Plumbtalks Blog on RealTravel

Los Angeles journal: Jiggity Jig

Thu, 09 Aug 2007 18:45:02 GMT

As Paul Harvey says, here's the "rest of the story". The missing 8 arrived at LAX at 11 AM today .. a day late. And what a saga they had to tell. Remember the broken Continental 727 in Quito, Ecuador? Well they finally got another starter and departed about dark yesterday putting them into Houston too late to connect to Los Angeles. They were put up (read put OUT) in the local Ramada, which was slightly more luxerious than a homeless camp under a bridge. Flooded bathrooms, dirty linen and creepy carpet were the finer points. Booze helped. The food voucher that was supposed to buy them ...

Miami journal: Heading Home ???????

Thu, 09 Aug 2007 09:35:50 GMT

After 9 flights, 2 trains, 14 bus rides and a gazillion taxies with 15 pieces of luggage ... ALL SUCCESSFULLY ... we finally hit a snag on our way out of Quito Ecuador. Wake up call was at 3 AM, bus to the airport at 4:10, bags safely on Continental #654, we had breakfast ordered from the flight attendant and we were backing out of the jet-way. The port engine cranked up fine. The starboard engine coughed twice rolled over and died. Now back in the Navy, we would just use the good engine to get us going fast enough down the runway to light off the bad one. I guess they don't make pilots ...

Galapagos journal: SCUBA diving was a wipe out

Wed, 08 Aug 2007 03:32:47 GMT

You just don’t go to the Galapagos without diving. So the plan was for the “certified” divers (Alex and Me) to go out today and check it out then all of us would do a “resort dive” where the instructors put SCUBA tanks on you and teach you the basics, then let you do a shallow dive. . Alex and I and a Colombian girl left the ship to hook up with Fernando, the dive master in the Port of Ayora. The seas were pretty high so they had sent the dive boat to the north side of Santa Cruz island and we took the terra firma route: a taxi!. On the dive boat were 5 other divers, two already sea-sick from ...

Galapagos Islands journal: The DAY of the Iguana

Tue, 07 Aug 2007 20:04:59 GMT

I don’t know how many giant iguanas (land and marine) we saw today but it was probably less than 10,000! We started out on the biggest island of the Galapagos archipelago, Isabela where we went ashore in the dinghy. Within 50 steps of the beach we discovered the biggest land tortoise we had ever seen. The size of a refrigerator! And that wasn’t even what we were looking for! Another 50 yards and we found the biggest lizard we had ever seen … the size of a big dog … It was going to be a good day! Just to walk within a few feet of these enormous animals in their natural habitat is an awesome ...

Puerto Ayora journal: Going Ashore

Tue, 07 Aug 2007 19:50:56 GMT

It’s moving day on the Galopagos M/V Legend ship. This is always a pain. The crew wants us out of the rooms ASAP so they can clean up but we can’t get off till 10:30 so we’re kinda hangin’. Ugg!. They offered an early tour of the beach to see the flamingoes and several went. They saw one pink bird… but it was dead … so I’m not sure if that qualifies as a sighting! The group saw some broken turtle shells sans babies. They suspected that they had been safely hatched. At least that’s what they tell the kids. I think it was a tasty breakfast for a couple of blue footed boobies. The group came back ...

Galapagos Islands journal: Swimming at the equator

Mon, 06 Aug 2007 16:45:19 GMT

Today we walked in the footsteps of James Darwin at James Bay on the island of Santiago. As famous as his work is and as closely associated he is to the Galapagos Islands, we were surprised to find that the man was only here for FIVE WEEKS. He gathered samples in that time and sent them back to England. After years of analysis he wrote his book, The Origin of the Species which deals with “natural selection” which occurred more obviously on these islands than about anywhere else in the world.

You see the islands were originally barren volcanic rocks, then currents (wind and ocean) came ...

Galapagos Islands journal: Our first day AT SEA

Mon, 06 Aug 2007 16:07:34 GMT

We left snow capped mountains in Quito and found sweater weather (about 64 degrees) in Galapagos! And we’re still on the EQUATOR! Can you believe it? Our AeroGal Boeing 727 landed on the tiny island of Baltra . Turns out the only thing on the island was the airport … and no road to the nearest town … only a ferry! We paid $100 each to enter the islands. Our bus took us to a waiting area on the pier where the benches were occupied … by SEA LIONS! They wouldn’t give up their seats so we boarded the Zodiac inflatable dingy and motored to the ship. A light lunch was followed by the obligatory ...

Quito journal: Travel Day

Wed, 01 Aug 2007 19:52:39 GMT

The first half of our saga is complete. It's going to be tough to beat, but we're leaving Peru and going to Equator. Our travel masters are Susan Plumb and Jasmine Runnels. Susan planned the trip and Jasmine is the task master. They are doing an AMAZING job of shepherding 11 people, each with a different agenda. The passports, the customs, the immigration, the baggage, the transfers ... to say nothing of being the mothers of the kids (and sometimes the husbands!) I'm hungry, I'm tired, where's my backpack? Are we there yet? These girls do it all.

Evening dinner was at the hotel. ...

Lima journal: Here we come Lima

Wed, 01 Aug 2007 19:48:28 GMT

Still just dreaming about this one. Not there yet ... but three days to go. We've done several trips in the past, all done by a travel agent. This time we selected Southern Explorations, a group out of Seattle. They seem to really know South America. We'll see.

Quito journal: Right on the Equator

Wed, 01 Aug 2007 19:30:04 GMT

I'd always been told that, just like weather systems, water goes down a flushing toilet counter-clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere. I always thought it was an old wives tale. BUT IT'S TRUE!

Just outside of Quito is the EXACT EQUATOR LINE! A demonstration with a tub and a bucket of water proved that fact. And, whats more, when the drain was right on the line the water doesn't swirl at all! It just sucks right straight down the drain! Betcha didn't know that!

Today we also road a tram up to the peak of one of the mountains that ...

Quito journal: Guest Blogger ... Jasmine's fright flight

Tue, 31 Jul 2007 20:41:22 GMT

JASMINE’S NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE

So we started our day with an early morning flight from Cusco to Lima, and continued with a second flight from Lima to Quito-and thank goodness that we checked our luggage all the way to Quito because about five of our bags would have stayed in Lima. But all went well, they did go on to Quito, we all have our luggage… now on to our near death experience. The captain announced that we were beginning our descent and I happened to notice that we were making circle eights, full throttle, flaps down, and we had passed the same mountain top at least three times. ...

Machu Picchu journal: Visiting Machu Picchu

Tue, 31 Jul 2007 20:02:56 GMT

Our guide Juan made it very clear that we were to be ready with bags packed at 7am because we were to meet the train at the Ollantaytambo station. It was another EARLY go. The train ride wound around the Urubanda river down to Aquas Calientes, the city about a thousand feet below the ancient city of Machu Picchu. We saw many stone stuctures built by the Incas 600 years ago. Many were homes of farmers or grain storage structures. All were like three deminsoal jigsaw puzzels. How they shaped and fitted all those bolders is a true mistery. If a mountainside was any angle less than 45 or 50 ...

Machu Picchu journal: Huayna Picchu

Tue, 31 Jul 2007 19:47:29 GMT

When you see a photo of Machu Picchu, Peru you usually see this tall sheer mountain in the background shaped like a hand raching for the sky. It’s called Huayna Picchu. Well four crazies decided to climb this rock. It was another wake up at “OH DARK THIRTY” , Chase, Alex, Jessica and I were the climbers. (Ironically we four were the same poor souls who climbed to the top of the Great Wall of China just two years ago!) We joined our guide, Juan on the bus to the site. From there we started up this mountain. It was very steep. Imagine climbing a ladder about a thousand feet high… except some of ...

Ollantaytambo journal: On the way to the ruins

Sun, 29 Jul 2007 15:50:18 GMT

Many apologizes my faithful bloggalongs, I was unable to get on line last nigh so I’m writing this from a narrow gage railroad train on the way to Aquas Calientes., our jumping off place to Machu Picchu. This train car is pretty shaky causing many mistakes in my spelling (and grammar too … probably)! So here’s what I would have written last night had I had a chance to get online.

Three of our 11 travelers have birthdays on our sojourn. Today Megan Runnels turns 19. It’s also Independence Day for Peru so it’s cause for a double celebration! The day began on the bus to Ollyantaytambo. On ...

Cusco journal: Living with the Incas

Sat, 28 Jul 2007 06:39:01 GMT

Seems like our longest day yet! The Runnels Eleven started the day with a tour of a museum built on an ancient sight of the Incas. Seems the Indians had it all going on till the nasty Spaniards spoiled their plans. When those gutsy guys came with their guns in the 1400's they took all the gold back to Spain and converted all the Inca religious sights to Catholic Cathedrals! So the architecture was hidden for centuries. Then the big earthquake of 1950 stripped off all the spanish stucco and exposed all these Inca buildings (actually piles of well fitted stones... HUGH stones). Hows that ...

Cusco journal: High on the Mountains of Cusco

Thu, 26 Jul 2007 19:04:18 GMT

Our first look from the 18th floor of the Lima Marriot was FOG! But as the Inca Sun God warmed the earth the air thinned to expose a delightful coastline, sheer cliffs and a little botique beach. A hearty breakfast for all and we headed back to the Lima aeropuerto! The LAN Airbus flight to Cusco was exciting. The pilot navigated into the mountain bowl which nessles the anchient city of Cusco. One steep descent, several hairpin turns and a squadron of stomach butterflys and we were lined up for the runway. Luckily Tyler sat between two Catholic Nuns who had a direct line with God ... the ...

Lima journal: Safe and sound in LIMA, PERU

Thu, 26 Jul 2007 08:31:24 GMT

L. A. X. was a Z. O. O. ... what's new? But all 11 stalwart Runnels (that's the Klan name) showed up as scheduled and we boarded the Continental flight to Houston. Right on time ... and even better we left out of the same gate we arrived at! AMAZING. Six and a half hours to Lima. I watched the movie 300. The last time I saw that many 6-packs was in a Naval Academy locker room. Makes me want to give up Hagen Das. (Well not really!) But my adrenelin was so HIGH when we landed I blew through customs like the Spartan I really am! All the baggage showed up, we met our guide and rode the ...

South America journal: Anticipation

Tue, 24 Jul 2007 22:05:44 GMT

Twas the night before leaving and all through our home

Stacks of clothing and luggage, "Now who took my comb?"

How will we ever make sense of this heap?

And we're so excited we can't even sleep!