For the hostel website, click here. To email Talbot: talbot_wallace@hotmail.com
1 
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
13-The Galapagos isles, Ecuador Pt 1
November
11, 2003
Buenos noches gringos,
Well, I am nearing
the end of my journey thru Latin America. Currently, I have been kicking it
in Costa Rica trying out all sorts of "extreme sports." I started
out with a little class IV whitewater rafting. Then on to this zip line 500
feet above the jungle canopy at 700 meters long. And finally yesterday, I
tried the most thrilling one of them all- surfing at Playa Tamarindo. Notice,
I said I tried. I only got up on a few waves, I think I will stick to snowboarding.
Anyway let's go back to a natural thrill, the Galapagos.
After several roadblocks
(both figuratively and literally) I was on cloud nine to actually be on the
flight to Baltra, the main airport in the Galapagos. TAME, the Ecuadorian
Airline, gets a lot of bad flack from travelers for its really bad service.
But as far as I was concerned, coach felt like 1st class today after all of
the hassles I had been thru. All flights for the famous archapelego have to
go thru Ecudor's largest city of Guayaquil. Guauaquil has about 2 million
and is about an hour from the coast on the Rio Guayas. There is really not
much to check out there, most people just go thru on the way to the islands.
Even if you fly into Quito,
you still have to stop in the modern city. I was really lucky to get there
from Machala and go standby on a flight out within about 3 hours and this
time I was not taking my change in fortune for granted. It is about a two
hour flight to Baltra Airport, just off of Santa Cruz island in the center
of the chain.
As the plane was approaching,
you could see the torquise equatorial oceans that they lie on. The islands
were stunning from the first time I laid my eyes on them. Baltra is the most
popular entrance into the Galapagos, mostly bc of its central location and
most of the tour ships leave from nearby Isla Santa Cruz´s Puerta Ayora´s
harbor. My plan was to get there with a few extra days to spare, and sightsee
on Santa Cruz while I was waiting for my ship to come in, so to speak. I had
not pre-booked a tour intentually bc it was the end of low season, and most
of the backpackers that I had spoken to said you can get almost 30% off, if
you book the tour boat in Puertoa Ayora. So I was going to wing it. It was
a rinky dink little airport that we had landed at. Only 4 flights a day come
and leave during low season. In an ironic twist, Ecuador has the good ol US
of A to thank for the the runway that was large enough to land international
747´s with. During WWII, the States had set up a military base with
Ecuador´s permission in case of a Japanese attack on the Panama Canal.
There is no longer a US base there, but Ecuador´s military had taken
the sight over shortly after the war. Had to pay the steep $100 entrance to
the park that all foreigners must cough up. Nationals get half price on the
expensive $300 (off season) return plane fare there as well as a third of
the price on entrance. Can´t really say I blame them. Some things you
should know about before I move on. Ecuador had dollarized their economy
about 2 years ago in a last-ditched effort to put the breaks on their runaway
inflation of the Sucre (the former currency). It is a unusual monetary system
to say the least. The US prints dollar bills and ships them down to Ecuador.
Then Ecuador still uses its own centimos for change. Have you ever wondered
what happened with all of the Sacquagawea dollers coins that were printed
up a few years ago. Well they are in Ecuador now. The
locals don´t particularly care for the new currency. It hasn´t
really put a hold on the country´s inflation, not to mention it can´t
be good for the national self-esteem to use someone else´s currency.
The Galapagos are by
far the most popular destination in Ecuador and is theirr cash cow. Most of
the $ does stay in the Galapagos and goes to protect the islands and the park´s
meager facilities. So everything is more expensive in the islands. It is probably
the spendiest real estate in south america, but the gringos keep coming in
record numbers each year, so things aren´t so bad. Had to also wait
a long time for everything to be quarrentened. After introducing several foriegn
animals to the fragile ecosystem, the Ecuadorians figured out that they better
put a stop to any more introduced species that might spoil the place. They
are still trying to eradicate the feral goats that reaked havoc on many of
the islands. I met a nice Japanese couple while waiting for our bags with
what seemed like an hour. We hopped on a bus for the short ride down to the
ferry that would go across to Santa Cruz Island. On the other side of the
canal a bus was waiting for us to take us 40 minutes to the south, at Puerto
Ayora, on the other side of Santa Cruz. Another American had joined up with
us as well, an older fellow who I had met in the line and helped me translate
my broken Spanish to the counter lady for TAME. He was a little high-strung,
even for my standards, but you know what they say, the more the merrier. Even
the short ferry ride to Santa Cruz was impressive as a huge pelican dropped
down from the sky and crashed into the sea, only to come up a few seconds
later with a huge fish. You could also see a bunch of birds already nearby,
so I knew that this place would truly live up to my expectations. Going to
visit the Galapagos has always been a dream of mine, ever since I have heard
about them and their amazing wildlife. The bus ride showed a video on the
flora and fauna of the islands while we traversed the misty highlands and
descended back into the harbor village of Puerto Ayora. It must have been
around 2pm by the time we came into town, so we immediately split up in order
to procure some accomodation for the evening. I saw a few places untily finally
I came across a really nice B&B room with ac and aguas caliente for only
$8 a night. Actually, it should have just been a B, bc they don´t serve
breadfast there. The Japanese couple decided to stick it out with the 1st
place that was kind of basic along with the other American. I went for a stroll
to look for prices for some tour boats. The best way to see the Isles is to
take a multi-day boat cruies that sleeps about 16 people and cruises from
isle to isle. You could possible take a ferry from on isle to another, but
it would end up prohitively expensive, not to mention the fact that you have
to be accompanied by a park guide at all times. So there are several different
levels of comfort and quality with these boats and their respective tours.
Also, it depends on what level you hire to what kind of certifacation the
guide has. Guides come in three different level: I-III respectively. Guides
with a college degree and some English have a I rating, while II´s are
much more fluent in English and have had at least 5 years of experience while
III´s are considered experts. As far as the boats
are concerned, they come in five main classes. Economy boats are multi-bunked
rooms w/o ac and with shaired baths and basic food. Tourist class is a little
bigger with private baths and better food. Tourist superior is a step up with
ac, and a slightly bigger boat that enables you to travel at night and see
more islands during the day. That is what I was shooting for-Tourist Superior.
I mean how many times are you going to see the Galapagos? This is a once in
a lifetime trip. You might as well do it right. But I wasn´t interested
on going on boats that were any nicer bc that would probably exclude most
of the backpackers that were on a budget, and you would be with a much older
crowd. Plus it would take me out of my price range as well. I ran into a local
named Victor who was a travel agent. I gave him a shot to fill me in on what
the deal was and how much. The ship that my Aussie friends had reccommended,
the Angelique would not be available until Monday, which was kinda pushing
my time frame. Victor did offer three other boats. The boat that was most
similiar to what I was looking for was called the Free Enterprise. It used
to be called the Galapagos Discovery and was a sailboat. But the owners decided
to recently refurbished it with a new engine and classy wood-stained interior.
The photos of the ship made it look really comfortable and it had a lot of
character. I was also hip to know that instead of doing a 8 day cruise like
I had planned, I could pay for a 6 day cruise and see everything the 8 day
people did but not sleep on the boat the two nights they were in the the Puerto
Ayora harbor, essientally saving $200. He offered $540 for 6 days. So I thanked
him and told him I wanted to sleep on it and check out a few other boats.
As I came into my b&b, in an ironic twist, there was a flyer with the
FREE Enterprise on it that confirmed everything Victor had said. I thought
I had found my boat but decided to sleep on it and check out a few other options.
Thursday morning I
started the day by checking out a few other tourist agencies to make sure
that was the ship I wanted. They offered a few other boats, but they did not
have diving options and that was going to be realy important for me later
on. I was also thinking about doing a few dives off of Santa Cruz bc it would
not be as expensive as diving off the ship. Finally while I was Living the
Dream Agency, I talked to this salesman named Fabian. He offered the Free
Enterprise at the same price but threw in snorkle gear and a thin wetsuit.
SOLD, I told him to write it up and I put a deposit. There were also two Canadian
girls that were looking into tours that kinda tagged along the presentation.
Little did I know, they would also book the next day. Ran by the ATM to get
the rest of the cash but to no avail, it only takes MASTERCARD. For some reason,
MC is the only credit card that is accepted in the Galapagos. Master the possibilities,
I guess. So instead I had to get a VISA advance at the bank and go get a photocopy
of my passport. Dropped back by the travel agent to pay and Fabian said that
the cruise would start on Sat, and I could meet up with the group Sat afternoon
for the highland tour of Santa Cruz at 2pm. I was really excited to know it
was taken care of. Now all I had to do was to check out some of Santa Cruz´s
attractions for the next two days. The next stop was the Charles Darwin Station
about a 20 minute walk from the center of town. Named after the most famous
visitor to be amazed by the islands, the station has a exhibit that explains
the importantance of maintaining the rich diversity of plant and animal life
that are endimic and found nowhere else in the world. In fact, it is for this
reason that Darwin was inspired to come up with the idea of natural selection.
In the 1830´s the young scientist was aboard his ship the HMS Beagle,
on a trip around the world. He stopped here to observe the incredible fauna
and eventually his theory of evolution would change the way we would look
at the world. Pretty heavy stuff. But after I visited the giant tortoises,
I understood how someone would be inspired after seeing these amazing creatures.
The Darwin station is rearing baby tortoises in an effort to repopulate the
archepelago´s
struggling population of giant tortoises. There was an area that had a ton
of little baby tortoised with numbers written on thieir backs to track which
breed and island they will be returned to. Then in the main pen sat at
least eight of the huge mature tortoises. A few meters beyond the ancient
"dome-shelled dinosaurs" were another Jurasic-like creature, land
iguanas. These two reptiles are the most famous of their genus for good reason.
These were also the largest of their kind I have ever seen. About 3 feet long
and a good 30 lbs at least. They were yellow and resembled minature dinosaurs.
On the way back to my hostel, I notice that one of the Dive shops was running
a special for two dives. So I signed up for the following day to do a morning
dive. I haven´t dived in about 3 years since I had been to Australia,
but after talking to the dive master, this English bloke, said they were going
to an idle location for a get the rust off. That convinced me to go for it.
The morning of Oct
17th, I ran all over the place to get some much needed desayuno before the
7am pickup for the dive. I was running a little late, but hey, we are on Ecuadorian
time and that could easily be a half an hour. Hopped on board the truck and
met the other divers, two Swiss girls that just got their advance diving certification.
The dive instructors were the most laid back that I have ever met. William
was Ecuadorian and was going to be diving with me. The other was a really
nice Israeli guy named Eti, who was impressed when I told him I had been to
the Red Sea and knew where he use to dive. We drove back up thru the highlands
near Baltra and the ferry. The small dive boat was waiting for us. It was
still early in the day, but as the sun came thru the clouds, you could tell
it was going to be a beautiful day for diving. The 1st site, Masquera, was
a large sand bar about 40 minute boat ride from the dock. The water was rather
choppy but as soon as we arrived, things calmed down a bit and the water was
so blue and clear you could make out everything on the bottom. I was REALLY
NERVOUS, as I always get before diving. You see, I am claustophobic and the
fact that I even try to dive is a big accomplishment for me. We did a quick
test dive with William at about 10 meters below. I felt really comfortable
with him and it was like riding a bike, going over the skills and everything.
While we were in the water, a bunch of sea lions form the shore bank (where
there must had been at least 30 growling and sunbathing) swam over to check
us out. It was exilhirating to go diving again, especially in such an amazing
locale. Then on to the real first dive. I had a few problems with pressure
in my ears, from not being able to equalize properly. I think I have always
had issues with that so I was prepared for it and took my time going down
the 20 meters where William was waiting for me. God, it was just so beautiful.
The colors and variety of tropical fish. We were down for about 30 minutes
and William even let me use his air when I got low for about 8 minutes. A
gracefull eagle ray swam by about 5 meters away and a family of sea lions
came over to play. They swim so close to you and at the last second do a 90
degree turn away. As I was coming out of the sea, into the boat, I was energized
bc I remembered why I got certified in the first place. Hung out on the boat
for a good 2 hours and had some lunch and water. The second dive site was
Daphine Minor, an island about 30 minutes away and had a killer coral wall.
William was by far the most relaxed and patient divemaster I had dove with
and showed me a morray eel and a 4 inch sea horse hiding in the coral. There
were also a few sea turtles that were swimming above us. The water was surprisingly
cold for the tropics, and I was glad I had used the 7mm wetsuit they had reccommended.
The Galapagos is at the confluence of 3 water currents from south america
and the antartic. That is why they have such an abundance of marine life in
the colder and stronger than typical tropical seas. It is some of the most
difficult but rewarding diving in the world. And this was a great place to
begin. Visibiltiy was at least 25 meters and I had 2 great dives, so I was
stoked. Everyone snoozed on the jouney back by boat and then truck into town.
I wasn´t able to conjur up much strength to do anything for the rest
of the day and called it an early night after I grabbed some delicous lasagna.
While eating, I couldn´t help but overhear a couple talking about the
turmoil in Bolivia. Apparrently, the entire country had been totally shut
down for the past few weeks, including the international airport that
yours truly had spent the night at. So the president, in order to avoid a
civil war, finally gave in and stepped down from office. The country had been
spending the last few days rebuilding its damaged infrastructure. I
was glad to hear it was finally over and the people got what they were fighting
for, but was sadden to hear that at least 100 Bolivians had given their lives
in the struggle.
Saturday morning I
checked out of my room. I spent a little bit of the morning at the only beach
close to the town. It was beautiful and the water was crystal clear, but too
rocky to swim in. I joined up with the group
that had already been on the Free Enterprise. It was a group of at least 15
internationals that took a bus up to the highlands of Santa Cruz. The guide,
Miguel was friendly and spoke excellent English. We went for a
little hike to Los Gemolos, two crater-like sinkholes that collapsed as a
result of huge lava air bubbles. There was also a striking red bird that had
an interesting song that we followed for a bit. Then onto the Giant
Tortoise Reserve, a private farm, that lets the giants wonder around in peace
with the local cattle. There was a large cluster of males in a pond. You can
tell the males apart bc they are about twice as big as the females.
It was a little more exciting than the CHarles Darwin station bc they were
actually wild toroises and not used to humans. As you approached them, they
would hiss and pull their head inside their shells. At the end of the farm,
the host invited us to the sweetest grapefruit I have ever tasted. The final
stop on the tour was the a 100 meter long lava tunnel that was a lot like
a subway until the end where it got much narrower and you had to crawl underneath.
We got dropped off back in Puerta Ayora around 6 pm where I got caught up
on some internet. At 8pm I met up with the Canadian girls from earlier and
also met a few other of the passangers that were going on the tour. We took
the water dingy to the Free Enterprise. It was classic whitewashed sailboat
with a beautiful oak interior. The rest of the group was actually in town
at a bar. I met the second guide, Rissel, who said he would take me back into
town to meet up with everyone else. Unfortunely, he forgot and I ended up
just watching "Waiting For Nemo" in Spanish on DVD, with a few of
the crew and was shown my cabin that I would be spending the next 6 nights
in. We´ll pick up with the rest of the Galapagos cruise in our next
instalment.
Happy Trails,
Talbot