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BY Nancy Mueller 23 Comments ON December 29, 2011

2011: Most Memorable Meal

Equator Monument

Think back to the special meals you’ve had in your travels. What made the meals so memorable? Was it simply the quality of the food cooked to perfection? The unexpected delight of tasting new flavors? Or perhaps it was the company who shared your table and the conversation that flowed between you.

Though I had many memorable meals in 2011, a luncheon that stands out is one I shared with my tour guide, Giovanna, for all the reasons above. I had just arrived in Ecuador the day before and we were wrapping up our excursion to the Equator Monument, about 15 miles north of Quito. Before leaving, Giovanna suggested having a bite to eat at a small, nondescript restaurant on site. We were shown to a table in the back.

Traditional Ecuadorian Meal

With my first bite of the traditional Ecuadorian food I had ordered, I smiled. Mmm . . . The combination of pork, potatoes, corn, avocado and fried bananas made for a perfect midday meal. The setting far away from home, the ambiance of the restaurant, Giovanna’s wonderful company, all made for a most unforgettable meal.

What memorable meals have you had in 2011, Wanderboomers?

Filed Under: Activities, Baby Boomers and Travel, By Land, By Ship & By Sea, Ecuador, Food & Dining Tagged With: ambiance, avocado, company, corn, Ecuadorian food, Equator Monument, food, fried bananas, meals, memorable, midday meal, pork, potatoes, Quito, restaurant, setting, tour guide, traditional

BY Nancy Mueller 12 Comments ON December 26, 2011

2011 – Oh, What a Year!

Guard at Palacio de Gobierno Yours truly with guard outside Palacio de Gobierno in Quito, Ecuador

As 2011 comes to an end, I’ll be posting a series of blogs this week, highlighting my travel adventures over the past year.

First up: a look at a few new friends I made along the way . . .

When you’re traveling solo in a foreign country, it makes a world of difference to have helpful guides who can tell you about the history of the region, drive you safely from one area to another (in this case, up and over narrow passes in the Andes), fill you in on the local cuisine, or keep you company, even if you don’t speak each other’s language. It was my great fortune to have had the assistance of my tour guide and interpreter, Giovanna, and my driver, Manolo, on my trip to Ecuador.

Having not one, but two, naturalists aboard the MV Evolution for my small-ship cruise of the Galapagos Islands, was an unexpected luxury.

On alternate evenings Jorge and Alex presented an overview of the next day’s activities, throwing in salient facts and fun anecdotes about the local landscape and wildlife. Their enthusiasm was infectious on our daily expeditions  to the islands – and they scored extra points for helping with my photography and snorkeling.

Muchas gracias por todo, mis amigos!

What new friends did you meet in your travels this year, Wanderboomers?

Filed Under: Baby Boomers and Travel, By Land, By Ship & By Sea, Destinations, Food & Dining, Galapagos Islands Tagged With: amigos, Andes, driver, Ecuador, friends, Galapagos Islands, Government Palace, guard, interpreter, language, muchas gracias, naturalist guides, naturalists, Palacio de Gobierno, Quito, Spanish, tour guide, travel, trip

BY Nancy Mueller 8 Comments ON October 23, 2011

Chasing Rainbows

“Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue
and the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true.”
– Lyman Frank  Baum

Call it the luck o’ the Irish, but I’ve had the good fortune to capture a few beautiful rainbows in photos on my small-ship cruises and travel expeditions. See for yourself . . .

Aboard the Island Spirit, Petersburg, Alaska

Aboard the MV Evolution from San Cristobal, The Galapagos Islands

San Cristobal, The Galapagos Islands

Quito, Ecuador

How about you, Wanderboomers? Seen any great rainbows in your travels?

Filed Under: Activities, Alaska, Baby Boomers and Travel, By Land, By Ship & By Sea, Destinations, Galapagos Islands, Uncategorized Tagged With: Alaska, colors, Ecuador, MV Evolution. Galapagos Islands, Petersburg, Quito, rainbow, rainbows, San Cristobal, Somewhere over the Rainbow, the Island Spirit

BY Nancy Mueller 16 Comments ON September 7, 2011

Cruising the Galápagos Islands

8 Islands, 4 Equator Crossings, 1 Night of Choppy Seas . . .

“There are no good hair days on the Galápagos Islands,” claims Roni, a fellow passenger aboard the MV Evolution.

After several futile attempts to keep my own in place, I nod, letting mine whip across my face.

But then we’re not here for a fashion shoot of wet suits and snorkeling gear. Right now we have more important things to think about, like learning how to prevent or survive an unlikely water emergency:

For hypothermia, “Wrap arms around each other. Hug and huddle in a group; if alone, curl up into a ball to stay warm.”

Got sharks? “Get back-to-back with another passenger (assuming your swimming buddy hasn’t already high-tailed it back to shore), lock arms, put legs out in front” to reduce the shark’s angles of attack.

To board and disembark from pangas, the inflatable boats that zip us among the islands and back to the mother ship, “Grab the forearm, not the hand, of the crew member.”

Almost as scary to me is the warning we receive not to flush toilet paper down the toilet because it could plug the plumbing and then we’d be in a . . . well, a heap load of trouble. Instead, we’re told to dispose of the paper in the nearby basket, a common practice throughout the country.

If only old habits weren’t so hard to break.

Our Ship – the MV Evolution

We’re a diverse party of 22 passengers with an all-Ecuadorian crew of 18 aboard Quasar Expedition’s MV Evolution, a 32- passenger classic yacht, the base camp for our islands adventure.

Following the crew’s comprehensive, anything-but-standard safety briefing, our focus turns to the “Enchanted Isles” of Ecuador, our cruise destination for the next 7 days.

The Galápagos at a Glance

This is the Galápagos Islands, an active volcanic archipelago of 13 large islands, 6 smaller ones, and over 40 islets, 600 miles off the western coast of South America, atop the equator.

Here are the islands the Bishop of Panama declared to be  “hell on earth” upon his unintended visit in 1535. But one man’s “hell on earth” is another man’s source of endless fascination. Over 200 years later a young Charles Darwin would arrive aboard the H.M.S. Beagle, approaching this forlorn and desolate landscape with a scientist’s curiosity and questioning, resulting in his landmark work, Origin of the Species.

What would we find? I wondered.

San Cristobal Island

After a short flight from Quito, Ecuador’s capital, and a brief stop in Guayaquil, the country’s most populous city, we have arrived on San Cristobal Island to a warm welcome by our crew for the start of our cruise journey. Our naturalist guides waste no time in prepping us for the “wet” and “dry” landings that will define the days ahead.

Today we’re headed to Cerro Brujo (Wizard Hill) and a white, sandy beach for the first of our “wet” landings, which means we’re wearing water shoes, as we come to the front of the panga, and swing our legs over the side into the cool, shallow water.

Once ashore, we step around dozens of sleeping sea lions. Between these slumbering beach guardians and the Leon Dormido (Sleeping Lion), aka Kicker Rock, offshore, I’m ready to take a snooze myself.

But, for now, I simply enjoy a meditative moment where all is right with what feels like the beginning of the world.



Filed Under: Activities, Baby Boomers and Travel, By Land, By Ship & By Sea, Destinations Tagged With: Bishop of Panama, Cerro Brujo, Charles Darwin, Enchanted Isles, Galapagos Islands, Guayaquil, H.M.S. Beagle, hypothermia, inflatable boats, Jaws, Kicker Rock, Leon Dormido, M/V Evolution, Origin of the Species, panga, Quasar Expeditions, Quito, San Cristobal island, sea lions, sharks, Sleeping Lion, snorkeling, snorkeling gear, toilet, toilet paper, volcanic archipelago, wet suits, Wizard Hill

BY Nancy Mueller 16 Comments ON August 25, 2011

Quito Rising

“Do you speak Spanish?” asks the unsmiling custom agent.  “Well, no, not really, just a few words,” I say.

“So what’s wrong with Spanish?”

Uh-oh.

“Nothing, nothing at all. I love Spanish! But . . . ” I begin to offer a host of excuses before I catch the twinkle in his eye.

“Enjoy your stay in Ecuador.”

Ecuador . . . Land of the iguanas and blue-footed boobies, lost worlds of the Incas and conquistadors, lure of the Amazon and the Andes . . . Adventure . . . and teasing custom agents.

My week-long small-ship cruise of the Galapagos Islands aboard the M/V Evolution awaits. But I’ve arrived three days early to explore Quito, the nation’s capital, and to acclimate myself to the change in altitude. Surrounded by the heaven-hugging Andes, the city of almost 14,000,000 residents, rests at an elevation of about 9,400 feet (2900 meters) at the foot of the Rucu Pichincha Volcano – a spectacular setting with spellbinding views in all directions.

Maybe it’s the Catholic in me, but I take comfort in the winged statue of the Virgin of the Americas keeping watch over the city from nearby Panecillo Hill.

I meet up with my tour guide and driver, Giovanna and Manolo, at Mercure Hotel Almeda. From here we head to historic Old Town. Under sunny skies and a mild 70-ish degrees, we walk the narrow cobblestone streets, admiring the beautiful colonial architecture along the way.

Our journey ends at the Plaza del la Independencia (the Plaza Grande), after photo ops at the Palacio del Gobierno (Presidential Palace), Palacio Arzobispal (Archbishop’s Palace) and the white-washed Catedral Metropolitana.

I’m already learning that many Ecuadorian sites commonly use both Spanish and English names which seems like a relatively painless way to pick up the local language – and let’s face it: I need all the help I can get.

My head is spinning from – okay, maybe the altitude, maybe the eight flights it took to get here – but also from sensory overload. I look skyward at every turn – to the Andes, the buildings that dot the hillsides, and the ornate architectural details of Quito’s multitude of churches.

Each church is magnificent in its own way, from the Monasterio de San Francisco to the Basilica del Voto Nacional (Basilica of the National Vow) , but La Compania de Jesus gives new meaning to the word “dazzling” in its over-the-top gold-leaf altars, ceiling, walls and pretty much everywhere else I rest my eyes. Giovanna explains that the Spanish also painted the sun, a powerful Inca symbol, on the entrance door and ceiling in an effort to woo the indigenous people to enter.

In the afternoon, we make our way to La Mitad del Mundo (The Center of the World), a half-hour drive north of Quito, to see where the Equator divides the earth into the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.  The site is a popular tourist attraction, with restaurants, museums, and gift shops, but it’s the chance to straddle both hemispheres at once that’s the big draw –

Latitude: O° – O’ – O”.

Up Next: Otavalo Market and Hacienda Cusin

Filed Under: Activities, Baby Boomers and Travel, By Land, By Ship & By Sea, Destinations, Food & Dining Tagged With: Amazon, Andes, Basilica del Voto Nacional, blue-footed boobies, Cathedral Metropolitana, Center of the World, churches, conquistadors, Ecuador, Galapagos Islands, Hacienda Cusin, iguanas, Incas, La Compania de Jesus, La Mitad del Mundo, Latitude O, M/V Evolution, Monasterio de San Francisco, Old Town, Otavalo Market, Palacio Arzobispal, Palacio del Gobierno, Panecillo Hill, Plaza del la Independencia, Quasar Expeditions, Quito, Rucu Pichincha Volcano, Spanish, the Plaza Grande, Virgin of the Americas

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Hello fellow wanderboomers! I’m a Seattle-based travel journalist, specializing in fun travel adventures for the young at heart. My articles have been featured in Hemispheres, AAA Highroads Magazine and Northwest Travel & Life Magazine where I'm a frequent contributor. When this Wanderboomer isn’t traveling, I help global executives polish their personal and professional brand for long-term results.
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