The Galapagos Islands ~ Day 9

Our last day was a travel day - literally - a  travel day:

1. 4am wake up to finish packing.
2. 5am left hotel to walk a mile in the dark to the pier.
3. Water taxi to "ferry."
4. 6am "ferry" back to Santa Cruz.

Don't these seats look nice? Well, we were the last people on the "ferry" and there were no seats left - we think they were over their passenger limit - well, we know that they were over their passenger limit by at least one as Suzanne had to wear some old, leftover life jacket and we sat in the back by the motor and didn't enjoy those comfy seats.

5. Water taxi to Santa Cruz - where once again we paid $1 to get on the island.

6.  Land taxi to the Itabaca Channel - the airport is on Baltra Island, so we needed to take a....

7.  Ferry to island of Baltra.

8. Shuttle bus to the airport. 

 

 (Brad getting tickets for the shuttle bus.)

 

 

 
9. An 11:40am flight to Guayaquil, Ecuador. However we had to get past this guy at the door! 😄

 

Oh, we had to give back the remaining half of the transit card we purchased when we left Guayaquil the week prior. We had no idea where they were, so the women behind the counter just said, "okay, go ahead." (Guess it wasn't such a big deal!) Oh, and there were huge lines at the airport for those who needed to check luggage (not us!) or check-in (done!) - we just walked right into the terminal - yeah!

10. We then had about a 9-hourt layover in the Guayaquil airport where we got some lunch/dinner and sat around while Suzanne graded papers. Eventually at 6pm we were allowed to go into the international terminal where we went through passport control and once again had our bags x-rayed. The agents must have been bored as they also went through our bags and were concerned at the amount of toothpaste and sunscreen we had.  So they took our bottle of sunscreen - fine - but the toothpaste had about 1oz remaining of a regular tube (for the record, we had gotten into Ecuador with more toothpaste) and Suzanne begged them to let her keep it, saying that she hadn't brushed her teeth since 4am and really needed to. They laughed and let her keep it. 

So we went to the Admirals Lounge where they had......showers! Wahoo! We each took showers (they even provided towels), brushed our teeth with our smuggled-in toothpaste, etc... and waited around until our....

 

11. 11:50pm flight to Florida. (Where we grabbed a Lyft and were home around 6:30am, so yes, a day of travel!)

In sum, the trip comprised of.....

• tens days
  
• three islands
• four flights
• four hotels
• three "ferries" (speedboats)
• two pre-arranged snorkel trips via boat
  
• multiple water taxis
• a few land taxis 

So lots of "moving parts" and they all fell into place. (Lucky us.) There was only one rain storm that didn't impact us, huge thunder storms when we left Guayaquil that didn't impact us, and we landed in Ft. Lauderdale just a few hours before it shut-down for three days due to massive storms. Again, we were lucky.

 

Some thoughts about the Galapagos Islands......in no particular order.......

•  We are glad we went. It was on our list for some time now, and the timing was right to do it now.
• That being said, we enjoyed our trips to Hawaii more - in terms of better snorkeling.
• It is an understatement to say that it is hot at the equator - the sun is relentless. 
  
• The wildlife was amazing - giant land tortoises, sea turtles of all sizes, seal lions everywhere, blue footed boobies, etc.....
• The people were very nice and helpful. While some spoke English, many did not, and most people were very accommodating with our very poor Spanish. (Though Isabela had the most reserved people who did not seem quite as friendly.) It is also a trusting society - as we've mentioned, everyone left their belongings out and never once was anything touched.
  
• There was a bit of a "Mexican border town" feeling in terms of so many unfinished buildings. We wondered if we heard a different language - anything but Spanish - would it still have the same feel. We think so due to the unfinished buildings. (Note - there was none of that peddling that one associates with the Mexican border towns.)
• For some reason, we thought it would be lush and tropical. Nope, very desert-like and arid. 
• We really enjoyed running into some of the same travelers again, such as ones we met on the ferries or a snorkel trip. Nearly all the tourists were super nice and enjoyable. 
• We did feel a little "nickel-and-dimed" with the $1 (or $10) to enter each island, etc...
• We really liked not being on a cruise and island-hopping on our own instead. We very much enjoy immersing ourselves in a culture and meeting locals and other travelers who are like-minded in terms of travel. We also enjoyed the multiple ferry experiences - even Brad who was a bit weary at first. 😉

 And that was The Galapagos Islands.

 

The Galapagos Islands ~ Day 8

Today we had our second pre-arranged snorkeling tour - to Los Túneles. After having a typical breakfast at the hotel, we hung out until we were picked-up at the hotel for our 11am tour. The driver literally took us around the corner. 😕 There we met-up with eight other people - five Germans, one Ecuadorian, one Swiss, and three of us from the US - for our snorkeling trip. 

Picture of the harbor on Isabela Island....

As we were heading to Los Túneles, we saw some mantra rays swimming about, but unfortunately were not able to get a picture. We also saw some Nazca (aka Masked) Boobie birds...........

We then arrived to Los Túneles, which is comprised of lava tubes and lava bridges - it was very cool.

Here is our group....

It was here that we had the opportunity to see the iconic Blue Footed Boobies....

These two are wooing one another. Apparently, Blue Footed Boobies are monogamous for one season only - then all bets are off and it's courting time again!

We then started the snorkeling portion of our tour - this time instead of jumping off the boat into the water, it was an easy push off the side.....

 

The water in Los Túneles was very clear at times and we saw lots of sea life, such as huge sea turtles....(note the size of the sea turtle compared to the people.....)....

 

 .......some small sharks......

 

...a seahorse...

....and a variety of fish....

 

After snorkeling we had lunch of chicken and rice and headed back to town. After showering, etc.... we ended up having dinner at a restaurant on the water with two of the German women we met on the snorkel trip and chatted for quite a while about traveling -  it was a lovely time.

This was our last full day in the Galapagos but the journey is not yet over.......

The Galapagos Islands ~ Day 7

We had another early morning as we had to be on the pier by 6:20am for our 7am "ferry" to Isabela. It was much more chaotic getting onto the right ferry this time - just large masses of people and very little direction. 

First it was like the March of the Penguins....people walking towards the pier.....

...then we took the water taxi to our "ferry," which had much more comfortable seats than the last one, even though there was no juice box and no cookie! 😄 We even slept a bit on the ride.

There was no luggage x-ray leaving Santa Cruz nor entering Isabela, nor passport check (which makes sense) upon entering Isabela, but we did have to pay $10 upon arrival. Again, it makes one wonder why each island changes some random amount of money when we already paid $100....... 

We had to side step this guy on our way to the hotel shuttle.....

...which picked us up and drove us to our hotel, Hotel La Laguna, about a mile away. (We forgot to get a picture of the room.)

Once we were settled at the hotel, we went for breakfast and had the typical eggs, toast, fruit, butter (which was really always margarine), and this time freshly-squeezed passion fruit juice - it was excellent! Immediately after breakfast, Brad started looking for a place for lunch! 😂 (He does this a lot!)

We then walked to Concha de Perla, a snorkeling spot about 15-minutes from town. It was down a boardwalk....

...to a small dock area with steps - and people were simply heading into the water, which was much clearer than the other two islands to see the sea life.

Of course, we had to get by this guy first! 

We got a few decent shots of some fish.....

Brad again!

People were snorkeling among the marine iguanas.....

When we were planning this trip, we thought that the Concha de Perla would take about half-a-day, but not so much - we think we spent maybe 30 - 45 minutes here. So we walked through the town and to the local beach, which was beautiful and expansive, and spent some time lounging in the water as the tide rolled in.....

There were marine iguanas swimming here as well.....

Eventually we headed back to the hotel to shower and relax until it was time for dinner at a nearby restaurant overlooking the ocean while we watched local families swim in the ocean. As we ate dinner we talked about how different cultures and people spend their free time, whether it be in front of the television, scrolling through social media, playing sports, or spending time with with friends and family swimming and playing in the ocean. 

We needed to walk down a steep set of stairs from the restaurant and were seen off by these guys.....

We headed back to the hotel and after getting up early and spending a day in the water and sun, we fell asleep early and slept great!

The Galapagos Islands ~ Day 6

We slept even later today and pretty much had the same made-by-Pedro breakfast as we did yesterday. We debated what to do today......

Go to Tortunga Bay, which required a 45-minute walk and had mixed reviews on what one could see - apparently lots of marine iguanas, but very few turtles and fish. We also wanted to be closer to town.

OR

 

Try Las Grietas again. But we weren't in the mood for another tour and were still  conflicted about the who pays and why controversy. We really just wanted to swim and snorkel.

 

So we decided that we would head to a small beach by the Charles Darwin Research Station that we saw a couple days prior.  First, though, we wandered around the town of Puerto Ayora......

 

 ...and spent a surprising amount of time watching the women in the fish station cut and sell fresh fish while the pelicans, sea lions, and sea birds waited for a hand-out or two.....

 

As we meandered, we would have to be careful not to step-on a snoozing sea lion........(look in the shadows)......

 

Incidentally, there were way fewer sea lions on Santa Cruz than San Cristóbal. 

 

We eventually made it to the little beach and it was perfect - some trees for shade, places to hang our stuff, and warm water in which to swim and snorkel. 

 

 

 

There were some marine iguanas here too - so no need for that 45-minute walk - both ways - on the equator! 😄

 

 

The cool thing was that it was mostly locals here - and maybe more than usual as it was Easter and people weren't working.  

We stayed a few hours and grabbed lunch at the same place we had pizza the previous night - their sandwiches looked amazing the night before and they were very good. One of the nice things about the Galapagos is that one is never rushed away from a table, so we sort of just sat there an enjoyed the atmosphere, people watched, read. 

We went back to the hotel to shower and nap. We had dinner nearby and packed as much as we could as it was another early "ferry" to another island the next day. 

 

This may have sounded like a "nothing" day, but it really was perfect. 

Oh, we realized that this is the first time either of us have been in the southern hemisphere. 😀