Galápagos- a Departure into Unknown Lands

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"The gladdest moment in human life, me thinks, is a departure into unknown lands."

Sir Richard Burton




The goal for this year long trip as a whole was to find cool places to hang out as a family, rather than sightseeing. Therefore, we have mostly visited places we've been before, not wanting to make ourselves crazy by rushing around seeing something new every few days. When we made the decision to leave Indonesia early to fit in The Galápagos Islands, we were definitely excited. Not only are the Galápagos one of those legendary places you hear about but never think you'll go, but they are also completely new for both Scott and I.



If you're like me, you probably think the Galápagos are a set of uninhabited islands in the middle of the Pacific, with nothing on them except the comical blue footed booby birds and the famous giant tortoises. To visit them, I thought, you had to shell out mucho dollars for a live-aboard boat trip. Nothing could be further from the truth. I was surprised to read about towns of up to 12,000 people on several islands, complete with numerous hotels, restaurants, and dive shops. This isn't necessarily the Galápagos you see on the National Geographic channel, but it's reality, and it provides a more affordable way to see the Islands. Not cheap, by any stretch of the imagination, just not as outrageous as most people think.



A two hour flight from Quito and we were landing at the tiny Baltra airport. After collecting our bags, we jumped onto a free shuttle bus which took us the ten minute journey to the ocean crossing. Along the way we were excited to see two large iguanas beside the road. Once loaded onto the boat, it was another quick ten minute ride to Santa Cruz Island, our home for the foreseeable future. We jumped into a waiting taxi truck and were soon speeding our way past cactuses to the main town of Puerto Ayora, where we checked into our hotel.



The next day we stayed local and just explored the town. We were delighted to find a children's playground right on the front overlooking the ocean. While the kids played, we could watch the red Sally Lightfoot crabs and the lava lizards scramble over the rocks below, and keep an eye out for sea lions, rays and turtles in the water by the pier.



Later that day, we also made another fantastic discovery. Above the supermarket there was a restaurant with amazing views over the harbor. You could eat while watching sea lions and rays swimming below, it was much more affordable that the touristy restaurants on the front, but the best part was that it had a decent kiddies' play area. We ended up eating at least half of our meals there, including Kyla's 5th birthday celebration.



Then we had a couple of unfortunate mishaps. That night, while walking across our hotel room in the dark, I bumped into something and burst open my lip. Ouch! I guessed Scott would be the one diving until it healed up. But then he had his mishap. One of his teeth started to hurt and, to cut a long story short, he ended up having to go to the dentist in town on several occasions to complete a root canal. I ended up being the one to start diving first, but I'll save the diving details for a blog of its own.



Our second day in the Galápagos was Kyla's 5th birthday. We decided to start checking off some of the touristy things, and began by making the trek to the famous Tortuga Bay. This is a beach that can only be reached by a 2.5km trail. Given that the start of the trail was a 15 minute walk from our hotel, we figured that the chances of getting the kids to walk there without a whole lot of whining was basically nil, so we took the double stroller (which we'd borrowed from a friend back home specifically for this trek. Thank you, Jenna!) There were seventy five stone steps at the start of the trail, which was a challenge, and the path thereafter was much more hilly than we'd expected so it was definitely a workout!



Tortuga Bay turned out to be a huge white sand beach, but swimming is not allowed due to the strong rip currents. We turfed the kids out of the stroller and walked along the beach, dragging the stroller behind, to find Manza Beach. This is a smaller bay sheltered by mangroves, making it safe to swim. Along the way we were excited to find dozens of marine iguanas sunning themselves on the sand. The Galápagos are the only place in the world where marine iguanas live!



We spent a fun couple of hours playing at Manza beach, but Scott and I were a little disappointed. We'd read that there'd be sharks, rays, turtles and marine iguanas swimming, but Scott tried a snorkel and saw nothing, and everyone else reported the same. We couldn't help but wonder what all the hype around Tortuga Bay was about.



It wasn't until about a week later that we figured it out. We decided to give Tortuga Bay another try and it started out the same: a long hard trek followed by watching marine iguanas sunning themselves on the beach and then playtime at Manza Beach. On the way back, however, we finally discovered the magic of Tortuga. We'd stopped on the lookout point to watch some marine iguanas swimming in the sizable waves below, and Scott noticed that one of them was heading to some rocks that led into a huge sheltered tide pool. We quickly ran down to it and were instantly hooked. The iguana swam right across it and out onto the beach. When another one followed behind, Scott and I wasted no time in putting on our mask and snorkels to watch it swimming along gracefully. We'd been wanting to swim with iguanas since arriving so were delighted to finally get the chance. Over the course of the next couple hours, several more marine iguanas made their way across the tide pool, swimming right between the groups of people that had now gathered, much to everyone's delight. Beside iguana crossings there were also about three or four baby reef sharks swimming around to keep us entertained. I was so proud of Kyla when she put on her mask to see the sharks. She later told me, "I wasn't even scared, and I didn't even cry!" Jake wasn't as sure, but he let me carry him into the pool so that he could peer down into the clear water to see it. Whenever his feet accidentally touched the water, though, he was quick to lift them up!



Over the course of our first week or so, we slowly popped off the rest of the must-see tourist attractions. One of these is the Charles Darwin Research Station, which was a little disappointing to be honest as all of the giant tortoises were in enclosures, more like a zoo than a "real" encounter. Luckily, a few days later we visited El Chato ranch, and got to wander around finding the giant tortoises in a huge reserve. The kids really liked this. Also at this location were long lava tunnels that you could walk through.



A short walk out of town was the Laguna de las Ninfas, a small lagoon with a boardwalk where you were supposed to be able to see baby sharks, rays etc. We didn't see anything, but maybe we need to give it another try, just like Tortuga Bay.



The final sightseeing excursion was a short 80 cent boat ride to Playa de Alleman (German Beach) and Las Grietas. It was cloudy so we skipped past the beach to Las Grietas, a rock crevice where you can snorkel and where the brave used to jump in from the cliffs above (jumping is now banned). Kyla and I went in to try a snorkel but she instantly wanted to get out when she felt the water temperature! I did a quick snorkel but soon concluded there wasn't much to see. Still, it was a fun little swimming spot. Several days later we got our first completely sunny day and got to spend a lovely beach afternoon on Playa de Alleman, sunning ourselves while watching rays and marine iguanas swim past.



When you get to know a place by staying longer than the average tourist, you get to find the places that don't always make the guidebook. A trip to the fish market was always a lively treat as there were dozens of hungry pelicans trying to catch a scrap, plus a sea lion or two. Another fun discovery was the pier after dark. The water below is lit up, which attracts hundreds of baby black tip sharks. It was so fun to watch them practicing their hunting skills on the fish. A ray or a sea lion would often be added to the mix, too.



We also did a few things that were completely un-touristy. We found another playground hidden several streets back from the front. The kids loved the zip line (we don't have them in America!) and there was even a bounce house on weekends. Also on weekends was the "caterpillar train." It is basically a car dressed up as a cartoon caterpillar which pulls along about four caterpillar carriages behind it while blaring our South American pop music. For less than the price of a beer, the whole family can take a 20 minute somewhat hair raising ride around town. Finally, there was the carnival at the Thomas de Berlanger school. This was fairly similar to school carnivals at home, with face painting and bake sales, but it had a few Ecuadorian twists, such as the game involving betting on a live hamster!



All in all, we've had a good three weeks in Puerto Ayora, but we have definitely "done" it and it's time to move on. Scott is doing a last dive today while I do the playgrounds with the kids yet again, and then the next day we head to a new island, Isla Isabella. I wonder if there will be a caterpillar train?!



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