Finding Freedom...World Wide Ride

Hey thanks

It's mostly for us as a journal of the trip, but i'm sure glad you are enjoying the report. We like going back and looking at the reports. Surprisingly there were no mosquitos at all. I had heard this from several others who were in the jungle. I did not talk to anyone who went more than a few days trekking though. They have huge eradication programs here i think mostly begause of dengue.


Off to Peru today.


Sara

Headed back to Quito over the mountains it was 10 degrees and then poured rain for about 20 min. We were lucky because about an hour after we arrived it REALLY started to rain, like build an ark rain. We stored the bikes away with Diego at Mariscal Motors and packed up a few things for a trip to the Galapagos. We managed to get an unreal deal on a first class boat. The other option is to fly to San Cristobal Island and book there. The deals are even better on the island especially if you can be flexible on dates. Last minute spots are listed on www.galapagoscruiselinks.com

After a sleepless night worrying we would sleep in and miss the flight, we were a bit tired to start the day. First there is the 60 min drive to the new Quito airport to which they have yet to complete the road. Luckily there was no line at the tourist office where you must pay 10$ each for a tourist card. Then you have your luggage screened to make sure you have no fruits or plants. Last you check in for boarding. There is a short flight to Guayaquil to exchange some passengers and then a 2 ½ hour flight to San Cristobal Island. Flying in there is nothing but ocean for 1000km and then you finally spot land.


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Just before landing they open all the luggage bins and spray some sort of disinfectant. It is a bit weird, but required by the park service. They did not however spray the hand luggage under the seats.


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After landing you pass thru passport screening and then pay 100$ each for park entry. Nationals pay 6.50$. Our guide Walter met us at the airport.


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The animals even in town at the docks are everywhere. We had a short ride to the boat, lunch and a safety briefing. We did take this seriously since our crew rescued a boatload of people 5 weeks ago when their wood boat hit a rock at 1 am and sank.


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loving the RR even more! We miss you guys. Hope all is rolling well now. :

Thanks! The bike is running great. We appreciate all the help from you guys at Ecuador Freedom Motorcycle!

I sent our friend Orvar from Sweden to Diego to mount his tires.

So far Peru hmmmmm. Missiing Ecuador.

Sara

There's not much to see in Northwestern Perú. You need to cross over to the other side (east) of the first mountain region ASAP.

We miss you!

I know there are parts of Peru that are abysmally boring. But don't give up on it yet! I've been down there twice -once to go mountaineering in the Cordierra Blanca (climbed Artesanraju), and also Cusco (if you're visiting Machu Pichu).

These are beautiful regions, and Cusco is a wonderful city. Plan on spending time there!

We arrived in Trujillo yesterday and is nicer here and we vitited the Moche ruins. We will be on the coast road and headed to Santiago, but we will be back next year to Bolivia and south east Peru. Wow climbing! We want to go to the Solar and Machu Pichu in the dry season. The desolate landsacpe up north and the garbage are depressing. Thats for the pep talk.

Sara

This afternoon we bused it across the island to the Giant Turtle breeding center.


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That night we had a short and calm sail to Santa Fe. Here we walked the beach seeing sea lions, giant cactus, and land iguanas.


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The first snorkel was today and swimming with the sea lions is totally amazing. It’s like being in a tropical fish bowl.


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Coming back for lunch and a rest the boat has a following of frigate birds.


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The afternoon dinghy ride thru the mangrove got us up close to Turtles, Pelicans, and Blue Footed Boobies.


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galapagos santa fe 143 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

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Wow, great pics! Really like the underwater ones. Are you using a GoPro?

We both have base model contours, but Dans is a year newer and set for video. They are totally waterproof without a case. The battery lasts for days. They mount flush on the side of the helmet. We have shark ones that flip to the back so we can not use go pro.

Sara

During the night we had an uneventful sail to San Salvador Island and landed on Espumilla beach.


galapagos san salvadore 3 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr



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This is a brown sand beach where we saw turtle nests and sea turtles mating.

galapagos san salvadore 4 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

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There were several huge Galapagos hawks.

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There were the tracks of crabs in the sand and the tracks of sea turtles from their nests.

galapagos san salvadore 18 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

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We went snorkelling from the beach and saw dozens of turtles and one pair mating, which can take 6 hours by the way.



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Watching the birds fish was so fascinating. The pelicans hit the water like a belly flop, but the boobies dive in like an arrow.

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Daniel as usual was looking for something riskier than swimming with turtles and so he asked the Captain if they could jump from the top deck of the boat. The brave few did go for it.

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In the afternoon we went for a dinghy ride along the cliff to see many birds.

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We floated into a cave and were followed by a sea lion.

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After lunch we were in James Bay and went for a snorkel with lots of fish, sea lions, and turtles.

FILE2346 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

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Lastly today we went for a long walk on the lava to see hundreds of marine Iguanas and almost as many sea lions.

galapagos san salvadore 143 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

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Well done! If you had it to do over would you take the same bikes?

Both of us say yes for sure, but I'd not leave on a long journey on a BMW without a few key parts and a GS 911. The 911 saved us again today when Dan's bike would not start this morning in San Pedro de Atacama 1600 km from a BMW dealer. Dirt in the clutch actuator switch cleaned out and problem solved. Phew!

Sara & Daniel

indeed ... quite a few riders in my BMWRVI club complain about excessive maintenance costs and look over longingly at my beautiful black ST1300 .... :huh

others have simply gone V-Strom or whatever .....

Very true but these fit us well. Hard when your 5 ft and 6 ft 1. I have abnormally short legs I'm told at 27 inch inseam so I can't reach the ground on any other similar bike even lowered. Having the same bike really helps in the spares and parts dept too. I could have tried it on my TTR 125, but the weekly oil change would have killed me.

Flat footed on a F650GS and happy

Sp

Please don't start a bike reliability debate here. This is ride reports, not Beasts or GSpot. Dan and Sara had good reasons for taking the bikes they did, and they're out there riding them.

Now, back to the RR

Now, back to the RR [/QUOTE]

and an EXCELLENT RR , thank you SO much for this

I appreciate the info about the experiences they've had with their bikes. The bike is an intrinsic part of the journey. I'm looking at doing this same ride. And, because of what I've learned through Sara and Lou's experience (along with others) with the Bimmers, I'll likely be taking a V-strom.

However, I agree that there's a point where bike debates can "hijack" the report. Anyway, thanks Sara and Lou for your ongoing real-world experiences out there!

~Doug

Tonight we have an 8 hours sail to Genovesa Island in the north. It was sort of like trying to sleep in a washing machine.

galapagos genovasa 1 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr


The first walk of the day we went along the cliffs to see masses of Blue Footed, Red Footed, and Nazca Boobies, and Gulls and their babies.

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This is the Darwin finch that started it all. Darwin came to the Galapagos for 9 weeks when he was 23 years old. He noted the distinct differences between the same species on the different islands. Twenty five years later he published his origin of the species.

galapagos genovasa 2 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

The snorkel today was in poor visibility conditions, but there was still tons to see.


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In the afternoon we headed higher up the island onto the Cliffside.

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The birds are completely unafraid of you and they are everywhere.

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We spotted an owl and saw a Boobie feeding and defending her chick from a frigate bird.

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