Galapagos – Lorna On The Loose

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — Isabela flamingo

Think Bali from the 70’s or 80’s. Think north Queensland seaside towns from the 50’s or 60’s and you start to get a feel for Isabela.

The buildings are quite different and there are plenty of eating venues, but there’s something pretty nice about strolling down a sandy road in the shorts and t shirt you’ve been wearing for days greeting fellow passers by with a friendly Hola.

The powerful motors of the launch from Santa Cruz to Isabela push us through the largely calm waters. I get an optical illusion from my side on view sitting toward the back of the small boat that the horizon is greatly diminished in distance. As the swell builds a little we almost appear to be below the water line. There are about 18 of us and no one can speak above the engine throb. In spite of that it is a relatively meditative experience and in less than 2 hours we arrive at Puerto Villamil, Isabela.

To enter the Galapagos there is a tax to pay on the mainland departure point and another on arrival. Don’t lose the bits of paper. With every move into and between islands, luggage is checked to ensure we are not transporting any foreign material. Bags are secured with a plastic zip tie; then there will probably be a customs dog on arrival as well. Allow plenty of time for this procedure.

La Jungla hostal is right at the end of the main road, so handy for the flamingo experience. The first floor room looks straight out onto the beach and we sleep to the sound of surf.

Flamingos had to be first cab off the rank for me. A series of water holes, obviously the perfect environment, delivered the flamingos in spades. We counted 27 and went camera crazy.

Amazing birds and so totally picturesque.

You have no idea how loud the munching can be from scores of baby tortoises feasting on tuberous leafy material at the tortoise breeding centre. Then it is a bit like the Dodgem cars in slow motion as the giant adults cross paths and their carapaces crash resoundingly against each other. Already we realise we should have been here for a couple more days. We opt for the Tintoreras trip.

Just a short cruise out from the port but before we even leave, there are rays, Golden Ray, Spotted Eagle Rays and they are everywhere.

It’s a little early for penguins apparently, but we are lucky and see some. Amazing so close to the equator. They are small, just a bit bigger than the fairy penguins we see in Australia.

Blue footed boobies is definitely a winning sight.

A hike across the lava past yet more marine iguana to the channel where the white tipped reef sharks come to rest. The white tips match the white tipped lava (from bird droppings) and that is how Tintoreras got its name.

We get good views of many sharks cruising up and down in the narrow channel.

The snorkelling highlight is definitely the massive marine turtle feeding on sea grasses right below. Brilliant.

The excursion to the Wall of Tears can take 4 to 5 hours on foot depending on how long you linger at the various beaches or scenic spots along the way. We still decide to do it that way rather than bicycle. Amazingly some people seem to be doing it without water, or hats. It is hot, I have sunburn blisters down one shin when I get back. We get the tip to be at the beach spots at low tide to wander in the rockpools. A totally fearless amazing looking bird suddenly appeared beside us in the mangroves. A Night Heron. Another lucky sighting I think as they hide during the day, out and about at night. Extraordinary.

A little burst of merengue is called for as we cross the Merengue bridge. None of that larking about on the return journey, just a stop to enjoy the sea breeze.

A giant land tortoise appears as if on cue as we reach the Camino de Las Tortugas. Nice to see them in the wild.

20161204_094433 — Land tortoise on Camino de Las Tortugas

The Wall of Tears is sobering when we finally reach it. Appears totally purposeless except as a cruel punishment.

We wake to blustery wind, rain and lots of cloud. Great day for flying! Amazingly though it changes within a couple of hours to one of our most stunning days yet. Hopefully the flight to San Cristobal on our little Emetebe plane will be magical and worth the big bucks it cost.

It truly is a day of rest on Isabela on Sunday. Only the tour companies and a few cafes open. We have had nice breakfasts at La Jungla, egg, juice, coffee and in my case humita in lieu of toast. Yum. Thanks to Sandra for the gluten free option.

We had 3 tips on arrival for restaurants, Cesar, Isabela Grill and Faro. All good and they went up the scale in that order. Last night was local pork with tasty stir fried veggies, chips with the skin still on the spud and the most delicious fresh passionfruit juice. How many passionfruit must that take and where are the seeds? Have had lots of tuna or albacore, chicken, pork, salads and nice light rice along the way. Also enjoying the quinoa meals.

A 10 seater Emetebe plane sits on the tarmac when we arrive to an absolutely deserted airport. Eventually the Customs baggage check man arrives and we move from one deserted giant room to a smaller deserted waiting room.

20161205_123125 — Another Emetebe flight provides us with photos ops from every conceivable angle en route

All luggage is weighed when the Emetebe chica arrives and in spite of our incredibly thrifty packing with backpacks around the allowed 11kgs, our hand luggage spins us up to US$35 excess.

Very cruisy flight though, worth the cost, saving a night and 4 or 5 more hours in a two island launch transfer. The pilots were very laid back, giving us a reassuring thumbs up at the end of the runway before takeoff.

The day is sparkling and we get great views. A second Emetebe plane appears beside us to give their passengers and us great photo opportunities from every possible angle. Even the copilot takes a snap. He then takes a short nap and wakes to take a selfie of himself and the pilot.

Do try to sit behind the pilot or in the back row if you want photos. Get in early and ask the Emetebe person who weighs the bags.

With such a limited time on San Cristobal, we dump our gear at Casa de Laura and head on out to organise our activity for the next day. Two key goals, Kicker Rock and Punta Pitt. We choose the all day 360 trip that does both these and more on a circumnavigation of the island. US$140 and if you smile, they cut it back to US$130. It includes snorkelling gear, wet suits (no thanks), snacks of bananas, pan au chocolat, fruit, drinks and a very substantial lunch of marinara rice plus salad.

Timing is perfect for a sunset experience on Playa Mann. Sea Lions are there in abundance as are people, but it is pleasant and not overcrowded. It reminds me of Mindil Beach in Darwin where the beach sunsets are the thing. Swimmers enjoy the water, scattering as a sea lion comes close. San Cristobal is to sea lions what Isabela is to marine iguana – they are inescapable.

We observe an amazing sea lion interaction. A pup is suckling on the sand. A very large male appears, nuzzles the mum and off she goes with him to frolic in the shallows. Pup is distraught crying up and down the beach checking out everything in sight, including my leg looking for mum. Not too long, she returns and all is well again.

The sunset is fabulous.

Sunset viewing means we have missed the cocktail happy hour experience. Hard to miss really as it goes from 10am to 6pm! We hustle the next day to make it by 5.30 after the 360 tour and enjoy our best trip mojitos yet. Super strong.

A 7.30 start for our day out and 9 of us plus the guide and the captain head out on the launch. As we approach Kicker Rock a big pod of possibly Bottle Nosed Dolphins give us a fabulous acrobatic display.

20161206_112932 — Lucky to see dolphin acrobatics

Kicker Rock is massive when you get up close.

20161206_113129 — Kicker Rock is impressive

We don the snorkelling gear and jump in. The very first thing I see is two Hammerhead sharks. That’s a big Yow! for an Australian but I manage to keep breathing and not inhale water. We knew this was on the cards, but quite another thing to be floating right above them! We see a couple more Hammerheads but so many more of the Galapagos sharks. Looked like 100 or more to me but the guide says 40. Maybe just my eyes popping out of my head. Hundreds of fish though. We snorkelled for maybe an hour.

Cruise around Punta Pitt to observe the birds. I get my wish and see Red Footed Booby plus a fledgling in the nest. More Blue Footed and Nazca Booby as well.

20161206_090027 — Squint hard, we do see Red Footed Booby at Punta Pitt on the north of San Cristobal

The beach stops are fabulous. There is no coral here but some of those beaches rival our finest on the Great Barrier Reef and we have them to ourselves.

Two more snorkels and we head back with another dolphin exhibition on the way back to port. This time I think it was the Common Dolphin.

Time on our last day to visit the interpretation centre. Informative with an excellent historical perspective – definitely well worth visiting.

So wraps up a magical 10 days in the Galapagos. If I was starting again knowing what I know now, I would definitely allow more tIme. No regrets…

Three weeks into the thirteen that we have for this trip. Now for some more mainland Ecuador for a couple of weeks.

20161207_104111 — Tried for 10 days to get a nice shot of this quick little sweetie, Yellow Warbler, and here she is right beside our lunch table at the very last moment too engrossed in feasting to worry.

Not even halfway into our ten days in the Galapagos and we are totally charmed. A massive day trip to Bartolome and visiting the local school are big highlights so far.

The desert is a real surprise. Any Galapagos photos are always of idyllic scenery and amazing creatures. I am taken aback at my first view of the terrain. So barren. Cacti are scattered around, along with tufts of grey grasses typical of a desert environment plus trees that appear to have barely any foliage. From a distance they look a bit like African thorn trees or a hardy acacia from central Australia with pendulous narrow “leaves” and narrow green trunks.

First view of the landscape is a surprise

I constantly remind myself that everything I see is unique to this place as my brain tries to reference to the known.

The wind buffets as we walk from the aircraft, another surprise because the wind turbines were still. No wonder we bucked into the landing.

A quick negotiation with waiting taxi (ute) drivers and we arrange for our first diversion to break up the 40 minute drive across the island of Santa Cruz to Puerto Ayora. That was an excellent tip from a new friend Jill, an Australian teacher here.

The scenery changes as we drive with more vegetation appearing. The Twins is first. These are a strange feature being two adjacent sunken craters, not volcanoes, large and dry, with steep sides and a rough gravel track to walk partway round.

On to the tortoise ranch. Again we just wander around and observe the tortoises in their expansive scrubby environment. They love to wallow and shallow mud pools are scattered around with many large tortoise shells protruding bizarrely above the water line. As they lumber into the water and allow themselves to sink, air bubbles are released, glugging their way out of the enormous cavity.

The final stop is an amazing lava tunnel at Bellavista in the Highlands of Santa Cruz. We check that our torches work and head off through a lovely garden until we reach some precarious stone steps down into the tunnel.

Now this is impressive.

The tubes were formed when surface lava cooled and solidified while the underground hot lava continued to run. This tunnel extends for about 2kms. At first there are a couple of lights, but then it becomes as dark as pitch. It starts to get pretty slippery and the odd evidence of rockfall is a little disconcerting. We push on – 2 kms in a dark tunnel does not call for daydreaming.

That evening we catch up with Jill and get invited on the spot to a vegetarian Thanksgiving. This involves taking a water taxi across the bay, a hike down a boardwalk then along the sand to a fairly exclusive part of town. About a dozen of her generous colleagues and friends share a candle light feast under the magnificent starry sky. A fantastic introduction to Galapagos.

The first highlight of Day 2 is a breakfast that does not include eggs. Bliss is a large super fresh fruit salad, delicious home made yoghurt and honey from sugar cane, very dark and not too sweet.

20161130_230244 — Trees for a desert environment

The Charles Darwin Research Station is an impressive facility, providing an insight into the local wildlife and conservation strategies. It extends over quite a large area of natural bushland and we get a close up look at land iguanas.

It’s a very hot afternoon but we head off to Turtle Bay, about 2.5 kms along a path, winding up and down through a cactus forest. The cacti have large solid and colourful trunks with the more usual cacti lobes suspended up high. Some are in flower, a pretty yellow.

A massive white sand beach finally comes into view. Currents are strong but surfers are out. We park next to some vegetation with the only semblance of shade and discover our fellow parkers are a trio of large marine iguanas. These guys are dark compared to their more orange land cousins.

Observing the marine iguana swimming is a big tick off the list.

Back just in time to grab a bottle of Chilean Shiraz. Jill has kindly invited us for roast chicken at the home of another Australian, Ros, a long time resident who built an amazing house and created a great environment.

An early night though as we have to be up at 5 am to head off to Bartolome. This island is a 2 hour trip away on the lovely Adriana, a catamaran. Just 16 of us with Frank, the guide, the captain and a cook who prepares a delicious breakfast and later a yummy tuna steak lunch.

Halfway we idle along the side of a giant rock called Daphne Major. Great excitement as about 10 giant manta ray appear and very actively feed right beside us. Frank is excited so I think it is pretty special. Oh and plenty of birds. Nazca Booby, Blue footed booby, booby with chick and many more. We love the frigate birds that seem to enjoy searching in the wake of the boat. Almost seems as if they will fly right into us.

Bartolome has picture postcard vistas. Part of Master and Commander was filmed here.. We climb the volcano, thankfully with rest breaks in the heat. A short hike across the lava field and we hit the sandy beach.

Snorkeling time. The water is a little chill for me but eventually I’m in. There were colourful fish around the rocks but highlight number one was a turtle swimming right below. Highlight number two was a very playful sea lion who swam within touching distance. We watched him for ages frolicking with the snorkelers and demonstrating amazing aquatic skills of speed and dexterity as he somehow avoided smashing into the rocks he seemed to be heading right for at torpedo speed.

20161129_103059 — Frolicking with the snorkellers

As we head for home a pod of dolphin play chicken in our bow wave. Their speed and confidence is awesome.

Dolphin playing as Adriana heads for home. Wow.

We head off next morning to Jill’s school in the Highlands in a open casual bush setting. Two girls are allocated to each of us for a school tour. This is all English practice for them. We do a Q and A with older less fluent students. The final class is younger, very fluent, precocious and very intelligent.

The class is super excited by our dictionary presentation and there’s Jill

Our last full day on Santa Cruz and we visit Las Grietas. A water taxi takes us in daylight this time to the other side of the bay. Our first night destination was over here. Up the garden track, along the board walk, cross the sandy beach, past the salt marshes where salt is harvested, along a track of volcanic cinders up and down stairs and finally we have arrived.

The bartender strums as we take a break on the walk back. He has his work life balance sorted

One last dinner with Jill. Food is great and the mojitos are excellent. We take the ferry to Isabela tomorrow. So only one more Galapagos Deli breakfast. The family make the delicious fresh rolls, that I can only observe, right there on the spot.

Category: Galapagos

Galapagos- Isabela and San Cristobal

Galapagos – A Tropical Desert

Share this:

Share this: