 |
| Morning view above the canopy |
We are up early to start our journey to Sacha Lodge deep in the Amazon. It takes a flight on a commercial jet followed by a 50 mile (2 hours) boat ride down the Napo river. We see small barges and boats like ours. This area has oil, which is responsible for a third of the Ecuador economy. We even see a mini cruise boat used as another form of ecotourism.
We are in Quito for just 2 days. Happily, we have booked a tour guide for both days so we can make the most of our short time in Quito. Personally, I have concerns about visiting Quito - it is a very high-altitude city as it is aptly named city in the clouds. I have had a mild case of altitude sickness before at a lower altitude. So I took meds, but truthfully, I never felt quite like myself while there and unfortunately Jeff was fighting a cold the whole time. We did enjoy ourselves just not perfect.
 |
| Jeff and Carol on the Antarctica Peninsula |
 |
Day 1
Elephant Island
This island got its name from the Elephant Seals often found
on its beaches. Some say it is because
when looking down on it from above it looks like an elephant head with a trunk. Either way it is part of the South Shetland
Islands so named because they are on an equal latitude point as the Shetland
Islands off Scotland. We have continued
to follow the steps of Shackleton, and this small island is where they washed up. It is here that Shackleton and 3 others left
the rest of the crew while they went off in search of help. The ones left behind stayed on a beach that
no longer exists, but you can tell where they were because the caves that were
behind them in photos are still there. We
rode the zodiacs around the island. We
saw a statute in honor of the Chilean Sea Captain who rescued the men left
behind. It is pretty and desolate all at
the same time.
 |
| white penguin - not albino since some color |
It is a former whaling settlement. It was in existence from 1902 to 1966. It was the first of six and the last of the whaling settlements in South Georgia. Before it was a whaling settlement, it was used by individuals for seal hunting and processing. The seal hunters left their huge pots behind (think witches' cauldron) and in Swedish Grytviken means pot bay. Now it is a historical site and an area full of fur seals with some penguins too. There is a choice for a hike, so Linda and I send the men on that and take the chance to explore the old settlement.
After a day at sea where we learned all the rules for stepping foot on land in this part of the world and welcome talks, we are ready to make out first “ports”. I put ports in quotation marks because we did not have a wharf or pier to step out onto but rather we did wet landings in the zodiacs. So glad for waterproof pants and boots!
 |
| Our first glimpse seemed big until we traveled further |
Our next leg of this adventure takes us to Iguazu, Argentina to visit the Iguazu National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
