Post by shrjeff on Apr 20, 2019 7:28:05 GMT 2
somebody requested that i post trip reports so i'm going to dedicate this thread to a variety.
1st is our trip to the Galapagos:
1st is our trip to the Galapagos:
GALAPAGOS 2014
8 MAY: We got to Guayaquil airport on time and paid a $10 per person fee and had our checked luggage
scanned for forbidden items. There were several locals having to take the stems off of tomatoes and
cauliflower before they could send the items through. We then checked in and were boarded on time.
The plane arrived in Balta about 5 minutes early and we then paid a $100 per person fee and had our
carry-ons checked for forbidden items. By the time we were through the luggage was being offloaded
and we soon were off to the bus to the ferry terminal. We were approached to hire a taxi to the hotel
for $30. Since our research showed that the price should be about $18 we turned him down in spite of
the guy shadowing us until we got on the bus. At the ferry terminal we got the waiting boat and made
the few minute transit, paying the exorbitant $0.80 per person! When we got off the boat a guy offered
to take us for $52! (The public bus, by the way, costs about $1.50 per person.) Finally someone offered
to take us for $18 which we accepted. Taxis in Galapagos are double cabin pick-ups so we slung the
luggage in the back and clambered into the seats, taking off on the only road on the island – from the
ferry to the main city on the other side of the island, Puerto Ayora, about 40 minutes away. Puerto
Ayora is the largest city in the islands with about 12000 inhabitants. The streets in the city are paved
with bricks, like the Akerman sidewalk bricks in Israel.
We arrived at the Germania hotel at 2 pm and were checked in by Javier the son. We immediately
turned on the air conditioner since it was hot and humid. We settled in and took off for a late lunch and
to see downtown. At the restaurant we chose we met Rob, who is also staying at the Germania, and he
filled us in on things. We then picked up some water at a minimarket and were back to the hotel to rest
up. After all the flights and days getting here we decided to get an early night and catch up on our
sleep.
9 MAY: Today we got up well rested and went to breakfast which consisted of scrambled eggs, a slice of
fresh white cheese not unlike Tzfat cheese, toast, hot drink and phony orange juice. It was quite ample
and gave us a chance to meet the owner, Rafael. After discussing the alternatives we asked Rafael to
book us a day trip to North Seymour Island for tomorrow. We then took a cab to the Charles Darwin
Center to see the giant tortoises and land iguanas. We also saw Sally Lightfoot red crabs and sea
iguanas off the boat launch, as well as a variety of birds which we, naturally, couldn’t identify except for
the pelicans. After a couple of hours wandering the reserve we took a cab back to the hotel and cooled
off while waiting for Rafael to return from running errands. He told us that there were no places
available until next week so we booked our trip for Monday, as we leave on Tuesday for our next island.
We then went out for lunch, stopping in a Kiosk – a cheap restaurant along a street full of them. As per
our reading we picked one with lots of locals eating and had a good, reasonably priced meal. Just as we
were finished it started to rain (as per weather.com!) and we waited for a while until it lightened up and
went back to the hotel, getting somewhat soaked on the way.
When the rain stopped we headed out for the wharf where the fishermen offload their catch and clean
and sea lions all scrambling for fish scraps, many of which were nearly whole skeletons. The animals are
definitely not afraid of humans but they certainly chase each other around: the sea lion which was
lolling in the area when we arrived was soon chased away by a larger newcomer. One of the fish
cleaners would merely drop the waste into the mouth of the sea lion next to him. The other cleaner
would toss his waste into the midst of the pelicans who would scrap over the scraps. As these were
nearly entire fish with only the fillets removed, the pelican which won the scrap would have to open its
beak to swallow which put it in danger of having another bird snatch it so the winner tended to fly or
waddle off to a safe haven. We saw a frigate bird nearly succeed in snatching a fish out of the open
beak of a pelican. As you can imagine, it was an exciting time. When we were sated with watching the
animals become sated we wandered back to the hotel via the public boat docks from where the boats to
the other islands depart. We also found that we could take boat taxis around as well. We then stocked
up on supplies at the minimarket and returned to the hotel. That evening we headed off for dinner and
returned for another early night.
10 May: Up for breakfast as usual. The drink today was a tree tomato which tasted much like a guava.
After breakfast, as we were getting ready to go out, there was an electrical outage. The whole city was
down so we decided to wait it out. Eventually we had power and wandered around the town enjoying
the vibe. After lunch we went to the boat taxi pier to see the people preparing to go to Isabela or San
Cristobal isles. The boats seemed pretty small! There was a sea lion sleeping on the dock to Isabela who
totally ignored all the people boarding. It then began to rain so we picked up more supplies at the
adjacent minimarket and took off for the hotel for the afternoon.
Rafael told us that the fisherman and the fish cleaners would be active today, Saturday, so we returned
there to discover the resident, hopeful sea lion and a few birds but no action. We enjoyed good ice
cream while we waited a bit longer to no avail. After a while we took a taxi back, telling the driver that
we wanted to go to the Germania, adding ‘Rafael’ and he grinned and pointed to his certificate which
listed Rafael’s name! After our first taxi ride we figured out that the locals know everybody so while
they may not be familiar with the name of a hotel when we mention the owner they know exactly
where to go.
For dinner we went across the street to a little restaurant which played cool jazz in the background. It
was tasty and convenient. Then back to the hotel where the internet was still very iffy. Our connection
to the hotel’s router was fine so we assume that it is the island’s provider. Then off to bed and thus
ends our 3rd day in the Galapagos.
11 MAY: Up as usual to find that the internet is still spotty. Then down to breakfast where we arranged
with Rafael to order a cab to take us into the highlands after Steve attends Mass. We will visit the El
Chato Reserve where we shall don rubber boots to slog through the mud to see some wild tortoises,
then visit the calderas and finally see a lava tube tunnel. This should take about 2 ½ hours.
We went to the little port by the church and while Steve and Lucy went to mass Wendy and Jeff
wandered the piers looking at the marine iguanas, red crabs, and the various birds. It’s still strikes us
funny to see huge pelicans roosting in trees! We then returned to the hotel to wait for the cab. Juan
showed up exactly at 10 am as scheduled and we were off. He asked for $45 for the trip and made an
effort to act as a guide though he had no English. We went first to the pair of calderas, volcanoes where
the top had imploded, along the road where we saw some of the indigenous trees such as scalesia. This
tree only grows at a certain altitude and many epiphytes, lichen, ferns, orchids, bromeliads, etc.,
typically grow upon the trees. It was much cooler at the altitude of 500 meters and we enjoyed the
perfect weather. From there we went to the reserve where Juan escorted us around. We saw several
tortoises, one of which was right at the path. This was a big one (mature male) which hissed at us and
withdrew its head into its shell. Guess the surviving wild ones have learned to be cautious! Wandering
through the fields he picked some fresh clementinas for us. They were mildly sweet. He then took us to
a lava tunnel. These are the remnants of lava flows in which the outside cools but the flow itself
continues so there is a hollow core at the end. We were off back to Puerto Ayora for lunch. Though it’s
Sunday plenty of places were open. We tried a Chifa (Chinese) restaurant and over-ordered. Except for
Steve’s garlic shrimp the sauces were a bit bland but the food was well prepared. Then back to the
hotel for an afternoon in front of the air conditioner Still full from lunch we shared a medium pizza
for dinner and then to bed.
12 MAY: Today we are to be picked up at ~8:00 am for an all day tour to Northern Seymour Island. We
will drive back up the road to the pier where we arrived from the airport (the airport is on Baltra, also
known as Southern Seymour Island) and from there it will be a short boat ride to the island. We are
supposed to be able to see lots of Blue Footed Boobies, hopefully doing a mating dance. We were the
first to be picked up and then the bus picked up the others for a total of 16 passengers (the limit on tour
groups set by the National Park), Alejandro the guide, and boat staff. We drove back to the wharf we
landed at when we arrived and were ferried to the boat in the rubber Zodiak in two groups. We then
headed to North Seymour Island where we were again ferried in two groups to the landing which
consisted of lava rocks. We then did a counterclockwise tour of the island. We saw many land and sea
iguanas of various sexes and sizes. The adult land iguana males are more colorful and larger than the
females while the sea iguanas are uniformly dark to absorb heat after their body temperature sinks
when they are in the water. The adult marine males are also larger than the females. It turns out that
the two are closely related being the progeny of the mainland tree iguanas which floated over to the
islands on aquatic plant rafts. Thus there is some interbreeding between the marine and land varieties,
mainly by horny male sea iguanas. On one of the islands there are a few. Like mules, the progeny are
not fertile. In addition they have a shortened life span of about 10 years compared to both species’ 50
year life spans. The islands were populated only by land reptiles who could tolerate the two weeks
floating without food or water. This explains why there are no native mammals since they weren't able
to survive the voyage.
We also saw hordes of frigate birds, the pirates of the sea. Unlike other water birds their feathers are
not waterproof and they have chicken like feet rather than webbed ones. Thus they cannot get wet as
their feathers would get waterlogged. Instead they stay aloft, occasionally skimming up fish at the
surface with their long beak, but typically stealing the catch from other birds. We saw males on nests
looking for mates, their red throat sack fully inflated, their wings spread and making calls to the sky
when an eligible female flew over. We saw females, juveniles with their white heads and even some
chicks, all white and furry looking. We also saw blue-footed boobies, some hanging around, and some
nesting and guarding the young from predators. Unfortunately we didn’t see any dancing pairs. The
island is full of scrub plants and it brought into focus the fact that both species nest either on the ground
or on low plants as neither has any land predators to be wary of. The land iguanas, while primarily
vegetarian, are opportunistic and will eat carrion as well as bird’s eggs if they can get it. We saw a
fascinating stand-off where a large iguana tried to sneak up on a nesting booby, the two staring each
other down! Thus both bird species tend their young until the beaks are long and sharp enough to ward
off predators by themselves. Since the frigate birds aren’t as good providers as the boobies, which can
dive and catch fish under water, the dependent stage while the parents need to take turns guarding and
feeding them, is quite long, up to a year. Therefore they can only mate every other year. The boobies,
in contrast, are independent about 3 ½ months after hatching. We continued around to the rocky cliffs
where we saw more iguanas and then the sea lions including one little pup which ambled right past! In
the rocky water were a couple of sea lion pups being taught to swim by their parents. Until they are
large enough they play and practice in the shallows where sharks cannot get them.
This was a fascinated couple of hours ambling slowly around a small island which had much of what we
came here to see! We then were shuttled back to the boat where we had a modest lunch while sailing
across the channel between North Seymour and Santa Cruz to go swimming. We didn’t know that this
was part of the tour so didn’t bring swim suits and just chilled on the boat. Except for dodging
mosquitoes the only thing we missed was seeing a small flock of flamingos. As we’ve seen them lots of
places including Eilat we didn’t think we missed much. Then we sailed back to the wharf and boarded
our bus back to Puerto Ayora and the hotel. It was a most successful day! Tomorrow we’ll be off to
Isabela Island, the 2 nd of the three we’ll be staying on.
13 MAY: Up as usual to pack and prepare for the boat trip to Isabela. We check out of the hotel at 10
am, leaving the luggage in the office downstairs and wander and have lunch before returning at 1:30 pm
to have Rafael take us to the wharf and get us settled on Gabi’s boat for the 2 pm sailing. We wrote the
hotel on Isabela to expect us and received a reply that we would be met on the wharf at 4 pm. Let’s
hope the crossing is not too bad. Rafael took us in his vehicle (a double-cabin pickup just like the taxis)
to the pier and made sure we were registered, receiving stickers with ‘Gabi’ written on them to put on
our shirts. We then had our bags checked for plants, animals and even rocks: anything from the islands.
We waited at the top of the ramp while small groups got on and off the water taxis to various
destinations. Finally the boat was ready and we got on a taxi and were ferried out to it. The boat was
small with three 200 horsepower outboards on the back. There was an inside cabin which had seating
on long benches on either side and a bench seat at the back. It took two taxis to get all the passengers,
20 in total, ready and we were among the last to board. A nice local young woman told Wendy to sit on
the back bench as they are the most stable seats. Steve and Lucy found seats in the middle of a side
bench while Jeff got the outside left and Wendy next to him. We departed at 2:20 and once out of the
bay went full speed. The engine noise was terrific so speech was impossible, the ocean choppy with us
bouncing, and the spray on Jeff and Wendy was continuous so by the end Jeff was totally drenched in
spite of using his life jacket to divert the water. In the middle of the trip Lucy began not to feel well due
to the motion and heat and the nice woman noticed and traded seats with her so she was sitting in the
middle of the back bench next to Wendy. Steve also felt pretty shaky but managed to hold it together.
We finally made port at 4:40 pm, over two hours of this misery. We were again shuttled to the pier by
water taxi. We paid a $5 per person landing fee and found Nelton holding a sign for us. We soon were
on our way in the local version of a taxi: a truck with a back with open sides and rows of bench seats.
Our rooms are again simple but quite satisfactory. There is a community kitchen with refrigerator which
is welcome. There is a minimarket adjacent to the hotel so it’s very convenient. Jeff was so soaked that
he had to shower and change clothes. He could literally wring water out of his T-shirt! Discussing the
trip it turns out that within a few minutes at full speed all of us decided that we are going to fly to San
Cristobal Island, whatever the cost, rather than take the boat back to Santa Cruz-2 plus hours- and then
another boat-another 2 plus hours- on to San Cristobal! Tomorrow we shall try to get seats. We then
went to a restaurant about a block away, passing a volleyball game with the highest net ever. They were
playing 3 on a side with a referee sitting in line with the net. These guys must be really serious! As we
got to the restaurant hordes of pre-adolescent kids streamed in. They sat us at the last table for 4 and
told us that hamburgers were not available. Guess kids are the same all over the world! After dinner
we wended our way back and tried to recuperate from our ‘adventure.’
14MAY: Breakfast is not included so we went to explore the town and check out restaurants. The
standard breakfast: toast, eggs, coffee and fruit juice is $5 so the price is the same as Puerto Ayora.
There we paid $50 a night per room including breakfast and here we paid $40 plus two breakfasts. We
ran into two Australian young women with whom we had chatted while waiting for the boat back in
Puerto Ayora. This is such a small town one sees everybody. After breakfast we found that the
airline’s office was open and the clerk was very helpful. We decided to fly on Tuesday, the 20th , when
there were 4 seats available. Amazingly we received the half-price ‘last minute’ fare of $80 per person.
As the boat costs $30 for each trip for a total of $60 to get from Isabela to San Cristobal (as well as two
days) it’s a real no-brainer. While we were there a pilot came in. We began speaking with him as his
English was fluent and he was amazed that we’d taken the boat – and commiserated with us about the
experience.
We then began to wander along the beach and came across some black lava rocks literally covered with
marine iguanas. Back on the road there was a sign announcing an ‘iguana crossing’ with an iguana
crossing there. We went back to the hotel to make sure we could get the additional two days as we
postponed our departure to mesh with the flight. No problem, so Jeff got on the internet and handled
the hotel on San Cristobal. We also took the opportunity to change hotels as we’ve discovered that
being downtown has great advantages and the original hotel there is up on a hill.
Then to lunch and back to chill for the afternoon, cleaning up our emails, after we paid Nelton for the
extra two days and checking out prices for tours around the area. We went out for dinner and met Ana,
the woman who was so helpful on the boat. She continued to be helpful and gave us a short-list of
restaurants which meet her criteria for cleanliness. She has to return to Puerto Ayora tomorrow and will
have to take the boat again as there were no seats available on the flight! Ana explained that the rains
are late this year with rumors of El Nino coming in which may extend them through the summer and
even the fall! Then back to the hotel for the evening. Thus ends another day in the Galapagos.
15 MAY: Up to catch up on the travelogue before breakfast. We walked over to the boat dock, about
1.5 km/1 mile from our hotel. The weather is cooler and cloudy. At the dock we met several of the
largest marine iguanas we’ve seen as well as a bunch of sea lions lying around on the seats. Steve
greeted one who growled at him, obviously because he addressed her as a guy and she was insulted as
she was right next to her male who was keeping a eye out for others.
We saw a bunch of penguins hunting among the boats. They are small and sleek and quick as they dart
just under the surface coming up for air occasionally. There were some sea lions hunting as well and a
highlight was seeing the blue-footed boobies cruising the sea looking for fish and then dive-bombing
them! Quite the sight: they go straight into the water like an Olympic diver. Even the pelicans are
beautiful to watch as they catch fish, unlike the raucous bunch at the fish cleaning pier in Puerto Ayora.
After a while we returned to the hotel and went out for breakfast at the El Faro (lighthouse) restaurant
which has become our breakfast place of choice: a nice plate of fruit, eggs, fresh rolls and the best,
brewed coffee we’ve found in Ecuador. We wandered a bit and then back to the hotel. For lunch we
went to the same place we ate the first night. They still didn’t have hamburgers – apparently the kids
ate their entire stock until the next shipment. Wendy had the ceviche: she is attempting to find the
best. This was a middling version. Jeff had the daily lunch special: a richly flavored chicken soup with
noodles and shredded chicken, a roasted piece of chicken with rice and salad and a glass of fruit juice.
In the afternoon we realized that we hadn’t taken into consideration the weekend when things are
closed in such a small community. We decided to start arranging the tours and sat with Miriam who was
exceedingly helpful in spite of her poor English. She solved the problem by pulling up Google Translator
and she and Jeff wrote back and forth until all was clear. Since we have to check in for our flight
tomorrow we don’t want to schedule anything that might interfere. Thus we signed up for the tour to
the Tintoreras islands for Sunday afternoon. These are small rocky islands just outside the bay where
we expect to see lots of penguins as well as fish such as sharks. We will be escorted by an English
speaking guide who will, hopefully, enrich the experience. We then went to the Cesar restaurant for
dinner as we enjoyed our meal there earlier in the week. Wendy again had the ceviche and announced
that it was still the best she’d had. Steve had shrimp in garlic sauce which he enjoyed, Lucy had grilled
fish which she also enjoyed (as did a little cat who got the leftover bits) and Jeff had the shrimp
brochette which was tasty.
Then back to the hotel for the evening.
17 MAY: Today was a lazy day. After breakfast we checked in with Laura at the airline office as we were
told to. The flight is now due to depart at 11:30 am, which is even better. We have to check out of our
hotel at 10:00 so will sit around and then go to the airport early if there is anything there – must ask
Nelton! Today he was cleaning the rooms as the regular cleaner must have the weekend off
Saturday--and Sunday--around here is very slow as most places are either closed or take a siesta.
Cesar’s , our restaurant of choice, will be closed tomorrow so we are wondering where we shall eat. We
have learned that around here, at least, mañana means ‘tomorrow morning’ so we are told that they are
closed. Further clarification revealed that the minimarket will be open in the late afternoon!
18 MAY: Today we have the tour to the Tintoreras scheduled for 2:30 pm. There is supposed to be a
short boat ride to a rocky island from which some will snorkel and we will wander with a guide to see
sea and bird life. After breakfast Steve and Lucy went to mass. Steve reported that he understood a
few words. We were ready for our 2:15 pickup for the tour – which arrived at 2:35! We were the last to
be picked up, all of us squeezing into the double cabined truck and the bed. We got to the wharf and all
8 of us tourists piled into a water taxi (small boat with an awning) with which we were familiar as it’s the
same kind that took us to and from the speedboat from Santa Cruz. We took off for some nearby rocks
to see 3 penguins standing there, two together. Dario, the guide, related that penguins mate for life.
We then returned to the dock and picked up a bunch of other people. We then went out of the
sheltered bay to the off shore islands and saw a large group of penguins on a rocky isle mixed in with
blue-footed boobies. We then had a ‘dry’ landing at the Tintoreras Isle and began a tour of the place.
This was a lava outcrop, very craggy, with lichen growing which looked at first like bird dropping
covering them. Dario explained that the prevailing rains and mist provided the moisture for the lichen.
As we wended along the pebbly path of volcanic rock and white coral we came across many marine
iguanas, some quite large, and saw some sneezing out the excess salt. We finally came to the narrow
channel through which the tintoreras sharks, for which the place is named, travel and rest but none
were to be seen. After a 30 minute walk, the 8 of us then reboarded the boat leaving the other group on
the isle. We anchored and the rest of the group went snorkeling. A woman from Orleans, France, came
with her own wetsuit and snorkeling equipment. They piled off the boat and we sat under the shade
watching penguins swimming and birds fly past while the boat rocked in the surf. We are outside the
natural breakwater so it’s a bit bouncy. Finally we go to pick up the snorkelers. The French woman
looks pretty gaunt and when Jeff asks her in French (her English isn’t) how she was, she replied "very
tired and seasick" . Her friend, on the other hand, was very chipper and talked about the sea turtles
they saw in a cave that Dario took them to. After all were on board we headed back to the dock and
piled into one of the local taxi types with the rows of bench seats and were quickly taken into town.
Isabela is different from Santa Cruz in that none of the roads are paved but there are nice sidewalks.
Villamil is a small town and everything is within walking distance.
We couldn’t eat at Cesar’s, our favorite restaurant, since it was closed all day Sunday. We tried a
different place and all chose the lunch menu of the day, $6-7 each: fruit juice, rice, cooked vegetables
and a portion of meat, chicken or seafood. After a relaxing afternoon we again walked the two blocks to
the town center and found most restaurants still closed, including the place we’d had lunch at. We
decided to try a small place next to still-closed Cesar’s that had a charcoal grill going in front. The
skewers of chicken and seafood along with plates of rice and beans were quite tasty and reasonable:
$7.50 per person. It was obviously a family-run operation with the two parents and the two children
being cooks, waiters, etc. The girl, about age 10, was heavily involved: she took our orders (though her
mother came later to confirm them) then would dash between the kitchen and the grill carrying raw
food and delivering the cooked skewers. Then back to the hotel for the night. Unfortunately there were
a few people, including one with a stentorian voice, bullshitting sophomorically about god on our porch
late into the night. Finally Jeff had to chase them away and we were able to drift back to sleep.
19 MAY: We woke up today to hear those poor people taking the speedboat back to Santa Cruz getting
picked up at 5:30 am. Their departure was followed by a heavy rainstorm. After breakfast we decided
to go to the local Galapagos Tortoise Center. We went to Nelton, the owner of the hotel, to order a taxi
and he happily went off to town returning in a few minutes with Jose. He took Steve, Wendy and Jeff to
the center and acted as guide, pointing out the corrals of different age and specie groups. It is very well
designed and fascinating with many, many more tortoises than the one in Puerto Ayora. There is one
corral with the only members of its species in captivity: 4 males and 4 females. The newly hatched are
placed in cages as their shells are soft so they must not be exposed to predators. After a while they are
large enough and can be moved to corrals. They are weighed and measured quarterly and assigned to
the relevant area.
The breeding males are truly huge – and probably over 100 years old as that’s the age of maturity.
Lonesome George, who died a couple of years ago of old age, was over a 100 but not that old for a
tortoise to die of old age. It was fascinating to see them move around. Jose led us into a complex
which explained more about the tortoises with sufficient signage in English for us. He then took us a
couple of hundred yards up the road to see a pond with bright red flamingos as well as a couple of other
water birds. This is adjacent to a couple of water towers and is where they are in the process of building
a water desalination plant.
We then returned to the hotel. Lucy was interested in seeing the tortoises and felt up to going to see
the Center. We again spoke with Nelton who called Jose on his cell and in a couple of minutes we were
off back to the Center. Even for the second time in a single morning the tortoises and how they are
displayed was fascinating. This time they were being fed which was amazing to see: fighting over a leaf
or stem, all ‘running’ as fast as huge tortoises can to the food, and just gnawing away. We then went
into the gift store where Jeff and Steve had bought hats with the parque logo on the first trip and Lucy
got a fridge magnet as a souvenir. After the flamingo drive by we had Jose drop us off at a restaurant
for lunch.
Following the meal we went over to the airline office and Laura informed us that our noon flight was
cancelled. We could either go in the morning or at 2 pm which we took. This is the third time the flight
schedule has been changed and we are hoping that it is final. We shall certainly drop in again after
breakfast tomorrow morning. When we got back to the hotel we explained to Nelton that we’d like to
keep one of the rooms until 1pm instead of 10 am. When Nelton returned from his siesta he told Jeff
that he can let us have them until 12:00 which is great as we will then go to lunch and on to the airport.
Both Nelton and we are happy.
We went out for dinner to enjoy our last evening in Isabela. Then off to begin packing for our flight
tomorrow.
20 MAY: After breakfast we went over to the airline office and Laura reassured us that the flight is still
on for 2pm Back to the hotel to finish packing. At 11:30 we decided to vacate the rooms and go to
lunch. Nelton was very pleased and we strolled downtown where we ran into Jose! We arranged with
him to pick us up at 12:45 to take us to the airport. We then ate at Cesar’s for our last meal on the
island. Jeff got served first as he ordered the set lunch menu: a delicious fish soup, a mixed fried rice
and juice. The others were still eating when it got close to the bewitching hour so Jeff went back to the
hotel to wait for Jose. When Jose arrived he and Jeff loaded up the luggage and went back to Cesar’s to
pick up the rest who had just paid! We got to the airport past the diesel powered electricity generating
plant. At the airport there was the usual security inspector who checked all our bags for contraband:
fresh food and plants and protected animals and objects (like lava rocks) and sealed them with a tie. We
then waited for our plane. A plane arrived and who got off? Ana, of course. She is on Isabela for a
couple of days, then back to Santa Cruz for a day before she flies to France to visit her family there. She
told us that her boat trip back was even worse than ours! She looked very happy that she was able to fly
this time and we were again happy about our decision to fly. We promised to stay in touch with her by
email. A small plane lands and is offloaded and then the Emetebe staff person showed up, wrote us
down and weighed our luggage and assessed the overweight. It turns out that we have a tiny 6 person
airplane and the 5th passenger is a German kid named Moritz who’s been traveling for over a month
already. We then wait, and wait, and wait some more. Jeff finally finds a staff person to ask about the
wait and is told that the pilot is eating lunch! The same person who weighed our luggage came and
took us to the plane where he crammed our luggage into the little holds in the rear and nose of the two
engine critter. Then he helped us clamber in via the wing: Jeff and Wendy in the back, Steve and Lucy in
the middle and Moritz next to the pilot. The engines get started and we taxi to the end of the runway
while Edison, the pilot, checks things out. We take off at 2:02 pm!!! Edison says that it is a 56 minute
flight. As with all small planes, which are not pressurized, there is lots of engine noise – but less than
the boat so we can actually talk a bit with each other. The flight is relatively smooth and after about 20
minutes we pass Santa Cruz and can see Puerto Ayora clustered around the bay. We hit some clouds
and have a bit of turbulence but not as bad as we’ve had on real airplanes and, according to Steve who
can see the altimeter, we climb from 5000 feet to 7000 to get above the clouds. We then spot San
Cristobal ahead of us and begin our descent, arriving about 2:45! What a delight. When we get out of
the plane we collect the luggage and go outside to find that we aren’t met as we hoped. Meanwhile
Moritz had commandeered a taxi and invited us to join him. He sat in the bed of the pickup to let us
have the seats. It was a quick journey to the hotel where Adid, with excellent English, checked us in and
showed us to our rooms. The rooms are large with fridges and are by far the nicest we have had so far.
Jeff checked with Adid for markets and restaurant areas and then we took off. Our first impression was
of a poorer community than the others and we weren’t too enthusiastic about the place. When we got
back to the room with water Jeff tried to log onto the internet without success. His connection to the
router was fine but he wasn’t getting through. He went down to the desk and spoke with one of the
women staff and her son who couldn’t help and had no English, suggesting we wait for Adid to come
back. Meanwhile Jeff asked her about restaurants and got three recommendations. When Adid came
back he also couldn’t help but one of the guests, an English speaking tech who apparently is resident
there, came home from work and suggested that a reboot of my computer would help. He was right
and all is well. [Public service announcement: I have Windows 8.1 and in order to save start up time I
was using the ‘sleep’ and ‘hibernate’ commands rather than totally switching off the computer. Thus
errors crept into the configuration. Thus I shall return to my previous habit of mostly turning the thing
off between uses.]
At dinner time we took the lady’s suggestion and went to the Malecon (boardwalk or street along the
shore) to the Calypso restaurant. Immediately the atmosphere was different and much more to our
taste. Also the shoreline, as well as along the street, were full of sea lions barking away. Quite the sight.
We enjoyed the meal and then wended our way back to the hotel after enjoying sunset over the bay.
21 MAY: Up to the only negative about the place. The shower uses an electric on-demand heater and
we had been warned (trip-advisor) that the heat of the water was inverse to the strength of the flow.
However, nothing worked and it was a short shower! When we went downstairs for breakfast Adid
apologized, saying that they had forgotten to turn on the electricity for us. Hopefully tomorrow!
Meanwhile breakfast was lavish, all the hot drinks one can drink, raspberry juice, fruit, scrambled eggs
or a cheese and onion omelet, toast and jam. Later that morning we went out to wander the Malecon
and check things out. We found a lot of souvenir shops and Jeff got a hat: a baseball cap with a back
piece of fabric to protect the back of the neck. It was great and he liked it but soon the wind blew it off
his head and into the water. We then wandered around some more and checked out the area which
had had all the sea lions last night. It was now populated by little ones with a few adults. We checked a
few restaurants for lunch and ended up at El Descansco Marinero, a seafood place where Steve and Jeff
had seafood and Wendy a good fish ceviche. Since it was very sunny and hot we returned to the hotel
to cool off and rest after lunch. For dinner we ate at Rosita’s, a fancy seafood place where a friend of
Adid’s, Paul, is the waiter.
22 MAY: Again the shower in neither room was hot, even though the breaker was on. After breakfast
the maintenance people showed up and worked on both shower heads which are electrified to provide
hot water on demand. After all was fixed we went out with the express purpose of finding a tour agent
fluent in English who could understand our interests and set up the requisite tours. On the next block
from the hotel we stopped in the first we came to and discovered that our needs were met: Roberto
(who we later learned had spent some time in Toronto) indeed spoke fluent English and was, himself, a
tour guide so was exactly who we were looking for. We settled on a tour tomorrow morning to the
highlands to see a crater lake followed by a visit to the local (and third) Galapagos Tortoise center and a
beach. Then on Saturday we would take his boat trip to Kicker Island to look for sea life: sharks, rays
and, hopefully, turtles. There would be a group of divers and we would stay on the boat while they
went into the water. For lunch Lucy wanted us to bring her back a hamburger so we went to the place
that Adid recommended for hamburgers but it was closed. Instead we went to Andritos, a restaurant
which had been recommended on TripAdvisor as good and inexpensive. For $3.50 we got soup, juice
and a main course: Wendy had a chicken and vegetable salad while Jeff and Steve had beef stew. The
portions were modest but sufficient and the price was certainly right! After we had eaten we checked
back again at the hamburger joint and the place had opened so we got a hamburger to go for Lucy and
returned to the hotel.
Lucy reported that the hamburger was very tasty so for dinner we all went to the burger joint.
Afterwards we walked down the malecon to see the sea lions. The little ones were playing and the big
ones were noisy. It’s quite the sight which is always changing and fascinating to watch.
23MAY: Yay! Hot water in the shower, though at low water pressure. After breakfast we headed down
the block to meet up with Roberto. We were soon off to the highlands along a sometimes paved,
sometimes potholed, sometimes unpaved and sometimes in the middle of repaving road. Since the
crater was sheathed in fog we decided to go first to the tortoise center. We also decided to have lunch
in the highlands so we stopped at the restaurant while Roberto gave them our order. The tortoise
reserve, while fenced in, is mostly open so there is an unfettered, wild feel to the place. Roberto turned
out to be extremely observant, knowledgeable and instructive. He had us listen to a low, repeated grunt
which he told us was the sound of a male tortoise copulating. He also pointed out the various flora,
what was invasive and what was endemic. He explained how the flora and the tortoise’ carapace adapt
to each other. There was a map of the various islands with the 11 indigenous species and told us that
Pinto Island, the original home of the late Lonesome George, is now void of its species. However the
island has been cleaned of invasive species such as goats and rats and some neutered male tortoises
have been put there to manage the foliage. Roberto also pointed out the various bird species and
emphasized that while the finches are most associated with Darwin, and are even named after him, he
actually focused on the mockingbirds and it was only later that others focused on the finches. A quick
check shows that the National Geographic supports this: the finches weren't as illuminating as the diversity of the
islands' mockingbirds, at least not initially, and Darwin couldn't make sense of them until a bird expert back in England helped.
In short Roberto did a bang up job of guiding as well as giving us lots of insight into the cultural aspects
of life on the islands. His great grandmother came from the Ecuadorian Andes since back in the mid-19th
century the government was encouraging colonization by offering free land in order to establish
sovereignty over the islands. We went on to the beach where we saw the local ‘cactus apple’ which
grows to the height of a small tree with a thick trunk with the cactus paddles at the top. As the cactus
grows taller the needles drop off the trunk as they are no longer needed to protect the paddles. Very
impressive. He told us that there were islands without tortoises or land iguanas where the local variety
had soft needles. The beach was sandy and there were maybe a dozen people, some obviously camping
out. We then returned to the restaurant. It is very rustic and the dining area is a huge wooden deck.
There were hands of bananas around the deck and Roberto picked some for us. They were the typical,
extremely sweet and tasty kind we’ve been having at breakfast. Wendy and Roberto had chicken,
sauced and wrapped in aluminum foil and grilled while Jeff and Steve had thinly sliced beef in a tasty
sauce. These were served with slices of avocado, cucumber, and tomatoes, good French fried potatoes
and fried plantains (as usual tasteless). There was a dish of white rice for all, though Roberto was the
only one to have any. The drink was a mix of orange and papaya juice and very tasty. The dessert was
pieces of flan in a thin caramel/dolce de leche sauce with a distinct scent of cloves. While we ate there
was heavy rain but by the time we finished eating it had stopped so we began our way back. When we
got to the crater it was drizzling and the entire area was foggy so we decided that as there wouldn’t be
any visibility, seeing it was not meant to be. On the way back to the hotel we had the taxi pass by the
piers so Roberto could point out where we’ll meet tomorrow for our boat trip to Kickers Rock. Then on
to the hotel to catch up on the travelogue!
We went out for dinner and it started raining again so we didn’t hang out by the sea lion beach to watch
the antics. Also, we have an early start tomorrow for the boat trip.
24 MAY: We were at the pier a bit early. It is full of small groups as well as those traveling to Santa
Cruz. We finally got on the boat along with a bevy of American and Canadian university students who
are on a volunteer program to help eradicate the invasive plants in the highlands. The poor girls were
covered in mosquito bites. We began by slowly cruising the shoreline clockwise to the north. There are
platforms built into the bay for sea lions, hoping to keep them off the boats (not too successfully from
what we saw). Each platform holds a boss male and his harem. The males live about 18 years while
the females about 25. The males are in constant defense of their harem to ensure their genes are
replicated so don’t get to eat much during mating season. Roberto told us that the females can delay
pregnancy and after mating with the boss, they then go on an expedition to mate with other large males.
The assumption is that the female knows that the male’s sovereignty is temporary so by mating with the
potential replacements, she assures that the boss male, whoever he is, thinks that the pup is his. We
also saw Galapagos herons, the smallest species of heron as well as Galapagos gulls which are nocturnal
to avoid competing with other birds for food. We saw rocks full of frigate birds with adult males and
their bright red pouches as well as blue-footed boobies. Eventually we came to a small bay where we
saw our first marine turtles.
Then we picked up speed and headed to the goal of the day: Kickers Rock, known in Spanish as sleeping
lion from its appearance. It is a stark rock with some cracks splitting it into two major parts as well This
is a snorkeler place and Roberto and the girls, who each had been given a wetsuit, mask, snorkel and
flippers, jumped into the water and began their tour. Meanwhile Robin, the captain, began to slowly
cruise around the rock looking for marine turtles for us. We spent an hour mainly drifting and Wendy
didn’t handle the rocking motion from the waves too well Finally, just before we were to start picking
up the snorkelers we spotted a couple of turtles and Jeff was able to get some shots. After we picked up
everyone we saw that a third of them were also not looking so well. They passed out chocolate filled
buns and then served lunch: chicken with rice and salad – very local. Then we headed for a beach
where the girls got off to sunbathe and snorkel, gradually returning to the boat. Then it was a direct
heading for home at full speed, reminiscent of the speedboat trip from Santa Cruz to Isabela but with
more comfort, a bit less noisy and slightly less spray! We got to the pier and so ended another
fascinating tour.
We have seen all the major players unique to the islands: Galapagos sea lions, pelicans, blue-footed
boobies, frigates in various ages with many adult males with their bright red pouches, several sub-
species of the Galapagos land tortoise, marine and land iguanas, Galapagos penguins and the myriad of
small birds of the finch and mockingbird types which are too small and their differences too subtle for us
to appreciate them and their variety, and today we added the sea turtle!
We went back to the hotel to recuperate from the long day. When we went out for dinner we stopped
at Roberto’s office to pay for yesterday’s trip to the highlands. The door was locked so we rang the bell
for his residence, upstairs from the office. A woman’s voice answered and soon a young woman
appeared. She is Roberto’s stepdaughter of whom he spoke at length so we were able to tell her that
we knew that she worked in a bank and needed to finish up her degree. She said that she could
accept the money so we paid her the agreed sum and went along the malecon to check out a restaurant
for dinner. As we were strolling around we ran into Roberto and Martha, his wife, and his lack of
enthusiasm about the restaurant we were considering changed our minds. Meanwhile he said that he
got the money. We then went to a restaurant, Lucky’s, which offers ‘cena’ or set dinner: soup, main
course and fruit juice for $3.50! Then home via the malecon to see the sea lions and their antics.
25 MAY: Today was our day of r&r. We wandered around a bit and had lunch again at Lucky’s. This time
Lucy’s chicken was terrible which put a pall on the place. For dinner we returned to the Calypso for
pizza. Jeff ordered a fruit shake made with strawberries and milk which was delicious. Then back to the
hotel with some pizza left over.
26 MAY: After breakfast we went to the LAN office in town to check in and were told by Larina, another
friend of Adid’s, that all was fine and we only needed to check in at the airport about noon for our 1:45
flight to Guayaquil tomorrow. We then walked to the Galapagos Interpretive Center just east of town.
The center was set up as a series of rooms with pictures and descriptions in Spanish and English. Each
room was devoted to a specific topic: the first was the geological creation of the islands due to a hot
spot in the earth’s mantle which spewed out lava creating a succession of volcanoes. What is interesting
is that the hot spot with its plume is fixed while tectonic plate movement keeps shifting the land mass.
This is the same process that creates/is creating the Hawaiian Islands. Thus the easternmost islands are
the oldest and are already showing significant erosion while the western islands are young and high.
There was a room devoted to the indigenous animals and their mainland forebears. For example, the
tortoise, which can be hundreds of kilos and 1 ½ meters in diameter developed from an 8 kilo critter due
to a lack of both competitors and predators. There were rooms for the original discovery and
exploitation of the islands by whalers and privateers, development of settlements and commercial
exploitation of the resources and finally the establishment of the national park and its need to protect
the indigenous species and uproot the invasive ones. In the middle of the complex was a lone tortoise
which has been there for decades. It was totally obese and could hardly move. As we started the trek
back to the hotel a guy in a pickup stopped and offered us a ride. His wife and young daughter were in
the front seat and we three squeezed into the back seat. He even had the air conditioner working.
What a pleasure! He took us directly to the hotel and the charge was $1.
At lunch we discovered that Mondays are the closed days for many restaurants. We finally wound up at
the place we had hamburgers last week.
For our last dinner in the Galapagos we returned to Calypso.
27 MAY: We packed up and checked out, then went to the airport which is literally in town. The
facilities are being renovated and there was nothing to do but wait in a crowded waiting room. We flew
about two hours to Guayaquil. Mainland Ecuador is on Central Time, one hour earlier than the
Galapagos. We had been in touch with Eddie, a guide we engaged for Guayaquil, who warned us away
from our original hotel. According to him it was in a dangerous part of town so we booked at the
Ramada (nope, not part of the chain.) We were met by the hotel’s taxi (it’s always a relief to see our
name on a sign and know that all has worked out!) and driven to our new hotel which is located on the
Malecon, across from the river that flows through Guayaquil. We ate dinner in the hotel restaurant
which offered a nice selection of Ecuadorian dishes reasonably priced compared to the islands.
28 MAY: We had arranged for a half-day tour of the city and were picked up at 10am by Ricardo. It
turned out that Eddie was not able to be with us today. Along with a couple from Florida we spent the
next 3 1/2 hours on our feet getting an introduction to the city, (and the country as well). We saw the
area where the original settlement began and has been gentrified. It was on a steep hill which was not
accessible by car so became a poor, crime ridden neighborhood. The Municipality decided to eliminate
the crime problems by making a staircase up the hill and numbering each step thus providing addresses.
Then City Hall persuaded the residents to turn their homes into bars, thus giving them an incentive to
keep things quiet to attract patrons. We also visited the adjacent hill which was upper class as it was
along the river bank so people could enjoy the breezes and the views as well as boat access. We then
had a tour of the Malecon: a newish park/promenade which lines the shore. Lots of monuments to
various political and social leaders. Then we toured some parks including “iguana park.” Here we saw a
plethora of iguanas which are the source of the Galapagos land and sea iguanas. We could see clumps
of water hyacinths floating on the river which clumped together to form rafts and thus carried the
iguanas to the islands. It takes about two weeks to float there and only bugs and reptiles could tolerate
the lack of water which explains why no land mammals ever made it until man brought them. The
Guayaquil iguanas are about the same size as the Galapagos land iguanas and are green as they are
arboreal and match the tree top coloration for camouflage. The iguanas are so used to people they are
insouciant to them and Ricardo was able to stroke several. However there was such a crowding that
males were continually challenging each other. One girl got surrounded by a couple who were actually
fighting and was a bit startled about being in the middle, which is when we heard her speak Hebrew.
We have bumped into Israeli kids from time to time, most of them on their post-army travels. No
grown-ups, though. We also saw some squirrels, but somehow squirrels don’t catch our interest. We
went into the Catholic cathedral next and were shown the crypt where the bishops and other luminaries
are buried. On the wall by the stairs down into the crypt were memorial plaques and several had the
title “Admor” to our surprise. After walking through the main street and seeing other squares and
statues dedicated to Ecuadorian historical figures, such as San Martin and Bolivar shaking hands, we
returned to the hotel a bit worn out by all the information. By this time it is mid-afternoon so we decide
to eat a late lunch at the hotel again. Jeff tried the stewed tripe which he enjoyed. We then chilled at
the hotel after the effort of the touring. By the way, the couple we were with had been on a Galapagos
cruise and were seasick the entire time, as were many of the others according to their report. Our
instincts to do an airconditioned land tour were correct!
8 MAY: We got to Guayaquil airport on time and paid a $10 per person fee and had our checked luggage
scanned for forbidden items. There were several locals having to take the stems off of tomatoes and
cauliflower before they could send the items through. We then checked in and were boarded on time.
The plane arrived in Balta about 5 minutes early and we then paid a $100 per person fee and had our
carry-ons checked for forbidden items. By the time we were through the luggage was being offloaded
and we soon were off to the bus to the ferry terminal. We were approached to hire a taxi to the hotel
for $30. Since our research showed that the price should be about $18 we turned him down in spite of
the guy shadowing us until we got on the bus. At the ferry terminal we got the waiting boat and made
the few minute transit, paying the exorbitant $0.80 per person! When we got off the boat a guy offered
to take us for $52! (The public bus, by the way, costs about $1.50 per person.) Finally someone offered
to take us for $18 which we accepted. Taxis in Galapagos are double cabin pick-ups so we slung the
luggage in the back and clambered into the seats, taking off on the only road on the island – from the
ferry to the main city on the other side of the island, Puerto Ayora, about 40 minutes away. Puerto
Ayora is the largest city in the islands with about 12000 inhabitants. The streets in the city are paved
with bricks, like the Akerman sidewalk bricks in Israel.
We arrived at the Germania hotel at 2 pm and were checked in by Javier the son. We immediately
turned on the air conditioner since it was hot and humid. We settled in and took off for a late lunch and
to see downtown. At the restaurant we chose we met Rob, who is also staying at the Germania, and he
filled us in on things. We then picked up some water at a minimarket and were back to the hotel to rest
up. After all the flights and days getting here we decided to get an early night and catch up on our
sleep.
9 MAY: Today we got up well rested and went to breakfast which consisted of scrambled eggs, a slice of
fresh white cheese not unlike Tzfat cheese, toast, hot drink and phony orange juice. It was quite ample
and gave us a chance to meet the owner, Rafael. After discussing the alternatives we asked Rafael to
book us a day trip to North Seymour Island for tomorrow. We then took a cab to the Charles Darwin
Center to see the giant tortoises and land iguanas. We also saw Sally Lightfoot red crabs and sea
iguanas off the boat launch, as well as a variety of birds which we, naturally, couldn’t identify except for
the pelicans. After a couple of hours wandering the reserve we took a cab back to the hotel and cooled
off while waiting for Rafael to return from running errands. He told us that there were no places
available until next week so we booked our trip for Monday, as we leave on Tuesday for our next island.
We then went out for lunch, stopping in a Kiosk – a cheap restaurant along a street full of them. As per
our reading we picked one with lots of locals eating and had a good, reasonably priced meal. Just as we
were finished it started to rain (as per weather.com!) and we waited for a while until it lightened up and
went back to the hotel, getting somewhat soaked on the way.
When the rain stopped we headed out for the wharf where the fishermen offload their catch and clean
and sea lions all scrambling for fish scraps, many of which were nearly whole skeletons. The animals are
definitely not afraid of humans but they certainly chase each other around: the sea lion which was
lolling in the area when we arrived was soon chased away by a larger newcomer. One of the fish
cleaners would merely drop the waste into the mouth of the sea lion next to him. The other cleaner
would toss his waste into the midst of the pelicans who would scrap over the scraps. As these were
nearly entire fish with only the fillets removed, the pelican which won the scrap would have to open its
beak to swallow which put it in danger of having another bird snatch it so the winner tended to fly or
waddle off to a safe haven. We saw a frigate bird nearly succeed in snatching a fish out of the open
beak of a pelican. As you can imagine, it was an exciting time. When we were sated with watching the
animals become sated we wandered back to the hotel via the public boat docks from where the boats to
the other islands depart. We also found that we could take boat taxis around as well. We then stocked
up on supplies at the minimarket and returned to the hotel. That evening we headed off for dinner and
returned for another early night.
10 May: Up for breakfast as usual. The drink today was a tree tomato which tasted much like a guava.
After breakfast, as we were getting ready to go out, there was an electrical outage. The whole city was
down so we decided to wait it out. Eventually we had power and wandered around the town enjoying
the vibe. After lunch we went to the boat taxi pier to see the people preparing to go to Isabela or San
Cristobal isles. The boats seemed pretty small! There was a sea lion sleeping on the dock to Isabela who
totally ignored all the people boarding. It then began to rain so we picked up more supplies at the
adjacent minimarket and took off for the hotel for the afternoon.
Rafael told us that the fisherman and the fish cleaners would be active today, Saturday, so we returned
there to discover the resident, hopeful sea lion and a few birds but no action. We enjoyed good ice
cream while we waited a bit longer to no avail. After a while we took a taxi back, telling the driver that
we wanted to go to the Germania, adding ‘Rafael’ and he grinned and pointed to his certificate which
listed Rafael’s name! After our first taxi ride we figured out that the locals know everybody so while
they may not be familiar with the name of a hotel when we mention the owner they know exactly
where to go.
For dinner we went across the street to a little restaurant which played cool jazz in the background. It
was tasty and convenient. Then back to the hotel where the internet was still very iffy. Our connection
to the hotel’s router was fine so we assume that it is the island’s provider. Then off to bed and thus
ends our 3rd day in the Galapagos.
11 MAY: Up as usual to find that the internet is still spotty. Then down to breakfast where we arranged
with Rafael to order a cab to take us into the highlands after Steve attends Mass. We will visit the El
Chato Reserve where we shall don rubber boots to slog through the mud to see some wild tortoises,
then visit the calderas and finally see a lava tube tunnel. This should take about 2 ½ hours.
We went to the little port by the church and while Steve and Lucy went to mass Wendy and Jeff
wandered the piers looking at the marine iguanas, red crabs, and the various birds. It’s still strikes us
funny to see huge pelicans roosting in trees! We then returned to the hotel to wait for the cab. Juan
showed up exactly at 10 am as scheduled and we were off. He asked for $45 for the trip and made an
effort to act as a guide though he had no English. We went first to the pair of calderas, volcanoes where
the top had imploded, along the road where we saw some of the indigenous trees such as scalesia. This
tree only grows at a certain altitude and many epiphytes, lichen, ferns, orchids, bromeliads, etc.,
typically grow upon the trees. It was much cooler at the altitude of 500 meters and we enjoyed the
perfect weather. From there we went to the reserve where Juan escorted us around. We saw several
tortoises, one of which was right at the path. This was a big one (mature male) which hissed at us and
withdrew its head into its shell. Guess the surviving wild ones have learned to be cautious! Wandering
through the fields he picked some fresh clementinas for us. They were mildly sweet. He then took us to
a lava tunnel. These are the remnants of lava flows in which the outside cools but the flow itself
continues so there is a hollow core at the end. We were off back to Puerto Ayora for lunch. Though it’s
Sunday plenty of places were open. We tried a Chifa (Chinese) restaurant and over-ordered. Except for
Steve’s garlic shrimp the sauces were a bit bland but the food was well prepared. Then back to the
hotel for an afternoon in front of the air conditioner Still full from lunch we shared a medium pizza
for dinner and then to bed.
12 MAY: Today we are to be picked up at ~8:00 am for an all day tour to Northern Seymour Island. We
will drive back up the road to the pier where we arrived from the airport (the airport is on Baltra, also
known as Southern Seymour Island) and from there it will be a short boat ride to the island. We are
supposed to be able to see lots of Blue Footed Boobies, hopefully doing a mating dance. We were the
first to be picked up and then the bus picked up the others for a total of 16 passengers (the limit on tour
groups set by the National Park), Alejandro the guide, and boat staff. We drove back to the wharf we
landed at when we arrived and were ferried to the boat in the rubber Zodiak in two groups. We then
headed to North Seymour Island where we were again ferried in two groups to the landing which
consisted of lava rocks. We then did a counterclockwise tour of the island. We saw many land and sea
iguanas of various sexes and sizes. The adult land iguana males are more colorful and larger than the
females while the sea iguanas are uniformly dark to absorb heat after their body temperature sinks
when they are in the water. The adult marine males are also larger than the females. It turns out that
the two are closely related being the progeny of the mainland tree iguanas which floated over to the
islands on aquatic plant rafts. Thus there is some interbreeding between the marine and land varieties,
mainly by horny male sea iguanas. On one of the islands there are a few. Like mules, the progeny are
not fertile. In addition they have a shortened life span of about 10 years compared to both species’ 50
year life spans. The islands were populated only by land reptiles who could tolerate the two weeks
floating without food or water. This explains why there are no native mammals since they weren't able
to survive the voyage.
We also saw hordes of frigate birds, the pirates of the sea. Unlike other water birds their feathers are
not waterproof and they have chicken like feet rather than webbed ones. Thus they cannot get wet as
their feathers would get waterlogged. Instead they stay aloft, occasionally skimming up fish at the
surface with their long beak, but typically stealing the catch from other birds. We saw males on nests
looking for mates, their red throat sack fully inflated, their wings spread and making calls to the sky
when an eligible female flew over. We saw females, juveniles with their white heads and even some
chicks, all white and furry looking. We also saw blue-footed boobies, some hanging around, and some
nesting and guarding the young from predators. Unfortunately we didn’t see any dancing pairs. The
island is full of scrub plants and it brought into focus the fact that both species nest either on the ground
or on low plants as neither has any land predators to be wary of. The land iguanas, while primarily
vegetarian, are opportunistic and will eat carrion as well as bird’s eggs if they can get it. We saw a
fascinating stand-off where a large iguana tried to sneak up on a nesting booby, the two staring each
other down! Thus both bird species tend their young until the beaks are long and sharp enough to ward
off predators by themselves. Since the frigate birds aren’t as good providers as the boobies, which can
dive and catch fish under water, the dependent stage while the parents need to take turns guarding and
feeding them, is quite long, up to a year. Therefore they can only mate every other year. The boobies,
in contrast, are independent about 3 ½ months after hatching. We continued around to the rocky cliffs
where we saw more iguanas and then the sea lions including one little pup which ambled right past! In
the rocky water were a couple of sea lion pups being taught to swim by their parents. Until they are
large enough they play and practice in the shallows where sharks cannot get them.
This was a fascinated couple of hours ambling slowly around a small island which had much of what we
came here to see! We then were shuttled back to the boat where we had a modest lunch while sailing
across the channel between North Seymour and Santa Cruz to go swimming. We didn’t know that this
was part of the tour so didn’t bring swim suits and just chilled on the boat. Except for dodging
mosquitoes the only thing we missed was seeing a small flock of flamingos. As we’ve seen them lots of
places including Eilat we didn’t think we missed much. Then we sailed back to the wharf and boarded
our bus back to Puerto Ayora and the hotel. It was a most successful day! Tomorrow we’ll be off to
Isabela Island, the 2 nd of the three we’ll be staying on.
13 MAY: Up as usual to pack and prepare for the boat trip to Isabela. We check out of the hotel at 10
am, leaving the luggage in the office downstairs and wander and have lunch before returning at 1:30 pm
to have Rafael take us to the wharf and get us settled on Gabi’s boat for the 2 pm sailing. We wrote the
hotel on Isabela to expect us and received a reply that we would be met on the wharf at 4 pm. Let’s
hope the crossing is not too bad. Rafael took us in his vehicle (a double-cabin pickup just like the taxis)
to the pier and made sure we were registered, receiving stickers with ‘Gabi’ written on them to put on
our shirts. We then had our bags checked for plants, animals and even rocks: anything from the islands.
We waited at the top of the ramp while small groups got on and off the water taxis to various
destinations. Finally the boat was ready and we got on a taxi and were ferried out to it. The boat was
small with three 200 horsepower outboards on the back. There was an inside cabin which had seating
on long benches on either side and a bench seat at the back. It took two taxis to get all the passengers,
20 in total, ready and we were among the last to board. A nice local young woman told Wendy to sit on
the back bench as they are the most stable seats. Steve and Lucy found seats in the middle of a side
bench while Jeff got the outside left and Wendy next to him. We departed at 2:20 and once out of the
bay went full speed. The engine noise was terrific so speech was impossible, the ocean choppy with us
bouncing, and the spray on Jeff and Wendy was continuous so by the end Jeff was totally drenched in
spite of using his life jacket to divert the water. In the middle of the trip Lucy began not to feel well due
to the motion and heat and the nice woman noticed and traded seats with her so she was sitting in the
middle of the back bench next to Wendy. Steve also felt pretty shaky but managed to hold it together.
We finally made port at 4:40 pm, over two hours of this misery. We were again shuttled to the pier by
water taxi. We paid a $5 per person landing fee and found Nelton holding a sign for us. We soon were
on our way in the local version of a taxi: a truck with a back with open sides and rows of bench seats.
Our rooms are again simple but quite satisfactory. There is a community kitchen with refrigerator which
is welcome. There is a minimarket adjacent to the hotel so it’s very convenient. Jeff was so soaked that
he had to shower and change clothes. He could literally wring water out of his T-shirt! Discussing the
trip it turns out that within a few minutes at full speed all of us decided that we are going to fly to San
Cristobal Island, whatever the cost, rather than take the boat back to Santa Cruz-2 plus hours- and then
another boat-another 2 plus hours- on to San Cristobal! Tomorrow we shall try to get seats. We then
went to a restaurant about a block away, passing a volleyball game with the highest net ever. They were
playing 3 on a side with a referee sitting in line with the net. These guys must be really serious! As we
got to the restaurant hordes of pre-adolescent kids streamed in. They sat us at the last table for 4 and
told us that hamburgers were not available. Guess kids are the same all over the world! After dinner
we wended our way back and tried to recuperate from our ‘adventure.’
14MAY: Breakfast is not included so we went to explore the town and check out restaurants. The
standard breakfast: toast, eggs, coffee and fruit juice is $5 so the price is the same as Puerto Ayora.
There we paid $50 a night per room including breakfast and here we paid $40 plus two breakfasts. We
ran into two Australian young women with whom we had chatted while waiting for the boat back in
Puerto Ayora. This is such a small town one sees everybody. After breakfast we found that the
airline’s office was open and the clerk was very helpful. We decided to fly on Tuesday, the 20th , when
there were 4 seats available. Amazingly we received the half-price ‘last minute’ fare of $80 per person.
As the boat costs $30 for each trip for a total of $60 to get from Isabela to San Cristobal (as well as two
days) it’s a real no-brainer. While we were there a pilot came in. We began speaking with him as his
English was fluent and he was amazed that we’d taken the boat – and commiserated with us about the
experience.
We then began to wander along the beach and came across some black lava rocks literally covered with
marine iguanas. Back on the road there was a sign announcing an ‘iguana crossing’ with an iguana
crossing there. We went back to the hotel to make sure we could get the additional two days as we
postponed our departure to mesh with the flight. No problem, so Jeff got on the internet and handled
the hotel on San Cristobal. We also took the opportunity to change hotels as we’ve discovered that
being downtown has great advantages and the original hotel there is up on a hill.
Then to lunch and back to chill for the afternoon, cleaning up our emails, after we paid Nelton for the
extra two days and checking out prices for tours around the area. We went out for dinner and met Ana,
the woman who was so helpful on the boat. She continued to be helpful and gave us a short-list of
restaurants which meet her criteria for cleanliness. She has to return to Puerto Ayora tomorrow and will
have to take the boat again as there were no seats available on the flight! Ana explained that the rains
are late this year with rumors of El Nino coming in which may extend them through the summer and
even the fall! Then back to the hotel for the evening. Thus ends another day in the Galapagos.
15 MAY: Up to catch up on the travelogue before breakfast. We walked over to the boat dock, about
1.5 km/1 mile from our hotel. The weather is cooler and cloudy. At the dock we met several of the
largest marine iguanas we’ve seen as well as a bunch of sea lions lying around on the seats. Steve
greeted one who growled at him, obviously because he addressed her as a guy and she was insulted as
she was right next to her male who was keeping a eye out for others.
We saw a bunch of penguins hunting among the boats. They are small and sleek and quick as they dart
just under the surface coming up for air occasionally. There were some sea lions hunting as well and a
highlight was seeing the blue-footed boobies cruising the sea looking for fish and then dive-bombing
them! Quite the sight: they go straight into the water like an Olympic diver. Even the pelicans are
beautiful to watch as they catch fish, unlike the raucous bunch at the fish cleaning pier in Puerto Ayora.
After a while we returned to the hotel and went out for breakfast at the El Faro (lighthouse) restaurant
which has become our breakfast place of choice: a nice plate of fruit, eggs, fresh rolls and the best,
brewed coffee we’ve found in Ecuador. We wandered a bit and then back to the hotel. For lunch we
went to the same place we ate the first night. They still didn’t have hamburgers – apparently the kids
ate their entire stock until the next shipment. Wendy had the ceviche: she is attempting to find the
best. This was a middling version. Jeff had the daily lunch special: a richly flavored chicken soup with
noodles and shredded chicken, a roasted piece of chicken with rice and salad and a glass of fruit juice.
In the afternoon we realized that we hadn’t taken into consideration the weekend when things are
closed in such a small community. We decided to start arranging the tours and sat with Miriam who was
exceedingly helpful in spite of her poor English. She solved the problem by pulling up Google Translator
and she and Jeff wrote back and forth until all was clear. Since we have to check in for our flight
tomorrow we don’t want to schedule anything that might interfere. Thus we signed up for the tour to
the Tintoreras islands for Sunday afternoon. These are small rocky islands just outside the bay where
we expect to see lots of penguins as well as fish such as sharks. We will be escorted by an English
speaking guide who will, hopefully, enrich the experience. We then went to the Cesar restaurant for
dinner as we enjoyed our meal there earlier in the week. Wendy again had the ceviche and announced
that it was still the best she’d had. Steve had shrimp in garlic sauce which he enjoyed, Lucy had grilled
fish which she also enjoyed (as did a little cat who got the leftover bits) and Jeff had the shrimp
brochette which was tasty.
Then back to the hotel for the evening.
17 MAY: Today was a lazy day. After breakfast we checked in with Laura at the airline office as we were
told to. The flight is now due to depart at 11:30 am, which is even better. We have to check out of our
hotel at 10:00 so will sit around and then go to the airport early if there is anything there – must ask
Nelton! Today he was cleaning the rooms as the regular cleaner must have the weekend off
Saturday--and Sunday--around here is very slow as most places are either closed or take a siesta.
Cesar’s , our restaurant of choice, will be closed tomorrow so we are wondering where we shall eat. We
have learned that around here, at least, mañana means ‘tomorrow morning’ so we are told that they are
closed. Further clarification revealed that the minimarket will be open in the late afternoon!
18 MAY: Today we have the tour to the Tintoreras scheduled for 2:30 pm. There is supposed to be a
short boat ride to a rocky island from which some will snorkel and we will wander with a guide to see
sea and bird life. After breakfast Steve and Lucy went to mass. Steve reported that he understood a
few words. We were ready for our 2:15 pickup for the tour – which arrived at 2:35! We were the last to
be picked up, all of us squeezing into the double cabined truck and the bed. We got to the wharf and all
8 of us tourists piled into a water taxi (small boat with an awning) with which we were familiar as it’s the
same kind that took us to and from the speedboat from Santa Cruz. We took off for some nearby rocks
to see 3 penguins standing there, two together. Dario, the guide, related that penguins mate for life.
We then returned to the dock and picked up a bunch of other people. We then went out of the
sheltered bay to the off shore islands and saw a large group of penguins on a rocky isle mixed in with
blue-footed boobies. We then had a ‘dry’ landing at the Tintoreras Isle and began a tour of the place.
This was a lava outcrop, very craggy, with lichen growing which looked at first like bird dropping
covering them. Dario explained that the prevailing rains and mist provided the moisture for the lichen.
As we wended along the pebbly path of volcanic rock and white coral we came across many marine
iguanas, some quite large, and saw some sneezing out the excess salt. We finally came to the narrow
channel through which the tintoreras sharks, for which the place is named, travel and rest but none
were to be seen. After a 30 minute walk, the 8 of us then reboarded the boat leaving the other group on
the isle. We anchored and the rest of the group went snorkeling. A woman from Orleans, France, came
with her own wetsuit and snorkeling equipment. They piled off the boat and we sat under the shade
watching penguins swimming and birds fly past while the boat rocked in the surf. We are outside the
natural breakwater so it’s a bit bouncy. Finally we go to pick up the snorkelers. The French woman
looks pretty gaunt and when Jeff asks her in French (her English isn’t) how she was, she replied "very
tired and seasick" . Her friend, on the other hand, was very chipper and talked about the sea turtles
they saw in a cave that Dario took them to. After all were on board we headed back to the dock and
piled into one of the local taxi types with the rows of bench seats and were quickly taken into town.
Isabela is different from Santa Cruz in that none of the roads are paved but there are nice sidewalks.
Villamil is a small town and everything is within walking distance.
We couldn’t eat at Cesar’s, our favorite restaurant, since it was closed all day Sunday. We tried a
different place and all chose the lunch menu of the day, $6-7 each: fruit juice, rice, cooked vegetables
and a portion of meat, chicken or seafood. After a relaxing afternoon we again walked the two blocks to
the town center and found most restaurants still closed, including the place we’d had lunch at. We
decided to try a small place next to still-closed Cesar’s that had a charcoal grill going in front. The
skewers of chicken and seafood along with plates of rice and beans were quite tasty and reasonable:
$7.50 per person. It was obviously a family-run operation with the two parents and the two children
being cooks, waiters, etc. The girl, about age 10, was heavily involved: she took our orders (though her
mother came later to confirm them) then would dash between the kitchen and the grill carrying raw
food and delivering the cooked skewers. Then back to the hotel for the night. Unfortunately there were
a few people, including one with a stentorian voice, bullshitting sophomorically about god on our porch
late into the night. Finally Jeff had to chase them away and we were able to drift back to sleep.
19 MAY: We woke up today to hear those poor people taking the speedboat back to Santa Cruz getting
picked up at 5:30 am. Their departure was followed by a heavy rainstorm. After breakfast we decided
to go to the local Galapagos Tortoise Center. We went to Nelton, the owner of the hotel, to order a taxi
and he happily went off to town returning in a few minutes with Jose. He took Steve, Wendy and Jeff to
the center and acted as guide, pointing out the corrals of different age and specie groups. It is very well
designed and fascinating with many, many more tortoises than the one in Puerto Ayora. There is one
corral with the only members of its species in captivity: 4 males and 4 females. The newly hatched are
placed in cages as their shells are soft so they must not be exposed to predators. After a while they are
large enough and can be moved to corrals. They are weighed and measured quarterly and assigned to
the relevant area.
The breeding males are truly huge – and probably over 100 years old as that’s the age of maturity.
Lonesome George, who died a couple of years ago of old age, was over a 100 but not that old for a
tortoise to die of old age. It was fascinating to see them move around. Jose led us into a complex
which explained more about the tortoises with sufficient signage in English for us. He then took us a
couple of hundred yards up the road to see a pond with bright red flamingos as well as a couple of other
water birds. This is adjacent to a couple of water towers and is where they are in the process of building
a water desalination plant.
We then returned to the hotel. Lucy was interested in seeing the tortoises and felt up to going to see
the Center. We again spoke with Nelton who called Jose on his cell and in a couple of minutes we were
off back to the Center. Even for the second time in a single morning the tortoises and how they are
displayed was fascinating. This time they were being fed which was amazing to see: fighting over a leaf
or stem, all ‘running’ as fast as huge tortoises can to the food, and just gnawing away. We then went
into the gift store where Jeff and Steve had bought hats with the parque logo on the first trip and Lucy
got a fridge magnet as a souvenir. After the flamingo drive by we had Jose drop us off at a restaurant
for lunch.
Following the meal we went over to the airline office and Laura informed us that our noon flight was
cancelled. We could either go in the morning or at 2 pm which we took. This is the third time the flight
schedule has been changed and we are hoping that it is final. We shall certainly drop in again after
breakfast tomorrow morning. When we got back to the hotel we explained to Nelton that we’d like to
keep one of the rooms until 1pm instead of 10 am. When Nelton returned from his siesta he told Jeff
that he can let us have them until 12:00 which is great as we will then go to lunch and on to the airport.
Both Nelton and we are happy.
We went out for dinner to enjoy our last evening in Isabela. Then off to begin packing for our flight
tomorrow.
20 MAY: After breakfast we went over to the airline office and Laura reassured us that the flight is still
on for 2pm Back to the hotel to finish packing. At 11:30 we decided to vacate the rooms and go to
lunch. Nelton was very pleased and we strolled downtown where we ran into Jose! We arranged with
him to pick us up at 12:45 to take us to the airport. We then ate at Cesar’s for our last meal on the
island. Jeff got served first as he ordered the set lunch menu: a delicious fish soup, a mixed fried rice
and juice. The others were still eating when it got close to the bewitching hour so Jeff went back to the
hotel to wait for Jose. When Jose arrived he and Jeff loaded up the luggage and went back to Cesar’s to
pick up the rest who had just paid! We got to the airport past the diesel powered electricity generating
plant. At the airport there was the usual security inspector who checked all our bags for contraband:
fresh food and plants and protected animals and objects (like lava rocks) and sealed them with a tie. We
then waited for our plane. A plane arrived and who got off? Ana, of course. She is on Isabela for a
couple of days, then back to Santa Cruz for a day before she flies to France to visit her family there. She
told us that her boat trip back was even worse than ours! She looked very happy that she was able to fly
this time and we were again happy about our decision to fly. We promised to stay in touch with her by
email. A small plane lands and is offloaded and then the Emetebe staff person showed up, wrote us
down and weighed our luggage and assessed the overweight. It turns out that we have a tiny 6 person
airplane and the 5th passenger is a German kid named Moritz who’s been traveling for over a month
already. We then wait, and wait, and wait some more. Jeff finally finds a staff person to ask about the
wait and is told that the pilot is eating lunch! The same person who weighed our luggage came and
took us to the plane where he crammed our luggage into the little holds in the rear and nose of the two
engine critter. Then he helped us clamber in via the wing: Jeff and Wendy in the back, Steve and Lucy in
the middle and Moritz next to the pilot. The engines get started and we taxi to the end of the runway
while Edison, the pilot, checks things out. We take off at 2:02 pm!!! Edison says that it is a 56 minute
flight. As with all small planes, which are not pressurized, there is lots of engine noise – but less than
the boat so we can actually talk a bit with each other. The flight is relatively smooth and after about 20
minutes we pass Santa Cruz and can see Puerto Ayora clustered around the bay. We hit some clouds
and have a bit of turbulence but not as bad as we’ve had on real airplanes and, according to Steve who
can see the altimeter, we climb from 5000 feet to 7000 to get above the clouds. We then spot San
Cristobal ahead of us and begin our descent, arriving about 2:45! What a delight. When we get out of
the plane we collect the luggage and go outside to find that we aren’t met as we hoped. Meanwhile
Moritz had commandeered a taxi and invited us to join him. He sat in the bed of the pickup to let us
have the seats. It was a quick journey to the hotel where Adid, with excellent English, checked us in and
showed us to our rooms. The rooms are large with fridges and are by far the nicest we have had so far.
Jeff checked with Adid for markets and restaurant areas and then we took off. Our first impression was
of a poorer community than the others and we weren’t too enthusiastic about the place. When we got
back to the room with water Jeff tried to log onto the internet without success. His connection to the
router was fine but he wasn’t getting through. He went down to the desk and spoke with one of the
women staff and her son who couldn’t help and had no English, suggesting we wait for Adid to come
back. Meanwhile Jeff asked her about restaurants and got three recommendations. When Adid came
back he also couldn’t help but one of the guests, an English speaking tech who apparently is resident
there, came home from work and suggested that a reboot of my computer would help. He was right
and all is well. [Public service announcement: I have Windows 8.1 and in order to save start up time I
was using the ‘sleep’ and ‘hibernate’ commands rather than totally switching off the computer. Thus
errors crept into the configuration. Thus I shall return to my previous habit of mostly turning the thing
off between uses.]
At dinner time we took the lady’s suggestion and went to the Malecon (boardwalk or street along the
shore) to the Calypso restaurant. Immediately the atmosphere was different and much more to our
taste. Also the shoreline, as well as along the street, were full of sea lions barking away. Quite the sight.
We enjoyed the meal and then wended our way back to the hotel after enjoying sunset over the bay.
21 MAY: Up to the only negative about the place. The shower uses an electric on-demand heater and
we had been warned (trip-advisor) that the heat of the water was inverse to the strength of the flow.
However, nothing worked and it was a short shower! When we went downstairs for breakfast Adid
apologized, saying that they had forgotten to turn on the electricity for us. Hopefully tomorrow!
Meanwhile breakfast was lavish, all the hot drinks one can drink, raspberry juice, fruit, scrambled eggs
or a cheese and onion omelet, toast and jam. Later that morning we went out to wander the Malecon
and check things out. We found a lot of souvenir shops and Jeff got a hat: a baseball cap with a back
piece of fabric to protect the back of the neck. It was great and he liked it but soon the wind blew it off
his head and into the water. We then wandered around some more and checked out the area which
had had all the sea lions last night. It was now populated by little ones with a few adults. We checked a
few restaurants for lunch and ended up at El Descansco Marinero, a seafood place where Steve and Jeff
had seafood and Wendy a good fish ceviche. Since it was very sunny and hot we returned to the hotel
to cool off and rest after lunch. For dinner we ate at Rosita’s, a fancy seafood place where a friend of
Adid’s, Paul, is the waiter.
22 MAY: Again the shower in neither room was hot, even though the breaker was on. After breakfast
the maintenance people showed up and worked on both shower heads which are electrified to provide
hot water on demand. After all was fixed we went out with the express purpose of finding a tour agent
fluent in English who could understand our interests and set up the requisite tours. On the next block
from the hotel we stopped in the first we came to and discovered that our needs were met: Roberto
(who we later learned had spent some time in Toronto) indeed spoke fluent English and was, himself, a
tour guide so was exactly who we were looking for. We settled on a tour tomorrow morning to the
highlands to see a crater lake followed by a visit to the local (and third) Galapagos Tortoise center and a
beach. Then on Saturday we would take his boat trip to Kicker Island to look for sea life: sharks, rays
and, hopefully, turtles. There would be a group of divers and we would stay on the boat while they
went into the water. For lunch Lucy wanted us to bring her back a hamburger so we went to the place
that Adid recommended for hamburgers but it was closed. Instead we went to Andritos, a restaurant
which had been recommended on TripAdvisor as good and inexpensive. For $3.50 we got soup, juice
and a main course: Wendy had a chicken and vegetable salad while Jeff and Steve had beef stew. The
portions were modest but sufficient and the price was certainly right! After we had eaten we checked
back again at the hamburger joint and the place had opened so we got a hamburger to go for Lucy and
returned to the hotel.
Lucy reported that the hamburger was very tasty so for dinner we all went to the burger joint.
Afterwards we walked down the malecon to see the sea lions. The little ones were playing and the big
ones were noisy. It’s quite the sight which is always changing and fascinating to watch.
23MAY: Yay! Hot water in the shower, though at low water pressure. After breakfast we headed down
the block to meet up with Roberto. We were soon off to the highlands along a sometimes paved,
sometimes potholed, sometimes unpaved and sometimes in the middle of repaving road. Since the
crater was sheathed in fog we decided to go first to the tortoise center. We also decided to have lunch
in the highlands so we stopped at the restaurant while Roberto gave them our order. The tortoise
reserve, while fenced in, is mostly open so there is an unfettered, wild feel to the place. Roberto turned
out to be extremely observant, knowledgeable and instructive. He had us listen to a low, repeated grunt
which he told us was the sound of a male tortoise copulating. He also pointed out the various flora,
what was invasive and what was endemic. He explained how the flora and the tortoise’ carapace adapt
to each other. There was a map of the various islands with the 11 indigenous species and told us that
Pinto Island, the original home of the late Lonesome George, is now void of its species. However the
island has been cleaned of invasive species such as goats and rats and some neutered male tortoises
have been put there to manage the foliage. Roberto also pointed out the various bird species and
emphasized that while the finches are most associated with Darwin, and are even named after him, he
actually focused on the mockingbirds and it was only later that others focused on the finches. A quick
check shows that the National Geographic supports this: the finches weren't as illuminating as the diversity of the
islands' mockingbirds, at least not initially, and Darwin couldn't make sense of them until a bird expert back in England helped.
In short Roberto did a bang up job of guiding as well as giving us lots of insight into the cultural aspects
of life on the islands. His great grandmother came from the Ecuadorian Andes since back in the mid-19th
century the government was encouraging colonization by offering free land in order to establish
sovereignty over the islands. We went on to the beach where we saw the local ‘cactus apple’ which
grows to the height of a small tree with a thick trunk with the cactus paddles at the top. As the cactus
grows taller the needles drop off the trunk as they are no longer needed to protect the paddles. Very
impressive. He told us that there were islands without tortoises or land iguanas where the local variety
had soft needles. The beach was sandy and there were maybe a dozen people, some obviously camping
out. We then returned to the restaurant. It is very rustic and the dining area is a huge wooden deck.
There were hands of bananas around the deck and Roberto picked some for us. They were the typical,
extremely sweet and tasty kind we’ve been having at breakfast. Wendy and Roberto had chicken,
sauced and wrapped in aluminum foil and grilled while Jeff and Steve had thinly sliced beef in a tasty
sauce. These were served with slices of avocado, cucumber, and tomatoes, good French fried potatoes
and fried plantains (as usual tasteless). There was a dish of white rice for all, though Roberto was the
only one to have any. The drink was a mix of orange and papaya juice and very tasty. The dessert was
pieces of flan in a thin caramel/dolce de leche sauce with a distinct scent of cloves. While we ate there
was heavy rain but by the time we finished eating it had stopped so we began our way back. When we
got to the crater it was drizzling and the entire area was foggy so we decided that as there wouldn’t be
any visibility, seeing it was not meant to be. On the way back to the hotel we had the taxi pass by the
piers so Roberto could point out where we’ll meet tomorrow for our boat trip to Kickers Rock. Then on
to the hotel to catch up on the travelogue!
We went out for dinner and it started raining again so we didn’t hang out by the sea lion beach to watch
the antics. Also, we have an early start tomorrow for the boat trip.
24 MAY: We were at the pier a bit early. It is full of small groups as well as those traveling to Santa
Cruz. We finally got on the boat along with a bevy of American and Canadian university students who
are on a volunteer program to help eradicate the invasive plants in the highlands. The poor girls were
covered in mosquito bites. We began by slowly cruising the shoreline clockwise to the north. There are
platforms built into the bay for sea lions, hoping to keep them off the boats (not too successfully from
what we saw). Each platform holds a boss male and his harem. The males live about 18 years while
the females about 25. The males are in constant defense of their harem to ensure their genes are
replicated so don’t get to eat much during mating season. Roberto told us that the females can delay
pregnancy and after mating with the boss, they then go on an expedition to mate with other large males.
The assumption is that the female knows that the male’s sovereignty is temporary so by mating with the
potential replacements, she assures that the boss male, whoever he is, thinks that the pup is his. We
also saw Galapagos herons, the smallest species of heron as well as Galapagos gulls which are nocturnal
to avoid competing with other birds for food. We saw rocks full of frigate birds with adult males and
their bright red pouches as well as blue-footed boobies. Eventually we came to a small bay where we
saw our first marine turtles.
Then we picked up speed and headed to the goal of the day: Kickers Rock, known in Spanish as sleeping
lion from its appearance. It is a stark rock with some cracks splitting it into two major parts as well This
is a snorkeler place and Roberto and the girls, who each had been given a wetsuit, mask, snorkel and
flippers, jumped into the water and began their tour. Meanwhile Robin, the captain, began to slowly
cruise around the rock looking for marine turtles for us. We spent an hour mainly drifting and Wendy
didn’t handle the rocking motion from the waves too well Finally, just before we were to start picking
up the snorkelers we spotted a couple of turtles and Jeff was able to get some shots. After we picked up
everyone we saw that a third of them were also not looking so well. They passed out chocolate filled
buns and then served lunch: chicken with rice and salad – very local. Then we headed for a beach
where the girls got off to sunbathe and snorkel, gradually returning to the boat. Then it was a direct
heading for home at full speed, reminiscent of the speedboat trip from Santa Cruz to Isabela but with
more comfort, a bit less noisy and slightly less spray! We got to the pier and so ended another
fascinating tour.
We have seen all the major players unique to the islands: Galapagos sea lions, pelicans, blue-footed
boobies, frigates in various ages with many adult males with their bright red pouches, several sub-
species of the Galapagos land tortoise, marine and land iguanas, Galapagos penguins and the myriad of
small birds of the finch and mockingbird types which are too small and their differences too subtle for us
to appreciate them and their variety, and today we added the sea turtle!
We went back to the hotel to recuperate from the long day. When we went out for dinner we stopped
at Roberto’s office to pay for yesterday’s trip to the highlands. The door was locked so we rang the bell
for his residence, upstairs from the office. A woman’s voice answered and soon a young woman
appeared. She is Roberto’s stepdaughter of whom he spoke at length so we were able to tell her that
we knew that she worked in a bank and needed to finish up her degree. She said that she could
accept the money so we paid her the agreed sum and went along the malecon to check out a restaurant
for dinner. As we were strolling around we ran into Roberto and Martha, his wife, and his lack of
enthusiasm about the restaurant we were considering changed our minds. Meanwhile he said that he
got the money. We then went to a restaurant, Lucky’s, which offers ‘cena’ or set dinner: soup, main
course and fruit juice for $3.50! Then home via the malecon to see the sea lions and their antics.
25 MAY: Today was our day of r&r. We wandered around a bit and had lunch again at Lucky’s. This time
Lucy’s chicken was terrible which put a pall on the place. For dinner we returned to the Calypso for
pizza. Jeff ordered a fruit shake made with strawberries and milk which was delicious. Then back to the
hotel with some pizza left over.
26 MAY: After breakfast we went to the LAN office in town to check in and were told by Larina, another
friend of Adid’s, that all was fine and we only needed to check in at the airport about noon for our 1:45
flight to Guayaquil tomorrow. We then walked to the Galapagos Interpretive Center just east of town.
The center was set up as a series of rooms with pictures and descriptions in Spanish and English. Each
room was devoted to a specific topic: the first was the geological creation of the islands due to a hot
spot in the earth’s mantle which spewed out lava creating a succession of volcanoes. What is interesting
is that the hot spot with its plume is fixed while tectonic plate movement keeps shifting the land mass.
This is the same process that creates/is creating the Hawaiian Islands. Thus the easternmost islands are
the oldest and are already showing significant erosion while the western islands are young and high.
There was a room devoted to the indigenous animals and their mainland forebears. For example, the
tortoise, which can be hundreds of kilos and 1 ½ meters in diameter developed from an 8 kilo critter due
to a lack of both competitors and predators. There were rooms for the original discovery and
exploitation of the islands by whalers and privateers, development of settlements and commercial
exploitation of the resources and finally the establishment of the national park and its need to protect
the indigenous species and uproot the invasive ones. In the middle of the complex was a lone tortoise
which has been there for decades. It was totally obese and could hardly move. As we started the trek
back to the hotel a guy in a pickup stopped and offered us a ride. His wife and young daughter were in
the front seat and we three squeezed into the back seat. He even had the air conditioner working.
What a pleasure! He took us directly to the hotel and the charge was $1.
At lunch we discovered that Mondays are the closed days for many restaurants. We finally wound up at
the place we had hamburgers last week.
For our last dinner in the Galapagos we returned to Calypso.
27 MAY: We packed up and checked out, then went to the airport which is literally in town. The
facilities are being renovated and there was nothing to do but wait in a crowded waiting room. We flew
about two hours to Guayaquil. Mainland Ecuador is on Central Time, one hour earlier than the
Galapagos. We had been in touch with Eddie, a guide we engaged for Guayaquil, who warned us away
from our original hotel. According to him it was in a dangerous part of town so we booked at the
Ramada (nope, not part of the chain.) We were met by the hotel’s taxi (it’s always a relief to see our
name on a sign and know that all has worked out!) and driven to our new hotel which is located on the
Malecon, across from the river that flows through Guayaquil. We ate dinner in the hotel restaurant
which offered a nice selection of Ecuadorian dishes reasonably priced compared to the islands.
28 MAY: We had arranged for a half-day tour of the city and were picked up at 10am by Ricardo. It
turned out that Eddie was not able to be with us today. Along with a couple from Florida we spent the
next 3 1/2 hours on our feet getting an introduction to the city, (and the country as well). We saw the
area where the original settlement began and has been gentrified. It was on a steep hill which was not
accessible by car so became a poor, crime ridden neighborhood. The Municipality decided to eliminate
the crime problems by making a staircase up the hill and numbering each step thus providing addresses.
Then City Hall persuaded the residents to turn their homes into bars, thus giving them an incentive to
keep things quiet to attract patrons. We also visited the adjacent hill which was upper class as it was
along the river bank so people could enjoy the breezes and the views as well as boat access. We then
had a tour of the Malecon: a newish park/promenade which lines the shore. Lots of monuments to
various political and social leaders. Then we toured some parks including “iguana park.” Here we saw a
plethora of iguanas which are the source of the Galapagos land and sea iguanas. We could see clumps
of water hyacinths floating on the river which clumped together to form rafts and thus carried the
iguanas to the islands. It takes about two weeks to float there and only bugs and reptiles could tolerate
the lack of water which explains why no land mammals ever made it until man brought them. The
Guayaquil iguanas are about the same size as the Galapagos land iguanas and are green as they are
arboreal and match the tree top coloration for camouflage. The iguanas are so used to people they are
insouciant to them and Ricardo was able to stroke several. However there was such a crowding that
males were continually challenging each other. One girl got surrounded by a couple who were actually
fighting and was a bit startled about being in the middle, which is when we heard her speak Hebrew.
We have bumped into Israeli kids from time to time, most of them on their post-army travels. No
grown-ups, though. We also saw some squirrels, but somehow squirrels don’t catch our interest. We
went into the Catholic cathedral next and were shown the crypt where the bishops and other luminaries
are buried. On the wall by the stairs down into the crypt were memorial plaques and several had the
title “Admor” to our surprise. After walking through the main street and seeing other squares and
statues dedicated to Ecuadorian historical figures, such as San Martin and Bolivar shaking hands, we
returned to the hotel a bit worn out by all the information. By this time it is mid-afternoon so we decide
to eat a late lunch at the hotel again. Jeff tried the stewed tripe which he enjoyed. We then chilled at
the hotel after the effort of the touring. By the way, the couple we were with had been on a Galapagos
cruise and were seasick the entire time, as were many of the others according to their report. Our
instincts to do an airconditioned land tour were correct!
