Galapagos Islands 2023
Jan 27
We woke up early so we could say our goodbyes to our new Anahi family members that were leaving on the early flights.
Puerto Ayora
Eventually we were all forced off the Anahi, said our goodbyes, and were taken by zodiac to the main port.
It's been a while since we saw this many people
Norine and I were put in a Taxi taking us to La K Leta boutique guesthouse. It is located in Puerto Ayora on Isla Santa Cruz.
We can't check in until 11:00, but the Only-Spanish-Speaking-Lady is happy to hold on to our luggage, and when we ask about where we can do our badly needed laundry, she says she will do it for us. Good start!
The town is super cute, full of colourful murals and art, the shorelines are full of pelicans and Marine Iguanas. As we wandered the town we kept running into Willy and Elke from our Anahi family.
Their 7-Eleven is a 9-ELEVEn, probably because they like to sleep in after latenight BEER
It was finally 11, and we could go check in to our room, it was large and bright, and very convenient to the town. After a little down time, we headed back out for lunch.
Two rooms, one that we never used.
We also had a couple insect control devices that we were happy to have as guests of our place.
We had lunch at Marilyne Cafe, a cute little restaurant with a fountain wall that looked out to the main street along the shore.
After lunch we said our final goodbyes to Willy, Elke, Mats and Minke as they took the ferry over to Isla Isabel in hopes that they will see the Galapagos Penguins.
We spotted a couple places we might have to go back to, art studios and a CHOCOLAPAGOS store.
We could have done a rapid-pass version of the Darwin research Centre with Gallo if we were going to the airport this morning, but we decided we could do it on our own and take our time.
We are assigned a guide to take us through the tortoise rearing Centre and she was a terrible guide, yada yada yada blah blah blah… oh look turtles, ok let’s get going, wtf? Sitting listen to you talk for 20 minutes in front of cardboard pictures is more important than actual animals? We really missed Gallo this afternoon.
One of the great signs we stood in front of for 20 minutes, luckily I was distracted
They did have a cool range of tortoises at varying ages, but we were never really given any time to observe and appreciate them.
We were able to finally dump our guide and disappear into the research station museum.
Darwin Finches visiting us for a snack in the Darwin research centre
Adjacent to the Research centre is Playa La Ratonera, a rocky beach covered in Iguanas.
Just a little further towards town is the Playa de La Estacion, a very popular beach area for the locals
Just outside the Darwin Research station property is a small Mosaic garden, you can just wander through.
As we are walking back through the town, we noticed they are starting to close streets and setting up amusement areas.
When we get back to our room, the laundry is done and waiting for us. It's pretty exciting when you haven't had laundry services for over a week in scorching temperatures.
After resting our feet for a while, we headed back out to the streets and found ourselves in the middle of a festival.
The Main Street (Ave Charles Darwin) is shut down for cultural dancing, vendors and graduation ceremonies. We watched the young dancers and then a fuse went mid-dance for little ones. So disappointing for them.
We decided to try a little pizza place that seemed quick and had slices earlier, but tonight Pizza Italia was Pizza NO. Do you have slices, No...Do you have this type of pizza, No...How about that type of pizza, No... do you have Iced Tea or Coke Zero, No (even though we could see them in the case). Norine's Spanish lessons didn't stop the NO.
Eventually they agreed to make us a half and half pizza with what we wanted, we pointed at the drinks they didn't have, and had a pretty good meal, but it was neither quick nor the slices we thought we could order.
Jan 28
Outside the office of our little place is a chalkboard with the guests names on it... you simply write the time you would like Breakfast, and then it is brought to your room at precisely that time.
After breakfast we hailed a cab, and arranged for him to drive us to the highlands of Santa Cruz, where we can find the Giant Tortoise reserve at El Chato ranch. It's a bit of a drive, and it's surprising how many times you see Giant Tortoises on the side of the road. At one point 2 cyclists and another guy from a car are trying to lift a tortoise off the middle of the road.
I guess some days you need to wear big rubber boots to wander around the area... today is not that day. After checking in, getting inside a Tortoise shell and waiting a few minutes we are assigned to an English speaking tour guide.
While waiting, we met an Ecuadorian girl moving to Whistler to be a chef at 4 seasons, she introduced us to her family, everyone was excited to meet people from the place their daughter was going. We also met another couple in our English speaking group, they were from Nanaimo. It really is a small world sometimes.
It turns out that this reserve is not like the other Tortoise places we had visited, these Tortoises are not in captivity, they simply migrate from the lowlands and up here to the highlands based on the season. They keep coming back because of the vegetation, water supply and comfort of the farmlands. The barb wire fences to keep horses and cattle in, are raised high enough that the tortoises can walk underneath them.
Giant Tortoises all around, and I keep getting distracted by butterflies.
Someone needs to explain to him, that's not how it works
As these Islands were all created from Volcanic eruptions, it's not surprising that there would be some Lava tunnels around. We were given the chance to travel through a couple of them.
After seeing so many Tortoises and then climbing through tunnels, it was time for a refreshment break and a pit stop.
$50 for a taxi ride to El Chato, included him waiting there and driving us back. He stopped along the way so I could get photos, and he dropped us at the entrance to Tortuga bay. We also arranged for him to pick us up on Sunday morning to take us to the airport.
Our last adventure of the day was Tortuga Bay, two great beaches.. but only after a long 2.5k walk to get in.
It's a nice brick trail leading over a hill and then down to the water, but it is deceptively long, and it is very very hot, somewhere in the high 30's minimum. Good thing we brought extra water with us.
Did I mention how long a hike it was, and did I mention how hot it was?
All worth it when you arrive to this!
Tortuga Bay Beach is not the best for swimming due to the strong currents, but just over a small rise is a little cove that is full of swimmers. Maybe that explains why this beautiful beach has so few people on it.
Yep, that's a baby pelican
After hanging around this beach for a while, and finishing all of our water, we made the ultra-wise decision to pay $10 for a boat ride back to the main port in town. After that incredibly long hot walk in, it was a great deal!
We were hot, thirsty and hungry, so we found a restaurant we saw the day before that looked pretty cool, the Bahia Mar restaurant. It sits right on the bay, and we got a waterfront table, perfect way to wrap up a day.
Marine Iguanas and Heron's all visible from our seats, and an amazingly good meal with tasty frozen beverages!
We slowly wandered back through the town, did a little shopping, and ended up back at our room, time to relax for the evening, and then pack up for the next stage of our journey.
Jan 29
We woke up and had one more breakfast delivered to our room, before dragging our bags out to the street, where our taxi was waiting for us. But, not the guy we arranged with, it was his cousin, apparently he had some car trouble.
Leaving Puerto Ayora and the Galapagos is a bit of an adventure. First you take a taxi to the North end of the island, our Taxi was going 120kmh, so we got there quickly and avoided all the tortoises on the road.
Second you take a little shuttle Ferry across to Isla Baltra, it cost us each $1.
Then finally a shuttle bus, that was $5, took us for the short journey to the airport.
We were right back on Baltra Island where this whole crazy adventure started.
And just like that we were flying away from the Galapagos Islands.
It was an unbelievable experience, being in this tropical paradise of wildlife and undisturbed nature. The Galapagos Islands are very different from anywhere we had been before, with it's unique islands, and animals that had no sense of fear, both above and below the water. Maybe more importantly, for one week we got to experience that with a group of people that became friends, no, that's not correct... a group of people that become the Anahi family. I look forward to following their next adventures.