Blogs from Puerto Ayora, Galápagos, Ecuador, South America - page 3

The question of whether or not to visit the Galapagos if you are on a backpackers budget is very difficult to answer. Over on Lonely Planets website there are dozens, if not hundreds, of posts dedicated to the topic. And that is just one resource. Despite reading as much online as we could, we still did not find as much information as we wanted. This blog is intended to be another resource and will hopefully answer questions we were not able to find answers to online. I will touch on some of the basics, but this blog t is geared towards those who have made the decision to go to the islands and to go on a cruise. It is our story of our cruise hunt and the lessons we learned over a 3 week period ... read more

So we have flown today to Baltra Island in the Galapagos, and from there caught a bus to the ferry, which really only transports you across the river, and then to another bus to Puerto Ayora which is about 50 mins away. This place is gorgeous. It reminds me a little of Inverloch 20 years ago, but with a little more charm. There are lots of nice restaurants and the pier area is nicely decked out and covered with little marine Iguana's! The rocks below are dotted with orange and red crabs called Sally Lightfoot that also run up and down the walls with the Iguana! Our hotel doesnt have a name yet because it isnt finished or approved by the tourism board, but it is really nice, and operates above the Galapagos Deli where they ... read more

Geo: -0.73778, -90.3112Under ekvator i Stillehavet, 1000 kilometer fra fastlandet i Ecuador, ligger Galapagosøyene. På Unescos verdensarvliste siden 1978 og med noen unike dyrearter som landiguana, kjempeskilpadde og galapagospingvin.Etter en god natts søvn i Quito, men allikevel litt trøtte - tok vi morgenflyet til Galapagosøyene. En flytur på ca 4 timer inkl mellomlanding. Flyplassen i Galapagos var veldig primitiv. Utendørs med blikktak og ingen bagasjebånd. Her ble koffertene lastet og kjørt med lastebil ut av flyet og vi fikk plukke bagasjen etter at alle var satt opp på rad og rekke. Vi fikk sitte på med en rimelig skranglete “flybuss” som også inkluderte en fergetur med bussbytte til en enda mer skranglete buss. Vi ankom hotellet i Puerto Ayora 14-tiden… Puerto Ayora er byen ... read more

Day 12. March 19, 2011: Puerto Ayora, San Cristobal, Quito Puerto Ayora, San Cristobal We spent the night on the boat in the port, and woke up early to get ready to depart. We brought our luggage out to the pangas, then headed in to see Lonesome George at the Darwin Research Center. Lonesome George is the last remaining tortoise from the island of Pinta. He was discovered in 1971 and they have been trying to get him to reproduce with any tortoise to try to keep a part of the Pinta line alive. He is like a gazillion years old and just isn't interested. We also saw baby tortoises that they keep until they are old enough to release back to their native island (they use unique numbers on their shell to keep track). Then ... read more