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Published: August 14th 2009
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Hay español abajo.
I arrived in Quito, Ecuador on 24th of July after a long 26 hour bus journey from Bogota in Colombia. I was going to be studying in a language school the following week and had arranged a home stay where I went straightaway. I will write more about my time in Quito later on but after studying for a week I decided that I wanted to go to the Galapagos Islands. I hadn´t been planning on going but some friends had told me that there were some good deals around and Saturday 01/08 I booked a First Class boat with a hefty £400/$600 discount for an 8 day trip leaving the following Wednesday.
I left Quito at 7.30 on the Wednesday morning for the 3 hour flight to the Galapagos Islands, which included a stop in Guayaquil, the largest city in Ecuador, for around 40 minutes. On arrival our group of 15 assembled and we were met by our guide David and we went by bus for a few minutes down the hill to the cove where our boat, the MS Cachalote, was moored. There was a good mix of people in the group - 8
Brits, 2 Belgians, 2 Germans, 2 Italians & one American with ages ranging from 29 up to about 60 (I think!). The boat had 8 cabins with bunk beds, each with air conditioning and a private bathroom. I shared with the Howard, the lone American, and despite the cabin being small we managed to cope with out any problems.
Normally each day we had two excursions to an island, leaving the boat by a Panga (motorized dinghy) for either a dry landing at a dock or a wet landing when we would need to take a few steps in the water to get to the beach. I won’t go through the itinerary in great deal but I was amazed by the amount of wildlife, and my pictures show all of the animals and birds that I saw (I think I have around 600 photos in total!). I had read, and had been told, that the wildlife is completely unworried by the presence of people and don´t tend to bat an eyelid, but I didn´t really comprehend that until I get there. About 90% of the animals from the tiniest lizards to birds to sea lions didn´t show any fear
at all and wouldn´t move however close you got to them, and at times, especially with the black Marine Iguanas, it wasn´t always possible to see them until you almost stood on them! The animals didn’t have any fear in the water either (unlike me!), and a couple of times I was startled as a large creature appeared in the corner of my eye and quickly swam towards me and both times I was relieved to see that it was a sea lion (see one of videos
here )! I also snorkeled alongside turtles on a couple of occasions which was surreal (click
here ).
Now I am in Guayaquil and tonight I am going to a town on the coast for a religious festival with some people from Couch Surfing (who I have yet to meet!) where we will dance and drink and generally be merry (I hope!) for the weekend.
Galapagos Itinerary Day 1 AM Baltra Island, Arrival
PM South Plaza Island
Day 2 AM Charles Darwin Station - Santa Cruz Island
PM Highlands - Santa Cruz Island
Day 3 AM Gardner Bay - Española Island
PM Punta Suárez - Española Island
Day 4 AM Punta Cormorant - Floreana Island / Devil’s Crown
PM Post Office Bay - Floreana Island
Day 5 AM Punta Moreno - Isabela Island
PM Elizabeth Bay (Panga ride) - Isabela Island
Day 6 AM Urbina Bay - Isabela Island
PM Punta Espinosa - Fernandina Island
Day 7 AM Puerto Egas - Santiago Island
PM Bartolome Island
Day 8 AM Black Turtle Cove - Santa Cruz Island
AM Baltra Island - Return
Llegué en Quito, Ecuador el 24 de julio después de 24 horas en el bus de Bogotá, Colombia. La próxima semana iba a estudiar en una escuela de español y había arreglado quedarme con una familia se me fui allí inmediatamente. Voy escribir más de mi tiempo en Quito en el futuro pero después de una semana de estudiar decidí viaje a los Galápagos. No iba a ir a las islas pero mis amigos me dijeron que había ofertas y el precio era más barato. El sábado 1 de agosto reserve un viaje a un barco para el próximo miércoles por 8 días y ahorré $600 del precio normal.
Salí de Quito en avión el lunes por el viaje
de 3 horas a los Galápagos, que incluido una parada en Guayaquil, la cuidad más grande en Ecuador, por 40 minutos. Al llegar el grupo nos encontramos con nuestro guía y nos fuimos al barco por bus por 5 minutos. En el grupo había 6 personas de Gran Britania, 2 de Bélgica, 2 de Alemania, dos de Italia y 1 de Estados Unidos con un edad de 29 años a 60 años (pienso tener razón!). El barco, el “MS Cachalote” tenia ocho cuartos con dos camas cada una y con baños privados. Compartía el cuarto con Howard, el americano. Nuestro cuarto, como los otros, era muy pequeño pero podríamos quedarnos allí sin problemas.
Normalmente, cada día, fuimos a una isla para caminar por Panga, un pequeño barco con motor, y desembarcábamos a una muelle o a una a playa, cuando era necesario caminar por el agua por un metro o dos. No voy a explicar mucho del itinerario cada día pero estaba sorprendido por los animales y mis fotos son una selección (tomaba más de 600 en total) pero hay todos los animales que veía. Antes de llegar había leído que los animales en los Galápagos no tienen miedo
de humanos pero no comprende esto desde llegue. Los animales de los mas pequeños lagartijas a los lobos marinos no tenían miedo de nada, aunque uno estaba muy circa. Los iguanas marinas son negros y algunos veces casi me pisaba una pie a uno! Los animales en el agua no tenían miedo tampoco (no igual que yo) y dos yo vi algo con el rabillo del ojo que nado a mi muy rápido y estaba aliviado que solamente era un lobo marino (mira uno de los video que tomè
aqui )! ! También buceo con snorkel con tortugas marinas dos veces (click
aqui ).
Ahora estoy en Guayaquil y esta noche voy a un pueblo con personas de Couch Surfing para mirar un fiesta y tomar y bailar!
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Janet
non-member comment
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Awesome blog and bloody awesome photos. Have you got a good camera or something? How the hell are you managing to afford this trip?! I might bugger off to NZ within the next few months depending on the GFC and my job status! Time for another adventure I say! Janet