Cruising Alaska

One of my possible holiday trips this summer is a 7-day Alaskan cruise on Royal Caribbean.  Deciding which cruise line to take can be difficult, as it was in my case.  I’ve been critical of travel agencies and their cookie cutter service, which is one of the reasons why I painstakingly make my travel arrangements myself, usually online.  I like to customize my holidays the way that I want too.  Of course, there are some travel agents that do this … I don’t know who they are though.  But as I was trying to plan my holiday, it finally dawned upon me that I needed help.  I called Royal Caribbean and Holland America.  What a difference in the representatives.  Although both representatives were sales people, Royal Caribbean was a sales representative/travel agent.  The representative was knowledgeable and helpful.  He knew his ship, at least he appeared to know his ship, and all the services that Royal Caribbean offered … like the off-ship excursions.  Holland America on the other hand was a poor sales person without and travel agent skills.  Of course, I could have just been lucky or unlucky in the case of Holland America, but I may be rethinking my perception of travel agents altogether.

Galapagos Explorer II … now that’s one fine ship

I have to admit that I was a little skeptical about exploring the Galapagos Islands on the Explorer II.  The ship is owned and operated by Canodros who markets themselves as ecotourism providers.  There were a couple of things that I was concerned about like how comfortable would the ship be, would we get motion sickness, what would the food be like, what about the facilities [the toilets], how would we get to the islands.  Translation I was mostly concerned about comfort.

First, our arrival at Baltra and navigating the arrival process was absolutely confusing notwithstanding the language barrier.  My Spanish is minimal at best and almost totally unidirectional.  I can communicate somewhat in Spanish, but do not expect me to understand much of what you say … if you speak in Spanish.

When you land in the Galapagos, you have to declare [on a form] that you are have nothing that might impact the ecology of the Islands, but that’s a blog for another day.

Once we finally arrive on the ship we are greeted by the crew and a very persistent ship photographer, Fernando.  So far so good … the crew very carefully made sure that we safely got from the dingy to the ship.  A crewman carried our carry-on bag and took us to our room … a Deluxe suite … and showed us the room. 

The room was very nice … similar to a hotel room in terms of accommodations and size.  We had a nice bed, two chairs, a sofa, and cocktail table, as well as a minibar.  We had a lockable drawer and plenty of space to store our clothes.  Given that we were on a 100 passenger ship, the largest that the national park service allows now, the bathroom was okay … the shower and sink were fine. 

The toilet was our least favorite, it was filled with water, but the flush was a vacuum flush like what you find on airplanes.  Additionally, you were supposed to dispose of your toilet tissue in a waste basket … at least it was sealed.  I kept saying to myself that this is good for the ecology of the Islands.

Overall, this is one fine ship … the accommodations, the service, and the experience.  If you are going to the Galapagos, consider the Explorer II.

Galapagos Islands or bust …

Okay, we have been in Quito for three days and the temperature has been cool and it has rained periodically, but that’s okay, because we have gotten to see much … the old colonial city, the Otavalo Indian market, and other small towns.  The churches and cathedrals in the colonial part of the city are absolutely magnificent and ornate.  The most unfortunate aspect of Quito and the surrounding cities is the poverty and the conditions in which a lot of indigenous people live.  We have come across few beggars, most people are either trying to see some craft like scarfs or phone plans where you buy according to how much you plan to talk … seriously.  The city is also a bit dirty, but the poverty was the worst. 

After three days in Quito, we depart for the Galapagos Islands, where only one of the two airports are working … the one on Baltra.

So, we arrive at the Quito airport on our fourth day for our flight to the Galapagos Islands and waited and waited and waited.  After waiting at the airport for four hours we finally board the plane to fly to Baltra.  I have to admit that the airport process was one of the worst that we have ever experienced [which I will blog about later], but we finally arrived in Baltra about two hours after we were supposed to arrive.  I fully expected that we would miss our cruise ship, the Explorer II. 

The wait … totally worth it!  More to come …

Otavalo Indian Market

Yesterday, we visited the Otavalo Indian Market and surrounding areas, which is definitely going to be a highlight of the trip to Ecuador.  This is where indigenous people sell and show their trade.  Part of the experience is to bargain and negotiate with the vendors.  I do not really like this part of the experience, because we have so much, they have so little, and because of this,  the negotiation is unequal … much like our experience in Zambia.

We had to take a private tour to the area, which is about 2 hours north of Quito, but it was totally worth it.

By the way, we did buy a lot.

Welcome to Quito, Ecuador

Well the countdown to Ecuador is over, we have arrived.

We flew through my favorite airport, Atlanta, actually that is my least favorite.   We were delayed one hour!  That’s a blog for another day.   As I said we are in Quito, enjoying our holiday.

Our first full day, we toured the city and visited the equator monument and the actually location of 0 degree lat and long.  There is a natural history and living science museum are the real equator site.  What a fun way to start our trip.

The monasteries and churches in the colonial part of the city is worth the visit, not to forget the history behind city.

Other than some light rain and cold weather, what a nice day.

Quito, the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador … countdown

One day before two days from today, we will be in Quito, Ecuador for our winter and Christmas holidays.  This will be our first trip to Ecuador and the continent of South America.  We will spend a couple of days in Quito before traveling to the Galapagos Islands for our cruise aboard the Explorer II, a 100 passenger ship.

While in Quito though, we will tour the city, travel to the Equator, and visit the famous Indian market … Otavalo.

A couple of surprises … Ecuador’s currency is the United States dollar, the Galapagos Islands are 600 miles west of the country, and Quito is 2850m (9350ft) above sea level [making the city one of the highest capitals in the world].

Until tomorrow …

Hawaii for the holidays

If you have been to Hawaii during Thanksgiving or Christmas, you will understand that it is quite an experience, especially if you are from the United States’ east coast or south.

We arrived Thanksgiving day and had a non-traditional dinner that is no turkey, no stuffing, and no cranberry sauce or relish.  That was okay, we’ve done that before.  [See our holiday tag].  What seemed so unusual for us was the Christmas decoration on palm trees and the 80 degree weather, at least on Honolulu, Oahu.  I’m sorry, but Santa in shorts looks funny.

Interestingly, Hawai’i (The Big Island) wasn’t decorated like Honolulu, Oahu.