The Galapagos Trip

Galapagos Trip:

Prior to the trip...there were some problems and confusion with flights and travel to the airport. We ended up having to temporarily postpone our trip until the company and our club were able to reschedule everything. It ended up working out that the kids in my city of Machala went to the Galapagos just the 14 of us instead of the big group of 35-40 students as originally planned. This was both dissapointing, and helpful at the same time as we didn't have to break off into smaller groups when we got to the day trips on the islands. It still would have been nice to see some other students from other parts of Ecuador for a change instead of only the Machala kids that I spend time with every week anyways (I love them, I do, but I like getting to know new people too). Well anyways...

Monday: We left Machala at 2:30AM to get to the airport in Guayaquil early for our flight check in. After waiting an eternity at the airport, we boarded our two hour flight to the island of Baltra, the location of one of only two airports in the Galapagos island region. In fact, the island of Baltra is only used for the airport and nothing else; there is no population there. When we landed, it was around 2PM because the islands are actually an hour behind Ecuador's time. We took a mini-barge from the island of Baltra to the bigger and most popular island of Santa Cruz where we had another 45 minute bus ride to the bottom, populated part of the island. We checked in at the Ninfa? Hotel, and immediately changed for our lunch and afternoon excursion. After lunch we walked a very long way (probably 45-50 minutes) to a beautiful beach called Tortuga bay. It was stunning- beautiful sand, beautiful ocean. The water was very salty but the temperature was fantastic as well as the waves. There were plenty of surfers out there taking advantage of the great swell. We stayed there for 1.5 hours before having to leave as the beach closed at 6. We walked back and immediately went for the warm pool at the hotel to try and get the sand and salt off us. After a shower, it was dinner time. The hotel did a nice job with all of our meals. After dinner, we hung out in the lounge-bar area where many utilized the free wifi and where Simone and I played many rounds of pool (billiards) as a team with the other students. It got late and we went to bed knowing we had an early start the next day.

Tuesday: We woke up at 5AM for a 5:30 breakfast and a 6AM departure in a bus to the same port where the ferry dropped us off at the island the day before. Once there, we got on a little inflatable motor boat to be brought out to the bigger boat we would be spending the day on. We went to Bartolome Island, a small island off the coast of the bigger island of Santiago, just northeast of Santa Cruz. It was a spectacular view...then went snorkeling around the area ...saw a hugeee mamma manta and her baby, a tortoise, some big starfish, a gigantic lobster, and some beautifully colored fish (many Dory's). Then we got back on the boat, ate lunch, tanned on the front of the boat (I mean burned), and saw a bunch of great animals like dolphins and even a shark swimming next to our boat. The ride to and from the island was around 3 hours each way. Back at the hotel around 5PM, I showered before dinner again. After dinner we went out to explore the area of Port Ayora and looked at souvenir shops and got an ice cream. It was a nice little outing. We came back and once again hung out until late.

Wednesday: Wake up was at 6, breakfast 6:30, and departure at 7. We walked down to the port where we got on a taxi boat that brought us to the actual boat we would be spending the day on. It was a different style boat then the day before, meant for more speed and more passengers to bring them from place to place. We all found a way to get comfortable and sleep for the 2.5-3 hour ride to our destination on Isabela Island. Upon arrival, we got on a bus to take us to a fresh-water pool where there are usually many flamingos if the nutrient in the water is good (there were only two flamingos when we arrived). After a quick talk about the flamingos in this location, we walked next door to the tortoise museum/reserve (I don't remember the name). There are some really huge tortoises there. It was cool to learn about how they lay eggs and the whole process of reproducing their species and where certain species were found on the different islands. The put a lot of effort into the care and protection of them. After our museum tour, we got back on the bus to head to a nearby beach for a little swim before lunch. It was another beautiful spot, with calmer waters and a quick chance to relax. After an hour we got out to head to lunch. Then, we got in a boat to see another part of the island where we hoped to see penguins (we saw 4), sharks (we saw the tail-end of one that was sleeping in the shadows), and a specific spot where we would see plenty of ugly iguanas. From there, we went a little further out to try and spot sharks and got a second chance to snorkel. During this snorkel trip we saw more tortoises, but specifically got to get very close to some 12-15 sharks that were in an rock-cave and occasionally would swim out for us to get a good look. Our guide was super generous and decided to buy a go-pro for our group to use (because nobody had an underwater camera or anything...) so we and future groups could borrow it to take underwater pictures. Our snorkel guide was able to get some great shots of the sharks down in their cove. It was fantastic! After a long snorkeling session we got back on the boat for what turned out to be a long and sickening ride back. I decided to go up to the top deck where there are seats available for the driver and 3 or 4 others. It was a pretty view but I wasn't in one of the chairs so I really couldn't see anything anyways. Then, the water got extremely choppy and I found my self getting thrown around, hitting my arms on the rails and almost hitting my head. The harsh waves really hurt to go over. And not only that but it just made me so sick to my stomach and I felt like I had a huge headache. Either way, that was not a ride I enjoyed- it was far too long, I was uncomfortable sitting there on the deck, and it made my head hurt for the rest of the trip (not to mention a bruised arm and tailbone). But we made it back and I got to have a cola and some headache medicine to help me while we waited for dinner. After dinner, we had story-time for an hour or two before everyone went back to their rooms, some of us staying in one room to socialize late into the night. I really enjoyed talking and laughing with my good friends.

Thursday: Up and ready at the same time as Wednesday. We went to the port and once again boarded the speed boat to take us the 2.5-3 hours, this time to the island San Cristobal which is the most populated island of the Galapagos and also contains the only other airport. At the island we switched to a different boat authorized to take our group to Leon Dormido (in English- “sleeping lion”) for us to snorkel again around the two giant rocks and through the canal they form. It is called the Sleeping Lion because of the shape that is formed from the rock structure. The best part of that snorkel trip was an up-close experience with a manta and a sea-lion...like SUPER UP-CLOSE. I seriously want to take a sea-lion home, they are adorable! Other than that, the snorkel trip wasn't that successful like some of the others. The water was a too choppy to see much if it wasn't close. After snorkeling we boarded the boat once more to head to a beach area where we ate lunch, had more snorkeling (by that time I was extremely snorkeled out) and a then took a ride back to the bigger boat in the San Cristobal port that would bring us back to Santa Cruz. Luckily, the long rides on the big speed boat were better this day and I got to enjoy a semi-peaceful ride back. We hung out by the pool awhile before showering and having dinner. After dinner we got to go back into the town, and this time I spent some money on souvenirs and a frozen yogurt treat. Then we stopped at a cyber-cafe to download the go-pro pictures we had taken in order to return the device to our guide the next morning. We downloaded pictures and returned to the hotel where we stayed in the lounge area for as long as possible playing pool like we had almost every other night, then returned to a room to talk until we headed to our own rooms for bed. I packed my bags before heading to sleep.

Friday: Same time again. We left in a bus but stopped in town at the Charles Darwin National Park. It wasn't even open yet, so we couldn't go into the museum part like I would have liked in order to learn more about his impact on the islands but we did take an hour to see more protected tortoises and iguanas in the park. After our short tour the bus brought us to the top of Santa Cruz to catch a ferry back to Baltra for our flight back home. There was more waiting and travel problems (our chaperone's bag got lost and we had to wait for it to come in on the next flight)...typical. But we all got to Guayaquil around 3, had something to eat and left the airport around 4PM for the 3 hour ride back to Machala.

And that was my awesome Galapagos trip! :)