Hacuchu! (AKA Vamos chicos!) (AKA, Let's go guys!)

Here's my bottom-line message on the Inca Trail hike to Machu Picchu: Anyone can do it, and everyone should try it at some point in their life. The historic trail from Cusco Peru to Machu Picchu is absolutely beautiful, full of Incan ruins, and worth the time and effort to get to city of Machu Picchu under your own power at sunrise. It sounds pretty intimidating on paper; 30 miles over 4 days at elevations up to 13000 feet, but in reality, it's just a lot of putting one foot in front of the other....over and over and over and over again. There is more than enough time built into the schedule for even the slowest of hikers, and as long as you leave yourself a couple of days in Cusco before the hike to acclimate to the elevation, you should be fine. Throw in plentiful and hearty food prepared by the porters everyday and 8pm bedtimes and there are times on the hike that feel pretty relaxing -- not the hike up to 13000 feet, but other times. Other than the fact that the group I was in was a lot of fun and made the hard bits easier, I don't have much else to say about the hike that the pictures can't present better, except "The Inca Trail to Machu Picchu - add it to your life list."

On of the 7 or 8 Incan ruins we passed on the hike

Setting up for the first night's camping

Looking down at the trail from the highest point on the trail, Dead Woman Pass

And how it felt to finally make it up there

The views of the Andes were stunning all 4 days

The porters, taking a break. Most of them were carrying at least twice as much as any of the hikers...and jogging the trail

Feeling like we were on the roof of the world

Finally made it! Looking down on the city just after sunrise on day 4

A viscacha - kind of like an Andean bunny-rat. Or similar to a chinchilla, if you want something that sounds cuter

A picture perfect day at Machu Picchu

Go-Go-Galapagos!

After three weeks of chopping blackberry thickets, moving dirt, and clearing paths, I decided to spend my last week in the Galapagos going island-hopping. One of the many misconceptions I had about the Galapagos before I arrived was that it is incredibly expensive to visit the islands and that the only real way to do it is by multi-day tour boat. Maybe I shouldn't help keep the number of tourists in the islands down by reinforcing that idea, but the fact is, if you know what you're doing, going to the Galapagos can be only slightly more expensive than a trip to the Caribbean from the US. And since I had some of the best SCUBA dives of my life there, as well as fantastic beach time, I don't think it will be too long before I'm heading back there for a vacation - this time without the farm work. So, in the interests of making everyone's lives a little wilder, here is my overview of the islands, and tips for getting there without breaking the bank.

A blue footed booby, looking a little outraged

Los Tuneles, on Isabela

If a group of sheep are called a flock, should a group of iguanas be called a pile?

Getting to the Galapagos is probably the most expensive part of the trip, since you will need to either get to Quito or Guyaquil Ecuador first, and then take another flight to one of the two airports in the islands. Since it's probably impossible to time all the flights concurrently, you might as well add at least a day or two on the mainland first, just to get a hint of the local culture. I didn't get to Guyaquil, so I can't speak to it's charms, but Quito has enough to keep a visitor occupied for a day or two, but any more than that I would start thinking of side trips. Last I checked, flights from the mainland to Galapagos were almost as much as flights from the US to Ecuador, so there will be some sticker shock from that purchase (especially adding in the $100 Galapagos visitors' fee, paid at the airport), but once you're over that hill, the rest of the costs are much more reasonable.

I love the little red lava lizard that is using the iguana's head as a perch

Not a great photo I know, but I spent a long time trying to get a shot of this penguin and this was the best I got

It seems wrong somehow to find penguins and flamingos on the same island, but that's the Galapagos for you

At Los Tuneles, you don't even have to snorkel to see the turtles, you can just watch them swim by from the banks

My last post covered the time working with Jatun Satcha on San Cristobal Island, the easternmost island with a sizable population. San Cristobal (which has an accent over the 'o', by the way, but I'm not going to deal with putting in the accent marks or tildas here) is my second-favorite of the three inhabited islands, with one of the two airports, a nice sleepy town, and several fantastic beaches. It doesn't have the same level of wildlife or natural attractions that some of the other islands do, but you can still sit with the sea lions on the boardwalk and go snorkeling with sea turtles every day of the week if you like. If you were to fly to San Cristobal first, I think you could easily plan to spend three days there before thinking of moving on. During the low season, you can find private rooms anywhere from $20 a night for a basic backpacker room to $150 a night in one of the fancy resorts - this price range, by the way, was pretty consistent across all three islands. Simiarly, meals ranged from $3.50 for a set dinner of soup, rice and chicken, and a juice, to $15 for more elegant fare (I ate a lot of chicken and rice in the Galapagos). For me, highlights of San Cristobal were SCUBA diving at Kicker Rock and seeing hammerhead sharks, Loberia Beach for snorkeling with sea lions and turtles, and the Galapaguera tortoise reserve for seeing tortoises in all their wrinkled, grumpy glory.

Another blue footed booby. Since they're pretty much the mascot of the Galapagos, you can never take too many photos of them, but we all tried

Los Tuneles

If there were an Olympic event for basking in the sunshine, it would be a toss-up between cats and iguana for the gold medal

Masked, or Nazca, boobies

Moving west to the next major islands, you'll pay about $30 for a four-hour speedboat ride to Santa Cruz, which has the largest population in the Galapagos and serves as the main tourist hub, and feels like it. To me, Santa Cruz was just a little too much city for being in the Galapagos; it was more crowded, more tourists, and prices were a little higher... although I have to admit that I enjoyed getting good coffee and pizza again. If you were to start in Santa Cruz, I would recommend spending your first day going to the Charles Darwin center to see the tortoises and iguanas and going to Tortuga Beach, one of the nicest beaches I've ever been on, and then a couple more days organizing day trips to other smaller islands from Santa Cruz, since this is the best island to set these up. Unfortunately, I didn't do this, and so missed my chance to go to Floreana, one of the only other islands I wanted to see, but these day trips are offered everywhere on Santa Cruz and shouldn't cost more than $120-150 per person for a trip out to see and hike on one of the uninhabited islands. After that, pick either San Cristobal or Isabela island, hop on a speedboat, and get out of the "big city".

There are lots of birds on Isabela

Lots and lots and lots of birds

"Let me out of the tortoise jail!"

I spent the most time on Isabela, the largest and westernmost inhabited island, and loved every minute of it. Islabela has that wonderful sleepy island town vibe that I love so much, with only a few hundred people near the port, sandy streets with "iguana crossing" signs, and spectacular scenery. Isabela has hikes up to volcano craters, SCUBA diving, snorkeling, and beaches perfect for pretending you are a basking iguana. It's quiet, laid-back, friendly, and hard to leave. Plus, in terms of marine wildlife, it's off the charts. One my first SCUBA dive in Isabela, I found myself thinking "Do I look at the two manta rays the guide is pointing out, the sea lion that's swimming up behind him, the hammerhead shark that just swam by me to the left, or the one to the right?" Naturally, I watched the sharks that were swimming behind me, can't be too careful. On the day trip to Los Tuneles, ancient lava tubes that are now half-submerged arches in the ocean, I snorkeled with sea turtles, white tip sharks, manta rays, penguins, sea horses, and of course sea lions, which is like several years worth of SCUBA diving in other places rolled up into one morning in the Galapagos. And yes, I even saw the iguanas crossing the road in front of their sign.

So, my bottom line for 7 days / 7 nights on Santa Cruz and Isabela, including meals, lodging, day tours, and transportation between islands was just a hair over $700, and $150 of that was for SCUBA diving. I consider that a pretty reasonable cost for seeing such incredible sights and finding places where the wildlife is more likely to ignore you than run away. So, on second thought, don't consider visiting the Galapagos for your next tropical island vacation... I want to keep it all to myself. But I will share pictures.

One last booby photo

And one last photo of Los Tuneles, and me enjoying them

Sunsets on Isabela are the best

Welcome to the Galapagos... here's your machete.

OK, I know I'm about 2 months behind in my blog now, so far behind in fact, I'm not sure I'll catch up before I'm supposed to go back to DC. But in my defense, I have a couple of very good reasons why I've fallen so far behind; the internet has been really back in South America, and I've been keeping busy doing fun things like climbing mountains and diving with sharks, instead of uploading photos. This entry covers my time volunteering with Jatun Sacha on San Cristobal island in the Galapagos, and I will have at least one other post on the Galapagos about the week I spent island-hopping to the other major Galapagos islands.

Giant land tortoises are not the most elegant of eaters

-- Written on March 12 --
A quick show of hands before I get started; how many people out there are a little concerned at the idea of Chris Hunter trying to clear vegetation with a machete? Be honest. I know I was a little concerned myself, knowing I'm not the most coordinated guy in the world, and it's easy to imagine something going wrong while I'm swinging away with a large metal blade. Don't worry though, after a week here on San Cristobal island with Jatun Sacha and several days clearing vegetaion, I still have all my fingers and toes (as do my fellow volunteers).

Part of the waterfront in "downtown" Puerto Baquierzo Moreno

One of our usual Friday field trip spots, Puerto Chino beach

Another field trip beach, Loberia - where we snorkeled with turtles and sat on the beach with iguanas

My only regret is not being able to capture the iguanas spitting salt out of their noses. It's quite a sight.

It's been quite an interesting first week. Some days are really hard work (planting banana and yucca, chopping away invasive blackberry vines), others have been more like tropical vacations (SCUBA diving, laying on the beach with sea lions), and some parts have been more like summer camp (playing card games, preparing lunch for 30 people, cold showers in a concrete outhouse). Every day is different volunteering with this group, which does make the days go by quickly, but it also keeps me on my toes. The Jatun Sacha station is set up on a hillside about 40 minutes by pickup truck from the main town, and there is more than enough to do at the station on a daily basis to keep the volunteers busy. There is blackberry to clear, trails to maintain, painting and fixing up the buildings are all consistent chores, as well as the work for the National Park. While I've been here, the number of volunteers has fluctuated between 10 to 20 people from a wide variety of countries (UK, Germany, Australia, Mexico, India, Denmark) and they've all been a lot of fun to meet and spend time with.

Loberia beach

Everyone's favorite bird of the Galapagos: blue footed boobies!

I honestly don't know how giant land tortoises survive in the wild. They look like they barely have the strength to carry those shells around, and you would think that starvation would set in before they could reach food 

Baby tortoises are really cute though

Almost a heart shape made from iguana tails

The station definitely qualifies as "rustic", with no cell service, numerous spiders, flies, and mosquitoes, bunk beds with mosquito nets, and no hot water. There are also a lot of very entertaining moments that come from the rustic experience, like fitting 8 people into the back of a pickup truck, and then coming across a Galapagos tortoise that had escaped from the park center and chucking it in the back of the truck with the volunteers to return it. The station also has a resident kitten, two old dogs, a horse named Shakira, a pig named Ozzie, and about 3 dozen chickens, all of which provide entertaining moments in their own way... except the chickens. Every morning at 4am, I have murderous plans involving chicken soup for dinner. The downside of the experience so far is that it's sometimes hard to see how the work we're doing will benefit the islands (at least directly). The volunteers spend a lot of time just keeping the station running and clear of blackberry, as well as helping local farmers as community service, but only about 2 mornings a week actually working in the National Park on park projects.

Blue feet!

From one of the nicest beaches I've ever been to, Tortuga Beach on Santa Cruz Island

Tortuga beach birds

Tortuga beach also had baby blacktip sharks hunting in the surf. Not so scary when they're only a foot long

Just an iguana out for a walk on the beach

I've only been on one island in the Galapagos so far, but like the volunteering experience itself, it's not quite what I was expecting. To start with, this isn't the pristine deserted archipelago that I had envisioned. Something like 25,000 people are residents of the Galapagos islands and invasive species are a major concern everywhere. Aside from the plants like blackberry and guava, there are feral cats, dogs, rats, and pigs, all of which wreak havoc on the islands' ecosystem, killing birds and tortoises and spreading disease with the sea lion population. But there is also a wealth of natural beauty here and in a week's time I've seen tortoises, sea lions, sharks (3 kinds), stingrays and eagle rays, marine iguanas, frigate birds, and blue footed boobies. Every Friday, the station organizes a field trip somewhere on the island to see some of the attractions, like the tortoise research center or some of the more picturesque beaches, and last week we also were able to attend a local forum on the sea lion population and status, hosted by the Charles Darwin center and conducted entirely in Spanish - all I have to say is that I understood more than I expected too, and that academic powerpoint slides look the same no matter what language they're in. Aside from these trips, I'm hoping to take my last week and go island-hopping to see some of the other areas and attraction while I'm here since it's surprisingly easy to get between the major islands. Until then, it's mosquito bites and machete practice Monday through Thursday, and beaches, fruit smoothies, and sea lions on the weekends.

Master of all he surveys

On every beach in the Galapagos, you'll find Sally Lightfoot crabs, which can actually jump from rock to rock, something that's a little unexpected to see in a crab

One last bird from Tortuga beach