A Week in Galapagos (February 2014)

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31 January 2014 – Friday – Guayaquil to Galapagos, Ecuador

Mid-morning flight to Galapagos. The taxi was 25 minutes’ late so that created some anxiety for us. It was raining. The flight was two hours and full of Swedish holiday makers heading for a Galapagos Cruise Tour and backpackers heading for the cheap hostels and white sand beaches. The plane lands on one small island, Baltra, and a local airline transit bus takes us to the ferry. A ten minute ferry ride costs 75 cents and lands us on the north end of Santa Cruz Island. Another bus transports us the length of the island to its capital, Puerto Ayora. Our home for the next three nights is a ground floor flat owned by a native of Galapagos, Aura, a young naturalist working for National Geographic. It is a modern and very comfortable apartment and she makes us feel very welcome. We settle in for a bit, unpack our clothes – only what we could fit in our backpacks for this trip, we left our suitcases in Guayaquil – and we go in search of food. We found a grocery store and Joan made some lunch and then we went out again to wander around the small town. It is very quaint and less tourist tacky than we had expected from a town whose main function is to cater to tourists. There are a lot of bars and restaurants and gift shops, travel companies (over 60) offering cruises and day trips to neighbouring islands. There are also a few dive shops offering certification after a couple days’ training. It is hot and humid, even in the evening, and we retire early.

1 February 2014 – Saturday, Port Ayoro, Galapagos, Ecuador

Up early and after a quick breakfast we are out the door! Our first stop is the Charles Darwin Research Station. Charles Darwin spent all of five weeks here in 1835. He took samples and notes and returned to England to analyse these over the years and twenty-four years later published his findings as the ‘Origin of Species’.

We were too late to see Lonesome George as he died in 2012. Lonesome George, a giant tortoise from the island of Pinta in the northern regions of the Galapagos Archipelago, was the last known survivor of the Pinta tortoise and was considered one of the rarest creature in the world and became a conservation icon. The Pinta tortoise was thought to be extinct in the early part of the 20^th century. Except for the absence of giant tortoises, the island was in near pristine condition until 1959, when fishermen released three goats there. Given the distance to Pinta from port, these fishermen simply wanted fresh meat on their long fishing voyages. The tiny goat population, however, exploded, and by 1970 it was estimated to be around 40,000. The goats had devastated the vegetation and had essentially eliminated any good tortoise habitat. Then in 1971, a Hungarian scientist studying snails on Pinta saw a tortoise on the island – Lonesome George. The hope was that a female Pinta tortoise would eventually be found – in one of the zoos around the world or perhaps even on Pinta – and Lonesome George would have a breeding partner. Despite extensive searches and genetic analyses of any potential Pinta tortoise found in zoos, none was located. Lonesome George was in relatively good health and his age was estimated at over 100 years old at the time of his passing.

But we did see a great many other giant tortoises at the centre. Each islands’ tortoises have distinctive markings and shapes and are separate, independent species; there are 20 endemic species in the islands of Galapgos. And they are absolutely incredible to view. (And they stink something fierce!) No matter how many television hours watching Discovery or National Geographic or even David Attenborough, nothing really prepares you for the thrill and wonderment and sense of awe to actually stand near one of these magnificent creatures. The tortoises at the research centre are in enclosures but they roam wild throughout the islands. As Aura told us: No one owns the tortoises; they own the islands. And it is the job of humans to ensure their safety and security.

The other indigenous animal we saw in great numbers are iguanas – both land and marine iguanas. They are equally fascinating creatures, like dinosaurs from the past to the present day. The marine iguanas are the only seafaring lizards in the world, having evolved to find food underwater in the form of nutritious coastal seaweed. They are black and can grow to over 3 meters in length and weigh up to 20 kilograms. In the afternoon we hiked into Tortuga Bay Beach and walked its length and passed at least 100 of these fierce looking but docile creatures. They hardly moved when we passed by and were quiet content to be photographed.

We met a young British teacher while walking the beach. She was volunteering on the island as an English teacher for 6 weeks. After that she was spending 6 months travelling in South America with a larger group. We chatted about our travelling experiences. We swam in the warm Pacific waters of the Mangrove Beach at the far end of Tortuga Bay and soaked up the sunshine – very close to paradise!

2 February 2014 – Sunday, Port Ayoro, Santa Cruz, Galapagos, Ecuador (Super Bowl Sunday)

This morning we walked around the Las Ninan Lagoon. The entire area is lava rocks and cactus and mangrove plants. In the afternoon we took a water taxi across to Finch Bay and then walked to Las Grietas. Laz Grietas is a fissure in the lava rock. The path to get there crosses through more mangrove along a crushed and lava rock path. At the base of the fissure is a deep stretch of cool seawater into which the daring youths of Galapagos jump from a height. It was very busy on the Sunday afternoon, as was the nearby beach where we relaxed for a couple of hours and met a couple of Darwin’s famous finches. The afternoon heat here is very intense and the sun burning. Most of the businesses close and the streets are empty of all people except a few hot visitors looking for a place to have a cold beer. After returning home for a quick shower and change of clothes, we went in search of a bite to eat and a place to watch the Superbowl. Disappointing food and disappointing football game! Early to bed – no one comes to Galapagos for the night life (and there is no jazz) – up early tomorrow as we are boating to another island, San Cristobal, at 7am.

Trip Advisor Review: The Rock Restaurant - We visited this restaurant to watch the Super Bowl and have an early dinner, as did about a dozen others. We had a hamburger and a chicken sandwich which were okay, nothing special. The seafood meals others had looked much nicer. The beer was cold and the Super Bowl dull. The staff were attentive when necessary and not bothersome when we had finished eating and drinking and just sat waiting for the Super Bowl to finish! Recommended.

3 February 2014 – Monday, Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, San Cristobal, Galapagos, Ecuador

We started the day with an early morning rise and a bumpy two hour ride in a small boat going hell-for-leather to the neighbouring island of San Cristobal. We arrived and found a hostal overlooking the harbour and while Joan recovered from the traumatic ordeal of our crossing, I explored the main town of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno. It is full of t-shirt and souvenir shops and tour agencies selling snorkelling and diving trips to various sites around the island. It is surprisingly rundown: houses in disrepair or dilapidation and much more litter than I would have expected from an ‘eco-tourism’-aware island. Some of the front yards and vacant lots are little more than sites for the collection of garbage. (We felt the same way about Port Ayoro in Santa Cruz.) The town centre roads are all perfectly paved with bicycle paths and brick sidewalks and benches. A few hundred meters inland and uphill, away from the main tourist area around the bay, however, up by the market and where the local lives, the road are pot-holed and the sidewalks broken or gravel only. This contrast disturbs and unsettles a little.

We spent the afternoon watching the sea lions around the bay. There are all sizes, from large and loud bulls to playful pups. They waddle on land, climb up the lava rocks and bask in the sunshine. The pups suckle and bawl loudly when separated from the mothers. They bark at each other a lot. And they stink! There is a boardwalk out over the water where they congregate and hang out. There are literally hundreds of them in front of the small hotel where we are staying. They are laying about everywhere: on the rocks, on the sand, on the streets, on the park benches, on the boardwalk. I took loads of photos, as did the many other western visitors wandering about and marvelling at them.

Trip Advisor Review: We had a wonderful dinner at Rosita’s. We both had shrimp dishes: both were pan fried; mine was ‘al la casa’ with a lovely garlic sauce and Joan’s were done in a coconut milk sauce. The restaurant played videos of Pop Bands and Singers like Heart, BJ Thomas (Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head) and Tony Orlando and Dawn (Tie a Yellow Ribbon...) – no jazz. The young waiter had perfect English and the service was attentive and friendly, until a tour of Germans arrived and took over all his attention. It took well over half an hour between the time our dinner plates were uplifted and we were asked if we wanted coffee or dessert. The food, however, was excellent and we would recommend this restaurant.

4 February 2014 – Tuesday, Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, San Cristobal, Galapagos, Ecuador

We woke this morning, early again, to the sound of barking. This morning, however, the barking was not that of dogs but of the sea lions.

We did some errands first thing this morning: breakfast of chocolate muffin and fresh squeeze papaya fruit drink; searched for a bakery for fresh bread for lunch sandwiches (bakeries don’t seem to be open on Tuesday mornings here. We noticed four of them yesterday during our stroll around town; all were closed this morning.); bought some seasickness pills for our return journey to Santa Cruz on the 6^th; found a loaf of bread in a mini-market; caught up on our internet stuff.

Next we went to the Interpretive Centre which had a well organized history of this archipelago on chronogically arranged information boards reflecting the troubled and turbulent past of the islands. The boards are filled with interesting facts and personal stories and photographs. Like Australia, Galapagos was originally a penal colony for the prisoners not wanted on the mainland of Ecuador.

It also here where we met Pepe. He is the Missionary Tortoise of the Galapagos Islands. Pepe grew up on San Cristobal island in the 1920s, in an era when it was common to take baby tortoises from their natural habitat and bring them home as pets. In 1959 the Galapagos National Park was formed and park officials rounded up all the domesticated tortoises they could find. All, that is, except Pepe, who was by then in the charge of Franciscan missionaries, who were allowed to keep him. Now he spends his days in an enclosure at the Research Center on San Cristobal island and that is where we met him. He followed me around as I walked beside the rock wall of his enclosure - just like a dog - it was surreal!

We spent a few hours on the beach at Playa Mann which was about a 15 minute walk on a paved pathway raised about the lava rocks and through small growth trees and cactus. There were half a dozen guys surfing. The small beach had less than half a dozen other people on it – and about a dozen sea lion moms with cubs. One of the sea lions came up out of the water and passed within a few feet of us, stopping frequently to look us over and roll herself around in the sand. After our encounter with the sea lion we walked along another pathway to the top of a hill for a nearly panoramic view of the island and the surrounding Pacific Ocean. It wasn’t a particularly tall hill but the view was still amazing. We watched the frigate birds that were nesting in the cliff side and gliding around in the sky near the observation deck. Far below was another small beach with only two people on it that we could see, and another statue of Darwin at the end of another pathway along the waterfront.

After our strange dinner at El Descano Marinero (subject of Trip Advisor Review already posted) we wandered slowly back to the hotel. It was just coming up to 9pm. The beach was now literally covered with hundreds of sea lions. Most were trying to sleep but a few of the younger males were looking for some action. We also spotted a school of about twenty small stingrays floating just beneath the surface of the water near the pier and watched them for a few minutes. We had also caught glimpses of a couple of large sting rays just off the beach earlier in the day. This is what Galapagos excels at: the close proximity with nature. The young Brazilian couple we met at dinner had spent the day snorkelling with hammerhead sharks. You can get very up close and personal with the wildlife here

Trip Advisor Review: Cevicheria El Descano Marinero. We arrived at this restaurant just before 8pm and were pushed to a table beneath a large screen television by a surly older man jaded by serving too many visitors over too many years. Our request to sit away from the television was met with a glare bordering on hostile. We should have left then, but the restaurant was rated number one here on Trip Advisor and we had reconnoitered it earlier in the afternoon and it had seemed eccentric and funky and the burly man who showed us the menus seemed keen to have us return. Just after we sat down at a large table where two young and friendly and English-speaking Brazilians were just finishing their meal, a party of six entered the restaurant and were refused admission and pushed back out onto the street; the restaurant had closed at 8pm. The gate was pulled firmly shut. Again, we both ordered shrimp dishes - one grilled and one with garlic sauce. They were accompanied with french fries and a salad. Wine was only sold by the bottle so we both just had sparkling water which was served in its plastic bottle with a napkin tied around it and no glass. The food was all good (but the shrimp were much better at Rosita's). Last to arrive, we were the last the leave. Our plates were taken as soon as we settled our cutlery onto them. There was no chance to ask about coffee or dessert. The lights were turned out before we had stepped back out onto the street. This was one of the strangest dining situations we have ever experienced. Go forewarned - and if you go, go early!

5 February 2014 – Wednesday, Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, San Cristobal, Galapagos, Ecuador

We had a back and forth morning; undecided about how to spend the day. We started off with breakfast at Mary’s Cafe again: fresh squeezed mango juice and a heated chocolate muffin for me; fried egg, fruit cup, toast and coffee for Joan. We talked about going into the center of the island to see more tortoises, or perhaps taking one of the day tours which includes the tortoises and also includes snorkelling, or going to another but different beach. After breakfast we inquired at one of the travel agencies but we were too late for their morning tour. We returned to the hotel to check our emails and discovered that our hoped for accommodation at Cuenca had fallen through so we had to spend another hour or so searching for a different place to stay during our forthcoming visit there. The time sped by and we decided to take a taxi to La Loberia, a small beach nearby. It is set in a lovely bay with shallow water quite far out. When we got there we walked past the beach along a hiking trail across the lava rocks for the best part of any hour until we reached a cliff with roosting Blue-footed Boobies and Pinquera Pata Rojas. Along the way we saw quite a few very large marine iguanas. They blend into the lava rocks and a couple of times they were very close underfoot before we spotted them. It was magical seeing these unusual birds so close. I climbed a little down the cliff to get a better photograph of the bird’s feet.

By the time we returned to the beach we were soaked with sweat from the beating sun and went straight into the warm Pacific waters. It was like swimming in a gigantic aquarium. Multi-coloured fish gathered at our feet. Joan had a pair of swimming goggles and we encountered three very large sea turtles almost immediately. They were within 5 feet of us, docile and undisturbed by our presence. They would surface occasionally for breath. There were also a few sea lions in the bay swimming around. They too are magnificent creatures: agile and graceful in the water, cumbersome and wallowing on land. A swimmer near us told us she had seen a very large stingray but we couldn’t find it.

We had our late picnic lunch on the beach and returned to the water for a second swim with the turtles and colourful fish. Another wonderful day in the natural paradise that is Galapagos.

Trip Advisor Review: La Playa Restaurant. We had a very enjoyable meal in this open air restaurant at the far end of the town. This is our third meal on San Cristobal Island and the format was the same on each: fish or seafood with either rice or french fries and a salad. With two Ecuadoran beers, the total came to 31 US Dollars (the same for all three meals). The Galapagos Prawn is a large lobster-like crustacean without claws. While it is not nearly as succulent as a Maine Lobster, it is much better than the Caribbean lobsters we have had in the past. The service in this restaurant was the best of the three restaurants we had tried and was provided by one man who was very busy and the restaurant was full with over 30 diners. Highly recommended.

6 February 2014 – Thursday, Galapagos, Ecuador. This morning we took the early boat back to Santa Cruz. Either the water was less choppy or the sea sickness pills we took worked wonders. Neither of us felt even the least bit queasy. The boat was slightly smaller, 20 person capacity instead of 24, and it was more open so there was a better circulation of fresh air. The journey back took 10 minutes’ longer but we arrived in good if slightly groggy condition and had breakfast at Cafe Hernan which overlooks the bay.

We were very very groggy and spent most of the afternoon sleeping off the effects of the sea sickness pills. We wandered out in the evening and bought a t-shirt and a cap and some munchies from the grocery. We walked the length of the town and back and stopped for dinner at Isla Grill.

Trip Advisor: Cafe Hernan - We arrived here at just after 9am a bit groggy from the sea sickness pills we had taken for our two hour boat ride from neighboring island San Cristobal. The breakfast was adequate and tasty, although the pancakes were a bit tiny and the maple syrup portion even smaller. We also had what they called 'hash browns' but were actually potato rosti - it was very well cooked, flavorsome and well-presented, with a fried egg and bacon. The breakfasts came with fresh-squeezed juices and coffee. Total cost, including tax and tip, just under 19 US Dollars. We were early to check into our hotel so we sat here browsing the internet with their wifi and they were quiet content to allow us to do so. It is also a great location to people watch as it overlooks the harbor. Recommended.

Trip Advisor: Isla Grill - We had a couple of pizzas here for dinner. The bases were very thick from frozen and the toppings plentiful. They were not the best pizzas we have ever had but they were edible. Two beers, two glasses of wine, a brownie with ice cream and one coffee brought the bill to just shy of 60 US Dollars. It is a pleasant room, reasonably comfortable, with attentive service. Not great but bot bad either. Recommended.



7 February 2014 – Friday – Flight from Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos to Guayaquil, Ecuador

We woke before the alarm and began the 4-type transport day: taxi to the bus station, bus to the ferry terminal, ferry across the bay, bus transfer from ferry port to airport, airplane from Galapagos back to Guayaquil. We were at the airport early enough that they put us on an earlier flight at no extra charge. They wanted, however, to confiscate the Swiss Army Knife that Joan bought me for my birthday and I had a lengthy talk with the security guy about why it wasn’t taken off me when I flew into Galapagos? He said it was not possible that I had brought it with me in my hand luggage from the mainland of Ecuador and I assured him it was very much possible as that was in fact what happened. After a few back-and-forths another agent brought me back to the check-in desk and told me I would have to check my backpack if I wanted to keep the knife. I was not checking the backpack as it contained the computer and cash and camera. Instead, I took out a plastic bag that contained some Johnson’s Baby Powder and Sunburn cream, dropped the knife into the bag, tied it shut and told them I wanted to check it through. All the LAN staff laughed at this. I insisted and they found an LAN back into which they put my little bag and it arrived safely, with Swiss Army Knife, first on the checked baggage belt in Guayaquil.

There is nothing to stay in Guayaquil for but the hostel insisted on us paying for both nights we had reserved, cash. The westcoast Yank who runs this place, DreamKapture, has more rules and regulations than a prison. Even the Book Swap cabinet is locked up and can only be accessed certain times of the day. If we had been clever, we would have taken our luggage to the airport and stored it there and just went to the bus station form there for the next bus to Cuenca. Cuenca sounds like a much more interesting town than Guayaquil. Guayaquil is just the easiest place from which to catch a flight to Galapagos. There is only one day’s worth of sight-seeing to do there.

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