The Galapagos Islands

I will start by saying this is the most incredible place I have ever been to in my life. It was everything I was hoping it would be and then some. Our round trip flight, $100 park entry fee, visit to four islands, food and all other misc expenses ended up costing a little under $1000. It is not cheap to get there but we did a pretty good job financially due to the fact that we did not even have a hotel or any tours booked when we showed up on the islands. I highly recommend to anybody that comes down to South America (specifically Ecuador) to go to the Galapagos. Plan the Galapagos when you are planning your budget. It is worth every penny. And unless you go during the months of April, May, or June, don´t listen to anybody who tells you you have to plan your cruise, or daytrips, or whatever ahead of time. This is completely false during non-peak season and we received 30-50% off of every trip we took by booking on the island. And you do not need to take a cruise either. People told us we were crazy not to set up a cruise, but in reality we stayed at a nice hotel for $12.50 per night and did not have to stay in a tiny stateroom with a shared bathroom and rocking ship all night. Now we were able to spend maybe $500-$700 on a cruise which is going to give you the bare minimum. If you can afford $1300 or more there are some very nice last minute cruises to take but Unger and I are poor travelers and decided just to stay on the island and do day trips.

9-13-08

We woke up early in Guayaquil to catch our 9:45am flight to Baltra Island in the Galapagos. The flight took about 1:45 minutes. The very first thing we had to do when we got off the plane was pay our $100 park entry fee, that stung a little but we knew it was coming. We couldn´t really figure out where the $100 went because because we had to pay other little fees for everything else as well. We got our luggage and jumped on the first bus (the only free bus) which took us about 15 minutes to the end of Baltra Island. We then got on a ferry that took us across a channel which took about 10 minutes and cost about $0.80, so not a lot of money, but once again where did our $100 go, because the research centers on the islands (where we would have expected the money to go) are all privately funded. We got off the boat and then took another bus about 45 minutes ($1.80) into Puerto Ayora which is the town where we would be spending the next four nights. As stated before we had no reservation and went to sit on a bench to figure out what we were going to do. Take a cruise or don´t take a cruise? was the main question we were asking ourselves. This guy on a bicycle showed up and asked us if we had any plans yet. We said no and proceed to follow him to his office which was a travel agency. He tried to sell us a 5 night cruise that was leaving 30 minutes later. Unger was ready to go if the guy would give us the right price. Luckily he would not go any lower than $600 and we didn´t think it was worth it for what he was offering (We found out later that the boat we would take called the Friendship is one of the worst boats in the Galapagos and the guide speaks very little English and Galapagos Spanish which is very much different than mainland Spanish. Also the captain is usually drunk and the engine breaks down all the time and they just fix enough so when the next group gets on the boat they don´t know any better. So once again I am glad the guy would not go any lower on the price. We went in search of an internet cafe to see if Gal, our Israeli friend, had arrived yet since he was supposed to be on the same flight and definitely was not. As we were walking out we ran into Gal and Sara (our English friend who we met in Quito and travelled to Cotopaxi with. Sara is traveling for 2 years and is the nicest and most genuine person we have met on our trip). They happened to have a hotel that had four beds so we tagged along and arrived at a lovely little hotel called Hotel Espana. They had hammocks and couches set up in the main common area and the room was clean with a private bathroom. Shortly after arrival a taxi picked us up and we went on a land tour of Santa Cruz Island. We went to Los Gemelos which are two gigantic sink wholes caused by volcanic disturbances. We then went to a farm where giant turtles live naturally. It was incredible to see the lazy, 100+ year old turtles just lounging around in the wild. The farm also had a ping pong table. Unger and I played to 2 and I think I won. He might say differently but I´m pretty sure I won. We got back in the taxi and were then taken to the lava tubes, which were formed when Los Gemelos collapsed (for the record most of this information was told to us in Spanish and Unger did only a little bit of translating so I´m happy with my progress of this language). The lava tubes are these huge caves that we walked through for about 20 minutes. At one point we had to crawl through the mud on our hands and knees (it had rained). We were then taken back to the hotel where we showered and then went up the street to the hostel owner´s uncle´s restaurant, which was basically an outdoor BBQ. I had fish, beans, and rice for $5. We went to bed early after a long day of travel and touring.

9-14-08

Sara and Gal woke up early to go diving. Now even though the owners of the hotel thought Unger and I would be able to go (with absolutely no experience, and you are supposed to be licensed even in Ecuador) Unger and I chose life over drowning and went to the Darwin Research Center to visit primarily Lonesome George (if you don´t know Lonesome George is 150 year old giant turtle who happens to be the last of his species. Scientist have been trying to get him to impregnate a similar species of turtle for some time, but at Lonesome George´s age I would be picky too. Now rumor has it that they gave him some turtle Viagra and he has impregnated I believe 3 females, so Congratulations Lonesome George. You are going to be a daddy!) We saw the Iguanas, other turtles, read about some of the history of the islands, and of course saw Lonesome George. There were a lot of tourists there so Unger and I got out of there quickly. We next walked to the opposite side of town and began our trek towards Tortuga Bay. Tortuga Bay is a beach that is only accessed by walking down a 2km (1.2mile for the only country in the world that doesn´t use the metric system) and then additional 1km on a white sand beach. We arrived at this isolated beach which had very little surf because of the rocks protecting it from the ocean. It was incredible. The weather was nice and there were not a lot of people there. I put sunscreen on and asked unger to help me out with my back. He said he would but in a little while and I wanted to go swimming so I said screw it (see photos for outcome of my decision not to wait). We tried snorkelling but the water was not clear at Tortuga bay so we couldn´t see much. We laid in the sun, ate some snacks, had some beverages and left later in the afternoon. On the way out we saw rays, sharks, finches, a bunch of iguanas and about 7 sea turtles about 20 feet from the shore. It was awesome. We met Gal and Sara and and decided to go (well Unger decided to go, I just followed with everybody else) to Las Grietas which I believe translates to "the cliffs" because that is what they were. Anyway, along with the same theme, I value my life so decided I did not want to jump the thirty feet into a very narrow strip of water. Gal and Unger did it. I'm starting to think maybe I have a fear of heights, or maybe more a fear of just jumping off those heights. I have had several dreams where i am falling off a cliff to my death so maybe my fear is warranted. Afterwards we went back to Esther´s (hostel owner) uncles restaurant. Why change a good thing?

9-15-08

So we decided to take a day trip to Floreana (an island). We had to be at the docks at about 7am and Esther and Roberta (other hotel employee) made us empenadas. They ended making us empenadas every day we were there. For some reason they liked us. I don't know why. So we went down to the dock and got in this little boat. It was a miserable ride. The boat was not very comfortable and pretty small so every wave it hit we could feel. We arrived in Floreana to see sea turtles and marine iguanas right next to the dock. We were taken up the mountain there and then hiked through a giant turtle reserve and then around some ruins. The views were amazing. We then went back to the boat and ate a pretty good lunch. I think it was fried rice. After we stopped at our first snorkelling site called devil's crown. It is a very small island off the coast of Floreana and the wild life is amazing. From blue footed boobies to white frigate birds, black frigate birds, masked boobies, pelicans, etc. We say rays, fish, sea turtles, sea lions, etc. It was amazing. We then went to Champion Island (another small island that drops off into very deep water. We saw a lot of the same wildlife there but there was an incredible amount of fish and I saw a yellow tail tuna which I tried to catch to make sushi, but it was too fast. We got home around 5pm, went back to Esther's uncles restaurant and went to the hotel for bed. Very early wakeup the next morning.

9-16-08

Woke up at 4:30am. Roberta had empenadas waiting. I promise we insisted the night before she not wake up to make them but she did anyway. We couldn't let them go to waste so of course we ate them. Boarded the boat which to our pleasant surprise was quite a bit bigger than the Floreana boat. Oh by the way we were heading to Bartolome (highlight of the trip). The boat had two floors and on the upper deck had pads set up. I definitely went right back to bed because i believe the boat ride was about 3 hours. I'm not sure the exact time but that sounds about right. I woke up about an hour into the ride and enjoyed the views of rays jumping out of the water and birds flying along side the boat. It was quite a sight. We arrived at Bartolome and I was immediately blown away. Every island is unique. I'm not going to try to explain it but my photos illustrate my point. Please view. Anyway we got off the boat and walked up the trail. It was about 30 minutes to the top. We enjoyed amazing views of multiple islands (I don't remember how many but I think it was 3 or maybe 5). We stayed up there for about 20 or 30 minutes and then headed down to the boat to eat lunch. It was fish, good. We then were taken in a dingy to our snorkelling spot. We left from a beach so different than Floreana but just as amazing. We saw thousands of fish and the highlight of the day was definitely watching about 15 blue footed boobies dive into the water at extreme speeds and then swim around to catch fish. They look so goofy on the ground but are very graceful in the air and even in the water. After snorkelling we got back in the boat and returned to Santa Cruz. We discussed going back the Esther's uncle's but found out it was closed. Esther's aunt was at the hotel and was going to make us lobster but the store she was going to buy the lobster from was closed (once again we insisted that she did not do this but once again for some reason they liked us). We decided instead to go with a big group to eat Pizza. Went to bed.

9-17-08

We woke up at a reasonable hour and went back to Tortuga Bay since Gal and Sara had not been there yet. The weather was not as good as the first time we were there but there was a blue footed boobie that we were able to get extremely close to and get some great photos. We then returned to the hotel to pick up our luggage since we were headed to Isabella for a 2 day tour. Unger and I are dumb and almost missed the boat. At times I wish we had because this boat was by far the worst boat ride I have ever been on. The boat was tiny, packed with about 18 people, had two different size engines (I swear, the smaller one did nothing), and every time we hit a wave we went flying in the air. I'm going to have permanent damage to my back and my internal organs have all shift from the impact. But when we arrived, and saw how beautiful Isabella is, we forgot about the boat ride (ok that is a lie, but at least Isabella is beautiful). We went to the hotel which was pretty nice (had TV and AC, two things we take for granted in US hotels). We were only at the hotel for a few minutes as we had a tour of the turtle reserve (yes, we saw a lot of turtles, but they are pretty cool), followed by a walk through the lagoons to try to see flamingos. We saw 3 flamingos in one lagoon but they were really far away. We then got to the last lagoon and saw one flamingo really close up. It had a broken wing and our guide told us it just hangs around at this one lagoon and is always there. This sounds really bad but we think they maybe broke the wing on purpose so that the flamingo can never fly away the tourists will keep coming back. We ate dinner at the hotel and went to bed.

9-18-08

We woke up early and took a van to Sierra Negra Volcano. The beginning was completely foggy and muddy but the top was incredible with unbelievable views. We hike to Chico Volcano which is smaller. We learned that there are 5 volcanos that formed Isabella which is the biggest of the Galapagos Islands. We ate lunch at Chico and then returned. In total we hike 10 miles which was good excercise and good warmup for Machu Picchu. At sea level I did fine. We will see what happens in Peru. We went back to the hotel, changed and hike Las Tintas which had hundreds of iguana, some sea lions, crabs, of course, and a pool where white tipped reef sharks could be seen. We then went snorkelling for the 5th time which was still great and we saw quite a bit.

9-19-08

We woke up at 5am, took the 6am boat back to Santa Cruz. Although it was the same boat there were half the people and since it was morning the sea was more calm. We were also prepared for a very long day so this was just the beginning. We went to the hotel, collected our luggage, said goodbye to Esther and Roberta, and took the 45 minute bus (which Hanne and Norman happened to be on) to the 10 minute boat which connected to the 15 minute bus ride to the airport. You can see where I'm going with this. We flew to Guayaquil which took 1 hour 45 minutes and as soon as we got off the plane collected our luggage and checked in to our next flight which was too Lima and was another hour and 45 minutes. it was the nicest plane I have ever been on and Unger and I were wishing the flight was longer since we got free snacks (doesn't happen in the states anymore) and free movies, tv shows, games, etc (also doesn't happen in the states anymore). Once we arrived we cleared customs, since it was an international flight. Unger and I are dumb and we both lost or could not locate, you choose, our entry tickets into Ecuador. The customs agent was not happy with us but let us fill out new tickets. We then got into a taxi which took us 45 minutes to Miraflores district (gringolandia II) where our hostel was. We went to bed after a very long day of travel. I already miss the Galapagos Islands.