Its very hard to speak on two countries I have spent so little time in. A total of 25 in both countries (18 of which were in Peru) I feel that I didn’t get a good enough sense of the people, culture, cuisine, or landscape to really allow my self to say I have experience either country to it’s fullest. It’s sad that I consider my self to be rushing, but the realization that I would not be able to visit Machu Picchu forced me to pick up my feet a bit higher and move a bit faster in hopes that some time in my life ill be able to return and visit these two countries properly.
What I did enjoy very briefly, and what I feel like I missed out on, was the slow way of life, the rural towns, the places a bit off the beaten track. Entering Peru through northern Bolivia I headed straight for the large city of Arequipa which I did enjoy, the hustle and bustle of every day life was quite nice to be immersed in, the food market was of course a highlight for me which couldn't have gotten any better once I discovered the crispy skin roasted pork served up with a home made vinegar based hot sauce. I got two portions, one to eat immediately and one to take with me on the bus that evening , I devoured the second one an hour later and clearly it never came close to making it to the journey. Although I enjoyed Arequipa I would have loved to do more trekking in the mountains.
A rural 3 day hike through colca canyon was my only real non city experience which I found to be quite stunning. Cusco and its delicious restaurant filled streets were next on my map and since Machu Picchu was closed (due to flooding) I was only their briefly. The beach town of Mancora which I lounged at for 3 days eating as much Peruvian style ceviche as possible was my last stop in this country and really left me wanting to see more, but I guess now was not the time.
Ecuador was a quick 7 days which started with a midnight boarder crossing, a 4:30am arrival in Guayaquil, a taxi to the airport, cup of coffee at 5:00am, I was on the stand bye line at 6:30am, got the go ahead to buy a ticket at 8:40am and was in the air to the Galapagos by 9:15am. Eating ceviche by 11am, and on a powdery white sand beach by 3:00pm.
I spent 5 and a half days in the Galapagos and to say it was a regrettable decision would be a lie. Expensive.... YES, forgettable.... NO. I had the privilege of spending 2 nights on the main island of Santa Cruz, and three evenings on a boat touring around from island to island. When having had the opportunity to do so much in the past several months, it has been hard to judge how special each experience has been because there has been so many and all have been special in their own ways. When thinking back to the Galapagos, the thing I will remember the most is that it is truly incomparable to anywhere else I have been, and there are not too many places I can say that about.
Leaving the Galapagos as quickly as I arrived, I was shuttled off my 3 day boat tour, bused to the airport and flew off the island to Quito all within an hour of walking through the island of Seymour filled with blue footed boobies, sea lions, and iguanas. Landing in Quito after the tranquility of the Galapagos was a bit rattling as everything in Ecuador is priced in USD, as they no longer have a national currency, and the reality of getting closer to home definitely set in with each dollar spent.
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