Otavalo is one of those tourist destinations that every backpacker coming through Ecuador usually makes a trip to. It lies just a few hours north of Quito and is easily visited as a day trip. It is famous for its market, which on a Saturday in full swing is considered one of the largest in South America. People who come to Quito usually do a trip to Otavalo within their first few days. I had now been living in Ecuador for 1 year and 4 months and still had not yet made it to Otavalo. I was about to change that.
So one Saturday, with Jefferson, Sarah and a whole host of other friends - we all jumped in the mini-bus run by the La Guayunga Hostal and headed north. First we stopped at a few places along the way - one of which was the equator. I had been to the equator before in Ecuador - to the place where most tourists venture to - but this place was different. Being a line - the equator gives a lot of opportunities for people to set up a sign and make money. This part of the equator (confirmed by GPS) was for scientific experiments though. We were given a demonstration of all things equatory, told about the work that they do here and was even persuaded (well kind of persuaded) to take their view that the world map should be tilted on its side (90 degrees) so that it follows the sun. What they are basically saying is that Greenwich is not in fact the centre of the planet and England is therefore not the motherland - which I don´t buy for a second. We all know it is!!! We then later headed to some viewpoints - mainly of stunning lakes and even an odd volcano or two, before we finally made it to Otavalo.
Otavalo really is a huge market. There are several different types of stalls. One selling all food items like herbs and spices, fruits and breads and even meats. Then there are the clothes stalls offering traditional garments of different varieties and which are mostly made of Alpaca (the wool from a special breed of small llama). There are then stalls selling art and jewellery, hammocks and sunglasses, rugs and souvenirs. Then all you have to do is multiply each of those types of stalls by 50 and you have Otavalo Market. There wasn´t anything I really wanted but it was nice to walk around in the sun chatting and looking. I am a bit of a pro when it comes to haggling for goods too (as you have to do in Otavalo), which stems from my days travelling in Asia. I was therefore suprised whan they wouldn´t sell Jefferson a hammock for US$12 and a kiss (from Jefferson of course). Oh, my bargaining techniques just arn´t what they used to be. Perhaps more worryingly was when we asked how much for the sellers baby and she said US$2000. I assumed it was a joke.
After some wondering for a few hours, we stopped to rest and have lunch in a great (organic) restaurant. It was one of our friends (Kimberley´s) birthday, so we got her a small cake and a candle to blow out too. We didn´t have time to check out the animal market (which would have been interesting), but we did later take a short drive through the town of Otavalo and out again to see some waterfalls. It was about a 20 minute walk and the waterfall was pretty impressive. There was even a small cave to explore.
After a full day out we took the ride back to Quito. I was glad I got a chance to finally see Otavalo and one of the largest markets in all of South America..............I guess next time I should actually buy something!!!
Sunday, 10 April 2011
Otavalo
Thursday, 7 April 2011
Sick!!!
So it took me one year and three months to become properly ill in South America. I guess thats not bad going. I mean of course I have had a dodgy stomach from time to time - everyone does. This is Ecuador - where once a year every local gets tested for parasites. Living among both travelers and Ecuadorians alike, I have seen it all here; backpackers having food poisoning and stomach infections, weird plants that can somehow, if touched, allow a fungus to grow inside your skin; altitude sickness; and a whole host of other horrible things. The Amazon Jungle especially is a place where you can catch the weirdest of nasty, body-infesting bugs. That place is so full of life (and transferrable life) that you cant even take a wee in an Amazonian river. You have to be careful in this part of the world.
Normally I wouldn´t soley devote a blog about becoming ill - but it did take up three weeks of my life and will affect it for many more months afterwards. The thing is I didn´t really have any symptoms. Yes I had a dodgy stomach, which I believed started in the Galapagos - but everyone gets a dodgy stomach there - its the place to get ill. I assumed it would eventually go as it usually does - but this time I was wrong. After two months - I went to see a doctor. I can´t exactly tell you what I had - my doctor wrote the names of all my problems on a piece of paper, but doctors are renouned for having indiscernable hand-writing and this was also in Spanish - I mean what chance did I have!!! The main problem was spelled out to me as a liver infection - and I don´t even drink that much - I promise!!!
I think I got my liver infection from dodgy food or from the water as my doctor later told me part of it was caused by the Hepatitis virus - Im not sure exactly which one but I think it was A. Whichever it was it had caused all sorts of havoc in my body. As a result I was instantly put on a course of hard-core medication. I will very briefly bulletpoint everything that I went through over the space of a three week period;
1. Injections (x3) - into my arse!!!
2. Pills (x93) of five different varieties - some where the size of a small rodent!!!
3. IVF drips (x24) of three different varieties. Possible medical reason for IVF treatment - to make my urine glow in the dark. Probable other medical reason - not specified!!!
4. Liquid medicine (x1) - Tasted like Calpol - so nearly overdosed!!!
5. Electrolyte drinks (x3) - coconut flavour.
6. Unable to eat anything (x50 hours). Early Yom Kippur........complete!!!
7. Blood / urine tests (x2) - taken by abnormally small Ecuadorian doctor. Note to others: he may be a child - no way to tell!!!
8. Money (x US$750) - its lucky I couldn´t eat or drink much during this time - I couldn´t afford to!!!
After basically all that - which could easily be thought of as more medical procedures and medication than would be needed for open heart surgery, I proved to be a perfectly healthy individual in the end - at least I think I did!!! There was some repercussions though. I am now not allowed to eat fatty foods (eggs, pork, chips, chocolate) for the next 3 months and booze of all varieties is also out for 2 months too. How im going to survive without these basic food groups is beyond me. Drinking is the only way to get through an Ecuadorian day. If it wasn´t a liver infection I would have asked for another IVF drip of pure vodka to be administered into my other arm!!! Actually, Im not a big drinker and despite my physical craving for chips and chocolate - I should be able to get through the next few months unscathed. Im glad my body is now healed. I think the problems started from eating something dodgy but I can´t be sure. Still you have to be careful what you eat out here - you don´t want to end up getting something nasty. Hmmm, Im hungry - I think I´ll have fried Guinea Pig tonight.........................
Cuenca, Loja, Malacatos & Vilcabamba - All For Carnival
I had decided some time ago that I wanted to head down to the southern stretches of Ecuador when I next had the opportunity. Luckily this country is full of excuses for some time-off so I was naturally very happy when Carnival came along!!! The south of Ecuador is some distance away from Quito, especially if you take any form of transport that is not either an aeroplane or a NASA licensed space-rocket. Carnival would give me four days off work and so it seemed like a perfect time to check out parts of the country that had yet to be explored by my curiosity. This was possibly (although at the time unknown) the last chance I would get to head to this part of Ecuador too - as its some distance away.
The bus from Quito to Loja reminded me of my days of backpacking, as hours of time slipped away upon the ever rolling wheels of our vehicle. It took myself and Diana (along with some members of her family) 13 hours to reach Loja from Quito. We achieved this feat over night so luckily the gift of sleep made our journey feel that much shorter.
The first thing we did, after some family hello´s (Diana has family in Loja) and after some planning of the next few days - was to look around this new and unexplored town - well, at least unexplored to me. All of the places we were visiting were still located along Ecuador's central stretch know as the Sierra (mountain region), which forms the Andes. Thus, where-ever your eyes drift, they don't have to wander too far before being transfixed onto the high peaks which continually surround you. Loja is a relatively small mountain town, known in Ecuador for being very clean and well run. It had the first local council to introduce recycling and by walking around - it does appear to have an air of cleanliness to it.
There isn´t a load of touristy things to do in Loja but it is nice just to be there. We walked around, observing the churches and plazas that fill this area. We also headed out to a very cool little park. Inside were small versions of world famous buildings from around the world. It was like walking across the planet in an hour or two. They also had people sized chess boards and other oddities of that nature. Normally I would say that you could walk inside that park and forget which country you were still in, that is until I noticed some strange penned-in areas housing ostriches and later I spotted a small goat tied to a random tree - such absurdity can only be found in Ecuador!!!
Later that day, after lunch with 40 of Diana's family members (and thats just her fathers side), we headed off about 30 minutes further south to a small town called Malacatos. Diana's cousin (mothers side) owns a sort of holiday home there. Surrounded by nothing but mountains and vegetation, this tranquil spot is the perfect location to get away and do nothing. The place was like a huge farm house although there were only a few chickens around the place and the odd mischievious dog. We set up the music, got the food on and the liquor out and started the Carnival celebrations. We also played Ecua-Volley - which is basically volley ball with an extra high net. I used my abnormal height advantage to my streghth!!??!!??!!
The following day started with a huge water fight. Nobody was spared. Behind the house is what looks like a large fountain but actually can be converted into a hot-tub. This provided the fuel for the water fighting mayhem. By the end of it all everyone was soaked as keeping with tradition for an Ecuadorian Carnival.
Later that day we took the hour trip further south to a place called Vilcabamba. Its odd - Vilcabamba is like many of the other small towns in this part of the world. It has stunning mountain scenery, a fresh, clean air about it and is quiet enough to go about doing nothing and not be noticed by anyone. The difference with Vilcabamba is sometime ago a tourist popped through here, loved all the out-door naturey things and then told a load of other tourists about it. Why Vilcabamba became the town to visit for backpackers im not quite sure. It does have perfect weather for hiking and horseback riding and other things of that nature, yet a lot of places in this part of the country do. Still it is an amazing place with a laid back vibe - and we had come here because Diana´s family (fathers side) were celebrating a birthday. It was Diana´s aunts 50th and she owned an amazing holiday home in this tranquil part of the country. It was located quite close to the main town centre (if you can call it that), but was positioned up high, perched on the side of a large hill - with a stunning view from all angles. There was perhaps 50 or more people at this party, with food and drink, games and dancing - you name it, it was all happening. I got to meet a lot of the family - but mostly spent my time talking to the youngsters. Diana has about 4 cousins of similar age to us (mid 20´s) and they were all really great guys. They actually all live in Quito and one of them even studies at the Politecnica University where I work. We all arranged to meet up in Quito for a night out.
The party was in full swing for quite some hours. It was a fantastic event in a great location. After the party (or at least towards the end of it) Diana and I had to leave. We took a series of buses to our final destination - Cuenca. It was a bit of a mission - we first had to take a bus from Vilcabamba to Loja and then a night-bus on to Cuenca. We ended up arriving at some ridiculous hour in the morning but had booked a nice hotel to treat ourselves after spending so many nights on a moving vehicle. When we woke up - we finally got the chance to see Cuenca.
Cuenca is quite unique in Ecuador I would say. Its a relatively large town but is famous for its cobblestone streets and colonial buildings - some of which are on grand scales. Cuenca´s historic centre is now a Unesco World Heritage SIte and it´s easy to understand why. Huge Cathedrals, soaring steeples and an old-world feeling about the place makes Cuenca an interesting and beautiful city for just walking through!!! There are so many churches and plazas of all shapes and sizes its difficult to get around them all. However, Cuenca is generally not a place too many Ecuadorians come for Carnival, in fact, many of them left for the coast. The town centre was therefore a bit of a ghost-town. We pretty much had the streets to ourselves - apart from the odd local who would randomly throw a water-bomb at us when we were least expecting it. That is the tradition here in this country for Carnival so you just have to accept that you are going to get wet and get involved yourself. Actually it was a lovely hot and sunny day so no-one complained about a bit of water.
We walked the plazas and saw the grand churches. We ate in cool, continental restaurants and we walked along the river - Rio Tomebamba. We even headed to a large park where most of the town had congregated for a big concert and party. At night we found another even larger fiesta, with food, alcohol and music. Suddenly all the Cuencan´s popped out from no-where and created a great event. The water fight didn´t stop and now foam was also added in to the chaos. It was a lot of fun though.
Later that night we took the 9 hour bus back to Quito, arriving in the capital early in the morning. It was a great trip, despite all the traveling and bus rides. In three days I got to see four amazing locations and experience some great things, both with just me and Diana or with her whole family. Unfortunately is was back to work - but with only a three day week - I counted down the days to the weekend..............and for more Ecuadorian fun!!!
Q.U.I.T.O
Quito life often rolls on with some form of order for me, but which is then generally interspersed by episodes of utter madness. I don't know if its the half Ecuadorian citizen, half backpacker life I lead, the occupation I have chosen for myself or if it's just me, but there is always something utterly ridiculous about to happen in my day to day events. The last was my Galapagos adventure, where among the beautiful Islands, the stunning wildlife and the sunset sailing - I also walked 12 hour days over dangerous lava, was almost killed on a horse, and was forced to weave in and out of poisonous plants. One guy in our group was helicopter rescued off one of the volcanoes!!! Normality is not a word that pops up too much around me these days!!!
Despite all the chaos though I try to keep things as "normal" as possible. At work I am in charge of a new intern - Anna-Marie from England. She did the same masters course I did at UCL and was put in touch with the institute here in Ecuador by my old professor. We have been working on some new research, related to calculating the amount of energy that is given off every time the Tungurahua Volcano explodes - and it is all going pretty well.
I have done a few touristy things too of course............a while back I went to the Guayasamin Museum. Guayasamin is undoubtedly Ecuador´s most famous artist. His work is pretty unique even if you are not the biggest fan of art. One of the museums, the one I and two friends ended up in, is located in and around his house. The man is not alive anymore but the house he left is pretty cool. You could certainly tell that an artist designed it at least. His house is located up in one of the mountainous slopes that mark the eastern edge of Quito, and next to it is a large exhibition devoted to his work. His most powerful art, at least in most critics opinion, is the work he does on peoples faces and hands - much of which is harrowing but equally, oddly absorbing!!!
In other news, I have started playing football again too - with my team of Ecuadorian buddies. I also did another presentation, this time in front of my work colleages - which went well and triggered a series of conversations about how far the work I have been doing can really go........it seems like it can go far. A friend returned to my life too. About a year ago I became very good buddies with a volunteer at the Secret Garden Hostal - Sarah, from the States. She ended up going out with Jefferson, my Ecuadorian brother - as he is known. Eventually she had to leave, but has since recently returned. I can´t believe I have been in this country so long, so that not only do I make friends with people to see them leave but now its been long enough that I get to see them return!!! The thought worries me, but its good having Sarah back in the group!!! Brenna also returned back to Ecuador after finding a job as part of her university course - we are still good friends!!!
Before I settled back into the normal day to day rituals of Quito life however, suddenly another holiday popped up. It was Carnival and I decided not to hang around. There is so much of Ecuador that I still haven´t yet seen, and now was the perfect opportunity to check out some more. So off I headed with Diana.................south.
Friday, 18 February 2011
Saying Goodbye To The Galapagos
On the Thursday morning, just two days after Nate had spent some hours being rescued off the Sierra Negra Volcano, eventually by helicopter, we took the fast boat back to Santa Cruz Island. Before we left, everyones bags are checked for more bugs and seeds and the like. The boat ride back across only takes two hours but its pretty bumpy. When we returned to Santa Cruz, we spent one more night in the Charles Darwin Foundation. We still had to do the inventory of all our equipment, as most of our gear would end up staying on the island. It didn't take long. The rest of the time we spent checking out Puerto Ayora again. Looking in from time to time on Lonesome George. Mostly we just rested and ate.
The following day we packed up all our stuff and left Santa Cruz for the journey back home. The bus back to the ferry. The short ride back across to Baltra Island and then a further bus to the airport. They once again checked all our bags, before we once again took off, for our ride back to mainland Ecuador. Two and a half hours later, I was back in my room in Quito. Nate and Marco stayed two nights in the capital. I showed them around town, before they eventually left for the United States. I don't know if I will ever see them two again.
I will always have such amazing memories of the Galapagos. I hope one day I will get to return there - although I doubt it will be paid for, or under the same circumstances. I will never look back upon that trip with despair, as I fear Marco and Nate certainly felt towards the end. I only have happy thoughts about that place. For sure, some of the work was tough, a lttle dangerous and agonisingly exhausting. Together, we had battled with rocky lava, mountains of ash, poisonous apples, slasher vegetation, a loopy horse and food poisoning. Being a volcanologist, is tough. If any of us had doubts about that before, none of us did by the end. Yet for me, it was an incredible experience. Not just for the volcanoes and the work that we were doing out there but for everything. The scenery, the wildlife, the people we met. On one of our first nights, we had had dinner with a scientist called Godfrey Merlon. He's an Englishman, with a strong, fairly posh accent and who had been living on the Galapagos for many years. He had written many a book on this part of the world. It was fascinating listening to this guy talk about the work he was doing. He had been partly responsible for making sure planes sprayed insect repellent before they landed on the islands. He was now working to change the lights on boats to a specific type, as apparently certain boat lights attract insects which get transferred from one island to another and ruin the ecosystem. Just put into google the words Galapagos and Godfrey and his name will pop up.
I remember the first time I saw the giant land tortoises, and Lonesome George, or when I snorkelled with playful seals. The time our boat crew stuggled to bring in the giant Tuna fish they were trying to reel. The food the chef cooked on that boat. The scenery and the wildlife. The time I listened to my Ipod (stairway to heaven by Led Zepplin) while sitting up on the deck of the sailing vessel watching the sun set and thinking life doesn't get too much better. I remember that horse ride. The Sierra Negra Volcano and all the sweating and bleeding for our work. The heat and the flies. The penguins and the turtles. The pain and despair, the joy and enchantment. The Galapagos - I remember thinking that it was all worth it in the end. I remember it all.
Charles Darwin came to these islands for just 5 weeks and left with the theory of evolution. Not bad, I'll give him that!!! I had been here for approximately two fifths of that time and so I thought I should come up with something at least two fifths as great as that, lets be honest - simple theory. And so my scientific, yet equally philosophical discovery is just this...................................
"If there really is a heaven in this world or beyond - I now know where the stairway begins".
The Helicopter Rescue
Cynthia had to be back in the United States to start teaching again, so she left the three of us out there on Island Isabela with one station left to service and a weather station to instal. It was our final day of work but due to some stupid behaviour on all our parts and some unfortunate incidents, it turned out to be a disaster. The fact that for this final day there were only three of us, was the first unfortunate incident. We left early morning and took the two hour walk along the well guided trail. The trail leads to a viewpoint along the caldera rim, but round the other side of the crater to where we had normally been. Eventually you come to a point where the trail ends and a sign emerges, explaining the geological details of the sulphur emissions that can be seen from this location, situated within the middle of the caldera, but at the back end. From here, it was a short walk off trail, through some vegetation to reach the station. While the three of us sat there servicing the machine, time was pressing. Something on the station was playing up and it was taking longer than we had expected. Nate suggested that Marco and I leave him there to finish the servicing, while we go and instal the weather station. None of us knew where the weather station was located but we had been told that it was close to where we were now. This is where the problems started. Nate thought we were going to meet back at the sign, while we had interpreted the conversation as we would all meet on the trail near the weather station as it was on the way back to the rangers hut. Off Marco and I went, but because there were only three of us that day we would be breaking the number one rule of the Galapagos National Park - Never leave anyone alone.....................
Marco and I walked thirty minutes back the way we had come and eventually found the weather station. We installed it with great ease. However, when we had finished there was no sign of Nate and he should have been there. We had no cell reception at this point so we couldn't reach him, but we had left him with a cell phone, a GPS and the satellite phone - so he could call anyone if he was in trouble. After waiting for him, but with no sign of his whereabouts, we decided he had simply not spotted us off track and had walked on past. So Marco and I left, heading back to the rangers station. Once we had cell reception we called him but there was no answer. We got back to the station two hours later. We called again. Finally he answered. During the time we were walking back, Nate had finished the station, gone to the sign and waited for us. There he had fallen asleep for an hour, before waking up feeling very ill. He walked an hour before collapsing. He was sick - it was definately food poisoning. We summoned the park rangers to go and help him. Five of them ended up taking the trail one hour to his location, where Nate had become dehydrated and couldn't keep any water down. He was also drifting in and out of consciousness. Marco and I waited at the station for hours while they decided what to do. Even with five rangers, they couldn't get him off the volcano - so it was decided that the helicopter should be called in.
Marco and I headed back to Puerto Villamil via taxi. Nate was helicopter rescued. We saw the chopper go over head as we drove back. Apparently the helicopter looped the volcano twice before returning to town - just so the park rangers could get a good view of the volcano up there. The chopper is rarely on this island. Apparently it just happened to be there that day - so Nate was pretty lucky in that respect. We met Nate at the local hospital where he was put on a drip and after an hour or so made a full recovery. Marco and I had to buy the medicine and injection needles from the local pharmacy. The hospital doesn't have these!!! They made us buy two of each and of course only used one of each item on Nate - the others were for their own supplies. I guess their thinking is that if tourists come - then why not make them buy some extra equipment while they are there. The doctor later told us that this was the most serious incident on the island to happen for quite some time - two hours later the whole town had heard about it!!!
In the end everything turned out just fine. We even got all the stations finished. If Marco and I had been there with Nate, in hindsight - there probably wasn't anything we could have done too diferently anyway - not if five rangers couldn't get him off the mountain. It didn't really matter though - we still broke rule number one - and we were severly cautioned about it later by Robbie - head of safety at the Charles Darwin Foundation. The following day, we all rested in Puerto Villamil as all our jobs had been completed. For Nate, I think the incident was a message from god that it was time to leave. Two days later , he got his wish..............................
The Caldera Run
We all knew this was going to be the toughest day. It would be the longest, the most dangerous and the most physically exhausting. The station was located in the very centre of the active caldera of Sierra Negra. This is no trivial crater - its about 10 km in diameter and inside its centre is filled with variously aged and variously dangerous lava flows. At 6.30am, we had already left the rangers station at the national park and began our walk. The first hour and a half was the usual trail we had always taken. It was then a further 30 minutes along the rim of the caldera. When you first see this huge crater - you are kind of taken aback. It is absolutely massive. We found the part of the crater rim where it was safest to take the steep walk down into the caldera. It's at this point where things get tricky. Inside this caldera is basically a sea of lava. Some of the lava is from relatively old eruptions, some - from the most recent extrusion in 2005. There are two types of lava - the first is called pahoehoe. Taken from the Hawaiian name - ropy. This lava bulges out as it flows, forming tongues and toes of material. When it cools, it often has a smooth surface and is not too difficult to walk on. Pahoehoe was our friend. The other type of lava is called aa - taken from the Hawaiian name - hurt. Here, the lava brakes its surface as it moves, crumbling into razor sharp rocks and boulders that fill the floor - like a pile of loose rubble. Aa lava was not our friend. We tried to follow the flows of pahoehoe.
Inside the caldera, were huge mounds of lava - scaling up like mountains in a sea of black and gray. These mounds made it very difficult to see any sort of path, so we just followed our GPS towards the station. At one point, you come to an aa lava flow that is impossible to get around. I was told it takes most people an hour to get across it - and there is no other way. We each had a bicycle helmet on and strong gloves, because if you touch this lava with your hands, they will be sliced to pieces. Last time a volcanologist was in here he tripped in the aa lava and sliced open his head. He was then flown by emergency plane back to mainland Ecuador. Apart from the head injuries, the real risk was twisting or spraining an ankle. This was an easy thing to do with such rubbly material. And if you did do some damage preventing you from getting out - you were in trouble. We were now right in the heart of the caldera and there is no way that people would be able to carry you out from there. The only way out would be by helicopter, so we had our satellite phone on and ready at all times - unfortunately it was cloudy within the crater that day - so the chopper probably wouldn't of been able to land anyway!!!. It was unlikely, but if the volcano decided it was time to go off too - we would also all be in real trouble, as theres no way you could get out in time - we tried not to think about that.
From previous geology trips where I had walked over rubbly material - I had learnt that the faster you went (up to a point) the easier it was to get across. I applied this technique to the aa lava. Essentially you had to dance across it - and actually I didn't find it too bad. The others (Nate and Marco especially) took every step painstakingly slowly and really struggled. After a while I had learnt how to predict where to put my foot before I did and then by that point I was already calculating the next position. The other danger in this ocean of igneous material - are the lava tubes. Sometimes you will put your foot on a piece of what you think is solid lava, only for it to plunge a meter or more below ground. Sometimes, as lava flows, it cuts into the ground its travelling over. The top (exposed to air) cools and forms a crust. Later the lava in the middle drains away - leaving lava tubes or caves. Often the top crust layer is thin and you can easily put your foot (and whole body) right through it. This happened a few times. At other parts of the flow, you would have to leap over giant crevasses. Despite all this - I made it over in 40 minutes. My technique was the key to my speed - I named it - 'the caldera run'. The others soon followed.
When we reached the other side there were some unhappy faces. Marco questioned why four people had to do this whole days trek over wobbly lava, when the station only requires two people to service it. Nate also later claimed that walking for an hour over the aa lava was by far the most dangerous thing he had ever done in his life. I remember thinking to myself that if you want to be a volcanologist, you have to be prepared to walk through some rocky terrain. That's just how it is!!! I never said anything. It took another hour of walking over more lava to reach the station and we had finished servicing it by midday. It was then another 3 hours back to the crater rim - up the steep flank and then a further 2 hours back to the rangers station. On the way back we didn't use our GPS. There was a big tree with bright green leaves shimmering on the crater rim and we all kept that in sight and followed its line. We also spotted an easier way over the aa lava - we found some interspersed pahoehoe, which helped.
By the time we got back to the rangers station, it was 6pm and everyone was a mess. A few angry faces had flared up during our journey - I didn't get involved in any of the discussions. In all, it had been tough, dangerous and exhausting. I remember looking down at my boots and trousers and seeing them completely cut up, destroyed by the razor sharp aa lava. However, it was also a pretty interesting experience. The geology of the lava out there was a volcanologists dream. Amazing stuff. I wouldn't want to do it again any time soon - but I was glad it had been done, and successfully - with no injuries apart from the odd blister. For Nate and Marco however, it appeared to be the final straw. From that point on - there image of the Galapagos had been marred, and by the end neither of them wanted to come back to these islands..........ever!!! There are not too many people who come to the Galapagos who say that when they leave - although I guess not many of them went through what we did. Actually though, it wasn't the final straw, at least not for Nate anyway - that was still to come......................................
