Landing in Santa Cruz

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After Banos, I was ready again for a couple of travel days. The seven hour bus ride to Guayaquil was bumpy, but the views were pretty spectacular as I crossed the Andes again.

I arrived in Guayaquil and immediately found a taxi to airport, hoping to gather some information about the Galapagos. Unfortunately, everything had already closed, but my plan was to get a good rest and go back the next morning at around seven, hoping to find an empty seat on a flight.

The next day I was standing in line at the TAME window and overheard the American in front of me trying to arrange a similar flight plan. I followed his lead, and we were both on a plane in a matter of a couple of hours.

We landed on Baltra, which is an island right near Santa Cruz, the island from which most cruises leave. I had planned on trying to meet up with John, a guy I met in Chugchilan, somewhere in the islands, but while waiting for the ferry, I turned to my left and there he was. He had been traveling with another John, and the guy I met at the airport was another Mike, so two Johns and two Mikes set off to explore.

The town of Santa Cruz was a tad touristy, though there weren´t too many visitors there at the time. We went to the beach soon after arriving, and found it to be a small area of sand surrounded by and broken up by sharp volcanic rocks. We made the best of it and played Frisbee with a few local kids. The water was the perfect temperature and color, but it wasn´t much of a beach. We saw a few iguanas and interesting birds while we were there.

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