Galapagos

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Santa Cruz

Arrival in Baltra felt like we had just landed on the moon, rather than a tropical island in the Pacific. During the ride to Puerto Ayora we mostly saw rocks, bare trees and cactuses. We visited the Charles Darwin centre where giant tortoises are bred, bringing them back from the brink of extinction.

Christian was very lucky to sneak into the last spot on dives to Seymour and Gordon Rocks, while I went on a bay tour which involved some snorkling. The dives were quite amazing and Christian was able to see loads of different sharks (even hammerheads), sea turtles, sea lions and plenty of fish.

One of the highlights of the island was our trip to tortuga bay, a paradisical beach where we were encircled by 1m-long white-tipped sharks. On another day we cycled across the island to a deserted beach, and Christian only realised about 20min in that his back wheel was actually immobile. Result: even downhill was a struggle for him.

Despite the beauty of Santa Cruz, Puerto Ayora itself is a disappointment. It is the biggest town in the Galapagos, and there were way too many shouting tour-operators and loud tourists walking around for our taste. So we were happy to get onto one of the 400 hp motor boats and explore the other islands.


Isabela

The dirt roads, friendly inhabitants, homey restaurants and constant football games on the central astroturf make Puerto Villamil a charming little town. We managed to find a cheap little hotel held by two old people. Grandma prepared us some nice dinners and even fried pancakes for breakfast.

On a tour inland we climbed volcán Sierra Negra, an active volcano whose last eruption was in 2006. Then we walked through a lava field to a viewpoint which allowed us to see the sea-horse-shaped north of the island as well as other smaller islands surrounded by the bright blue of the Pacific. The next day we explored the coast: beaches surrounded by mangroves, a saline lake with a flamengo, giant turtles swimming to a rocky shore after a day of hunting and stubborn iguanas blocking our path.

In Isabela we were really able to see the biodiversity endemic to the Galapagos. Within several hundred metres from the mangroves on the coast, there are arid areas with cactuses and further into the centre of the islands you get a tropical jungle-like forestation. Each of these areas has its own fauna as well.


Floreana

Our arrival on Floreana, after a particularly nauseating boat-trip, felt like being stranded on a deserted island. The unnamed, quasi-deserted dirt roads, half-constructed houses and complete inexistence of other tourists constantly reminded us we were on an island of ca. 100 inhabitants in the middle of the Pacific.

After a night under the mosquito net and an alarm of loud spanish techno-pop at 5.30am, we took the one and only 'gobierno municipal Galápagos' bus into the centre of the island with the workers. We managed to explore a small path leading to a farm, but were limited due to a lack of machete. Nevertheless, we climbed a mountain and had a spectacular view of the whole of the island. In the afternoon we had a nap in 'la loberia', a white-sanded beach where all the sea lions hang out. We managed to catch a ride back to Puerto Ayora with a daily tourboat, which included a snorkel with sea lions and colourful fish. In the evening we even got a private guitar concert from the owner of our little hotel and his friends. They were.... how do you say?... pretty good!


San Cristobal

Although it is the capital of the Galapagos region, San Cristobal still manages to be a friendly and relaxing town, ideal as last stop. The most remarkable about Puerto Baquerizo is that there are probably more sea lions lounging around the beaches and sleeping on the benches than there are human inhabitants!

Christian's persistent search for a dive paid off when he found a club which would take him on his own with a group of snorklers (which was great for me). The snorkling at Lobos Island was fantastic, as we got to play with sea lions, swim with a giant turtle and see a marine iguana eating moss from a rocky sea-bed. Again Christian was pretty lucky with his dive seeing loads of large animals (rays, turtles, sharks etc) and was even within a meter of two large hammerhead sharks. You get goosebumps when one of those looks into your eyes!

On our last day we took a taxi to 'El Junco', a lagoon in a crater inland. Unfortunately it was very misty, so we could only see an outline for a few moments. The clouds also meant we couldn't see the recently installed wind farm, so no picture for Peter. The rest of the day was spent milling around the interpretation centre and watching pelicans and frigates circling around fishermen washing their daily catch. In the afternoon, Christian, tired as usual, went onto a beach to have a little nap, only to wake up because he was being spooned by a sea lion!

We treated ourelves to some grilled lobster on our last evening, a vast improvement from the overcooked pescado with rice we had most other times!

We will try to upload photos as soon as possible.

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