When I was younger, I never imagined in my wildest dreams that I’d visit the Galápagos Islands. They just seemed so remote and expensive for an impecunious backpacker. Just goes to show you that you never know where you’ll end up in this life.
But wait – we had to first fly from Lima to Quito, Ecuador. Our hotel in Quito is another heritage colonial building.
Ecuador seems very tidy in comparison to Peru. It doesn’t have the post-nuclear-war look of crumbling concrete, deserted buildings, and decaying, uncollected rubbish that Peru shares with so many countries of the global south.
Quito has a newly-minted subway that is – for the moment – at a Singaporean level of neatness and orderliness.
The old centre has many squares and churches, including the Jesuit church.
Our mission in Quito is to book some kind of tour for the Galápagos Islands. Our time in South America is nearing an end, so we don’t have time to simply wing it. We settle on an 8-day land-based tour, in deference to Maria’s pathologic motion-sickness.
The last day is cloudy and grey.
There is a gigantic basilica in Quito that looks out of place in a tropical Catholic country. Seems like it would look more at home in the north of France. Especially in rainy weather.
A lot of people don’t know this (see our mocking of Donald Trump’s favourite phrase a few entries back), but Panama hats actually originate in Ecuador. We visit the EBD Carmal hat shop.
Anyway, we’re off to the Galápagos Islands. After a couple of hours, we get our first look at our destination.
We arrive on San Cristóbal Island. It’s delightfully hot after weeks in the Andes.
On arrival, we are picked up by our guide of the day, Jorge, and driven to the highlands. This lagoon is one of the only permanent bodies of fresh water on the island.
Jorge is one of our good guides. In the half-dozen or so we meet over the next 8 days, some are less than helpful. (Our main complaint is that some just seem to be reciting from a script, using lame jokes, and not really having much passion for the job.)
One of the first creatures we see is the humble Darwin’s finch. It was his study of Galápagos finches that first got the wheels turning in his brain about the whole evolution business.
Way back at the beginning of this trip, we mentioned that Fernando de Noronha (in Brazil) had beautiful beaches. The beaches here are nothing to sneeze at, either. Powdery white sand, no trash, few people, bathwater temperatures, and clear visibility. When we go snorkeling among the rocks in the shallows, we are able to follow half a dozen sea turtles gliding around.
Probably the most representative beast on the islands is the giant Galápagos tortoise. Indeed, the name ‘Galápagos’ means ‘tortoise’ in an obscure Spanish dialect.
In one reserve that we visit, they have empty shells that you can crawl into for a unique photo opportunity. I consider this beneath my dignity. Maria has no such qualms.
Despite being on the Equator, a large part of the islands are arid rather than ‘tropical’. Cactus forests thrive.
Another creature seen everywhere on and around the islands are sea lions.
Besides being found on beaches and rocks, they take over waterfront benches like homeless derelicts.
We are booked on a snorkeling/scuba expedition to Kicker Rock. There are lots of hammerhead sharks here – an attraction for the scuba set.
In fact, there are lots of sharks everywhere here. Luckily, they are for the most part either small or non-threatening.
Most of our fellow passengers – a young crowd – go scuba diving. We and a few others simply snorkel and watch the blue-footed bobbies on the cliff.
These birds have gone up in my estimation. I used to think of them as glorified seagulls, but now we find them endearing. And not because they have the most snicker-inducing name – inevitably, souvenir shops everywhere on the islands feature t-shirts stating ‘I love boobies’.
And wherever there are rocks, there are crabs.
Another day, another island. We are on an excursion to North Seymour Island. Even though we opted for an ‘8-day land-based tour’, we still have boat trips between islands and on excursions. Maria copes very well.
In the harbour from which we leave, we spy strange, buoy-like devices belonging to the Unites States Navy. According to our guide, they are ‘ocean drones’ here for ‘maintenance’. It’s hard to say if this is true or not, as in our experience, guides seldom say ‘I have no idea’.
North Seymour island is uninhabited, but has lots of wildlife that ignores the presence of humans, like most wildlife in the Galápagos.
Dinosaur-like land iguanas roam the island.
A creature featured in every documentary ever made about the Galápagos: the frigate bird.
By happy accident, it’s breeding season, so the island is full of throat-inflating, wing-flapping, hooting frigate birds.
Many of the birds nest on the ground and, as mentioned, don’t pay much attention to human visitors.
Most of these excursions involve a snorkeling session. No surprise, the snorkeling is great. We see seahorses, sharks, different kinds of ray, and sea turtles galore. Sorry, no Go-Pro.
Another place we visit are Los Tuneles (the tunnels). This is a labyrinth of collapsed lava tubes through which channels of crystal-clear water serve as a highway for sea life to roam around in – sea turtles, sharks, and more.
This sea turtle glides gracefully past.
The tunnels are even more picturesque when they have cactus growing over them.
Yet another iconic species here are marine iguanas. Like the sea lions, they are as likely to be found in town as on a beach.
It’s also breeding season for the iguanas, so we see many digging holes in the sand.
Our final three days are spent on Isabela Island. Even though it’s the largest island in the archipelago, it’s sparsely populated. The main town, Puerto Villamil, is a sleepy, laid-back village. We enjoy great sunsets from the beach.
Our package includes bike rental for a couple of days.
There are sand roads that lead to other beaches.
We’ve enjoyed our Galapagos trip. Of the animals you expect to see, you see many. And so far, they seem to be doing a good job of combining conservation with being a tourist destination for the entire world.
The day we depart, we take a speedboat back to Santa Cruz Island, then north to Baltra Island for our flight back to Quito.
Interesting fact – the Americans had a base here on Baltra Island during WWII. (Which is probably why there’s an airport on this island in the first place.}
Sight or Insight of the Day
Charles Darwin really put the Galápagos on the map. That’s a lot of influence for a visit of only five weeks.
We have been to several places that Darwin visited on the Beagle voyage – the Blue Mountains in Australia, and the Chilean city of Iquique, for instance. But you really feel his influence here – there are statues of Darwin, streets named after Darwin, schools named after Darwin, even pubs named after Darwin. Since the 1960s, there has been a Charles Darwin Foundation Research Centre.