Isabella Island

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A 5.30 taxi followed by 2 planes, a bus, a ferry, another bus and then a 2 hour speed boat ride (actually only 1 and a half hours as it really was a SPEED boat) and we arrive in Isabella Island. Exactly how you would imagine a south Pacific island - tranquil, sunny, white sand beaches, casual lifestyle, and then you see flamingos, hundreds upon hundreds of marine iguanas, grey feathered pelicans and you realize you are a lot further north than Tonga, Fiji or Samoa. Galalpagos Islands.
Having not been at sea level for quite some time and not near any coastline, the obvious thing to do when you arrive is to head for the water. A beautiful 22 degrees, very refreshing and with company, not the 2 legged local kid kind but the local seals welcoming you and playing with you, swimming around and at you but too quick to have contact with. All you see is those big eyes watching you.
Isabella Island is quite large (120 klms) and houses the second largest active volcano just 20klms out of the town centre. Although the population (human) is only small, the wild life is prolific. We hired bikes and headed out on a dirt road that follows the coast to the ¨wall of tears¨ about a 7klm ride in all, stopping along the way to swim with the manta rays, watch flamingos snooze in the smelly wetlands and we even came across a large colony of blue footed boobies. The marine iguanas are everywhere. You have to look where are going so as not to trip over one. We felt the shadows of hang gliders overhead which in fact are nothing more than a flock of frigates enjoying the warm air currents. We stopped at the mirador for an overview of the entire island before arriving at the wall of tears. I don’t think the Chinese version of a wall has any great fears of a tourist challenge. Not sure whose tears they are referring to but Gary almost shed a few when his bike got a puncture and he had to nurse it the 7klms back to town in the hottest part of the day.
The following day we hired a boat and headed for ¨los tuneles¨ to snorkel and gawk at more marine life. Los Tuneles are best described as a volcanic Venice without buildings and lots of cacti. The lava has formed a unique canal system complete with volcanic lava bridges allowing you to look down on countless turtles, tropical fish and even the occasional white tipped reef shark cruise by. As we pulled up anchor, the canals consierge in the form of a huge marine turtle came right up to the boat to greet us. We nearly tipped the boat over clambering over to one side to try and snap a photo. We then snorkled further down the channels, swimming with seals and countless tropical fish. However, the highlight was swimming/snorkeling with the turtles. For an animal so clumsy on land they are incredibly majestic in their own domain. They just glide right by almost within touching distance but without paying the least attention to us.
Isabella Island is a fantastic way to experience the Galapagos Islands. Not only is it relatively cheap to live and eat ($3US for a 2 course meal) but the marine life is plentiful, the people are laid back and happy (not overly entrepreneurial).
We headed back to Santa Cruz for our last night as we couldn´t risk a delay on any of our transport and miss our flight (as it turned out our speed boat broke down some distance from port before a mid ocean boat transfer). Santa Cruz is a nice stopover in itself with some really beautiful beaches and even some swell so Gaz could at least do some body surfing. I´m going to miss this place.
Penny

My turn.
Penny has summed up the travelogue side of the Galapagos quite succinctly. While she did mention the blue footed boobies, she did fail to note the spotting of the rare blue eyed sunburnt aussie booby as well as a pair of coldwaterhighbeam penny boobies. As for the giant land turtles, we had 2 options.
1. trundle off into the interior highlands in the hope of spotting some critters rummaging through the cactus infested landscapes, or
2. take the soft, sissy, purse-carrying Nancy boy option of visiting the Charles Darwin breeding Centre where you are guaranteed of sighting dozens of the big fellas.
Packing our cameras into our purses, we 2 Nancy boys skipped off for option 2. We left the centre highly informed with some token photos to tick the giant Galapagos turtle box, but I couldn´t help feel a little dirty, as though we had prostituted ourselves. A bit like going to the Snowy Mountains for a spot of fly fishing and ending up at a trout farm - it just aint sport.
In a nutshell, the Galapagos was a dream end to South America although a few more days would have been handy. In fact 2 more weeks in Ecuador would be nice. We have left ourselves short here for a few of the elements I originally planned.
1. Cuenca - a colonial town in the south described as a small Rome. Having not been to Rome I will imagine a large Leichhardt.
2. El Nariz del Diablo (Scott Kelly come on down!) - a rooftop train ride from Riobamba (that the Finlays did when they were here some time ago). NB. We just heard that 3 tourists were scalped by a low hanging cable whilst on this train.
3. - the northern jungle - to wrestle an anaconda (not one of the flying kind that ate John Voigt).
I guess we´ll just have to come back one day to complete the mission.

Anybody out there reading this and wants some tips on how to do the Galapagos on the relatively cheap or on how to avoid getting robbed in Quito (the most crime ridden city I think I´ve come across), please contact us.
GARY

More images at:

www.colvinyeates.zenfolio.com

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Photos

Isabella Island
The locals

Isabella island
Uncrowded Iguana beach

Isabella Island
The main drag, full of cafes, restaurants and bars

Isabella Island
120 year young turtle

Isabella Island
Help yourself to the boat fellows

Isabella Island
Birds of a feather...

Isabella Island
Los Tuneles /Volcanic Venice

Isabella Island
before the big plunge

Isabella Island
lone bird awaiting dinner time

Isabella Island
Sunbaking Iguana

Isabella Island
The evening watering hole

Isabella Island
The island taxi service

Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz
Port side

Comments

[Scott Kelly]

"El Nariz del Diablo "
Well what do you know eh , the old "El diablo del Sol" cruising around the devil's nose. I myself have been cruising the beautiful empty beachbreaks of Narooma del Sol surfing Punta Dalmeney with hardly a gringo insight. I Love your colourfull descriptions of all those amazing destinations you have been touring. All the best Scott.

[Jay]

Rome
I think you under estimate Rome or your last visit to Leichardt was on a very dark night.