Thurs 22 Feb, Bogota to Nieva to Villa Vieja
The 1 PM flight from Alicante was 45 minutes late, and we had to hurry to catch our connection to Bogota. We were in Premium Economy and the seats were comfortable, but the meal was pretty awful. I sent my grease ridden aubergine back and received some pasta from ordinary economy, which was edible. The pudding was good. We landed at Bogotá about 8 pm, which was 2am in Spanish time. A nice lady drove us to the Casa Deco Hotel where we were in room one. This was fairly basic, but all we wanted to do was tumble into bed.
I had a headache all night and did not feel like eating any breakfast. But when we went to breakfast there were no tables free and we had to decamp to the bar where service was very slow hence at 8:30 when we were due to be picked up, we were not really ready, I was indecisive as to whether to go on the tour as I had felt sick during breakfast. Anyway, we went with Raoul and his driver George. First stop was a charming tea café where we drank Coco tea. I had to rush to the toilet to be sick, but then I began to feel a bit better but still really tired, after this, we walked through the old town with many examples of street art, really colourful.
Then we went to the plaza where I admired its really beautiful tree, then to a non-fruit market where the stores were selling logo, Colombian products, We sat outside the market for a while, listening to facts about the city. George then picked us up in the car, and we drove to Fragmentos, A large area conceived by an artist, Doris Salcedo , following the Colombian peace process. 37 Tons of ammunition and guns had been melted down and battered into thin floor tiles.. We watched a video of this process before being driven to The Peace Café, where we had a beer brewed by former Farc fighters. Our final stop was at Salvo Patris, A really nice restaurant. I shared a meal with David and began to feel human again, we were then driven to the airport where we arrived at 3:30 for our 6.15 flight to Nieva. David had to battle with the automatic machines to check the two suitcases in, a long task. Unfortunately, the flight was delayed and we did not reach Nieva until past eight, there we were picked up by Isabel and driver, Freddie and transported to Villa Viega, A journey of just under an hour to the Hotel Oasis It was basic but perfectly acceptable,, I was surprised at the 30 degree temperature
Fri 23 Feb Villa Vieja via 2 deserts to San Augustin
A good night's sleep and we were down to breakfast by 7 o’clock. There the mute employee disappeared out the front door and returned 10 minutes later with some breakfast. This consisted of some unripe fruit and a reasonable scrambled egg with corn bread. Also some coffee drunk through a straw. The eating area lacked charisma. We then went for a short walk outside the hotel which had a very colourful frontage. At 8 o’clock we were picked up by Isabel and Freddie. We drove to the Tatacoa , the red desert, We walked down into this charming landscape with wondrous sand, formations and interesting cacti. And then we had a drink of cane juice. Very refreshing.
Back in the car, we continued to the grey desert. This was more challenging for me to negotiate. and at times I had all three people helping me down slippery slopes. Near the end of it there were three swimming pools which should’ve been wondrous but were an eyesore and a great blot to this wonderful landscape.
We left Isabel back in the town and then drove for over six hours to our next hotel outside San Augustine Stopping for lunch, we paid just €11 for three soups, two main courses and three fruit juices. Mine was mango, and David was maracayo/ passion fruit . Then one more stop en route for toilets. The scenery was really interesting. traversing five valleys, which were quite steep. We arrived at.Hotel Monasterio well before six. And I was swept off my feet: it was so beautiful and artistically charming, Reception was good apart from the form David had to fill-in. Our room was charming with a balcony overlooking vegetation. We sorted ourselves out and then went out for a cocktail., Which was difficult to obtain, but arrived after 20 minutes. We went to dinner at 8:15 and thoroughly enjoyed it. The dining room was charming and had a wood fire burning. The set menu which we had chosen on arrival was very good at just €10 each and we had a bottle of Chilean wine. At the end of it, we sat by the fire with the house digestives. A local rum for me, and an aguardiente with aniseed for David. A good third day of the holiday
Sat 24 Feb. San Augustin
We went to breakfast pronto at 7:30, but it was already over occupied, but we found a table on the lower patio and had a pleasant breakfast. Great views over the countryside. We were picked up at 9 am by Freddie and a new guide, Julian. We drove to the San Augustine Statue Park, a UNESCO site. Here tombs and guardian statues had been discovered by a German in 1913 since then little archaeology had really been done and no one knew who these ancient statues of more than 2000 years ago had been constructed and why. First stop was the museum, which was not very inspiring. Then we set off on a long walk round the site eventually climbing up to a plateau with a wondrous view along the way. We passed many of the guardians statues. Also a fountain in the river. We stopped for fresh juice and the cake. We were back at the hotel by 2 pm and had the afternoon off, this included a little walk of discovery around the hotel complex and a beer in the garden. The monastery had been built in 1810 but we were unable to find out anything about its history. We did discover that it had been converted into a hotel only in 2016. We enjoyed dinner again there being only 10 other guests this evening
Sun 25 Feb San Augustin
A really pleasant breakfast. We left at 9 for a full day tour with Julian and Freddie. The first stop was at the narrows of the Magdalena River. We were lucky that there was only one other set of tourists there, and also a two man music team. Then we went to the village of Obando where there was a museum run by the local people. This consisted of some deep tombs outside and an indoor section.
The scenery all the time was magnificent between the different lines of the Andes. First stop the Altos de los Idolos, The second largest group of tombs in the area. We had to walk uphill. It seemed like an eternity to reach the large plateau where these tombs were situated. They were quite impressive but obviously not in their original positions. The walk back down was so much shorter, or so it seemed.
From here we proceed to the Altos de las Piedras with about a dozen graves. Then, back through the town of.Isnos. We stopped along the road to look at coffee bushes before arriving back in San Augustine, David went to an ATM.
We were back at the hotel before three p.m. Later in the afternoon, we sat on the terrace and enjoyed a beer. Dinner was very pleasant but the detachment of the management was quite extraordinary.
Mon 26 Feb. San Augustin to Popayan
Another pleasant breakfast and we were on the road with Freddie by 9 o’clock on our way to Popayan, this journey took just four hours, despite the unpaved road for 90 minutes through the National park. There was not much to see here other than trees. We were held up a couple of times by long roadworks.
We arrived at the Hotel. Plazuela at 1 pm and went out exploring about an hour later, We had trouble finding our way back and had to ask in a chemist. Then I had a siesta, read a bit before going out for another walk and booking a table for dinner in the Camino Real restaurant. Then down to the bridge of humiliation.
We ate a pleasant six course meal at 7:30 pml, but nothing special. We chatted to a foursome from England and Australia.
Tue 27 Feb Popayan
We had a leisurely breakfast at 9 o’clock, and this was much better than we had expected, having read Tripadvisor. We were the only people in the vaulted restaurant and the sun shone on us
We went out exploring at 11 am., went into the Pantheon for the heroes and tried to enter a museum , which we discovered was only open for a half hour period. We ended up at the bridge of humiliation and went into the inviting café nearby where we had a smoothie and a cheesecake each. The waitresses there were fascinated by the boyzz.
Back at base very soon after 1pm, we read and had a siesta. David was feeling well below par with a bad cold. We met the guide, another David, for our afternoon walk tour at 3:30. But David was not impressed by him and decided to absent himself after 10 minutes. Although the guide David was somewhat weak in his history. I then got on quite well with him. We visited several courtyards in colonial houses, one of which housed the processional. floats used during holy week. Another had a large deep footpath in the courtyard, used to refresh their feet after walking round the town, barefoot on the cobbles: this raised the status of a house, if it had its own footbath. Another had a fountain which was also a status symbol as they did not need them to use the town water supply. We then went into the university which was most impressive. Then into Santa Domingo church which had very sturdy structures in it. We finished in a café where I tried empanadas And a red fruit granita drink
Back in the room. I read again, and then we had a snack before going down to the hotel for a beer and a coffee An interesting day in the white town of Columbia.
Wed 28 Feb Popayan to Pereira
We met the same foursome at breakfast, which was fine again. We then cross the road to a chemist to buy David some cough sweets for his bad cold. We set off at 9 o’clock for our last day with Freddie, stopping after about two hours and then again after another two hours for lunch of chicken and rice in a very noisy roadside eatery.
We arrived at Casa Don Carlos Lodge soon after three. Here we say goodbye to Freddie. Our reception was not good and we were kept hanging around for half an hour or so, then sent to room 204. We went up to this and discovered it did not have a good view and went to examine other rooms and found that our original 208, which had not been ready, did have a good view so we went back to reception and agreed to wait for it to be made up. What was odd was that there were only us and five Italians in the hotel for the night so why could they not allocate us a room that was ready? We went down to a gorgeous pool for an hour or so, and I enjoyed a swim yet the Jacuzzis were not functioning. Back in the room to wash my hair. There was no water, but this did appear after about half an hour. We sat out on the communal balcony on a comfortable sofa reading for awhile. Then at 8 o’clock went down to the spacious open air restaurant which had had such bad reviews onn Tripadvisor. So we decided on just a starter, and a Pizza . This was still too much for us. We washed It down with a delicious Pina Colada And a Pisco sour.
Thurs 29 Feb Day trip to a coffee plantation
A refreshing swim before breakfast, which was very pleasant. Away with a new guide, Claudia, who was not one of the best, quite difficult to understand her, and no compensating features.
We arrived at the coffee plantation. Enezia after just over a pleasant drive of an hour. Here we were offered a cup of coffee and then asked to pay for it: not a good start. Also they wanted our passport, Then we had a sample of four filter coffees, all very insipid and an explanation of how they got these four. this by Matthieu, a guide in the plantation. Then a walk through coffee bushes, with explanations of the seasons, the pickers, the diseases, et cetera. At the end of this, we were picked up by our minibus and driven to the Casa Principal. Here we were shown the effect of roasting the beans before walking round their five bedroom hotel.
Then back in the minibus to the hotel which we reach just before 2 pm. There we found that my request for the television to be looked at had been ignored, and I was told I could speak to the manager at 3 pm, I went for a swim before this. Then to reception where the lady manager spoke little English and used the original receptionist who I was suggesting was pathetic as a translator: not a good start point for a discussion. The result of this conversation was that we got upgraded to a large room. This taking up some time to transfer all our possessions. Then I read until 5 pm When I went for another swim, and also a spell in the largest Jacuzzi that did, in fact work, the smaller one being broken.
Back to our pleasant balcony where we had some cold Pizza before going to the bar/restaurant for a drink. We found the drinks were on the house so we had two each
Fri 1 Mar Day trip to a touristy site with wax palms and to Galento
I had a poor night's sleep due to my cold and struggled to stay awake during most of the day, but I did have a swim before breakfast, and then we went out on a full day's tout or to Ocora at 9 am. We drove through Salento and on the hills of the Wax Palms, this was very scenic, but also over touristy. We had pleasant cane sugar, warm drink before we started off the hill. But I had to stop after a while, as I did not have enough energy to climb. David and Claudia continued to the top tp the Instagram inspired giant hand, where everybody was getting their photos taken
After this, we stopped for a ritual which consisted of planting a six year old wax palm sapling, and shouting for Columbia, England and Ireland. We had a mango and maracayo fruit juice. Then down to the town of Salento, where we had a 15 minute walk after being taken to a viewpoint over the valley. Unfortunately the valley is nearly always covered with mist.
We are back at the hotel by 3:30 and I struggled to stay awake for the rest of the day. David had bought some rum and Coke. We enjoyed this outside the room with a sandwich and some coffee biscuits. David also went to the restaurant and had a pasta. Hopefully tomorrow I will be fighting fit
Sat 2 Mar. Pereira to Salamina
David got better and I got worse. Was not even up to going for a pre-breakfast swim. We had a late breakfast and left the hotel at 10 am, with a new driver, somewhat mentally incapacitated, or with a very broad accent: so communication with zero, it was over three hour, drive through gorgeous scenery to get to Salamina, This a village at 2000 m. David went on a guided walk which had been arranged between 2 and 4 pm. I did not feel up to it. The hotel, Leanda, is charming, but the room extremely small and minimalist. I went out for a short explore with David at 5 pm. And we stopped at a café. It had been recommended by the guide. It was pleasant, but the cakes were nothing to write home about.
Then we had a snack and some rum and Coke in the room before going down to the hotel café for some food, but they only served sandwiches and cakes, and we decided just to have a beer. An early night and hopefully I will feel more human in the morning
Sun 3 Mar Day trip from Salamena to wax palms at 2900 meters
A noisy night and then woken up by the church bells calling the faithful to prayer at 6:30 6,45 and 7 am. I think my cold has reached its peak during the night and it should all be all downhill from now on.
We enjoyed our breakfast down in the café, nothing special, but nice surroundings, then we were picked up in a ramshackle Jeep by Careen at 9 am. We drove over an hour down a mainly tarmac, but badly maintained road , climbing for about an hour to reach the village of San Felix.. They were replacing the road around the main plaza and we went into the church plus dogs which roamed everywhere.
Then we had a very nice warm aromatic drink with cinnamon which is just what we needed because we had been quite cold in the jeep. We continued upwards for about another 20 minutes to reach the highest place around this at 2900 Metres. We ordered our lunch and then set off on a walk and being taken far further than we thought it would be. After descending the steep steps, we then found ourselves entering a jungle, and this also was downhill and went on forever. Eventually, we emerged knowing that we had to climb up all the way again, a daunting task for Chris. Anyway, she eventually made it by 2 pm.
The soup was pleasing in the restaurant, but the trout plate was stone cold and unappetising. But there was a pleasant aromatic drink again. Then we left for the journey back. The Jeep spewing fumes out of the back all the time with its cracked windscreen, and now a new screech, once back in the hotel, I had a siesta for over an hour and then we went for a wander to see the metal pictures that David had been shown in the afternoon previously. These were very impressive. Back in the room we had our Tapas with our rum, read for while and then went for another short wander and befoe stopping in the hotel courtyard, sharing a cake and drinks.
Mon 4 Mar, Salamina to Medellin.
We enjoyed a really good, late breakfast just before nine and then went out for a wander round the town and up to the cemetery, before being picked up at 11 am: the same strange driver that had brought us from Popayan. He said it was a five hour journey, but we got to Medellin by 3 pm, but he did not offer us a stop at all: strange.
The scenery en route, especially for the first 90 minutes, was spectacular, and the road surface during that part was quite another thing. We then got on the Pan-American highway and drove along it for an hour or so before, strangely, leaving it: the Pan-American highway actually goes very near to Medellin.
Reception at the Patio Del Mundo Hotel was very poor and then we were shown to a room without a view. We asked if there was another one available and the bimbo came back and with no emotion or apology just stated no. So we said we would ring Neptuno the Colombian agency. She then decided that she had another room that was more expensive and who was going to pay the difference. It turned out that the difference was just €15 per night, on €168 per night room. Anyway, eventually she let us have it and it did indeed have a nice terrace and view , although the room itself was not nearly so spectacular and had no armchair. We sat on our terrace for a couple of hours and then went off down the road to the restaurant zone. We had a very nice meal with a good view over tropical vegetation back to the hotel, and we sat in the armchairs outside our room reading for a while .
Tues 5 Mar ,Medellin day tour
Very good, breakfast outside, but with little empathy from the server. We left for a four hour trip of the city at 9 am, guide being Oinda: He spoke well, too much, too many diversions, but in the end, we managed to come to terms with this. We drove to the city centre , where the park contained 24 statues sculpted by a famous son of the city, Botero. Then we entered the old City Hall where there were still offices and rooms available for the people of the city to attend classes et cetera. From here we got onto the Metro and then onto the cable car took us over the barrios. Right up an over a hill to the other side of the valley, and back to the starting point. Our driver Rodrigo picked us up and we drove to the once so troubled barrio where there had been so many killings up until 1993, when the drug Baron ,Escobar, had been killed.
In the last eight years, this area has been transformed and is now tourist friendly. But still very poor. We saw the" famous" outdoor escalators, had a super Maracuya ice and watched a very energetic acrobatic show by about a dozen young men, quite extraordinary what positions they could reach, but also very noisy. We were back at the hotel by 1 pm and enjoyed eating the cold fettuccine that I had failed to eat the previous night.
Around 3.30, we went for a walk down to the restaurant area, and on the way back stopped for a mango shake and half an almond croissant. Then we read till about six when we went out to the lounge and had a mango tea. Later on we had another snack in our room with a rum and Coke
Wed 6 Mar Day trip to the San Ellena flower village
Another good breakfast and we set off at 9 am to San Ellena, a town about an hours drive from the city. San Ellena's claim to fame was flowers. Each year in August, there is a flower festival in the city and the people from San Ellena, descendants of Basque settlers, compete in five categories to be the champions of their craft,
We were welcomed by Don Ignacio in his impressive costume. He was multilingual and gave us a very good description of his world. In a mixture of easily understood Spanish and English. He took great pride in his profession, being of the sixth generation to practice it. The plants and flowers were truly wondrous and it was quite fascinating how they were made into large and heavy arrangements. These were carried on their backs like the elderly and infirm used to be carried over the Andes in Sedan chairs.
A French couple arrived and here Ignacio was not quite so professional in trying to do two tours at once in French and English and Spanish
Back at the hotel we read for awhile and then went exploring, stopping off again on the way back for a mango juice and cake. I then washed my hair and had a siesta before having tapas and going out for a meal at 7:30. We had sushi in the Panka restaurant. , An interesting experience with exceptional presentation. We then had a coffee back in the hotel before retiring.
Thurs 7 Mar Medellin to Quito, via Bogota
We had breakfast prompt at 7.15, although The hotel were not quite so prompt, and left at 8:15. We were at the airport by 9 and security line 9.30, again struggling with the self checking machines. An Avianca flight to Bogota and we were in Bogotá Soon after noon.
We had some Colombian pesos left over. So we had a lunch of club sandwia ch and maracuya juice. The flight to Quito left at 3 and took two hours. David had problems with his Irish passport as the Ecuadorians wanted the same nationality passport as he had used when we had visited some years ago: we had driven through the country in 2015 and also ended a Silversea cruise in Guayaquil in 2018 .
We got an Uber to the Marriott hotel where the check-in was fairly good, but then we had to tackle the SilverSea desk where we were handed forms to fill-in, and we were informed that we only had breakfast for the two days here and the only tour they were offering on Friday was not until 5 pm not what we had expected. Also all our luggage had to be outside our room by 9:30 pm on Friday night in order to be inspected for biosecurity to enter the Galapagos. Anyway having filled in all these forms, we had a supper of sushi and went downstairs and had a cocktail. And the coffee machine in the room was broken but we had a pleasant soak in a large bath.
Fri 8 Mar. Quito
I had a swim in the large outside pool about 8 am, the water was warm but the outside temperature was cold. We then had an excellent breakfast.
We got an Uber into the old town later on and spent 2 to 3 hours there. There were a lot of police barriers preventing us from going down many streets. Eventually, we stopped at a very pleasant café and had a drink. Getting an Internet connection to obtain an Uber back to the hotel took a little time. David bought a hat a a specialist hat shop, where the boys also bought themselves hats
Once back we read for a while and then I had another swim before we joined the Silver Sea tour at 5 pm again in the old town. There was a lot of traffic due to it being international women’s day and a demo of some sort. The participants were causing chaos. We stopped outside the cathedral and I bought a pretend cashmere shawl. But we were not allowed inside the cathedral.
We then drove through more traffic to a boutique hotel where we had a talk about chocolate with tastings of various grades. From here we walked to the Plaza Mayor which had been barricaded off, but we were allowed to walk through it. We did not enter the church there, but we did go into a precinct which was very spectacular. This had been the Archbishop's Palace once.
Back at the hotel at 7:30 we had a snack in the room and then went down for a Pisco sour: even here they seemed to be under pressure due to the international women’s day, and our drinks got lost en route.
Then we put the suitcases outside the door by 930 for them to be inspected for biosecurity for the Galapagos.
Sat 9 Mar. Quito to San Christobal, Galapagos.
A long day with an early breakfast and then a coach to the airport at 8:30. The scheduled flight was delayed by half an hour and we eventually took off at noon, stopping at Guayaquil, and arriving at San Christophe around 3 pm, the time here being one hour back from Quito. There was a long queue at immigration, and it was very hot in the terminal, but once through, we got on a coach to the port and then on a zodiac to the ship. But even here we were queued. In order to have our photo taken.
Cabin 618 was very luxurious and the Butler Danny and his assistant. Ivan were insistent on telling us all about it even though we had little time before the safety drill and we had to fit in a pleasant lunch before this. Then the the expedition leader, Paulina gave us her introduction, all a bit of a rush. Then another short time to finish the unpacking before Paulina‘s 7 pm presentation on the morrow and a zodiac safety talk. We sailed past Kicker Rock, most impressive with the sunWe thens dying rays on it. had dinner in Hot Rocks, a pleasant space, before wandering round the ship for a bit, including the stargazing deck and then to a welcome bed.
Sun 10 Ma Santiago Island with visits to offshore and to Bucaneer's Bay, Bartolomé Island.
A very pleasant breakfast. We were at Bartolomé Island. We went ashore here with Paul McFarlane as our guide: he was excellent. We proceeded ashore along a boardwalk, which was a mixture of inclines and steps, stopping fairly regularly to learn about how the rocks had formed.
At the top, there was a magnificent view. We received explanations of the different sorts of volcanic activities and different weights of lava. There was an impressive Caldera and a magnificent pinnacle structure
We went into lunch soon after 12 o’clock. David saw a fantastic pod of dolphins,but the camera was in the cabin. Lunch was very civilised in the main dining room.
Afterwards I had a siesta and we went out again for a zodiac ride again with Paul. This was Buccaneers Bay and there were many interesting structures like the Bishop which have been formed due to volcanic activity.
We had a lecture on Volcanology by Javi and then Paulina introduced all the lecturers, and the captain introduced other key members of the crew. We had dinner with Paul and had very interesting conversations learning about his 30 years on and off in Galapagos. It was, in fact, his first venture into guiding with SilverSea.
Mon 11 Mar.Isabella Island .
We went for a zodiac ride along the coast at the top of Isabella Island, this area being the head of the seahorse shaped island. Another early hour of the morning 7.30. We had a terrible guide, maybe called Javi, Who directed all his talk to one woman, and kept the boat in the same direction all the time, so that we had to look over our shoulders to see the coastline, resulting in neck cramps. Apparently there were sea lions, flightless cormorants, the odd turtle, and some funny fish called sunfish which I never saw. This torture lasted for about an hour and then there was nothing to do until lunch at noon.
David went to a camera talk after lunch, but soon came back as the photographer was only talking about iPhones and nothing else. At 3:40 we went on a two hour walk across on Isabella, across the lava of Fernandina. This was quite challenging as there were large cracks to jump across. The main attraction here was the charcoal grey marine iguanas , barely detectable on the charcoal grey lava. We also saw red crabs. The guide Diego was marginally better than the terrible Javi of the morning trip.
Once back. We showered and enjoyed Tapas in our room before the 6,45 lecture on ocean currents. This was followed by Paulina's talk on the day to come. We went straight into dinner so that we were free by 9 pm to look at the exploding volcano further down Isabella, I found this quite difficult to detect and the binoculars did not help. We then went up to deck eight and Diego gave a talk on the brilliant night sky, Which hardly did justice to the beautiful stars.
Tues 12 Mar Isabella island. Tagus Cove
An early breakfast again and then off to Tagus Cove for an demanding walk up to see Darwin’s lake. Our guide was Diego who had no idea who was at the end of his group, but we still enjoyed the scenery and seeing a few birds, probably finches.
Once back we whiled the morning away until 12.30, when we went up to the bridge for a presentation there by the captain to about eight of us, then into lunch . Afterwards I had a Jacuzzi, but it started to rain as I lay down on the Sunlounger.
At 3 o’clock, we went out on a zodiac ride through the mangroves with Javier. This was most enjoyable, tranquil, and we saw penguins, sea, lions, rays and pelicans. We started off in really heavy rain, but that soon ended.
Once back aboard there was a cocktail party on deck seven at 5:30 with very good nibbles. Before this we had already had the customary tapas that the Butler delivered to us each day in the cabin.
We went straight to the lecture which was on Darwin and not too good and then Paulina gave a run down of the programme for the following day during the morning, Paulina had chatted to us about our problems with the paucity of things to do and the quality of the guides. So it was that during dinner she came and offered us a special extra zodiac ride for the following day.
Wed 13 Mar Floriana Island
Floreana. We went ashore at 8 am at Post Office Bay in Floreana. Here there has been a barrel postbox since 1783 the travellers took out letters or postcards. from previous travellers to deliver once they got back to civilisation. Silver Sea punters were invited to write their postcards and post them here: we declined to do this. We walked a little bit further inland to see the remnants of a canning factory for fish. Then we returned to the beach and had a good walk in both directions before I went for a swim at the far end where there were fewer breakers.I had acquired a flotation jacket from the ship and had a pleasant float once David had got me into the sea.
Then at 9:30 a zodiac manned by Javier and our Butler, Danny, picked us up for a special zodiac cruise which Paulina had offered us the day before due to our comments. This was extremely nice and we landed on a beach in Floreana and walked up to a viewing platform from which there was a wonderful view. Once back on the zodiac, Danny produced a bottle of Prosecco and we got back to the ship in time for the 11 am Galapagos plunge. To my surprise David volunteered for this and was the first one in.
Then back to the cabin for about an hour before lunch here we were a bit rushed, as we were again in the evening. After lunch I had a snooze and at 4 pm we went out again on a zodiac to Floreana and had a nature walk. This was with a different Javier, who was not a wondrous guide. We saw the odd yellow bird plus flamingos and walked across to another beach. Back at the ship, there were tapas in our cabin and we had a glass of Prosecco with these. The lecture was on humans in the Galapagos and sent me to sleep. Then Paulina described the following day before dinner. After dinner, we had. An espresso martini in the lounge as the only occupants of it. We then wandered up to deck 8 to see the full span of the Milky Way and Orion before retiring to bed.
Thurs 14 Mar Santa Cruz.
We disembarked here at 8 am and went in a small coach to Montemar, a coffee plantation 15 minutes outside the town which was on a giant tortoise migration route. But the tortoise were migrating at this moment and we saw a measly six specimens, three of them in a grubby lake: So we were not much impressed after the abundance of even larger tortoises in Aldabra. After a guided walk with our guide, Javier, we had a coffee tasting, which also included some chocolate. It poured with rain during this, but then stopped when we walked back to the coach. By the time we were back in town, the heavens opened again, and we arrived back on the ship thoroughly drenched.
After lunch, we went out again about 3 pm, and drove for a short, five minutes to the baby tortoise propagation centre. This was a bit like a zoo, but was actually slightly more interesting than the morning trip. Our guide on this trip was Kalena and I had to listen very hard to understand her. We saw large hybrid males as well as the babies. Also Lonesome George, who had been brought as the last surviving tortoise from another island in 1972 and lived until the 2000s..
From here, we walked back into town and had an expensive ice cream before a very pleasant sunset zodiac trip back to the ship.
We enjoyed the usual tapas with a glass of prosecco. We decided to skip the lecture as I always fell asleep during this and just went down to the Explorer lounge to hear what Paulina had to say about the following day. After this, there was a Venetian society talk on the deck outside the lounge, and for once the iconic firepit was lit. We were ahead girl and boy with our 505 days of cruising. This was followed by dinner with the captain and to our surprise we were his only guests. We thoroughly enjoyed this and he was really eager to hear of any way in which he could improve his ship. After dinner we went onto the back deck and enjoyed sitting around the fire, sipping liqueurs.
Fri 15 Mar Santa Cruz.
We disembarked at 7: landed at Cerro Dragon for an adventurous walk. This turned out to be very very muddy and our shoes became heavy and completely clogged with the sticky mud and almost came off. Fortunately we had sticks and these enabled us to traverse the difficult ground.
Ther were only seven of us in the group led by Paul, who , helped me quite a bit over the rocks after landing. . Having emerged from the mud onto a circular path we then saw several large yellowy land iguanas who seemed mainly to use the paths. At one stage we came across two males who were gearing up for a fight over territory, but we did not have time to await the outcome . We had our own zodiac back to the ship with Paul and the doctor as we were considerably behind the other five.
We went for a lecture on feathers at 11 which was not very interesting. Then lunch and some packing. At 2:30 pm Paulina told us all what was going to happen on our departure day
Later we went ashore at a delightful white coral beach, We walked all the way along this and then I had a float with a flotation jacket on.
Back of board by 4.30. I did a little more packing and we tried to dry off the wet shoes and various other items that we had to wash after the morning walk . At 7 o’clock we went down to see the voyage video which, as usual, was not over impressive. The crew's farewell was painful as Americans were whistling at them. A very pleasant last dinner, and then we sat outside by the unlit fire and had a brandy. David got chatting to a Canadian whilst I went up to the room.
Sat 16 Mar & Sun 17 Mar San Christobal to Quito to Madrid, and, many hours later, to Alicante
Homeward bound. Out of the room by 7 am and then into breakfast before sitting on the back deck until 8:30 am when we were taken off by zodiac to the main town of Sam Christabel. There were 70 of us and we went to a café on the waterfront, alongside hundreds of seals, We stayed here until 11:30 am, talking to Paul and going for a walk round the town, before a bus to the airport. Once at the airport we were in a queue to check in our bags. We had window seats on the plane which stopped again at Guayaquil . At Quito we had a bad experience as Iberia had shut their check in a full 75 minutes before the flight and had all abandoned the check in facility. The result was that we had to take our baggage as hand luggage and our bottle of Amaretto was confiscated. The Iberia flight at 7 pm was as bland as most Iberia flights, but the food was at least just edible.
During the night I watched a very British scandal and Oppenheimer. Once at Madrid, we found that we could only buy entrance to a lounge for 85 euros, so we declined it. We had 8 hours to kill because of some unknown work going on somewhere. All earlier flights to Alicante were cancelled, and the alternative was to take the train. Result of it was was that we got back to Moraira finally at 22.15, ready to fight jet lag. St PAtrick's day had gone before we even knew it had arrived
But, hey, a superb holiday