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Continuing the natural attractions and wildlife theme of my recent TRs* this TR is from a trip to Ecuador in May 2013 to visit the Amazon basin and to cruise the Galapagos. I’m resting a minor calf muscle strain, so it gives me a good incentive to get this TR done before I leave on a 7 week DONE5 on 1 September.
*(http://www.australianfrequentflyer....s/aerial-safari-kenya-gorilla-trek-53313.html
http://www.australianfrequentflyer....hill-patagonia-chilling-antarctica-62166.html
http://www.australianfrequentflyer....otos/johnms-e-africa-aerial-safari-61231.html
http://www.australianfrequentflyer....s/kruger-national-park-61318.html#post1076257)
Often, Galapagos cruises are about one week and cover either a north/eastern circuit or a south/western circuit. I opted for one of the rarer ones that combined both circuits for a two-week voyage. I’d recommend this; I don’t think one week is enough – but YMMV. I combined with this a few days at a lodge in the rainforest about 80 km downstream from Coca on the Napo River, a major tributary of the Amazon. Following the Galapagos, it was back to Quito briefly, which included a day trip to Cotopaxi volcano.
Here’s the routing: PER-xSYD-xAKL-xSCL-xGYE-UIO-OCC-UIO-xGYE-SCY-xGYE-UIO-xLIM-xSCL-XSYD-PER. It looks a bit complicated but it was driven by a few factors: the PER-SCL-PER was a JASA and the outbound leg on the dates required was QF SYD-AKL and the QF codeshare on the LA bird AKL-SCL. No problem – I like LA and they serve Louis Roederer!
Very few flights seem to go directly to Quito, necessitating a brief stop (staying on the bird) in Guayaquil – both into UIO and out to SCY. Coming out of UIO, I opted for the evening/night flights, first to LIM and then on to SCL, as I didn’t want to enter Chile just overnight for my QF connection to SYD. So there are reasons for the apparent madness.
OK, let’s put all this into spatial perspective:
Quito is interesting enough, but nothing special IMO. The central square (first pic), with the Presidential Palace (2[SUP]nd[/SUP]) on one side, is surprisingly small. Another square and rather large monument on the hill a long way behind.
Cont...
*(http://www.australianfrequentflyer....s/aerial-safari-kenya-gorilla-trek-53313.html
http://www.australianfrequentflyer....hill-patagonia-chilling-antarctica-62166.html
http://www.australianfrequentflyer....otos/johnms-e-africa-aerial-safari-61231.html
http://www.australianfrequentflyer....s/kruger-national-park-61318.html#post1076257)
Often, Galapagos cruises are about one week and cover either a north/eastern circuit or a south/western circuit. I opted for one of the rarer ones that combined both circuits for a two-week voyage. I’d recommend this; I don’t think one week is enough – but YMMV. I combined with this a few days at a lodge in the rainforest about 80 km downstream from Coca on the Napo River, a major tributary of the Amazon. Following the Galapagos, it was back to Quito briefly, which included a day trip to Cotopaxi volcano.
Here’s the routing: PER-xSYD-xAKL-xSCL-xGYE-UIO-OCC-UIO-xGYE-SCY-xGYE-UIO-xLIM-xSCL-XSYD-PER. It looks a bit complicated but it was driven by a few factors: the PER-SCL-PER was a JASA and the outbound leg on the dates required was QF SYD-AKL and the QF codeshare on the LA bird AKL-SCL. No problem – I like LA and they serve Louis Roederer!
Very few flights seem to go directly to Quito, necessitating a brief stop (staying on the bird) in Guayaquil – both into UIO and out to SCY. Coming out of UIO, I opted for the evening/night flights, first to LIM and then on to SCL, as I didn’t want to enter Chile just overnight for my QF connection to SYD. So there are reasons for the apparent madness.
OK, let’s put all this into spatial perspective:
Quito is interesting enough, but nothing special IMO. The central square (first pic), with the Presidential Palace (2[SUP]nd[/SUP]) on one side, is surprisingly small. Another square and rather large monument on the hill a long way behind.
Cont...