Blog Detail
- Equatorial Explorer 2008
- Tour of Equatorial Explorer
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Day 1 - I awoke with a feeling of excitement today as I travelled to Sydney Intl. Airport with the other Tour Escorts. We had met the previous day for our final tour briefing and were all looking forward to this tour - it was certainly a favourite pick for the year among escorts, as it was for our passengers too!There was some confusion which we were able to overcome – the airport aren’t used to checking in private charter flights flying to all sorts of destinations!We arrived in Apia in the evening of the previous day (due to time zone changes)! A very strange feeling – finally my prayers for more hours in one day had been answered, not only had time stood still but it reversed, the perfect anti ageing remedy!
Day 2 - Whilst Samoa is a relatively close neighbour so many of us had never been there, so there was a buzz around the breakfast fale (open aired building) this morning.There was a choice of two tours – a half day and a full day tour. The majority of people opted for the full day tour, which included a lunchtime beach BBQ and time for a swim and relax on a stunning beach. The weather wasn’t overly hot but the water was a delightful temperature and at least half of us took the plunge prior to feasting on traditional Samoan cuisine. We saw much of the island and its fantastic, almost jungle like scenery.
Tonight was our Welcome Dinner, a truly wonderful selection of food and an abundance of seafood prepared by an excellent chef on secondment from Australia! The dinner was accompanied by an enthusiastic dance performance, Samoan style!Day 3 - An early morning departure to Easter Island – from one unique island to another, yet so very different from each other. A very enjoyable flight with some excellent food prepared by our chef extraordinaire, Leonardo. We became better acquainted with Leo and his antics and fastidious food preparation on this sector. An Italian by birth Leo has specialised in all sorts of cuisines and prides himself, very validly so, on providing the very best food he can aboard the aircraft, often dealing with some very limited resources on the ground. Leo explained to us that for this flight from Samoa to Easter Island he had to prepare all 96 meals in Aggie Grey’s hotel in Samoa, the airport simply couldn’t provide what we required! We arrived into Easter Island this evening and our group was split between four comfortable, but not elaborate, hotels.
Day 4 - A relaxing morning before we departed on our tour of this eerie island. This was my fourth visit to Easter Island and I found it no less unique, eerie and mysterious than the previous three times. It is a very strange place – so remote and isolated. We toured the volcano and the ancient village remains of Orango before driving to witness several sites of what we had all really come to see, the ancient Moai Statues – enormous statues carved from rock. They truly are inexplicable; although there are many explanations as to why they were built, how they were formed and why the original island inhabitants left the island. The tour group had been broken into smaller groups of between 10-16 for a more in depth experience and the number of existing but not disproven theories and stories about the Moai was shown when we became one large group again at lunch. When we all compared notes we realised that each group had been given slightly different explanations about the Moai!
Day 5 - On the road again! This time to Iquitos in Peru, on the Amazon River. Iquitos is a town of contrasts. Dirt roads and shacks contrast against the old colonial buildings in the down town area. We took a brief walking tour through Iquitos and I could not stop snapping photos – so many interesting buildings and real local characters! Then we boarded the Amazon Queen for a relaxing cruise down the Amazon River to the more remote area where Ceiba Tops Lodge is located. We disembarked the ship and made our way up the stairs towards the reception area. Thankfully we didn’t have to carry all of the luggage up – we had some sturdy local porters hoist several suitcases at a time up the steep stairway, an amazing show of strength! Ceiba Tops is a lovely jungle lodge, rooms are quite spaced out and branch off almost right into the jungle. The pool and waterslide even got some use!
Day 6 - Most people today joined both the morning and afternoon cruises from the lodge and a fantastic day was had by all. We visited both a traditional local Indian village and a larger Indian town, where we took a walk through its streets – tailed by several local children who thought we were quite a spectacle! Today was a real “refresher” in terms of the attitudes to life that the Amazonians have and also because it was a good chance to rest up and relax a little. A few pisco sours (local cocktail) were enjoyed in the bar before dinner. The cooks in this kitchen amazed me. Produce was obviously limited due to the isolation of the lodge and the skill of the chef to make a variety of meals from the one ingredient astounded me. The winner in my eyes though was the most delicious fresh mango served at lunch, dinner and breakfast – until we ate them dry!
Day 7 - We said goodbye to the river cruiser, Amazon Queen today and joined the extremely zippy speedboats for a quicker transfer to Iquitos and then to rejoin our “flying home”. Welcomed back on board by our friendly and hardworking crew we travelled towards Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands.
On arrival into Baltra we transferred straight to the wharf, only a five minute drive, and joined our Zodiac rubber boats to join our ship, the ‘Galapagos Legend’. We had chartered the entire vessel for our group and it was lovely to actually already know everyone aboard the ship – it certainly made for some lively dinners. The waiting staff said they had never heard such a loud group!
Not long after boarding the ship and having our fire drill we made our first shore expedition at Chinese Hat. Circling around the rocky outcrop nearby we saw penguins, and blue footed boobies and then witnessed a sea lion leap into the water. Probably the most significant animal we saw though was a giant manta ray, it was huge and swam right underneath our Zodiac!Days 8 & 9 - Two absolutely amazing days of exploring the unique habitats and meeting the wildlife of the Galapagos Islands. Unfortunately the weather did put a bit of a “dampener” on things and on one of our afternoon hikes we all got absolutely covered in mud! But it was all part of the experience! Never before have I seen animals (even domestic animals) so unafraid of people. We walked right by the birds who were nesting right on the path, and we only just managed to skirt around a mother with a chick only a few hours old! The blue-footed boobies are incredible – feet so, so blue! I am afraid I am not much of a “twitterer” so cannot elaborate with great clarity on all of the birdlife that we saw but it certainly was extensive. My favourite was the sea lion, beautiful creatures who have absolutely no concern that you are in their path, and if you are in the path they have decided to wallow down then you better move because I don’t think they care too much to manoeuvre around you! That is not to discount the experience of seeing the land and marine iguanas. Strange animals, so motionless and unmoving – just their eyes blinking to let you know they are not made from stone!
The expedition leaders that took us ashore for the twice daily shore excursions really made the Galapagos come alive for us. Their experience ensured we didn’t miss any anything we should have seen and their knowledge really added depth to what we were seeing.Day 10 - We landed ashore one more time in the Galapagos at North Seymour Island, with its extraordinary bird life and resident sea lions out to greet us. The sun came out for the first time too! The mating rituals of the Frigatebirds, with their huge red balloon chests puffed out were really something to behold. Cameras would not stop clicking on this island! After North Seymour Island we sailed the short distance back to Baltra and rejoined our luxury jet. Panama City was our destination and we arrived late this afternoon. My first impression (which subsequently changed) of Panama City was that it was a bland, high rise city. However our hotel was lovely, spacious rooms and super comfortable beds at the Marriott Panama.
Day 11 - This morning we all boarded the bus with much anticipation, as today was the day for transiting the Panama Canal. We had chartered the entire vessel to ensure that there was plenty of room for all of our clients exclusively and I am very glad we had our own ship. We pulled up with some other tourist day trip boats at locks and their ships were extremely crowded, whereas we had 3 different levels to move about and enjoy the scenery from. There is no doubt that the Panama Canal is an extraordinary engineering feat but what I found even more amazing were the number of ships along the Canal, a constant stream of cargo vessels transporting goods through the Americas. Our guide however informed us that lately there were fewer vessels transiting the canals due to increased canal taxes, although it was hard to imagine how more ships would have fit!
Day 12 - Today was the day that my view of Panama City changed. For the previous two days I had thought very little of Panama City and doubted I could ever find a reason to return. However this morning we went to Panama Vieja – the old city. Wow – it was incredible. A collection of stunning old colonial buildings in various states of disrepair and restoration. The potential here to restore the old buildings is immense, and I imagine very costly, however the tourism dollars it would bring in would justify a complete restoration of the old city downtown area. I have no doubt this will be done within the next decade and I feel privileged to have seen it as it is today, despite some serious dereliction. Now I have reason to return to Panama! We even saw remnants of where the newest James Bond film had been filming – the filming had only ceased the day prior and there were a number of building facades done up to look like a city in Andorra. This afternoon we flew to Guatemala City and immediately transferred to the old, highland capital of Antigua. Upon arrival we checked into our wonderful hotel, the Casa Santo Domingo, a hotel built on an old convent. It was one of the most beautiful and peaceful hotels I have ever stayed at. Whilst the rooms are comfortable and offer everything you could wish for, it is the public areas of this hotel’s complex that make it so extraordinary. At night, very few electric lights are used and the walkways are lit up with candles, beautiful!
Day 13 - Today was quite a long day, much of it due to roadworks on the road to Chichicastenango. However we did manage to shave some time off the road delays with our own police escort through the queue! Chichicastenango is an Indian village in the highlands that comes alive on Sundays with its market. The normally quiet village is transformed into a bustling, extremely crowded market that covers streets and blocks of land. You can purchase anything from local produce to tourist souvenirs, it is a hectic and wonderful experience! Lunch was a respite at the Hotel Santa Tomas on the rooftop terrace and we gathered our senses (and wallets) before we went back through the market and joined our bus home. There were a few weary heads nodding off on the bus back to Antigua! This evening the dine-around dinner option at the hotel was certainly the most popular option for dinner, with most people preferring to take an early night but those who dined at the local French restaurant were certainly very happy.
Day 14 - Today was one of my favourite days on the entire tour. From our hotel we began a walking tour through the charming town of Antigua. The headsets we use for guide’s commentary worked really well today as we traipsed single file down the narrow streets, and through the cathedrals and ancient buildings. Antigua is a truly charming and beautiful town and a wonderful place to walk around and explore its nooks and crannies.
Day 15 - A fairly short flight took us from Guatemala to Cuba, another world. Leading up to our Cuba visit there was much talk and rumours floating to our group from Australian friends and family. Whilst we were away Fidel Castro had ceded power to his brother Raoul. Would this change things? Would we notice? How would the Cubans respond? We felt it was a very interesting time to be going to Cuba! Interestingly enough, as tourists we did not notice any change and there was very little talk about the change of leadership from our guides or anyone else we came into contact with. Things seemed to be going about as usual.
Day 16 - A walking tour of Cuba’s old town is really the only way to see it as car access is not permitted within the streets of Havana Vieja. However weather was against us on this day and an unseasonably cold front brought in chilly weather and rain, which was very unfortunate for our morning walking tour. Of course we all trudged on though and the weather cleared up a little after lunch when we could wander around at leisure and enjoy a mojito or hot chocolate! Cuba is a truly unique place – old American cars travel the streets as taxis (although their motors have normally been replaced with a Russian import) and people literally dance in the streets to live music played from cafes.
Who knows what the future holds for Cuba with its new leadership and the change in leadership or government in the US later this year. I can only urge people to go now before it changes.Day 17 - Today’s highlight was definitely the visit to the cigar factory. A fascinating production where the entire cigar tobacco selection and rolling is done by hand, not by machine. Some people thought it resembled a sweatshop, and perhaps it did, but I found the workers looking fit and relaxed. Real pride was taken in their particular deconstructed job that helped form one perfect cigar. Our guide explained that cigar factory work is a highly coveted position as you receive higher than the annual wage and also receive a weekly cigar allowance (most of these cigars are then sold on the blackmarket for cash). One of the most fascinating things I found at the cigar factory was that someone is employed to sit at a table at the head of the room and read from the newspaper or book, from where it is broadcast to the whole factory – I guess it is like having the radio on at work! Tonight was our Farewell Dinner as we have dinner aboard the plane tomorrow. Dinner was in a beautiful room on the rooftop of a hotel. Friends were farewelled and one of our passengers, Christine, did a wonderful piano recital for us – a gifted musician was certainly uncovered that night, wish we had known earlier!
Day 18 - Home stretch now as we fly to Ponta Delgada in the remote Portuguese island group, the Azores. If not many of us had been to Samoa before then even less had been to the Azores. It was planned as a refuelling stop with some sightseeing but what we saw certainly warranted a bit longer and next year the tour will spend two nights here instead of one.
Day 19 - Ponta Delgada is a gorgeous town and the island itself is filled with magnificent scenery, some of so similar to (and to rival even) Switzerland! This destination was the real surprise of the whole tour! Later we boarded our Private Jet for the last time and flew to London where our group dispersed, approximately half of us flew home and the other half stayed on in London to catch up with friends or family or travel further afield. It was a little sad to leave such a great group of people after travelling together for three weeks!
