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Wednesday 1st
We leave our hostel in plenty of time to catch the blue bus back to the airport. As we reach the main street we find that there's no traffic at all and the streets are all cordoned off and there's armed police in full riot gear everywhere ! The busses aren't going to run from the normal place and when we ask some locals they don't know where the busses will be.
We walk about a mile through check points, with police all around us and armoured cars parked in the side streets. It's 1st May and a public holiday and they're expecting riots !
We can't find the bus so walk back to the hostel for a taxi. The only problem being we don't have enough currency and the ATM's are all boarded over. Back at the hostel I have to ask the German I met the previous evening at the hostel's BBQ if he will give us 4,000 pesos, about £4.50, so we have enough money. He helps us out.
The ride to the airport goes smoothly and we catch our flight to Lima and then hang around for the connection to Quito.
We arrive finally around 12.30am.
The hotel have mixed up our day for arriving and there's no taxi to meet us and presumably no room. Luckily I've been chatting to the girl in the seat next to me and she offers to share her taxi and take us to her hostel. On the way we stop off at an ATM to get some money and find it's protected by two security guards at 2am.
We settle in the hostel just before 3am for a sleep.
Thursday 2nd.
The day starts before we're really ready after only about 5 hours sleep. The hostel's really nice and has a roof top breakfast terrace with a great view over Quito.
After checking out we take a taxi round to our hotel. It's a wonderful old hacienda style building in the centre of the Old Town. We have a walk around town and find that there are armed police on every corner, in most squares and at major buildings and ATM's. We've been concerned about our safety here and feel a bit better now.
The old town has many wonderful buildings and lots of grand churches which we
wander past in the rain.
At lunch time we go into a locals café and have a basic 3 course menu of the day including a watermelon drink for $3 each before heading back to the hotel for a catch up sleep.
We are woken at 4.40am by what sounded like gunshots in the hotel. I jump out of bed and yell at Christine to hide in the bathroom only for her to tell me that they are firecrackers in the street from the church calling people to mass. We go back to sleep until 8.
Saturday 3rd
We wake and Christine starts to sulk as I´ve forgotten to wish her a Happy Birthday. There´s no card or present either as it´s not been possible to get anything.
After breakfast we pack and check out and store the bags for later. We walk to the first hostel but have forgotten where it is and after an hour return to the hotel and check the address. We successfully find it second time around and order a taxi for much later and then hop in a taxi to the local handicraft market.
We pick up another
souvenir and they´re now starting to mount up. The taxi back gets stuck in traffic and after 30 mins for a ten minute ride we decide to walk the rest back to the hotel. We´re nearly killed by the bus fumes ! They have a serious exhaust problem.
Lunch is another menu of the day bargain at $3 for three courses and a drink.
We then wander into the main square where some of the local old ladies are singing, it´s pretty awful !
In the evening we walk into the old town for dinner and it´s packed with people and police. All the bars and restaurants have live bands and singers and the whole place is alive with people enjoying themselves. It´s a great place to wander around. We pick up chocolate covered strawberries for desert.
Once back at our hotel we sit and wait for our taxi to collect us at 11.00 and take us to the airport where we have to wait until 5.00am to check in for our flight to the Galapagos. It´s going to be an awfully long night !
4
th May
After a dreadfully long wait at the
airport we finally check in for our flight and have our bags searched for fruit and then tagged for the islands.
The flight goes fairly quickly as we try and catch up on our missed sleep. A quick stop at Guayaquil and we arrive on Baltra only to find that we have to wait for some others to arrive on a later flight. There are even more to come in the afternoon.
Eventually we're taken on a short bus ride to the harbour to our boat, the Encantada. It's moored alongside a lot of other Galapagos boats and looks like a toy boat ready for the bath ! After lunch on board we set off for El Garrapatero beach on Santa Cruz about an hour away.
We take the zodiac over to the island and jump ashore, the first of many “wet landings “. We take a short walk to a lagoon and see three flamingos. Not a great start to our animal adventure !
Back on the beach we spot Marine Iguanas, not a pretty sight, crabs and pelicans. We then take to the water for our first snorkel. The water's very cloudy and there's
not much in sight.
Meanwhile our boat's returned to harbour to pick up the rest of our group.
At dinner that evening we get to meet all the group for the week. We're very international. An English couple, Dutch couple, French couple, German, Austrian, American and Finn. Twelve in all looking to discover the wild life.
We all seem to rub along except for the Finnish women who wants to instruct us how to serve dinner. She's none too happy when her plans are left in ruins by a mutinous lot who serve themselves. I notice a scowl and there's more to follow in the week !
We're then briefed on the next day's activities. It's going to be an early start so we head for our bunks soon afterwards.
5
th May
We fall out of our bunks for a 7am breakfast. Our cabin's larger than I thought it would be but only big enough to swing a Manx cat ! If only there was a light in the bathroom I wouldn't cut myself shaving.
We land on South Plaza, it's an island and walk along the beach. We see lots of sea
lions lounging on the sand and in the water. They look and act cute but boy do they have bad breath !
We veer off the beach and head inland for a short walk. It's our first chance to see Land Iguanas and they let you get up really close. They have beautiful markings and they also like posing ! Next we reach an area of huge cacti before heading along a cliff to see swallow tail gulls and Frigate birds.
We're back on board by 9am and set off for Santa Fe about 3 hours away.
After lunch we snorkel and only see fish !
We land on Santa Fe and have another walk. It's just more sea lions ! We eventually see a different type of Land Iguana and even bigger cacti, 10m high !
At dinner we're told that we're sailing over night for 5 hours to San Cristobel. It's a daunting thought as the sea's quite rough. Nearly everyone goes to bed straight after dinner but a few decide to sit out on deck to avoid being ill. By 11.30 I'm the only one left topside and decide to risk going
below. It's much calmer in bed and the others have already had two hours extra sleep on me.
6
th May
An early start at 5.50 and it seems I've hardly been to bed. We go straight to a beach on San Cristobel and see the famous Blue Footed Boobies. Some do a strange little mating dance which we see and more amorous goings on !
We then see Frigate bird nesting and blowing out their red breasts.
It's back on board for a 7am breakfast and I feel as if I've been up for hours. We then set sail for Kicker Rock where we snorkel. Bye now I'm getting used to being asked if I can swim as I always wear a life jacket when snorkelling. No sense taking chances !
We see lots of fish, sea lions of course as they're everywhere and white tipped reef sharks.
Back to the ship for lunch and then off to the Interpretation Centre on San Cristobel. It's ok but not wonderful. We spend the rest of the afternoon in town. It's really small and we struggle to find something to do for 4 hours. A drink
helps !
At dinner we get the good news that we have a 6 hour overnight sailing to the next island. There's lots of groans. I go to bed nice and early.
May 7
th Another 7am breakfast and we go a shore at Gardners Bay on Espanola island. There's not much to see on the beach but after a short walk we see more Marine Iguanas and crabs. Everyone then takes to the water for snorkelling but I give it a miss as I have a sore throat from swallowing too much sea water.
Christine sees more fish but not much more. I'm pleased I didn't bother.
Back on board for lunch as we sail around to Punta Suarez, another beach on Espanola. Here we go ashore and walk through a colony of Waved Albatross, some sitting on eggs. They're huge birds and we walk to the cliffs and watch for ages as they take off and land. They're really graceful in the air but not so good on the ground.
Further along the cliff we see some amazing blow holes as the water sprays 20 feet in the air. Also on the cliffs
are some Masked Boobies, one attacks me for getting too close.
It's back to the boat for dinner and another early night as we set off for Floreana island about 6 hours away.
May 8
th First thing we land at Post Office Bay and are shown a tacky looking barrel full of tourist's postcards hoping to find there way home. We're shown a handful of cards in the hope that one might be destined for near where we live to take and deliver. It's a tourist thing now but used to be the way letters were sent in the 1800's.
We then go to a lava cave, called a Pirate's Cave I'm sure for tourist purposes. It's a slippery hole to climb into and part way down I decide to come back. I'm accident prone enough without looking for trouble.
We then all snorkel and we see a turtle and more fish. My throat's getting worse and I'm gradually losing my voice and Christine doesn't seem too concerned !
After lunch we sail round to Champion Rock. A large rock in the middle of the sea. It's really rough and choppy but we are
rewarded by swimming with many sea lions as they chase each other. There's also the normal fish around.
On board we persuade the captain to sail to Santa Cruz straight away rather than over night so we can have a night out and a restful night's sleep.
Unfortunately it takes rather a long time and we dock at about 9.45. We go ashore but end up in a noisy bar so we leave the rest to it and find a quieter spot for a drink.
Sleep comes easier as the boat's still all night !
May 9
th We have to get up at 5am for an early breakfast as we're taken off the boat at 7am to catch a speed boat to our next island, Isabela. We say goodbye to the rest of the group as the tour is over.
The speed boat is full as we shoot off for a 2 hour crossing. It's like being in a tumble drier as the boat bounces through the waves and it's not long before people are sick ! It's a terrible crossing, worse than even being on board the Encantada. To make matters worse it
pours with rain 15 mins before we dock and we all get soaked getting off.
Fortunately we're met by our hotel manager who whisks us back to the hotel to dry out. Our room's much better than we expected and the floor doesn't move when we walk around !
In the afternoon we have a taxi take us round the island. First stop is a lake with very salmon pink flamingos on it. It's then onto a giant tortoise reserve where we see lots of them wandering around. They're huge and hiss if you get too close.
Next we see a wall of lava and climb to a view point and see the volcanos on the island in the distance. It's a flat landscape and fairly barren.
Our final stop is a giant tortoise breeding centre and our first glimpse is of two mating ! The big male is standing on the small female and grunting away before going off for a sleep !
There are dozens of pens with 100's of tortoises of various sizes and ages. When old enough they're released into the reserve. It's a very successful program.
We go back
to the hotel for a clean up and an early dinner.
May 10
th We opt out of the volcano climbing trip as it's been raining heavily and the paths will be very muddy. It's also 14k and up hill. We've seen enough of them to save our energy.
We borrow bikes instead and set off to explore the island. The island's very flat and nearly everywhere is covered in thick lava, some of it has lifted into big ridges. Hardly anything grows and most of the roads and walls are made of lava. They've got loads of it !
After peddling through the “town centre” we head back to the tortoise breeding centre for a longer look around. The tortoises are much more active and some seem to be almost running! They're also messy eaters as many have food hanging from their mouths as they plod along.
We take a quick look at the beach on the way back and see more Marine Iguanas. There are creatures everywhere.
It's been a hot morning and after lunch in a local cafe we go back for a shower and a rest for most of the afternoon
as it's been a busy last few days.
May 11
th We have a lay in and then after breakfast go for a walk to the harbour and see lots of sea lions playing in the water and a single little penguin shooting around in the water like a little torpedo ! too quick to photograph.
We take a final walk around town and visit the church. It's full of animal stained glass windows and wooden tortoises.
Just after 2pm the hotel manager takes us to the harbour for our speedboat ride back to Santa Cruz. We make sure we've taken our sea sickness tablets.
The journey back is over a fairly calm sea but is still the ride from hell as we crash through the waves and thump down the troughs. It's the worst ride I've ever had anywhere !
We're glad to get off after one and a three quarter hours of what should have taken over 2 hours. The captain was obviously trying to set a new crossing record.
After checking into our rather nice hotel, a bit of treat before we go back to hostels, we go for a walk
around town and bump into Michael off our tour boat and agree to meet up with him and Thelka for dinner later.
May12th
This morning we walk into town to visit the Darwin Centre and on the way pass a shoreline fish market and watch as they cut up the fish with sea lions and pelicans standing next to them waiting for the scraps. No health and hygiene policy here.
The Darwin Centre has a giant tortoise breeding program and we see a number of them in enclosures but they don't have anywhere the number as on Isabela. There are also a few land Iguanas penned in. The centre does a lot of good work but there's not a lot to see.
On the way back we pick up a couple more T shirts. More space required in the cases !
We spend the afternoon relaxing around the pool and in the evening pack ready for our flight tomorrow back to the main land. Tomorrow we start exploring the rest of Ecuador.
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David and Carol
non-member comment
Also sea-sick
Hi both. Glad you weren't shot in Quito. Nice animal pics but we don't usually view porn. I particularly like the one of E.T. We went on our birwatching 'cruise' across Bridlington Bay on Sat. It was very rough and I was sea-sick for the first time in my life. Carol had taken tablets but I had to drive, so didn't. Won't live it down in a hurry. It was a gift experience from my daughter; next year she's getting me a bungee jumping course. No news here but Carol's started packing for our long holiday to San Fran (6 days). Couldn't go for longer as we miss the dog. He's had his op and is now lumpless. Otherwise no news. David and Carol X