The Ecuadorian Way

Beside the Galapagos, the rest of Ecuador was rather unspectacular, as far as traveling goes.  Guayaquil is just a run down port city.  I did enjoy Montañita, a small beach town an hour north; where I got to party a little, and get in some surfing.
Quito had a bit more culture, but still only took a day to experience. Once Kim arrived, we decided we wanted to get out of the city and have a taste of the Amazon. We booked a short 3 days excursion. While we did get to see all of the things in the Amazon we were hoping for (monkeys, caimans, river dolphin, sloth, toucans, frogs, spiders, boa snake, etc.), the organization and professionalism of the tour left a bit to be desired.
Which leads me to my short rant. It bugs me when everyone in an area uses the saying 'welcome to.......(Ecuador for example)' to make reference to the poor process in which things run in the area. This implies that everyone knows that how things are done is not the best way, but you just have to accept it. Well if people would just not accept it, and expect that things were done better, then they would be. One of my biggest pet-peeves is people just accepting stupidity.
Ok, I am done. On to more travels :-)

Sea Lions and Sharks and Rays.....Oh My!!

Seven days of scuba diving in the Galapagos Islands (uploading the big video files is very slow, so it will take awhile before I get most of the pics and videos posted).  Need I say more?!?!
Well, I guess I should say a little more.
I decided to do the 7 day live-aboard boat, because that is the only option that allows you to dive around the two furthest north islands, Darwin and Wolf islands. This is where the highest concentration of hammerhead sharks are, and the most likely to see whalesharks and other large marine animals. And wow, were they right. I literally got to swim with well over 1000 hammerheads in my 19 dives.  I also saw 2 whalesharks, a couple of manta rays and eagle rays, countless turtles, dolphins (both on the boat and while diving), tuna, sea iguanas, tons of playful sea lions, and a curious penguin. Plus a land excursion to visit the lava tubes and giant tortoises.

Starting South America

When I did my around the world trip, it did not include South America, as it doesn't tie in well without forcing you to fly back through the US. Plus, I thought it deserved its own trip.  So that is what I have now started.
It is scheduled to be a 6 month excursion, from Sept 2014 to March 2015.  But anyone that remembers my last trip knows that I am not very good at keeping schedules.  So we will see how this works out.
This also leaves Antarctica as the only continent I have yet to set foot on.  Maybe there is a chance to make the hop across Drake Passage and check that off the list as well.  But I am not too hopeful.