Blogs from Galápagos, Ecuador, South America - page 7

The tiny town of Puerto Villamil on Isla Isabella was very different than the larger and more touristy town of Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island, where we'd spent the past three weeks. It's sandy unpaved streets had an undeniable allure but there were a lot of disadvantages to being in such a small, remote place. Whereas Puerto Ayora's main front streets were given up solely to tourist hotels, restaurants and dive shops, Villamil was a complete mix of tourist accommodation and local houses. While it gave it a more authentic Ecuadorian feel, it also meant that there was a lot more garbage, something we'd become unaccustomed to seeing in polished Puerto Ayora. It was also very run down. The town square was obviously cute and well-designed at some point in the distant past but it ... read more

"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 ... read more

Guayaquil was a pleasant step off to the Galapagos archipelago but it is time to go, the airport was only a short distance away and we were soon standing in front of the Galapagos window to get an immigration pass before we could check in our luggage. The airport is new so it is clean and comfortable and our two hour flight left on time, no entertainment though. Ruth took some photos from the air as we approached the airport island of Baltra and soon we were on terra firma, first step immigration followed by the national park fee then onto a bus for the short ride to the ferry. Here we saw our first Sally lightfoot crabs, our first marine iguana, frigate birds and brown pelicans. We then boarded the ferry for the three minute ... read more

Buenos dias DK! Ja, så kom vi sørme også forbi Galapagos, som absolut ikke har skuffet! Man har jo altid hørt om Galapagos som noget med Darwin og nogle store skildpadder, men hvad de nærmere går ud på har jeg ikke vist så meget om. Nå, men Galapagos er en gruppe vulkanske øer ca 1100km vest fra Syd Amerika. Øerne er meget forskellige i udtryk, farve, højde, vegetation og hvem der bor på øerne. Hvis man vil have det fulde indtryk af øerne foregår det fra søs, via et cruise rundt mellem øerne. Ellers når man ikke at få forskellighederne med. Desværre er alt der vedrører Galapagos væsentlig dyrere i forhold til alle andre ting i Ecuador, man kan godt fornemme at de øer er noget helt specielt for dem (med rette), og der bliver gjort ... read more

The Galapagos Islands I was always in a dilemma over visiting the Galápagos, Charles Darwin himself said 'I loathe, I abhor the sea and all ships which sail on it.' And personally I couldn't agree more, in fact it's only my hated of selfie sticks that matches it really, I feel sickness just looking at a wave and wouldn't exactly classify myself as a keen bird watcher either. But then it's THE Galapagos plus my inner geek goes weak at the knees for anything associated with Darwin as he's one of my all time heroes so it was something of a homage to come. He better appreciate it. A geography lesson We flew 2 hours west of mainland Ecuador over miles of uninterrupted ocean before finally in the distance some specks appeared dotted amongst the beautiful ... read more