John and Christine's Adventures: October 10th through October 16th

October 10th through October 16th:

Monday: We met our guide at 6:20am and walked down to the pier and then took a boat to the island Isabela. We sat at the back, knowing that there is less movement when there are rough seas. After a 2 hour boat ride on choppy water, we arrived at the island Isabela.

We are ready for our trip to Isabela island.

It was pretty choppy.

We were transported by water taxi to the pier and there met our new guide. We got on another boat and went around the bay to see blue footed boobies and other birds. We then got dropped off on a small island that protects the bay. There we walked around and learned about the lichens that cover the rocks and saw a lot of marine iguanas, a sea lion, white tipped reef sharks, and one lonely sea turtle.

Water taxi to the small island on the bay.

There are a lot of albatrosses.

Blue footed Boobies.

They get blue feet from eating a certain kind of fish. The better they fish, the darker their feet, the darker their feet the more they mate.

It is hard to tell, but the bird on the right had darker blue feet than the one on the left. He will get a mate easier than the other. The females can tell and know that the one on the right is a better fisher.

The lava field looking up wind.

Lava field looking up wind. This side is covered with lichen.

Just enjoying the sights.

Never short of iguanas.

This baby sea lion laid on his back and posed for us.

There were about 40 sharks in this channel.

This was the only sea turtle we saw.

We then took the boat back to the pier and got on a bus and they took us to lunch.

We had a beautiful view of a bay and the ocean.

We then went to a man made lagoon and saw a few pink flamingos. Next we went to a tortoise sanctuary where they are raising tortoises that live on this island. They rescue the tortoise eggs before they are eaten by predators and they live in the sanctuary until they are five years old and can live on their own.

We could not get any closer. They are the same species from Florida.

These are adults used for breeding.

These little guys are about 2 years old.

We then went back and took a water taxi to our boat for our trip back to Santa Cruz. We walked back to the hotel and then went for pizza. It was a long day, we got home about 7:00pm. Tuesday: We did not have anything planned for the morning so went on a walk around the bay and then we spent the rest of the morning working on the blog. The wi-fi was really slow and it took about 4 minutes to upload one photo.

Some people can sleep anywhere they want to.

This is a little fish market right by our hotel.

This is what happens when they throw some scraps on the floor.

This bird was by our pool for breakfast.

This guy was also on the ledge by our breakfast table.

After lunch, we got picked up by our guide and we went to Las Grietas. I think this translates as The Cracks. We took a water taxi to the other side of the bay which can only be reached by water, then it was a 30 minute walk to Las Grietas. This is where the lava had separated and filled with water to make a deep pool.

Most of our group changed and got in the water.

We did not want to climb down and up all the stairs, so we took some pictures and headed back to a beach we had walked passed on our way in. We enjoyed getting into the water. It was a bit cold at first.

This was a small protected bay.

This is the only proof I have that I got in the water.

We then went back by water taxi to the main part of town. Wednesday: We enjoyed a late breakfast, finished the blog, and then got picked up at 9:30am for our bus ride across the island, water taxi to the island where the airport is, another bus ride from the pier to the airport, and finally our flight back to Quito. We got back to the temple about 6:00pm. Thursday: Chris worked on getting caught up on laundry and I went down to see if I could be of any help for the open house. There was not much for me to do, but I did escort 3 American women from the US embassy through the temple. One of the women was a member and she did a great job explaining things. I added a few comments. After lunch we needed to go grocery shopping. Friday: I spent the morning cooking Beijing Beef and Orange Chicken for the 6 sister missionaries that were at the temple helping with the open house. It was fun to feed them. Sadly, I forgot to take a picture. We got packed for our trip to Ambato. At 7:30pm we went to the airport and picked up Judy Irvine Nelson. Judy is a dear friend of ours and she served in the Ecuador mission with us 51 years ago. She was Chris' MTC companion although it was called the LTM (Language Training Mission) 51 years ago and they served as companions here in Ecuador also.

A big hug for Judy from Chris.

Saturday: The public temple open house started yesterday and this morning there was a line stretching out to the road.

This was 8:45am and the temple opens at 9am and the line is already out to the parking lot.

There must have been 20 buses.

And a parking lot full of cars.

President Perez, of the temple presidency, picked us up at 9:00am and drove us to Ambato, about a 2 1/2 hour drive south of Quito. Chris and Judy had both served in Ambato as missionaries and they were anxious to return to see the city and find the house where they had lived.

Ambato is about 10 times bigger than it was 50 years ago.

We dropped our bags at the hotel and went to find two museums Chris had read about. We first went to the Museo Casa Martinez-Holguin, the home of Luis A Martinez, a prominent Ecuadorian writer, teacher, and politician of the 19th century. The hacienda he lived in sits in a beautiful botanical garden and has had some restoration. Some of the rooms are furnished as they would have been in the 1800's and wax figures of the family have been added to create realism.

This is from the balcony on the second floor looking out over the gardens.

The other house we wanted to visit was also in the huge botanical garden, La Quinta de Juan Leon Mera. Mera was an artist and poet who wrote the national anthem of Ecuador. It was interesting to see the relative luxury they lived in.

Fresh flowers from the gardens.

The gardens were beautiful.

We came back to the hotel, had lunch, and then walked around the city. Chris and Judy were amazed at how much the city of Ambato has grown over the years and sadly they didn't recognize anything except a park in the city center.

They remembered the name of the family they had lived with, but other memories were vague or conflicted. We went for ice cream and they told the owner of the restaurant that they had lived with a family named Bucheli. She recognized the name and gave them the number of a family member. Chris was able to call the number and explain that she had lived with the Bucheli family 50 years ago as a missionary. The woman gave her the number of the daughter of the family and Chris learned that they had sold the house years ago. The daughter, Ginna, didn't remember Chris, but she remembered her companion, Sylvia Conde, from Uruguay.

This is the woman that helped Judy and Chris find Gina Bucheli.

Sunday: When Chris and Judy were missionaries in Ambato there was only a small branch with two families attending, the Mezas and the Matas. They met in a rented store front and a missionary, Elder Lee Crayk, was the branch president. It was amazing to arrive at a beautiful chapel where 4 wards meet. We were met by Edison Yanes who introduced us to the bishop and some of the ward members. It was emotional for Chris and Judy to see the chapel filled with about 120 members and that is only one ward. They asked us to sit on the stand because we are the pioneers of the church in Ecuador.