Galápagos

This is a short summary of our trip in the Galapagos:

• Day 1-2 - Just travel 

We left our home on Thursday morning, 14 hours before the plane departure. We stopped for a few hours at the BMW dealership for the maintenance service and then kept driving toward JFK. We made it a couple of hours early, this was good because we had time to get back to the car and recover the forgotten water bottle. The kids were very good on the plane, slept almost all the time. We landed fine in Guayaquil and even stepped out of the airport for a couple of minutes. It looked to be a fine and interesting city, but no time for that. We were almost late for the Galapagos connection because Ileana wanted some ice-cream. We landed in Baltra just on time, and just in time for us to realize that we do not have the permit. We were among the first off the plane, but by far the last ones getting in because it took forever to fill the permit. After $500 and a long wait we were through, the buses left, but Freddy was there to offer us one of the cheapest cruises and some of the finest hotels. We passed on those, but got boat tickets. Of course the last ones, I didn't believe that, who would? Except that he was probably right.

Galapagos

Momeala a funcționat: suntem prinși, fără nici o putință de scăpare!

Am plecat cinci oameni cu patru bagaje de mână, trei schimburi fiecare, două subțiri și unul gros pe noi. Un bagaj era doar din scule, iar altul din cărți și caiete. Trebuia să verific dacă putem să mergem în jurul lumii cu atât de puține lucruri. Ce obiecte sunt bune, ce trebuie să schimbăm.

Înainte să plecăm ne-am făcut temele și am învățat despre Galapagos: istorie, geografie, păsări, animale. Am citit cărți și ne-am uitat la filme, am căutat pe internet informații despre ce trebuie să vizităm pe ce insule, în ce agenții să ne încredem, ce hoteluri să evităm. Pe scurt: ne-am dus pregătiți. Mental...Restul ne-a luat pe sus.

Another update

Getting ready for Galapagos. Emma is coming to Romania. Maria is taking the SAT. We spent $500 on swimming suits. Next week my old highschool friends are meeting in a restaurant in Bucharest and I cannot go because I will be in Puerto Villamil. Nobody knows and nobody asked and nobody cares where is that. It is at one of the ends of the world...
We spent a lot of money buying various things, a new videocamera, battery and memory sticks, headlamps, special towel, special sleeping bags, ear plugs, medicines and sunscreen. Then Ileana saw a book in the library and reading something there I found Coolibar, special clothing for being in the sun. And yesterday we got our $500 swimming suits. We didn't take it out of the house (we have freezing temperatures here now) but it was so cool to try it and we had one of those moments "How could we live without it until now?" There are three pieces each, long sleeves, long legs and a hat, but they are rated UPF 50+ sun protection, we are going to use it in Galapagos and in Australia and in Bali.

Maria is a bit stressed out with the SAT this week but she did a fantastic job preparing for it and she's going to do very well. She even sacrificed some of her time for Nanowrimo! Then Emma visited us last weekend, we talked about her life and her plans for travel, she's saving money for her Turkey trip and maybe also for Romania, she had no idea when she might go and how much she'll need. After spending a few minutes on the internet she had some clear plan and information and four days later she had a plane ticket. She is going to take the train from Istanbul to Bucharest and join us for Christmas. Today I asked jokingly if I should go and pick her up in Istanbul and Maria immediately wanted to come. A moment later she asked herself surprised: "When did I start to get excited about travel?" And we didn't even start yet.

We learned a lot about Galapagos and probably we are going to do very little and try to be very frugal. Land accommodations and day trips. We are saving for the big trip and cannot afford to blow our money on cruises or scuba diving. We booked a house for 5 nights but we don't have the first few days or the last week and we will leave it open for when we get there. We will get to the port, get on the available boat and find out then on what island we'll go first. We might go West to Isabella or go East to San Cristobal. And then when we land we'll look for a place to stay and stuff to do. How crazy is that?

The Bait

Mihai says to write, because we will forget and I’m sure he is right. For a long time I was somehow numb, yeah we took the decision to go around the world, but nothing more, no enthusiasm. Mihai was trying to find the best route, where to go, what would interest us, he would change it every week, always finding a cheaper one, what if we left from a different place and not States, because the tickets are too expensive. I liked to hear him talk, just because he reminded me that we would leave, but also because he was making plans (unlike me, who couldn’t think of anything). I had to prepare school for two years in one and a half. To divide the curriculum. To chose a new curriculum for Maria. When can she take the test for the senior year if she finishes in November?

We would talk in the evenings and he would tell me that he feels alone, because we are not interested. He is the only one who starts the subject at dinner and nobody else comes with something new. And so it came that I made two presentations in Keynotes about India: Red Fort and Qutub Minar. It felt good to find pictures on the internet and informations. It was frustrating to put them on the page and work with a program that I did not know.

And then again, quiet, I returned to that place where I did not have time to think. I was getting ready to finish their homeschool year and had a lot of things to do. At one point Mihai sent me an email about the types of towels that people take on their trips and following the links I found onebag.com, a trove of all the informations that interested me, details about making your luggage, how to go on a trip with only a backpack of necessary things, no matter for how long or what climate. I fell in love with this site! I read it from top to bottom, and felt sad when it was done. I bought some of the things that it recommended (e.g. mooncup). I started to become interested!

Mihai started bringing home documentaries about the different places in the world, to upload them on iPods so we can see them on the road. One of them was about Galapagos. In the meantime he received an email from LAN who will start a new route in September and to attract travelers it offers free tickets from Guayaquil to Galapagos. In the evening I go to sleep, after he told me about the email, saying it is interesting but not for us and in the morning he asks me seriously if I could consider going to Galapagos instead of the congress in Florida. YEEES! The answer came immediately, no time for thinking or waiting.

He asked me again after coming home from work: did I change my mind?

Long story short: we’re going! We bought tickets.

The consequence is that I’m “feverishly” preparing for the trip. I’m looking for the best clothes for us: they have to be washed frequently, wrinkle free, preferably not plastic (I can’t stand the smell of sweat on plastic), to keep us worm (the thicker ones). I read the opinions fo those who traveled with their family, I’m trying to be inspired by their experience.

All these things could seem normal and common, they happen to all the people who are interested in such a project. But I DREAM! I dream that I need something for my trip, or that I am on the trip and I would like to take as a souvenir a big shell, bigger than a suitcase and I realize that I can’t carry it with me, and so, I don’t need it, and I’m telling myself to enjoy it  right now, because I can’t take it with me.

I’m thinking that we leave in two years, and that I think again and realize it is going to be next year, and then I get scared, time is too short, then I remember we still have 509 days and feel better, there is still time to get ready.

But until then we have to prepare for Galapagos with one backpack. It is the perfect bait!

Galapagos

LAN airlines sent me an email that they offer free tickets to Galapagos with a purchased ticket from United States to Guayaquil. I noticed this and moved on, mentioned it to Ileana on Saturday as just some piece of news, but why do we care, we are going to Galapagos in February 2012 anyhow. Sunday night I thought to myself that I should probably check this out. It turned out to be true and the terms of the offer couldn't be better. Buy a ticket before June 21st for travel after September 16th. LAN is starting this new service and it is likely to be just a one time thing. A couple of months ago I played with the idea of taking one week off to Galapagos while we are in Florida in November. It was too expensive and the time on the islands would have been too short. Now I could buy tickets from New York for $3137 and from Miami for $500 less.
Monday morning when we woke up I asked Ileana if she would like to go to Galapagos. I have an annual conference in Orlando the week before Thanksgiving and this could be a great two week vacation, including some time on our favorite beach at Caladesi Island. She didn't need more than two minutes to decide. We did some calculations and realized that it might cost us just $1200 more to fly from home, instead of going during our RTW trip. We both admitted that we are afraid that Galapagos might be cut off as we get closer to our trip because it is such a huge expense. Better go now when I am still employed and we can count the money differently. The Florida vacation would surely cost more than $1200 and we gain 2-3 weeks on our trip next year. We could spend more time in New Zealand and Argentina and we could make it to Brazil.
It is Wednesday now and yesterday I spent two hours buying the tickets to Galapagos Islands on November 11! There were two agitated days on my part but the family reaction was very enthusiastic. Maria is happy about the "bragging rights", it sounds so much better than Florida, her sister is happy that "this means we can go to Brazil" and Ioan was unhappy with any option because he won't be home for his birthday and won't have a birthday party. Again.
It took less than 48 hours to make this major decision and it might seem an impulsive one, but I don't think it is. Surprisingly I had much more anxiety about this issue than I would have expected and the last two days I almost fell sick. We spent an entire year thinking everyday about our trip next year and by now there is a level of impatience, it seems too long to wait another 509 days. And suddenly we find ourselves having to make plans for November, we can buy some equipment and test drive it right away, we can get a glimpse at how we'll travel next year. We have time to learn and prepare and we also have a "distraction" to make the wait for the big trip much shorter. And we can tell everybody right away. I can only imagine the surprise as this is might seem to come from nowhere, how can someone suddenly decide to go to Galapagos? We just watched the BBC movie (the islands that changed the world) [Blu-ray]  [DVD]   [book] last week and we've been talking about it quite a few times in the last year, but we cannot say it yet.

It is also interesting to note that the purchase of the tickets was much more painful than it should be. After spending almost an hour to start a household account for frequent flyer miles on British Airways, I went to lan.com to buy the tickets and on the last screen I got an error after entering the credit card data. I tried again, got another error and called their customer service. Their representative, Fabian, apologized and explained that they need the passport numbers to issue the tickets, I gave him that and then he tried to charge my credit card and got a denial. We tried another credit card and got another denial. I called the first card to unblock it, called Fabian again to buy the tickets and called the second card to unblock that as well. This morning I got another call from the security department at Chase to verify what happened last night. Bottom line, they block these transactions thinking that they protect me from unauthorized charges. I can only imagine the pain of buying $30000 plane tickets next year. Well, we'll get through that...

Galapagos is a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean, 1000 km off the coast of Ecuador. There are several inhabited islands, several villages and two small airports. It is mostly a national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site. Some people call them "the islands that changed the world". Everybody knows about Charles Darwin and the giant tortoises but I'm sure not much more. They are much bigger than they seem and much more difficult to explore than one would think. There is a $100 charge to enter the National Park and you are required to have an approved guide in the park at all times. Most people would visit the islands on a cruise, but the cruises are expensive, they only have 2-bed rooms and they also waste a lot of time getting there and in between islands. A regular 9-day prearranged trip can have only 5-6 days on the islands and can cost as much as $2400. We will try to read as much as we can, book the first night on our arrival and then decide on the spot how we spend the next 14 days. We'll see.