running but we could walk to the other station. We walked to the other station, and there the trolleys were also suspended due to the march. We tried to get a bus, but none went where we wanted. Then we tried to get a taxi, but it was too expensive (aka $7 for 3 of us). So we waited and the trams started up and we crammed into the first one. Then at the first stop, more people crammed into the overly full trolley and this continued pretty much for all 15 or so stops:) so we were slightly hot and I even got a blister on my hand from holding on. But we eventually made it after changing onto another bus. We entered this huge compound with a big museum in the middle, restaurants, shops, and a planetarium, which all seemed slightly excessive for the 20 or so tourists that made it out there. But it was a thrill to stand in both the northern and southern hemisphere in the same moment. And the trip back was much easier, except that it decided to start pouring rain about 5 minutes before our stop. But we made it back in time for Elizabeth to make her movie debut and are now safely back in the hostal in Quito. Tomorrow we are heading down to Baños, Ecuador.

Lions and Turtles and Birds... Oh My!

Tour of the Galapagos Islands

We just got back to the island of Santa Cruz after touring around the Galapagos on a 10 person cruise boat for the last week. The scenery was amazing and the animals were not afraid of humans at all. We could go right up into the animal´s face and it wasn`t even slightly agitated. And the baby sea lions came right up to swim and play with you. It was some great animal observation and we even timed it right to see a live birth of a sea lion!

We've left Colombia now and are in Quito, Ecuador. Tomorrow we are flying out for a cruise in the Galapagos Islands! We spent the last few days on express buses (a total of about 50 hours in bus) travelling from the north coast of Colombia down to Quito, with only a one-day stop along the way in the beautiful city of Bogota. We successfully walked across the border into Ecuador and made it to the tour office in time to pay for our Galapagos vacation (although we had to struggle to hold onto our bags at the bus station in Tulcan to keep about 6 bus companies from pulling them in different directions). Unfortunetely we didn't make it to the beaches in Parque Tayrona because of our Galapagos trip, but the wildlife there should make up for it! I hope everyone is doing great in the states and I'm looking forward to seeing you after 2 more months of travelling!

We just got back from a 6 day hike through the jungle, farms, native villages, and rivers to the Lost City. The destination was moskito-filled ruins of the Tayrona Indians discovered only about 50 years agos. There were beautiful sites along the way. Liz slightly injured herself and needed to go on horseback the last day (she doesn´t read my blog so no one tell her I put this up). We were heading out to the beaches of the Parque Tayrona, but instead had to go straight to Ecuador.