A presentation of my trip to South America.

1. My Trip to the Galapagos
Islands and Machu Picchu
Chris Aloia, 11/10/17 - 11/24/17

2. Dave and me at the
Hartsfield-Jackson
Atlanta International
Airport.
We haven’t seen
each other since
the late 90s.

3. El Panecillo - Bread Loaf Hill - emerges with the
aluminum statue of the Virgin of Quito in all of its 134 1/2 feet
high from the south side of Quito Colonial.
The hill itself rises at 9,900 feet or 3,016 meters above sea
level.
In 1976 this monument emerged with a replica of the
sculpture created of 7,000 pieces of aluminum, the largest of
its kind in the world.
The only figure in the world of the Virgin with wings...she
comes to us from the 18th century inspired by the description
of her in the Book of the Apocalypse.
“Shungoloma” is the original name given in Quichua, which
means "hill of the heart." How fitting that the Spanish claimed
it for the Immaculate Heart of Mary!

5. Fruit seller in Quito. There
were so many tropical fruits,
like cacao, guava, bread fruit,
bananas, plantains and many
more.

7. Christopher Columbus statue in Quito

10. Picture of the Andes from our Hotel
in Quito

11. Andes in Ecuador

12. Choclo, is
a large
kernel corn
found in
South
America

13. Chicha Morado, a
fermented purple corn drink
mixed with apples

14. We visited:
Seymour,
Bartholomew,
Rabida, San
Cristobal, Santa
Cruz, and Genovesa

16. Our Ship for the next 6 days, the Santa Cruz II

17. Some other ships

18. A Sea Lion that
was playing in
the water while I
swam feet away.

19. Volcanic ring from
an ancient Volcano

20. Red beach on Rabida Island. That was
the only island we were allowed to
wander free. I finally got to do tai chi
on one of the islands. I also got a
pretty bad burn.

21. Land Iguana
about 2ft. long

22. One of the many boat tours we would go on.

24. Darwin’s toilet!

25. Sea Turtles

26. This island was
known as black
lava beach
because of the
Volcanic
formations. The
sea lions loved.

27. A sea lion that was
either abandoned
or his mother died.
When that happens
typically the sea
lion will die.

28. On the other hand, this guy
was quite a showman. He
came right up to me to be
petted. Unfortunately, we
were not permitted to touch
any animals.
Although, that rule impaired
our experience, the rational
is a good one. It keeps the
animals relaxed and when
people visit the animals are
not bothered by people.

32. I highly recommend carrying
a shemagh. It came in handy
when for wind and sun
protection!

33. Nazca Booby and Blue-Footed Booby

34. You have heard of the blue
footed booby but I think the
red footed booby is much
cooler!

37. Bartolome Island was totally lifeless
and
felt like Mars

38. You can see how well adapted this Owl is to its
environment

39. On One Island Everything was covered with bird poop!

40. These Galapagos
turtles can live up to
300 years old.
The word
Galapagos is
actually a Spanish
word for a lady’s
horseback saddle.
When the spanish
saw the turtles they
said it looked like
that.

41. Our group was
aptly named, the
Boobies! It never
ceased to make us
laugh.

42. Our Naturalist Guides, Fatima and Paula

43. Charles Darwin Statue on San
Cristobal Island. The last day of our
7 day trip in Ecuador and the
Galapagos Islands.
When you go from island to island,
you see each different micro-
environment is a perfect natural
experiment that shows you how
Darwin was able to see how natural
selection works.
Each island was far enough from the
other to not allow for breeding,
humans didn’t inhabit the islands. So
each animal adapted to its specific
habitat.

44. I would come up to this deck every morning at 6:00am
and do Tai Chi. Tai Chi helped me with motion
sickness. I didn’t get it bad but it was enough to make
me take dramamine, which helped tremendously.

45. Lima, a beautiful cosmopolitan city
on the pacific ocean

46. A visit to a Franciscan church.
We went to a library that was
300 years old and contained a
bible from the 1300’s. It
looked like a scene from Harry
Potter.
That same church had
catacombs, where the
Franciscans buried 75000
bodies. The people who died
paid to be buried to be close
to god, and when the
Franciscans ran out of room
they exhumed the older
bodies and tossed them in a
pile.

47. Ollantaytambo was
the royal estate of
Emperor Pachacuti
who conquered the
region

48. This is the Machu Picchu Pueblo or town that
supported the tourist industry.

49. Dave and I finally
at Machu Picchu

51. Intihuatana is a ritual stone in South America
associated with the astronomic clock or
calendar of the Inca. Its name is derived from
the local Quechua language. The most notable
Intihuatana[1] is an archaeological site located
at Machu Picchu[2] in the Sacred Valley near
Machu Picchu, Peru. The name of the stone
(coined perhaps by Hiram Bingham) is derived
from Quechua: inti means "sun", and wata- is
the verb root "to tie, hitch (up)" (huata- is
simply a Spanish spelling). The Quechua -na
suffix derives nouns for tools or places. Hence
inti watana is literally an instrument or place to
"tie up the sun", often expressed in English as
"The Hitching Post of the Sun".[3]

52. On the Summer Solstice, Sunlight enters that window and lights up a
part of the ceremonial rock

53. When you place a compass on
this stone, it aligns with magnetic
north.

54. Intipunko is the sun gate.
The Incas built a structure to mark the
area where the Sun rises. During the
summer and winter solstices the light
enters a window facing east in the sun
temple (bottom left). Intipunko is
almost 1000 ft higher than Machu
Picchu.
Easily one of the most worthwhile
hikes I have ever done.
I would love to come back and do tai
chi during the solstice.

55. This is the temple of the
condor. The Incas placed
their dead here, embalmed
and tied in a fetal position.
This is where their souls
were taken to the cosmos
to be one.

56. I walked to the
spot where my
finger is pointing.
Intipunko is where
the sun rises.

57. Llamas live on
Machu Picchu
but they were
introduced in
the modern era

61. Machu Picchu is in the red circle.
I ask a fellow traveler to film me
doing the Tai Chi form. I consider
it part of a fun life adventure to do
Tai Chi in sacred sites around the
world.

62. Over 4,000 varieties of
native potatoes grow in the
Andean highlands of Peru,
Boliva, and Ecuador. well
adapted to the harsh
conditions that prevail in the
high Andes, at altitudes
ranging from 3,500 to 4,200
meters.
They love french fries!

63. Not only do they
make sweaters
from Alpaca, it is
also on the menu.
It is quite chewy
but it tasted like
beef.

64. Sea bass Ceviche in “leche de tigre” and pisco sours!

65. Cuy- pronounced “Cooie,” guinea pig. It
tasted like squirrely chicken.

67. After 14 days away from the USA we are
heading back.