Fall 2015 South Padre Island Visit

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Many thanks to Marco and Graciela for allowing us to stay at their place, La Isla, at South Padre Island. We got to enjoy the beach and spend time with the family even though the remnants of Patricia brought some heavy rain.

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Friday the 23rd
Saturday the 24th
Sunday the 25th

Chasing Seagulls
Such determination to get in the water
Not wanting to get out
Breakfast with the Tios
Breakfast with the Tios
Bad Prima!
Annika meets Pinto
Blowing Ana Luisa Off
Lunch with the Tios
Annika with Alinita


Fall 2015 Austin Visit

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As a part of our home leave in Texas, we went to Austin for a week to visit Michelle, Vince, and Suzan.

Links to the albums below
Pool Day
Friday the 9th
Deep Eddy
Wildflower Center
Midnight Cowboy

Pool Time!
First Corn on the Cob
There i am!
Butterfly at the Wildflower Center
Roaming around the Wildflower Center
Annika and the Grand Mimi at the Wildflower Center
Annika and Aunt M at the Wildflower Center
At Deep Eddy
At Deep Eddy
Drinks at Midnight Cowboy
Drinks at Midnight Cowboy
Drinks at Easy Tiger


Guagua Pichincha

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As mentioned in a previous post, Pichincha consists of 2 peaks, Rucu (meaning old person) and Guagua (meaning baby).  Guagua Pichincha is the higher of the two peaks at an altitude of ~ 15,728 ft. and is active with its most recent eruption in 1999.  

It's easiest to reach the rim of Guagua because you can drive to the Refugio, from which it is just a short walk (30 minutes) to the crater.  However, because the road reaches altitudes of 15,000+ feet, the drive itself can be a challenge given the lack of oxygen needed for your vehicle's combustion.  The trick for us was for Julia and our 2 hitchiker friends to dismount the car at the steeper portions of the road in order to make the climb.  Once the road leveled off, Julia climbed back in and we were able to complete the drive.  The 2 hitch hikers graciously decided to walk the rest of the way allowing us to reach the Refugio.

The dry season here afforded us a clear view of the three snow capped volcanoes, Cayambe, Antisana, and Cotopaxi.  This year, the dry season has also resulted in an abundance of forest fires which was evident in the views.  

On this clearest of days, and while I remembered to pack the camera, yours truly left the battery in the charger at home.  The pictures below were taken with my trustee iPhone 6.

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Antisana on the left and Cotopaxi on the right. The smoke is from forest fires.
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Guagua crater with lava domes.

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Looking west into what's known as the cloud forest (Mindo). The haze is from the forest fire currently burning near Cotopaxi
Overlooking the refugio. Cayambe in the background
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There have been a lot of fires lately which i guess is typical during the dry season.

Video below

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Cotopaxi Continues to Spew Ash

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Cotopaxi awoke on Friday August 14th with several explosions blowing ash thousands of feet high.  The last time it erupted was in 1940.  Since Friday's eruption, it continues to spew ash.  Luckily the winds have not blown it in our direction but on clear days it does make for some nice views.

Our home is far enough from the dangers of pyroclastic flows and high enough from rivers that might flood due to lahars.   Our primary concern is ash but again the winds have kept the ash from reaching us.  The big question is if Cotopaxi will have a major eruption, it's first since 1877.  In any event, preparations are taking place.  We are still on yellow alert, the lowest of the 3 levels.  For more information visit http://volcancotopaxi.com.  

This picture was taken this morning in what is the first of many pictures to come.

Hiking Pichincha

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Pichincha is an active stratovolcano just west of Quito.  It consists of two peaks, Guagua Pichincha, the active caldera with the last eruption in 1999, and Rucu Pichicha which is inactive.

Our hike to Rucu Pichincha began by taking the teleferico, equivalent to a gondola, to the starting point of the hike at ~12,700 feet.  On this day the sky was relatively clear giving us some fantastic views of Quito.  Although, at this point, the path was pretty clear, free of rocks, once we hit ~13,500 feet I needed to take some serious deep breaths during the more steep climbs.  At about~14,000 feet the trail got more narrow with some more steep drop offs on the side.  

We hit a point where the path required some simple rock climbing.  I say simple, as it would be the case for most people, but given that I am afraid of heights, if at any point I slipped, I would have rolled down the side of this rocky mountain.  To me, the hike became unenjoyable and I still wanted to return home and play with Annika.  Julia, of course was perfectly fine but very understanding and when I mentioned turning around she was perfectly fine with it.

According to the map we were somewhat close to the crater of Rucu but given the steep climb at altitude, this could have taken us an hour or so to complete.  We ran into 2 people suffering from altitude sickness.  At our highest point, ~14,300 feet, we hit what seemed like the spine of the mountain, where if you faced east you looked down upon Quito, and if you faced west you looked down upon the cloud forest and eventually the ocean.  Unfortunately the clouds obscurred our view west.  Facing north or south you see volcano alley, with other volcanic peaks dotting the skyline.

Oh well...better luck next time if there is one.

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Dinner At Marcela's

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We are blessed to have Marcela in our lives and taking such great care of Annika. We were honored to have been invited to her house for dinner and to meet her parents and aunt. As usual the food was delicious and Melany showed us her muscial talent playing several songs on her guitar which included our wdding's first dance "Tabaco y chanel" by Bacilos.

Leaving Marcela is going to be one of the most difficult part of our upcoming move. 

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View of Quito from Marcela's house


Antisana Ecological Reserve

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Waking up to a clear Sunday morning, we thought we would take advantage and head to the Antisana Ecological Reserve to see if we could get a clear view of Volcan Antisana.  While Cotopaxi was clear, unfortunately Antisana was mostly covered by clouds, however, we got to see some impressive views of the reserve, Quito, Volcan Pichincha, and Volcan Sincholagua.  

We hiked up a hill, bringing us at an altitude of roughly 13,500 feet in hopes of getting a glimpse of Cotopaxi, but, that particular side of the volcano was covered in clouds.  We did stumble upon some wild horses along the way.

Leaving the reserve we saw a group of Andean Condors in what appeared to be them practicing to glide as one by one they took turns flying in a circle.

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View of Sincholagua Volcano on your left and the southern edge of Quito to your right
Antisana Volcano
She didn't want to wear her gloves.
Antisana Volcano in the background
Climbed up a hill at roughly 13,500 feet overlooking Laguna de Mica.
Looking down from the hill you could see Laguna de Mica, horses, our car parked on the road, and Julia and Annika walking towards the car.
Andean Condor
Early dinner at Mucki's


Los Túneles

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On our second day in Isla Isabela, Julia and I took a snorkeling tour to Los Túneles, The Tunnels.  A series of lava flows created a spectacular landscape of arcs and tunnels underneath and above the shallow water.  Getting to the tunnels was "interesting" and was thoroughly enjoyed by Julia because to get there, the boat driver had to time his ride in between the large waves.  Once in, we saw penguins, blue footed boobys, turtles, and sharks.  Luckily the sharks were napping...

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Video link here


Sierra Negra

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Sierra Negra is an active volcano located on the south side of Isla Isabela.  It has the second largest caldera in the world.  The south side of the volcano is lush in vegetation and has over 100 family farms.  The northern side, however, is quite the opposite -- dry with cacti growing out of lava rocks.  

Volcan Chico, from my interpratation of what the guide was telling us, is the name for the northern part of Volcan Sierra Negra.  This is the area where lava flows from recent eruptions reached the sea.  

Our 11 mile hike began at ~8:00 a.m. on the sourthern side of Volcan Sierra Negra.  It was cool, foggy, and with periods of light rain.  We hiked up to the caldera and walked along the eastern ridge heading north.  Upon reaching the northern side of the caldera, the conditions quickly cleared up and the temperature was much warmer.  We headed down towards Volcan Chico and the terrain quickly changed to a drier landscape filled with lava rock and cacti.  As we headed down the caldera we walked on lava rock ranging in age from 5000 years old to that of the most recent eruption in 2005.  We saw several lava tubes, fumaroles that release hot humid air, incredible lava formations, mini volcanoes, and what many describe as a Mars-like landscape with colors ranging from red, orange, yellow, and black.  As we returned to our starting point, the afternoon soon burned off the morning fog allowing us to view the caldera in its entirety.  

This was truly and amazing hike.

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Hike to the southern side of the crater started with light rain
The northern side of the crater, which is where the recent lava flows have taken place, is called Volcan Chico.
Saw this guy having a snack on our hiking path. Turtles are making a comeback

Isla Isabela

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With our time in Ecuador quickly coming to a close, we decided to take our long anticipated trip to Las Galapagos.  Because we wanted the peanut to experience the Galapagos and to fully take advantage of the experience, we decided it would be a good idea to bring Marcela, Annika's nanny.  As a bonus, it was Marcela's first time on a plane and first time visiting the Galapagos.  To save time and avoid the ferry, we took an avioneta, with no more then 10 passengers including the pilot, from Baltra to the Island of Isabela.  We are grateful that she could visit this part of her country with us even though she had a peanut that requires A LOT of walking.

Annika and Marcela enjoyed hanging at the beach side hotel while Julia and I took the opportunity to take some not-so-baby-friendly tours.  Posts regarding the tours will come later later.

We felt welcomed by the staff at the Iguana Crossing hotel (where the Iguanas actually cross to go to and from the beach).  The water was perfectly warm and Annika really enjoyed walking into the waves.  Quite a different beach experience from Texas.

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