We woke at 5am so Suzanne could do some work before our "ferry" to our next Island ~ Santa Cruz. The word ferry is in quotes because while these were called ferries, they were actually 26 - 28 person speedboats of varying comfort. We needed to be at the pier by 6:20am, and at about 6am, it started to pour! We donned our rain gear, only to actually not need it since by the time we left the hotel (which was a two minute walk from the pier) as the rain stopped and it was simply wet outside. We had to get our luggage x-rayed for....we don't really know...and then get in line for our ferry/speedboat.
While we were waiting in line, this sea lion.....
...decided that someone was in "his/her/their spot," and pushed their way into line to take a rest...though not before checking out all of the ferry riders....
(Interestingly, there were a few off-leash dogs on all of the island - they never once bothered us or any of the wild animals - and vice versa.)
We took another $1 water taxi ride to the "ferry" where Brad was happy that life jackets were available for everyone.
Again, can't really call this a ferry:
We were served juice and cookies though! 😀
We chatted with a guy from France named Simon and some women from Spain who all helped us when we didn't understand a word of the directions shared in Spanish. Two-hours and ten-minutes later, we were in Santa Cruz!
Where we took another $1 water taxi to the pier.....
....where our luggage was x-rayed yet again (why?), we paid $1 to get on the island, had to go through passport control again.....still wondering why since we were in the same country.....and we walked about 1/3 of a mile to our next hotel: Captain Max's B&B, which doesn't look like much from the outside....
But had a great breakfast seating area and a nice room
Pedro (Max's brother) actually runs the place and he was super nice. We unpacked and had some breakfast at a nearby cafe, then realized that we needed more cash, so went to find an ATM. Yes, cash. The Galapagos are pretty much cash based - very few places take credit cards. (It nearly killed Suzanne not to earn points and miles on this vacation. 😉) Well, our international ATM card wouldn't work - even with people in line helping us and translating the withdrawal options. Many attempts later, and a call to our bank, we figured out the problem and we had money! 💰 (Interestingly, Ecuador uses US currency.)
We went back to the hotel to - literally - chill out for a while - it is an understatement to say that it is intensely hot on the equator.
Some pics from our meanderings.....
This is a fish-cleaning station - it is difficult to see but there are sea lions under the table on the right - they're waiting for scraps.
We worked our way to the Charles Darwin Research Station. We learned quite a lot, like Charles Darwin actually only visited the Galapagos for 21 days collecting data, then spent the rest of his life compiling his research. The Charles Darwin Research Station, in part, breeds land tortoises indigenous to the various Galapagos Islands in an attempt to bring their numbers back to self-sustaining populations.
We had to go with a tour guide through the research station, who first talked about the flora on the islands. Obviously we had noticed this before, but while we expected the Galapagos to be a green, lush, tropical paradise, it is actually desert-like with black lava rocks and cacti.
The research station has an 80% success rate of breeding (versus 20% in the wild) and has different holding areas for the different varieties of tortoises.
These guys will be released on the island of Española....
An action video........
Whereas these guys are headed for the island of Santiago
Of course to make baby tortoises, one needs some adults around......
...who also like to be part of the action.
Things we learned at the Charles Darwin Research Station:
- The prickly pear only grows into trees in the Galapagos.
- Candelabra cacti are only found in the Galapagos.
- Marine iguanas (more photos of them later) swim in the ocean and dive to eat algae as their main food source.
- After his 21-days on the islands, Darwin spent five weeks in the water and spent the next five years studying what he collected there.
- Land Tortoises can survive six months without water and 12 months without food.
We grabbed a good dinner on our way back to the hotel and stopped at the grocery store to try some Ecuadorian chocolate, which didn't impress us at all - too bitter.
An evening shot in Santa Cruz..........
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