1st April - Puerto Ayora, Galapagos
Puerto Ayora, Galapagos
Day 1
We had to get up at 4:45am in Quito in order to get to our flight to Galapagos Islands, which is about 1300km east of Quito and is part of Ecuador. Quito was quite cold (around 10 degrees C), despite it being pretty well on the equator, its height of nearly 3000m and cloudy/rainy conditions when we were there, made it quite cold.
We had to fly via Guayaquil, an hour’s flight south, where we had to stay in the plane for an hour while they tested the cold cycle on the aircon. Not fun, even if it WAS April Fool’s Day!
About an hour later, we landed at Baltra, which is a small island just to the north of the island of Santa Cruz. Our hotel was on the south side of Santa Cruz, some 42km away. We could not find anyone who spoke English, and I was happy to use Spanish to find out that we had to pile into free busses that took us to where there were flat-topped boats waiting to take us over the short stretch of water to then get a bus or taxi to the south of Santa Cruz. Our luggage was placed on the roof of the boat (I did watch for falling luggage on the way) and we decided to get a taxi for $15 rather than a bus. Ecuador uses the US dollar as their currency, using the actual US notes – quite a surprise for us.
We managed to get out luggage inside the pickup truck “taxi” before the rain started on the way down. It was very warm, so the rain was welcome, and we were to discover it was typical this time of the year to get a bit of rain (1 to 2 hours) around lunchtime.
We stayed at a hotel called the Red Mangrove, which was towards the Charles Darwin Research Station end of town. It was right on the water, and we had a beautiful room, looking out to the water on the first floor. We had a huge balcony and a private staircase to our room. We sat and watched the blue-footed boobies circling about 50 to 80m high above the water, and then they’d dive in (up to 3m deep we found out) to catch fish. There were tons of pelicans and also iguanas on the deck of the hotel. There was a seal sitting on a boat a few meters from shore.
We went for a walk in the rain and found maps and some things we could do for 3 days before our boat cruise. Puerto Ayora is a nice town; there are lots of tourist shops (T-shirts, books, souvenirs etc) and also lots of bars and restaurants. We borrowed pushbikes to explore and ended up going for a swim at a small beach not far from our hotel. The water was very clear and refreshing, with an occasional cold current being welcome.
There are a lot of black and brown volcanic rocks and many cactus plants around. It was a very different environment. That night we had a nice meal (and cocktails) at the hotel and went to sleep to the sounds of the sea, with all our huge windows open.
Day 2
We slept in this day! At last! The sky was blue and the day warm, so after breakfast we headed to Tortuga Bay. You walk just out of town and through gates that close at 5pm, then a 30 minute (hot) walk along a paved path past lots of cactuses, birds and small lava lizards, to a beautiful surf beach, that we were told is dangerous to swim in. We walked another 30 mins along the beach to a protected beach that was not as nice and had lots of biting flies, so we returned to the surf beach and had a great swim there.
On the way back to town, Eva had a swim at a lake called Laguna las Ninfas, but there were biting things there too. Nice water though.
We then got a water taxi from the main pier to go to Finch Bay, and had a nice lunch at the modern hotel there, before continuing on to a gorge called Las Grietas, where we had a great swim in the cool, clear water. It was a nice walk to get there too (sometimes a bit smelly) over rich red/brown volcanic rocks.
Went to dinner at La Garrapata, sitting outside at tables on black loose stones. The fish was really nice, and we noticed that often restaurants don’t specify the type of fish they serve, I guess they serve whatever came in that day!
Day 3
I got up early and read a book in our private cupola on our balcony, sitting on soft mats, looking out at the birds in the sky, boats on the water and iguanas on the dock. I then went for a bike ride and got some supplies, while Eva had a rest (hard life this holiday thing).
It rained for a couple of hours, and was unusually heavy, so much so that parts of our hotel were flooded.
We visited the Charles Darwin Centre to see the tortoise breeding program and some giant ones before then going for a swim.
We found a “design your own” t-shirt place, where you could place tortoise, bird, and dolphin iron on patches yourself – good idea, and we bought a couple.
It had been a relaxing few days where we had acclimatised to Galapagos, and were now ready to explore further afield by boat.
Day 1
We had to get up at 4:45am in Quito in order to get to our flight to Galapagos Islands, which is about 1300km east of Quito and is part of Ecuador. Quito was quite cold (around 10 degrees C), despite it being pretty well on the equator, its height of nearly 3000m and cloudy/rainy conditions when we were there, made it quite cold.
We had to fly via Guayaquil, an hour’s flight south, where we had to stay in the plane for an hour while they tested the cold cycle on the aircon. Not fun, even if it WAS April Fool’s Day!
About an hour later, we landed at Baltra, which is a small island just to the north of the island of Santa Cruz. Our hotel was on the south side of Santa Cruz, some 42km away. We could not find anyone who spoke English, and I was happy to use Spanish to find out that we had to pile into free busses that took us to where there were flat-topped boats waiting to take us over the short stretch of water to then get a bus or taxi to the south of Santa Cruz. Our luggage was placed on the roof of the boat (I did watch for falling luggage on the way) and we decided to get a taxi for $15 rather than a bus. Ecuador uses the US dollar as their currency, using the actual US notes – quite a surprise for us.
We managed to get out luggage inside the pickup truck “taxi” before the rain started on the way down. It was very warm, so the rain was welcome, and we were to discover it was typical this time of the year to get a bit of rain (1 to 2 hours) around lunchtime.
We stayed at a hotel called the Red Mangrove, which was towards the Charles Darwin Research Station end of town. It was right on the water, and we had a beautiful room, looking out to the water on the first floor. We had a huge balcony and a private staircase to our room. We sat and watched the blue-footed boobies circling about 50 to 80m high above the water, and then they’d dive in (up to 3m deep we found out) to catch fish. There were tons of pelicans and also iguanas on the deck of the hotel. There was a seal sitting on a boat a few meters from shore.
We went for a walk in the rain and found maps and some things we could do for 3 days before our boat cruise. Puerto Ayora is a nice town; there are lots of tourist shops (T-shirts, books, souvenirs etc) and also lots of bars and restaurants. We borrowed pushbikes to explore and ended up going for a swim at a small beach not far from our hotel. The water was very clear and refreshing, with an occasional cold current being welcome.
There are a lot of black and brown volcanic rocks and many cactus plants around. It was a very different environment. That night we had a nice meal (and cocktails) at the hotel and went to sleep to the sounds of the sea, with all our huge windows open.
Day 2
We slept in this day! At last! The sky was blue and the day warm, so after breakfast we headed to Tortuga Bay. You walk just out of town and through gates that close at 5pm, then a 30 minute (hot) walk along a paved path past lots of cactuses, birds and small lava lizards, to a beautiful surf beach, that we were told is dangerous to swim in. We walked another 30 mins along the beach to a protected beach that was not as nice and had lots of biting flies, so we returned to the surf beach and had a great swim there.
On the way back to town, Eva had a swim at a lake called Laguna las Ninfas, but there were biting things there too. Nice water though.
We then got a water taxi from the main pier to go to Finch Bay, and had a nice lunch at the modern hotel there, before continuing on to a gorge called Las Grietas, where we had a great swim in the cool, clear water. It was a nice walk to get there too (sometimes a bit smelly) over rich red/brown volcanic rocks.
Went to dinner at La Garrapata, sitting outside at tables on black loose stones. The fish was really nice, and we noticed that often restaurants don’t specify the type of fish they serve, I guess they serve whatever came in that day!
Day 3
I got up early and read a book in our private cupola on our balcony, sitting on soft mats, looking out at the birds in the sky, boats on the water and iguanas on the dock. I then went for a bike ride and got some supplies, while Eva had a rest (hard life this holiday thing).
It rained for a couple of hours, and was unusually heavy, so much so that parts of our hotel were flooded.
We visited the Charles Darwin Centre to see the tortoise breeding program and some giant ones before then going for a swim.
We found a “design your own” t-shirt place, where you could place tortoise, bird, and dolphin iron on patches yourself – good idea, and we bought a couple.
It had been a relaxing few days where we had acclimatised to Galapagos, and were now ready to explore further afield by boat.
Comments