The Galapagos Islands

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Saturday 18th October

Today we flew into Baltra airport on Santa Cruz island, Galápagos. We Had to pay $10 to the customs desk, get our bags checked and pick up forms before going to the check in counter. On arrival to the Galapagos, we had to pay $100 each at the counter before exiting the terminal. We had to catch a bus then a ferry then another bus to finally make it to Puerto Ayora. This came to $3 each for just over an hour of travel. We met a cool girl Katia from Belgium on the bus and she can speak fluent Spanish which was super handy. She booked at the cheapest accommodation online called 'best homestay' for $20 USD and it was awful. We hadn't booked but went to Los Amigos which is on the main waterfront in a great location and it's $12.50 pp. Really clean and basic. You can't book online but they have loads of rooms. We went for dinner on a street closed off for eating. $4 a meal for lentil soup and then a beef, chicken or fish dish with rice and tamarillo juice. Really yum.

We enquiried into cruises and decided on the West side of Isabela because it's more untouched and you can't get there any other way than on a cruise. Quite hard to get info as they all lie to you about how many people are on the boat already and also prices.

Sunday 19th October

Today we went to the Charles Darwin centre with Katia to see the tortoises they are breeding. They are enormous! Really interesting to read about the conservation work they are doing on the island. They have eradicated all the goats, weeds and other pests of some of the smaller islands but it will take a long time to rid the large islands of everything.

When we came back we had a cheap lunch of jam sandwiches and then started shopping around for cruise deals. The 6 day tour we wanted to do was advertised online for $3200 and we eventually got ours for $885 each for 6 days. This took ages with lots of lying from all the sellers. Katia was invaluable with her fluent Spanish! We were so stoked to be finally booked on. Had another $4 meal and we had chicken soup as a starter and they served it with a chicken foot in it!! Urgh so gross. It was lucky dip when it arrived, you'd scoop up the contents to see what you got. Poor Katia always got the big feet and even chicken hearts in hers.

Monday 20th

We took a tour for $30 for all three of us to the sunken volcanos which weren't so impressive but the forest was covered in moss and was eerily beautiful. We went also to the lava tunnels which were interesting but not a must see. The best was the giant tortoise farm. They are in the wild and you can wander around the fields and bush to check them out. They are huuge, can live to over 120 years and weigh over 220 kgs! So impressive to see. If you get to close they hiss as they can't hear and can only see up to 5 metres but have excellent smell. Pirates and buccaneers used to grab them and keep them on their boats alive for fresh meat because they can live for a year without food or water! That's why lonely George's species is now extinct.

After more jam sandwiches for lunch, we went to Tortuga bay beach. It was a nice long walk through cactus forests with a stunningly white sandy beach at the end. The water was chilly but refreshing as it was so hot. We walked along the beach and came across a lagoon part with trees right down to another stunning beach, surrounded by mangroves, lava formations and more huge cactus trees. Such an amazing spot.

We had another yum $4 dinner and again, poor Katia with more chicken feet and weird parts of a carcass.

Tuesday 21st

Relaxed in the morning and went to Tortuga again to hang out, such a beautiful spot. That evening we jumped on the boat Aida Maria, it was a really nice boat with a wooden interior. We have a young bunch of people so we're stoked. Had a delicious dinner and chatted with everyone catching up, all very excited! Our cabin was small but had an ensuite and we were on the side of the ship with a window we could open. I took a sea sick pill and thank goodness I did because we cruised overnight to Isabel island and Puerto Villamil and it was SO ROUGH we were getting flung about the whole night. We didn't sleep much..

Wednesday 22nd

Today we went to Puerto Villamil and drove to the wall of tears which is a wall of lava bricks built by prisoners. A pretty sad and pointless exercise to keep them busy. We then went to another turtle sanctuary with flat shelled giant tortoises. After that we went snorkelling in a bay nearby. We saw an enormous turtle! A greenback one, so cool watching it eating seaweed underwater. We also saw the iguanas sunning themselves on the rocks and swimming through the water like dinosaurs. Gave me the creeps when they swum toward you, heading somewhere and you had to scram out of the way. We also saw penguins! So cute, we could get really close to them on the rocks but they whizzed around under water. We also had young sea lions checking us out which also have me the heebies but they were pretty mellow. Classic when they swim past looking at you the whole time and not where they are going, or instead of turning to look, they look backwards, craning their necks in impossible ways. Had an epic lunch on the boat and chilled on the beach for a bit. After another delicious dinner we slept like logs. Maybe we were used to the rocking already..

Thursday 23rd

We went for a walking tour over lava. Fascinating seeing the formations, a lot like wrinkly skin. Saw an oasis with pink flamingos in it! Other small pools were crammed with mullet with birds treating it as a supermarket stop off.

Snorkelled and saw loads of turtles and tropical fish. We both wore wetsuits and it was way warmer. Had lunch and siesta time then went for a 2 hour cruise to Bahia Elizabeth. We used the dinghys to tour the mangroves. So amazing seeing heron, blue foot boobies, pelicans, flightless cormorants loads of greenback turtles and one rare turtle. Beautiful place. Such a sunny sunny day, so neat lying on deck of the boat and sunbathing.The boat cruised north for four hours so we hung out and practised Spanish.

Friday 24th

Went for a walk past a lake pirates used to use and saw our first Galápagos eagle. There was heaps of old school graffiti lining the walls of the bay from sailors dating back to 1836, a few years after Darwin had visited! Went snorkelling in the bay and it was incredible, we saw penguins flitting past us chasing fish and we saw some corner a bunch and catch them and then chase each other to try and get some. So amazing. We didn't want to get out, we saw loads of greenback turtles chowing on seaweed and seals darting underneath, gave me a heart attack every time. There were beautiful coloured starfish and I saw a seal with a sea snake in its mouth cruising around playing with it. Eek glad I didn't see one of those alive. Cruised to Fernandina island to the west and did more sunbathing and relaxing on the way. This was an amazing island chocka block with marine iguanas, seals, flightless cormorants and bright red and blue Sally light foot crabs. So cool to see them all on their island of paradise. We cruised North and spotted hundreds of dolphins swimming around the boat and leaping out of the air completely, amazing. I spotted whale spouts quite far off and after a unanimous vote, we went off course to get up close and see them. So cool standing on top of boat oohing an aahing whenever one surfaced. We sat on top of the boat while we cruised and watched the sun set. Such an amazing day.

Saturday 25th

Woke up to see three large sharks circling the boat.. Great. Went for a walk on the island and saw our first Galápagos fur seals, so cute. We went snorkelling off the shore which was 50 metres from the boat. It was really poor visibility and my imagination kicked into overdrive so I was out of the water and into the dingy in a flash. Such a chicken. Mikey got amongst it and saw a reef shark and followed it for a bit (crazy man). He also saw two huge manta rays so he was pretty stoked.

We cruised again to Rabida island and stopped at the most gorgeous beach with red sand and red cliffs. We went for a walk and it was such a beautiful day and the water was so clear you could see the colourful fish swimming in the sea down below. We went for a snorkel but just before we got in the guide casually mentioned that an American lady died four months ago in this spot after getting bitten on the armpit by the alpha male sea lion and that we should avoid him at all costs.. Great. Luckily he went sunbathing so wasn't patrolling the waters but meant for extra big heart attacks when a female sea lion whizzed underneath eyeballing me. The visibility in this spot was incredible. We saw so many amazing tropical colourful fish and more turtles. Loved it.

Sunday 26th

We walked in morning at north Seymour island and saw frigate bird nesting sights, cool to see them blown up with the red crests attracting mates. When the males spied a female flying overhead, they would clack their enormous beaks and shake their wings. It was a tough crowd that day and no females came to check them out. We arrived back at Los Amigos and went out to a different beach with most of the crew from the boat. It was a beautiful beach but a bit windy and cold. Us girls chewed each other's ears off while the boys started building forts in the sand. We had such an amazing time on the cruise just completely relaxing and not worrying about organising anything and having amazing food served for us.

We went out for dinner together and me and Katia shared a lobster and it was delish!

Monday 27th

We flew out of Baltra airport and it was the same saga to get there. Landed in Guayaquil and caught a bus straightaway to Cuenca. So so many banana plantations! Such cheap transport, it's $1 per hour you travel. It's classic on buses here as people get in at random spots and sell their wares from chocolate to arthritis cream and one time we had a young couple come on and do a rap, so funny. Arrived in Cuenca and stayed at Mallki hostal which was ok and only cost $6 pp including breakfast and free bikes. We explored a bit and came across beautiful parks with people doing government sponsored group fitness classes and generally running around or working out on machines. Great to see. Nice and clean city and very safe with loads of security guards.

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Comments

[Philberto]

Marine Iguana land!
Hey you two these photos are really cool. looks like you are seeing loads of great wildlife! see you in Dec! ox

[Chris and Nikki]

Your pics are so cool. Galapagos sits firmly at the top of my bucket list. I'm jealous lol