From Maya to Inca: Tour de bahia

Monday, 20 May 2013

Tour de bahia

On Wednesday, I joined a tour of the bay with a company owned by a friend of mine, Chamaco (Chamacuss Tours, Lancha Express One). These tours leave twice a day, morning and afternoon, and take you to la loberia, where you can snorkel with sea lions, la playa de los perros (dogs' island - incidentally named after a species of crab that used to be found there, and nothing to do with dogs), el canal del amor (the channel of love), el canal de tiburones (shark channel), salt marshes, and las grietas (in this case grieta means crack i.e. a geological formation created in the volcanic rock) where you can swim in the sometimes transparently clear water or jump from the rock ledges above. You can see a huge amount of wildlife on this tour: sea lions at la loberia, iguanas on the playa de los perros, sharks in the canal de tiburones, and if you're lucky, turtles on the way back. Not to mention the sunset over Puerto Ayora if you go on the afternoon tour. It's a great way to take in many of the sites close to Puerto Ayora and the guides are excellent. Chamaco can be found close to the pier from where the boat leaves and you can contact him at marcelo21_06@hotmail.com

happy couple

sea lion at la loberia

las grietas

blue-footed boobies

sea lion

canal del amor

another happy couple

iguanas on playa de los perros

salt marsh

canal del amor

sunset over Puerto Ayora

on the way back

Galapagos boat

sunset over salt marsh

sunset over Puerto Ayora

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Interesting facts

Another slightly subjective fact. Peruvian mountain roads are among the most dangerous in the world.
Kuelap is a Chachapoya fortress in Northern Peru built before Machu Picchu.
Peruvian men are the most persistent men on the planet.
Blue zones are called blue zones simply because Dan Buettner and his research team (who first identified the blue zones) used blue ink to circle the areas on a map with the highest life expectancy. Nothing more, nothing less.
The Inca civilisation arose from the highlands of Peru sometime during the early 13th century.
Contrary to popular belief, Panama hats are not made in Panama but in Ecuador.
Ten of the volcanoes along the Avenue of Volcanoes are higher than 5000 metres.
Rafael Correa has introduced the "pico y placa" system in Quito, following the Colombian example, "pico" meaning "peak" and "placa" meaning "plate". Cars are restricted from circulating in Quito on certain days during morning and evening rush hours according to the last number of their registration plate, in order to ease traffic congestion.
Quito is 72 kms long and 10 kms wide.
Quito is the oldest capital in South America and lies 2800 metres above sea level.
The sex of the tortoises bred in the breeding centre in Puerto Ayora on the Galapagos islands depends on the temperature of the incubators. The eggs kept in incubators at 29.5 degrees celsius become females and those kept in incubators at 28 degrees celsius become males.
The giant cacti of the Galapagos islands are the only species of opuntia cactus in the world that grows like a tree.
Legend has it that the Incas discovered the Galapagos islands in the fifteenth century but no solid evidence has been found to prove this.
Slightly subjective. Playa del Carmen sells the most expensive ice cream in the world. But it tastes pretty good.
The piece of lime in the top of a bottle of beer was originally not for the taste. It was used to wipe the rust off the rim.
Mayan mothers used to wrap planks of wood around their children's foreheads to flatten them.
The dazzling blue ocean along the Mayan riviera is due to the fact that there are no rivers feeding into it. And because of the lack of nutrients flowing into the sea, there is also less animal life along this part of the ocean.