Stevens Family Calendar: April

This is part of a series about the Stevens Family Calendar (if you know, you know).

Incredible nature

Our big trip in 2023 was a tour of Ecuador with friends Don and Jenny. 

The cover

Too many photos. Too much to cover. 

Originally, I devoted two calendar pages to the trip, but I had to pull back. 

That's how the Many-banded Aracari and lots of Ecuador photos ended up on the covers and in the opening segment. 

The cover has six photos and, although we saw so many great things on mainland Ecuador, five of the six are from Galapagos. So, let's break it down.

Dramatic

The big photo is, obviously, a Blue-footed Booby. This was my main target bird for Galapagos, despite the fact that, unlike many other birds there, it can be found elsewhere. It's such an iconic bird. The shot I picked is special because I almost didn't get it. 

I pulled this for the calendar, but didn't use it

After hiking and snorkeling in Tintoreras Bay on Isabela Island, our group headed back to the dock. Because I was anticipating having to get out of the boat with all my gear, I had just stowed my camera with the long lens when our guide spotted a Blue-footed Booby perched on a nearby rock. 

I exasperatedly declared that I didn’t have my lens out and our guide – bless him – said the boat would wait. What I ended up with were my favorite shots of the entire day.

Other shots we didn't use

Also featured, for their color, are a bright-red Sally Lightfoot Crab and a bright-pink Galapagos Flamingo, both photographed on Isabela Island.

Nature is amazing

Of course, we had some other choices ...

The ultimate Flamingo decision had to do with how close to crop ...

... as did the Crab decision

This is a Santa Cruz Giant Tortoise

No Galapagos page could not have a photo of a Giant Tortoise, which drove the selection of the one on the left. 

We saw quite a few Galapagos Giant Tortoises representing multiple subspecies, including captive ones at a Tortoise breeding center on Isabela Island and free-roaming ones at a sanctuary on Santa Cruz Island.

We featured one in the calendar opening and had another one (of hundreds we took) that was considered, but not used.

One from the breeding center used in the opening and one from the sanctuary

I also had these nice Green Sea Turtle from Isabela, but didn't include it because
August was going to feature a Green Sea Turtle in Hawai'i

The main page has a photo taken from above looking down on a narrow canal filled with White-tipped Reef Sharks with two Galapagos Sea Lions swimming on the surface.

That was an absolutely magical sight and I took lots and lots of photos

I preferred the one with the Sea Lions to this one

Using the one with the Sea Lions squeezed this little cutie out

And, finally, Iguanas! They are everywhere in Ecuador.

Left, a Green Iguana in Guayaquil on the mainland used on this page; Right, Marine Iguanas
on Isabela Island; Top used on the calendar page, bottom on the cover

A Green Iguana in Guayaquil that was on the back cover; this crop is better; Photo: Scott Stevens

A pile of Green Iguanas in Guayaquil that we didn't use; Photo: Scott Stevens

The calendar page gives us a little more insight into this colorful trip.

The lone photo in the upper right is of a Giant River Otter, one of the coolest animals we saw on the trip (you can read about them here). A group lived in the lake at the Sacha Lodge, where we stayed in Amazonia, and they gave us quite a show.

We used the one in the middle, but we had so many good ones;
Lower left, upper and lower right photos: Scott Stevens

I had hoped to see lots of critters up close like I did in Costa Rica, but we didn't see many. Still there were enough to include.

I used the photo of the squirrel Monkeys in the middle; we also saw Red Howler Monkeys,
left and right, that didn't make the calendar

Despite loving how this photo of a Brown-throated Sloth taken at the Sacha Lodge
shows both jungle and wildlife, we just couldn't fit it in

The Black Caiman on the left was in, but there was no room for the
Yellow-spotted Amazon River Turtle from the same pond; Right photo: Scott Stevens

A bird that made it on the calendar, simply because it is so funky, was the Hoatzin, which I photographed right by the Sacha Lodge. 

I used the one on the right, but also really like the other two

This Snail Kite, also right by the Sacha Lodge, was in the running, but got edged out

These Birds from Galapagos – Magnificent Frigatebirds, a Galapagos Dove
and a Lava Gull – were considered, but not used

The Opal-crowned Tanager on the left was featured; The Masked Tanager and Chestnut-eared Aracari on the right weren't

Multiple photos from Ecuador showed up in other sections of the calendar. Below are some; you'll see others on the June page, which focuses on birds, flowers, bugs and butterflies.

A Ecuadorian rose, the Basilica of San Francisco in Quito and
Mealy Parrots on the Napo River from the opening section

A sunset and ocean scene from Galapagos and a canoe fromAmazonia from the back cover

A Pacific White-spotted Eagle Ray and an Isabela Lava-Lizard from the Galapagos Islands

Flowers from Guayquil, fruits from Otavalo and a Galapagos Sulphur Butterfly from Isabela Island

I had a couple more that we didn't include.

On either side, flowers in Guayaquil and more Galapagos Sulphur Butterflies

In the calendar, we like to show landscapes and architecture in the places we visit. 

Magnificent

Both Ecuador and Galapagos certainly had some beautiful places with lots of variety: jungle, beaches and mountains. But, we managed to get only one Ecuadorian location into the calendar: it's not the greatest photo, per se, but it is interesting because it illustrates the magnificence of the kapok trees that tower above the the rest of the jungle. 

It was more meaningful to me because Scott and I grew up near a famous (and somewhat rare) kapok tree in Florida.

Unfortunately, I left a lot of pretty landscapes and cityscapes on the proverbial cutting room floor.

Scenes from a cacao farm in Guayaquil; Left and center photos: Scott Stevens

Amazonian jungle scenes; Upper left and upper right photos: Scott Stevens

More jungle scenes; Lower left and right photos: Scott Stevens

Variety: The Andes at sunrise, the beach in Galapagos and a beautiful hillside and inn near Quito; the far right is a small square on the back cover

Another view of the Basilica of San Francisco in Quito and the Metropolitan Cathedral in Guayaquil;
Right photo: Scott Stevens

The interior of the Basilica of San Francisco

An art nouveau ceiling in Guayaquil; Photos: Scott Stevens

And, finally, the calendar needs color and Ecuador delivers on that as you can see from the photos above. I had pulled a lot of photos from the markets we visited in Coca and Otavalo.

I love them all and used the spices in the middle

I wish I had had more room for Ecuador, but there are only 12 months. But, you can read about our trip and see more starting here.

Next, we'll talk about a completely different place.

Coming up: the desert southwest; This shot from Big Bend National park appears on the back cover

Heading Home

Arriving in Ushuaia aboard the G Expedition

That afternoon we started heading north toward the Drake Passage. We put on our seasickness patches in anticipation of a potentially rougher trip than the relatively smooth trip down.

There had been talk of a storm heading that way and I think the captain was trying to outrun it. 

There were clouds, but, south of the Drake was pretty calm; Photos: Scott Stevens

Our route swung wider than the “downhill” trip and we started by passing a number of huge icebergs, a nice farewell to the subpolar region.

These were unbelievably massive; Photo: Scott Stevens

Watch it here.

We marveled at the scenery in the sunlight. 

Can you even??? Photo: Scott Stevens

Amazing!!!! Photo: Scott Stevens

I spent some time on deck photographing the Cape Petrels that became more numerous as we moved north.

You can see the swells picking up

I even got a new bird: a White-chinned Petrel

At this point, it had been five days since our COVID diagnosis. We retested ourselves and Scott was negative. I still tested positive, but apparently I am one of those people who test positive even after the contagious period has passed. 

We got hot food again! Photo: Scott Stevens

So, we were released from quarantine and allowed among the living again. I still had the cough and congestion, so I tried not to get too close. But, the trip was almost over and we hadn’t really had much of a chance to make friends.

It turns out that we did successfully outrun the storm and our Drake Passage was just slightly rougher than the first one (maybe a 3 of 10). Yay! 

See Scott's video here.

Beagle Channel

The two days going north were uneventful. Then, when we reached the Beagle Channel on our last day at sea, I stayed on deck trying to catch glimpses of Sei Whales (no luck there) or any of the birds that I didn’t see on the way out.

Lighthouse and a Kelp Gull with Chile in the background

This really underscored my regret that I didn’t take a Beagle Channel cruise from Ushuaia on that free morning (or as an add-on to our Tierra del Fuego tour). The place is bird paradise.

Of course, there were Black-browed Albatrosses (a fellow traveler saw a Wandering Albatross right before I got on deck, but it never came back).

A very common bird in the Beagle Channel

We saw Magellanic Penguins on a very distant beach and lots and lots of Blue-eyed Shags (now Imperial Cormorants again). 

So many birds that I didn't even know to look for on the way out

I heard that we passed Rock Cormorants as well, but I couldn’t find any with my eyes (not reliable) or my camera (more reliable).

At this point, the ship was being escorted through the Beagle by a harbor pilot, so there was no slowing, turning or getting closer to shore.

The escort approaches

I also saw a huge colony of South American Terns ...

They covered the island

... plus a big haul-out of South American Sea Lions ...

And, they covered this island

It was a beautiful sunny day, so, even though everything was so far away, it was fun to stand on deck and try to get some photos.

Coming into Ushuaia; Photo: Scott Stevens

Homeward Bound

We actually docked in Ushuaia on the evening of the 11th even though departure was on the 12th. I guess that gives you time in case the crossing is rough.

Ushuaia from the ship; Photo: Scott Stevens

Some people went into town after the ship’s farewell dinner that we did get to attend (Hot food! Company! Wine!), but we had already seen what you can see in Ushuaia. And, unlike our time in Ushuaia before departure, it was chilly and very, very windy.

So, we stayed and packed and looked at town from a different perspective.

Ushuaia from the ship with Kelp Gulls in the foreground

The next morning, we disembarked, hung out for awhile ...

Final morning in Ushuaia

... and were then bused to the Ushuaia airport for our flight to Buenos Aires. 

Taking off from Ushuaia to Buenos Aires

It was so crazy windy at the airport, I thought we’d be delayed, but I guess they are used to wind there.

It was a bit rough, but beautiful, as we flew out

Heading to Buenos Aires

This time, we did not stay overnight in Buenos Aires. Instead I had booked a shuttle between airports for our late evening trip home.

I made a stupid American error that, fortunately, had no bad outcome. I thought I booked the shuttle for 5:30 p.m. (and did include my flight number, so ...). Anyway, everywhere but the US that would be 17:30, so I was on the books for 5:30 in the morning. They took us anyway.

 

To the clerk’s credit, he didn’t even roll his eyes at me even though I deserved it

The trip between airports should take about an hour. Since it was rush hour, I anticipated a bit longer. I wasn’t paying close attention until I realized we hadn’t moved at all in ages. Apparently, there was an accident ahead of us that was slowing all traffic and has completely blocked bus traffic (the bus lane has high concrete walls, so we couldn’t change lanes). Just at the point I started to fear we might not make our flight, we finally started moving.

The airport was a zoo. Long lines to check in. Long lines to go through immigration. Very little place to sit and wait.

But, on the bright side, after our flight to Buenos Aires, Scott was miserable (as he always in after a flight). I just didn’t want the trip back to be as miserable, so I spent an extra $800 to upgrade us to Business Class. 

Good call!

We had private cubicles with beds and meals and general comfort all around. Scott said he slept; the first time ever on a plane! Now, we’re spoiled.

In fact, it was so nice that I barely noticed how late we were taking off. When we arrived at DFW, we realized that making our connection to Colorado Springs was doubtful. 

That’s not a huge deal because when you’re that close, who cares? And, we could alway chill in Dallas before catching a later flight. Still, it would be nice to get home.

Passport Control was a breeze (with GOES, you hardly have to stop walking), but waiting for our bags so that we could wheel them 100 feet to put them back on another conveyor belt took forever.

When we finally got the bags settled, we had to hightail it to another terminal and we reached the plane seconds before the door closed. We were last on, which wasn’t too bad since we were in first class (part of our upgrade). One bag made it. Two got delivered to our house 12 hours later.

The most amusing part about coming home was that the coldest temperatures we encountered in Ant-freaking-arctica was 33°F. It was -9°F at home. 

Yep, colder than the coldest place on Earth

Sure, it was winter at home and summer in Antarctica. But, still.

A few days after we got home, we got a trip log from G Adventures outlining specifics about the trip and providing some photos from Ship Photographer Sheeren Mroueh.

Good stuff

That would come in handy as we processed and sorted the thousands of photos we took. I always try, when traveling, to download and identify. But, I always end up with a few photos that I can't identify.

Scott taking photos

I told you at the beginning that G Adventures provides a rough itinerary, but no specific details because the trip is so dependent on weather and ice. Now, that we are back, I can show you where we went (ignore their spelling!).

Despite missed meals, airport delays, a cough, a cold and COVID, it was a magnificent trip. I would go again in a heartbeat. Probably won’t, but I would!

Unbelievable!!!!

Trip date: December 30, 2023  - January 12, 2024