The Lead Up
After four years of planning our dream vacation we finally were able to achieve our goal of going to Galápagos- a bucket list adventure for any scuba diver and especially for a marine conservationist.
Blue Footoed Boobies
Our initial plans to celebrate my husband’s birthday back in September 2019 to dive in Galápagos were hampered when two months prior to taking this trip, the boat we had booked on ran aground and sunk. We then tried to book for our anniversary in April 2020 when again a month prior to departure our booking was cancelled due to Covid. Giving the situation 12 months to recover, we were scheduled to be boarding our seven day liveaboard on 25 April 2021 when again, three weeks prior to our trip, we received notification that our dive expedition had been cancelled due to last minute changes to reservations for the expedition. If ever you needed a sign to say perhaps reconsider your dream vacation, this was it! I already had concerns regarding my ability to handle the strong currents Galápagos is known for (which attracts the megafauna synonymous with the Islands) and had had recurring nightmares of finding myself taken by a current heading to Hawaii without sight of dive boat or land. But I am known for my determination and overcoming fears. So after calling the airlines and hotels for the fourth time and managing language barriers, airline reservation call center procedures and covid related issues, our trip was moved a week earlier to the 18 April, meaning I would spend my 45th birthday at Darwin Island and we would spend our anniversary in Quito - the capital of Ecuador - what a wonderful treat!
Flight cancellations and covid impacts
Despite a number of flight cancellations in the lead up to our trip, we actually sat on a plane, on our way to Ecuador, multiple PCR test copies in hand, pinching ourselves. Getting to Galápagos from the capital of the United Arab Emirates during covid isn’t easy. First stop was Amsterdam whereby we had a 21 hour layover before flying to Quito. It was while we were on our way to Amsterdam that we heard that the Netherlands had extended its travel ban for flights from South America and therefore our flight home may be impacted if this situation continued. Additionally, our hopes to spend our last few days of our holiday in Columbia visiting a very dear friend may be impacted due to newly extended curfews. So we used these 21 hours to revisit our plans, changing our flights to go home via France instead of the Netherlands and extending our time in Quito from four days to eight days instead!
Anniversary in Quito - Ecuador
From Amsterdam we flew directly into Quito where we had a quick stay at a hotel near the airport. It was our anniversary night and despite our bodies adjusting to the two hour time difference in Netherlands, we both arrived in Quito just after lunch time both ready for bed! It was past 10pm our time by the time we were at the hotel. So sleep we did, setting the alarm to head out to Zazu - a fancy restaurant in Quito, for a romantic dinner at 6:30pm local time (3:30am back home). I was awake before the alarm and attempted to awaken my husband who responded with a grunt, his whole body gesturing to leave him alone. So I moved the reservation to 8pm, but Shannon made it extremely clear to me, our anniversary plans were only going to go ahead if I went on my own. Not wanting to venture out of the hotel by myself in this foreign country, I took a seat at the cafe at the airport hotel, contemplating dinner when I would normally be considering what would be for breakfast. The local soup Locro de Papa - or potato soup with cheese and avocado seemed digestible at the hour, and was so scrumptious that I ended up ordering a wine and a pasta dish as well... celebrating 16 years of marriage and laughing with friends on Facebook that I would be celebrating this milestone alone, when along came a weary-eyed and sheepish looking husband to rescue me (and himself might I add) from my lonely party for one! We romantically shared my pasta dish Lady and the Tramp style! ❤️
The start of my very sad anniversary dinner for one at the Wyndham Airport Hotel, Quito
Galapagos
Next stop San Christobel! What an expedition it is at Quito to travel to the nearby islands. Not able to read Spanish, we missed the area (and the ever growing line) to pay the Galápagos park fees and have our bags specifically scanned for the expedition and ventured straight to the line for check in, only to be advised that after waiting for 30mins for the counter to open we hadn’t undertaken the right procedures. So we waited for another 45mins to eventually get to the counter to pay our dues only to realise then that the passes we needed from the hotel to enter Galápagos were for the following week and weren’t showing the new dates! Instant panic! Had this oversight cost us our dreams... after everything we had already gone through? Fortunately for us, the team gave us a pass on this and after ensuring we weren’t carrying anything harmful to Galápagos, we reappeared to check in our bags. We made it to the airport lounge minutes before the gates closed, despite getting to the airport with hours to spare!
But what a delight San Christabel is, despite the weird and suspicious encounter with a police officer at the airport after clearing customs, who asked for our passports and then took photos of these before handing them back. We had decided to get there a day earlier than our dive expedition, to make sure we were on time for the liveaboard, due to last minute flight cancellations and changes from the airline.
We therefore had time to explore this beautiful island and secure a local SIM card or chip as it is known locally, in order to stay connected wherever there was wifi. We also got an hour back in time, with Galápagos being on a different time zone than Ecuador. We were greeted with sea lions galore, wherever we went, as well as marine iguanas, frigate birds and so many loose dogs! We took the afternoon to explore the local beaches, cuisine and the well established and recommended interpretation center on the island.
Galápagos Sky
Our dive boat departed San Christobel at 12pm. So we we took a leisurely morning breakfast and stroll and recharged our phone chips, only to be hurried along at the last minute, when a frantic looking hotel receptionist met with me and through broken Spanish (Spanglish) explained that the boat operates on mainland time and we were running late!
After a small venture from the pier to the boat via a tender, with our dive gear, cameras and clothes all on board, we eventually sat in the main salon of the boat, massive smiles on our faces, Galápagos souvenir tees on our backs with dreams and hopes in our hearts and eyes, for a wonderful venture ahead, acknowledging to each other through unspoken words and glances that we had made it, despite all the hurdles and odds!
Galápagos Sky is a spectacular boat which feels quite luxurious compared to some of the liveaboards we have been on previously. Our cabin had a huge window and a king sized bed as well as an en-suite, while the dive deck which catered for 16 divers looked sparking new and extremely spacious. But it is the crew that makes this trip special. The meals are carefully designed daily by a chef that could easily cater for five star restaurant guests, with the wait staff, guides, captain and stewards meeting every need possible, including assistance getting in and out of your bulky wetsuit, ready for the chilly waters below, as well as providing you with hot towels and beverages after each dive.
Diving in Galápagos
Our test dive at San Christobel readied us for the cooler water temperatures and ensured our gear, including extra weights, were right for the excursions ahead. We were met again with playful sea lions but this time underwater, which twist and turn around you, checking out the slow moving divers, with their tanks, bubbles and fins. Sea lions feature in many of our dives and like the amazing giant turtles you see so frequently when diving in Galápagos, they become the standard background and you sadly eventually stop taking photos and videos of them, while you search for something newer and more exciting.
For us, that something was schooling hammerhead sharks at Wolf or Darwin Island, or mola mola (sun fish) - something we had not as yet seen. Our first stop after San Christobal was Bartolome Island, a stunning uninhabited island which we ventured on for around an hour, with its crystal blue waters and volcanic history on display, before we dived at Cousin’s Rock.
Sadly I have nothing remarkable to share regarding these dives. The surge was strong throughout our time which saw us crawling along the rocks on the sea floor and at times hugging them tightly to ensure you weren’t swept away, and although surge doesn’t bother me, in fact I find it quite fun, the sad part was that the result was also limited visibility.
So we were glad to be heading aboard the vessel in the afternoon and to be motoring the 12 hour trip to Wolf Island where we would have three dives! I couldn’t believe that for my birthday we would be potentially diving with schooling hammerheads! But the birthday surprise wasn’t the hammerhead sharks, but the realization that the weather conditions underwater hadn’t changed despite the change of location. While you could just make out hammerhead shadows, what we saw due to the low visibility and increasing surge were a few individuals either 25m above us or below us... nothing that any good camera would be able to easily capture.
And while our dives also featured turtles, white tipped reef sharks and sea lions I couldn’t help but feel despondent that the seas weren’t swarming with hammerheads with 60m visibility like the holiday postcards had promised! I have been so lucky with so many previous expeditions that I couldn’t believe that the conditions of the marine world wouldn’t magically improve because it was me, Natalie Banks, who had worked tirelessly for months on end protecting sharks in Australia and then the marine environment generally in the United Arab Emirates diving. I shamelessly sulked and though the crew of the boat sang beautifully to me for my birthday, cake with candles alight in tow, my joy was fleeting when I realized my husband hadn’t captured the moment on video! As I look back, this was a turning point for me... I had hit a low and it didn’t improve at all. In fact, as the weather worsened so did my mood. What a waste of money and time I thought. There had been multiple signs for us to not go on this holiday, but I had persevered , potentially to our detriment. Had I not researched the best time to go properly? What had I missed? I am my very worst enemy when things don’t go as hoped. I tried to shake off the bad mood, but my husband who knows me better than anyone also knew I was disappointed, and gratefully for me, he eventually shared his disappointment too, meaning that it wasn’t just my high expectations!
Darwin’s Arch was stunning from the surface, but along with the surge, we experienced currents and surf and as such were having to do advanced entries called negative buoyancy backward rolls to enter the ocean... which means basically diving down immediately from the boat, which I managed without any issues at all! In fact for the first time in my diving history of fourteen years, I experienced no anxiety about the diving conditions during an expedition. I had conquered Galápagos and my anxiety! I did however experience the usual ear issue, but only once throughout the 20 dives we completed during our time there, when usually it’s at least half of the dives.
After not having any luck seeing schooling hammerhead sharks or a mola mola, even with a return to Wolf Island two days later, it was time to experience a unique dive with marine iguanas at Fernandina Island. Now this is a treat and was my FAVOURITE dive throughout the islands. Despite it being a shallow dive that you could actually snorkel! The sun shone through clouds, into the waters, creating incredible visibility and there was no surge.
This was followed by another favourite experience of mine in the Galápagos, seeing giant tortoises on land at Santa Cruz.
Overall, our experiences in Galápagos could have been best enjoyed on land and by snorkeling, despite the great reviews from fellow divers. It actually started to dawn on me that our first ever dive expedition was to the Red Sea in Egypt which continues to be among my best two dive experiences, along with the sardine run in South Africa, which most divers recommending Galápagos haven’t dived before, so I guess it’s all just a matter of perspectives!
Sadly, due to our diving experiences, I didn’t have a love affair at the Galápagos Islands, though I highly recommend going there just for the nature on land, and a snorkel if you can arrange it.
Quito
Once we got back to land, we realized that Quito had started curfews too due to growing covid cases. The curfews were from 8pm every night and throughout the weekend. Our guide in Galápagos recommended a visit to the jungle where we would see birds, insects and the like. It didn’t sound too exciting to us and we decided to stick to our plans, excited to be exploring a city which appeared to have so much to offer!
View from the top of Tower Two at the Basilica in Quito
Our first day we both felt dizzy and I noticed my ear was constantly blocked. It got worse at night, when I also started experiencing nausea. This was likely altitude sickness, which passed easily for Shannon but not for me. But we pressed on! I had been extremely excited to see the changing of the guards at Parliament House in old town, but due to the president making extremely unpopular decisions of late, this had been cancelled due to ongoing demonstrations and protests creating a security risk. Our plans to even do a tour of Parliament House were cancelled due to covid. So we visited the Basilica which was really impressive and our favorite site visit throughout Quito. We even had an alcoholic beverage in the old church! This was followed by a visit to see the virgin statue at El Panecillo (which we later found out is a dangerous area of Quito) before visiting Itchimbia which has great views of the city below. On our way back to old town, we finally found La Ronda street which is apparently full of restaurants and cafes and a great place to experience the local brews available. Sadly only two places were open when we visited and we were jumped on by neighboring places wanting to sell their food and beverages. It was clear tourism was taking a beating in Quito due to covid. We ended up in a crazy place that served empanadas the size of a serving platter, which took at least 25mins to be delivered to the table.
I knew with sudden clarity that we weren’t going to be able to handle eight days in the town. We returned to our hotel room and for the sixth time contemplated changing our flights to go home earlier. My heart sank. What had I done by pushing forward with our plans to visit Ecuador despite the cancellations? The hotel was nice but caught in the 80’s and without realizing it, I had booked full board which gave us set meals instead of being able to choose from the restaurants’ menus! We went rogue and paid for a meal we wanted instead of their menu.
My nausea got worse as did my inability to sleep and with it my grumpiness. The trip was going to be a disaster. That’s when my husband said let’s go somewhere else. We looked into about a dozen different countries and their covid restrictions; there wasn’t much on offer and suddenly in my head I heard our Galápagos guide ... go to the jungle. So my husband and I spent hours researching our options when with clarity, my husband said let’s just go to the rain and cloud forest at Mashpi! It wasn’t the Amazon which I had hoped ... but it was easy to get to and got us out of Quito, as well as giving us greater opportunities to do something rather than being locked down in our old hotel.
The hotel room we had in Quito looked onto the Andean mountains where the highlight of our trip was to take place, the chairlift from the city high into the mountains called the TelefériQo. It is apparently a sight to see, but best explored during a clear day. On our second day in Quito it was slightly cloudy but much better than the day and afternoon previous. We had planned to go to the chairlift but the concierge at the hotel was unsure and as such we moved our plans to visit Mitad del Mundo translating to "the middle of the world" and it’s nearby museum, the Museo Solar Intiñan instead, which is about 45mins out of town. It is quirky but a must do if visiting the region. It was a great few hours and then we decided to go to the chairlift! In the time it took to return to Quito the weather turned quite dramatically and the skies were filled with dark threatening clouds! At the last minute before the turn off, we made the decision to go to new town instead. This turned out to be a great decision because it bucketed down with rain while we drank margaritas in a Mexican restaurant, eating great food and listening to Australian songs being put on as background noise especially for us. This was something we found happened often. As soon as the bar found out we were Australian, they would turn off their local music and try to accommodate to what they believed was our taste in music. Such was it, that we were often the only customers! I don’t mind Spanish music, but that afternoon there was something pretty magical about being inside a Mexican bar in Ecuador listening to Australian music... perhaps it was simply the margarita’s!
After yet another restless night, I lay in bed wondering about my life decisions, whether to continue with our dive adventures and whether in fact to continue on as a marine conservationist. I have found it extremely draining being without the necessary funding support, being a woman in the Middle East who doesn’t speak Arabic and fighting for the protection of the marine environment. I could be much wealthier and have a much easier life if I perhaps took on a sustainability officer’s role instead of being the founder of a fledgling organisation that is only operational due to passionate volunteers. My nausea worsened. My husband thought I may have an ear infection and we decided to get some ear drops to help. This would eventually be beneficial, but my sinuses took a beating while the infection sorted itself out, and I started to worry that I was showing signs of contracting covid.
The following day we decided to do the chairlift come rain, hail or shine. I had had a terrible night tossing and turning feeling sick and experiencing painful moments with my ears, so when the curtains opened and the mountains were covered with clouds that you could hardly see the mountain at all, my heart sunk. My plans and hopes for this trip may as well be ripped up! I again shamelessly sulked and my mood didn’t lift when my husband took an hour phone call for work while I sat in silence contemplating everything over breakfast.
My thoughts on heading to the crater lake were also thrown in the bin given the weather conditions and the six hour drive just to get there and back! But what were we to do? Stay in the hotel room all day? We did the chairlift despite the weather and it delivered exactly what we expected! Foggy views. But I swung over Quito on the well placed swing anyway and imagined another time and place. Luckily we had Mashpi to look forward to I thought.
I just needed to get through the PCR test we had planned for the following day. It was yet again another nauseous restless night.
Mashpi
The hotel agreed to store our luggage while we visited the rainforest. We hadn’t packed adequately, but we we getting out the city of Quito. The booking for Mashpi had been confirmed the afternoon prior. We just needed the laboratory taking the PCR test to arrive on time. And they did thanks to the eagle eye of the concierge who noted that the test was booked for 29 May not April at 8am which he rectified for us and asked them to come 15 minutes earlier.
Not only that, the sun was shining above the mountains on what was an extremely clear morning, taunting us. Good riddance I thought. The clouds had rolled in by the time the chair lift opened, so I didn’t feel too bad.
From the moment the driver from Mashpi collected us, again on time, we knew we were going to somewhere special. It would take us three and a half hours to get there, but what a journey it is traveling through the forests and villages of Quito. I actually felt like I could breathe normally and deeper again, with the nausea easing by halfway through the trip. Eventually we would get to the reserve where the Mashpi lodge is situated. The gate opens and you drive another 20 minutes before getting to the accommodation. We were greeted with welcoming drinks and smiles, an orientation and a general feeling of being somewhere pretty unique. There was excitement in the air and for the first time since sitting in the salon on the Galápagos Sky, I felt like we were about to embark on a magical adventure. This was helped by the fact we were upgraded and then treated to an amazing lunch surrounded by the sounds and the beauty of the forrest. Our room had a 180 degree view of the rainforest, and after our scrumptious lunch, it started to lightly rain, providing the natural sounds for a peaceful sleep.
I was awakened to the sounds of my husband urging me to get ready for our first adventure in the rainforest; a ride in the sky above the rainforest on cables and a visit to the observation deck! I looked outside and it was teeming with rain! I looked at my husband as though he was raving MAD, but he was gearing up. The adventure would be called off surely I thought! Nope. We were provided with thick long ponchos and rubber boots and met with our amazing guide Santiago. Off we went hiking, and for a short while it was fine, but as we climbed the stairs to the sky bike, my jeans started to get wet ... and then they were soaked from my knees down! Those boots weren’t stopping the rain from entering them either!! Not only that, I then had to peddle a bike which pretty much meant that you couldn’t see a dry patch anywhere on my jeans despite the poncho. The rain was so bad that our guide cancelled the observation tower component of our adventure! I hated every minute. But the photos taken by Santiago show a face I have never seen before; a glowing smiling face of my husband who like a kid is having the time of his life. These photos were worth everything and I will cherish them forever. By 7pm the rains had let up and I was taken on my first ever night walk through the forrest finding all sorts of frogs and insects. I absolutely loved this component of our stay, which was followed by another amazing meal at the lodge. That evening, we were notified of our seventh negative PCR test for this trip, meaning we would be able to get home with only two more tests to do. I breathed heavily. it was the first time I had been truly worried of having caught the lurgy that has such a tight grip on the world, particularly in South America.
Another highlight of our trip included a five hour walk to and from a waterfall! With water temperatures around 21 degrees it was a refreshing welcome after hours of hiking in the rain and cloud forrest. Such were our days, and with every step, I felt refreshed and renewed, but not only that, inspired and motivated to continue on my path of marine conservation. For over three years I have been trying to establish a marine conservation base, but it has felt like a burden and heavy of late, without a clear direction on the way forward. Mashpi Lodge and the guides have shown me that we need a base in which to undertake our activities. A ship would be ideal, but perhaps a temporary base to begin with.
Our holiday had been saved. And not only that, on our second night walk, I saw for the first time, an endemic male Mashpi frog. I fell head over heels in love, later finding out from Santiago that he only lives for around six months! My love affair was a brief one; a spiny iguana was eyeing my love and we quickly left before I could find out his fate. Such is nature and the wonders of Mashpi Lodge! The areas we were walking were once earmarked for logging, until a conservationist bought the land and not only restored it, but has created a five star adventure to raise the awareness of the importance of the forest and its wildlife. And though I can not purchase a part of the ocean, I can bring its wonders to the people through a range of excursions.
Mashpi means Guardians of the Water. It’s time for me to create a similar initiative with Azraq (Arabic for Blue). We need guardians around the world!
Our journey back home
As expected, the Netherlands continued its travel ban from South America so we had made the right decision all along to change the flight. As it happens, our change would see us enter Colombia via Bogota. Sadly due to curfew our friend couldn’t even meet us at the airport. Due to a broken zip on my suitcase and safety issues, I had decided to buy luggage straps and a neon yellow sock cover to keep everything together. Apparently this is a bright flashing light to the Colombian Police which picked this bag out from hundreds to investigate. Being paged just before my flight to report to the airport lounge counter, I was escorted to a small room two levels up from the lounge where I was met with five male police officers advising me that they wished to inspect my bag. Only one of the officers spoke English as I tried to advise them the reasoning for the cover and straps was a broken zipper. My explanation was lost in translation as they gestured for me to open the suitcase. Not wanting to upset the Colombian Police, I shut my mouth and just did what I was told.
I was then asked to step back a step as they underwent their very thorough investigation of my bag. For fifteen long minutes, I stood thinking of Shapelle Corby and praying that I hadn’t somehow fallen prey to some drug scheme. I was after all in the area well known for drug trafficking. Fortunately the torturous minutes were over when the police officer gave me a nod and I was then urged to help him do up the bag! This was when it had dawned on them the reason for my earlier protests. After laughing for a few moments as we stumbled our way to close the suitcase (which my husband had done with ease previously) - I was quickly escorted back to the lounge where boarding had already finalised. We were the last ones to board! It was then off to Paris for a 21 hour layover where we realized that the UAE Government had just changed the law so that instead of a 10 day home quarantine, we would only need to do five. In Abu Dhabi, we eventually climbed into our own bed, GPS trackers on our wrists like you would see on criminals undertaking house arrest. Our holiday experience was over.
What an adventure!
