The Galapagos Islands - Ecuador

Day 38

Our border crossing into Ecuador was seamless, although it was rather slow we still made it to our destination of Guayaquil on time. This was one of the first buses to do so, so we were impressed. The arrival time was 6pm which meant we had time to walk to our hostel rather than take a cab and then head out for dinner. When we arrived at the location on the map we were unable to find our place despite searching the street twice and checking the block surrounding the street. Then I realised, the pin on the map was exactly at the centre of the suburb and not on our actual street. Now we had no Wi-Fi and no idea how to get to our accommodation.

We walked to a restaurant and decided to have dinner, get Wi-Fi, break the 100$ US note we had and then make our way to the hostel. We had some hamburgers and fries and had trouble paying with the 100$ note but eventually managed to get all of our change. Ecuador uses the US dollar as its official currency so we didn't want to break a 100$ note in a taxi so having change was a bonus. After getting Wi-Fi however we realised the accommodation wasn't far and proceeded to walk there. After checking into a room with air conditioning we felt like the king and queen as our previous locations hadn't even had a fan. We went to bed in our cosy room with bags packed for an early-ish flight tomorrow to the Galapagos Islands. Safe to say we were excited, especially Ellie, although it didn't stop her from falling asleep moments after her head hit the pillow. She's good at that.

Day 39

We woke to have breakfast in the hostel, a fresh cooked omelette and bread, along with jam and other refreshments. It was luxurious, it should have been as our most expensive accommodation of the trip so far at $35USD. We then walked to the airport, which was about 20 minutes away and checked into our flight with Tame airlines. The flight to the Galapagos Islands took almost 2 hours and landed on a small island called Baltra which is a baron, desert like landscape with only a military base and airport on it.

We then took a shuttle bus to a boat ramp and dock, then a ferry across a canal with clear blue water to the island called Santa Cruz. This is where we would be staying for 4 nights and much like Baltra Island offered a similar desert like landscape, at least at first it did. We shared a taxi with and an English pair of travellers and soon found that part of the island, known as the highlands, was a completely different ecosystem with a rainforest type landscape. Already this place was different to any other for this reason, but we know there is a lot more to be seen.

The taxi took us to our hotel, where we checked in and unloaded our bags before heading out for the afternoon. We headed to the Charles Darwin Resaerch Station to see the tortoise breeding program that assists the natural process and ensures species remain existent and plentiful. We saw tortoises from a range of sizes from the palm of your hand to 2.5 feet high. We saw some mating, so we know the breeding program is going well. We also saw a range of other animals such as iguanas, birds and small lizards. One of the attractions was new and not fully complete. It was a giant tortoise called Lonesome George, who was the last of his species in the world but died a few years ago. Without a female to reproduce with, he was alive while his species was considered extinct, they attempted to cross breed but were unsuccessful. He became famous and is now the face of the Galapagos Islands, seen on all logos around the place.

After visiting the centre, we went to a small beach on the coast near Puerto Ayora, the suburb we were staying in. We the continued along the coast into the port side town and visited some shops and many tour agencies. We returned home to decide which tours to do as there are so many islands to explore, it was a difficult decision. Later we returned for dinner on the main road that runs through the town and ate cheap as the tours were going to be expensive. We decided on and booked a tour for Friday and ferry tickets to Isabela Island for the next day. The middle day we would use to explore Santa Cruz. With our plan sorted we relaxed with a poorly made mojito over dinner at happy hour before heading back home to bed, once again with air conditioning.

Day 40

We were up early on this day for breakfast, which was included at the hotel. It was a hot breakfast with eggs each day, 2 side dishes and bread so we were happily tucking into that each morning and saving money. Our ferry to Isla Isabella left Santa Cruz at close to 8am although we had to be at the pier at 7am - typical South American timing. The cruise to the island took 2 hours on smooth seas. Ellie and I, along with an English / American couple were in first class, as at first we sat up top and later the front of the boat to spread out while others were cramped downstairs. We quickly became friends with the friendly couple who currently live in London.

When we arrived on the island we walked with them to the main part of town and then said goodbye, while the girls made sure to exchange details. Ellie and I then went on the pursuit for kayaking tours as we intended to do a kayaking and snorkelling tour then would visit the flamingos and more tortoises on this island. After an hour and a half, we had finally booked a tour, one that was $30 more each then other similar operators only because we could only pay on card and not cash and the only company to have the facilities was the most expensive and charged a 14% card fee. The tour itself would start at 12 so we quickly got some lunch from a grill restaurant nearby and then were taken to the small port on Isabella island.

From here we jumped in a double kayak and began following our guide across the crystal clear blue water that had a little bit of wind and small waves at times. We got to a point and began snorkelling around a small landmass in which we could spot numerous sea iguanas soaking up the sun. From a there we snorkelled for 45 minutes and saw numerous types of fish, some small sharks and one huge turtle. We swam near it for 5 or 10 minutes then continued exploring. There's no reef like back home but the fish swim in the shallower water near the land.

After snorkelling we made our way around a few more small areas of land slightly protruding from the sea and saw more iguanas and some blue footed boobies. The blue foot boobies are a bird famous to the area which I noticed on many t-shirts in the shops. Maybe because the novelty of the name written on a shirt but also because of their bright blue feet. As we paddled back to the shore we saw some stingray shadows in the deeper waters and saw a turtle chase one of them before racing away, the fastest I have seen a turtle move.

Once we disembarked our kayak on the shore, I decided to have a swim to cool off and was soon joined by a sealion playing in the bay before making his way up the beach to rest in the shade.

As you can see it wasn't afraid of people, as most of the animals don't seem to be. When I looked up after seeing this I noticed many more sea lions resting in the shade in the most cunning of places. Out of all 8 benches on the beach 5 of them had sea lions laying on them. By this time, we had to return to the ferry for check-in although the boat didn't leave until 3:30. We were disappointed that it took so long to find a place and annoyed we didn't have enough cash to book the cheaper tour. In the end, we missed out of more tortoises and flamingos, although we have seen plenty of recently so it wasn't all bad.

Following another 2 hours on the return journey we arrived in Santa Cruz and made for an ATM straight away. Then we went home for a swim in the pool and a shower. We made sure to plan our day for the next day better over dinner. We ate at a place our new friends Whitney and Michael had recommended in the morning. It was an Ecuadorean kitchen unlike the other tourist restaurants we had seen. We wanted to eat traditional but they only seemed to have traditional breakfast so Ellie had a beef saltada (stir fry) and I had a really good crumbed steak. After dinner, we went along the main road and found a good ice cream shop for the second time and shared mango and passion fruit ice cream after previously having chocolate and white chocolate on the first day. This led to us heading back to the hotel and heading to bed ready for another big day tomorrow.

Day 41

Our second full day on the islands we decided to spend exploring the island we were staying on, Santa Cruz. In the morning, we woke for breakfast at our hotel and then made our way to the pier, where we took a short water taxi to Las Grietas. First, we had to walk about 15 minutes past a small beach and some resorts after the taxi but we soon arrived at the natural crevice that has cool ocean water between two high cliff walls. We snorkelled as there were some big fish in the clear water.

Afterwards, we walked back along the beach and took another water taxi back to the pier. From there we made our way to Tortuga Bay. This was a short taxi and a gruelling 30-minute walk in the scorching hot sun to 'one of the most beautiful beaches' in the world. The hard slog was worth the effort in the end, as the trail revealed an incredible beach with bright white sand and crystal clear shades of blue ocean.

We had a quick dip in the ocean but limited our depth and time as it was not patrolled with signs noted strong rips, 'do not swim'. As we walked down the beach we found a small pond with lots of fish and some small sharks and a sea iguana frolicking about. We would return to this pond but first we went out to the point to take some photos and then to a well-protected cove in which was best for swimming as it was extremely calm. The snorkelling here though was terrible, as despite being calm there was no marine life in site when I snorkelled for about 10 minutes. This led to us returning to the small pond where we snorkelled with the sharks, iguanas and small fish in the natural pond by the ocean. The sharks were not startled by people and calmly swam around us as you can see in the video. The water here was so blue and clear, it reminded us of the Blue Lagoon in Iceland.

After our snorkelling, we then made the return journey, back along the beach and then the 30-minute trail. The sun had given us a touch up and took a lot out of us, so when we got back we went for a quick lunch at a deli. After some tasty sandwiches and replenishing the water we had lost on the trail, we returned home for showers to freshen up. Feeling much better, we took a taxi to the El Chato Giant Tortoise reserve. Here we first found a huge downpour of rain that held us up under cover for a while, before making our way through some lava caves that were on the reserve. As we exited the final cave we discovered a big friendly tortoise having lunch on the path through the reserve.

We took some photos and continued around the reserve, seeing many more tortoises. Mostly they just ate, but we saw one on the move which was cool, it was as quick as a flash. We decided against visiting 2 craters further along the road as we would be able to see them on the trip to the airport on the last day. Instead, the taxi driver, who had waited for us took us back to our hotel. I had another swim in the pool and we relaxed a bit more before heading out for dinner. On the way to dinner we first returned our snorkel set we hired and paid for tomorrow's tour to Pinzon Island.

Our dinner tonight was a budget meal, especially because everything on the island is expensive. There is a street that, at night, turns into a restaurant alley with lots of tables and chairs filling the road. Here, you could eat lobster and lots of other seafood. Of course, there were other things but seafood was the most prominent. In the end Ellie and I decided on a small family run taco shack as it was only $6 each, although I needed 2 plates. The food was good and we finished it off by heading down the road to the first place we had been for ice cream. Ice cream was followed by heading home and heading to bed, with the tour booked for early the next morning.

Day 42

We repeated yesterday's morning of breakfast at the hotel and walking to the pier. Again, taking a water taxi to our speed boat and then heading off for our snorkelling adventure. The tour first stopped on the coast of Santa Cruz, where we swam with a giant turtle, sharks, various fish and a very friendly sea lion. We also walked up a small inlet to a mangrove shoreline to find resting and breeding grounds of sea iguanas. There were lots of them around and often on top of each other for harnessing warmth. There were 10 people on the boat from a range of places, we got on best with a couple from NZ and Wales. Possibly because the Aussie and Kiwi personalities are so similar. Later we offered for these guys to join us for dinner with the other couple we met on an earlier tour, Whitney and Michael.

After this stop, we left our animal company and went to the island of Pinzon, which was about an hour away. This boat had 3 huge 200 horsepower motors, so we covered some ground (water) quickly. On the way to the first stop and beyond it, we passed Tortuga Bay, identifying the blue waters and bright white sand. We also saw more of the coast of our island including the highlands that we visited for the Giant Tortoises. Again, it appeared to be raining up there, but not where we were. As we were cruising along we spotted some dolphins about 100m away from the boat and the skipper drove towards them. The dolphins were playing around the boat and suddenly there were around 4 or 5 trailing the boat, which is when Ellie took this amazing picture on our zoom lens camera. (See below). It was an awesome experience to see them jumping and playing alongside and at the back of the boat. We couldn't believe how high the raised out of the water and El's best photo would have been the highest jump.

The second stop for snorkelling was similar to the first in terms of marine life. Unfortunately, we didn't see any hammerhead sharks which can be found there and at the third stop. Although, it wasn't a reef like in Queensland, the fish were very colourful and very plentiful. There seemed to be more schools of fish then I had ever seen in the water and they weren't very afraid of people. This was one of our favourite things to see underwater, especially when you were able to dive down and swim with and among the large schools of fish. After the last stop, which was mostly uneventful and lacking the quantity of fish of the first 2 stops, we had lunch on the boat. The main dish was ceviche (fish) and there was a salad which is all I would normally eat in this instance. However, with a vegetarian on board I had to leave plenty of salad for her. This is the collision of being really hungry after snorkelling and my dislike for fish. My hunger won out and I ate some ceviche with lots of rice. The verdict. Not bad, but it'll be a long time before I order it from a menu and maybe it's the only way I would eat it. That is, on a boat in the Galapagos’ islands.

After lunch, we drove for around 2 hours back to the pier and farewelled the other tourists and guide. Ellie and I went home as usual, I had a swim and El showered before we returned to the pier where we met Soki (who has the best Facebook pseudonym ever - as Soki Lala) with Lloydy and Michael with Whitney. We all agreed to dinner on the restaurant road that Ellie and I had been to the previous night. However, with the generosity of Ellie's parents, we were afforded a nice meal that Ellie couldn't question as not being budget friendly. So, Ellie had lobster in garlic sauce and I got the meat feast plate with beef, pork, chicken and chorizo - at least it seemed like that. It also came with salad, rice and plantain which needed to be on another plate as it didn't fit in one. Both Michael and I got this dish and had troubles finishing it all in the end. Everyone seemed to enjoy their meals, but it was the company we enjoyed the most.

After dinner, our trend of getting ice cream continued and it seemed we shared the same trend with the others as we all made our way to Soki's favourite place nearby. After a delicious ice cream, we farewelled our new friends and made for home. Except we needed more money to pay for our accommodation so I returned to near the pier to withdrawal money and Ellie went home to pack. I somehow forgot I had already had an ice cream and treated myself to another, only because it was our last night. I then returned to pack and we both went to bed.

Day 43

Our last day on the island saw us eat breakfast at the hotel, pack and make our way to the airport. We intended to stop at the twin craters that are right next to the road, but the taxi driver, who at first acknowledged our request to stop there, proceeded to drive straight by it. When we realised, it wasn't worth the hassle of going back so we went straight to the ferry, then on to the shuttle to the airport, ending our time in the Galapagos. This is one amazing place that we enjoyed immensely and although expensive, very worth it to see it all. Now its off to Quito, the capital of Ecuador, leaving behind this beautiful place.

#SOUTHAMERICA #Ecuador #Travel #Holiday #Wildlife #GalapagosIslands