Ecuador, Summer 2019 (Part 2 - The Galapagos)
On the morning of the June 27, we got on an Uber to Guayaquil’s airport to hop on our two hour flight to Baltra Island in the Galapagos archipelago.
Travel to the Galapagos is very expensive relative to the rest of Latin America. Our round trip ticket from Guayaquil ran us both a total of $700.
Immediately upon our arrival to the island, we had to purchase an entrance to the Galapagos National Park at the airport. This is not optional and costs $100 per person ($6 for Ecuadorian citizens). In addition each tourist arriving to the Galapagos has to purchase a Transit Control Card for $20. Make sure you bring sufficient cash to cover all these fees and then some.
We made it through all the necessary check points and headed out the airport. We boarded a bus that takes you to the Itabaca channel that separates Baltra and Santa Cruz. Upon reaching the channel, the only way across is to take a ferry. The bus and ferry cost us each $5 and $1 respectively.
Onboard the ferry we met a taxi driver who offered to drive us to our hotel. Puerto Ayora is on the other side of the island from the channel. The only way to get there is by taking an hour long bus ride for $5 or taking a taxi which will get you there in half the time. We opted to take the taxi, for which we paid $25, and got to our hotel in 35 minutes.
We had booked a room at El Descanso del Guia, a hotel located a five minute drive from the heart of Puerto Ayora. We checked in, dropped off our things and headed into town for lunch. The staff at the hotel is very friendly and called us a cab, a service they provide for all of their guests.
Taxis in Puerto Ayora are very affordable and the prices are highly regulated with a flat rate of $1.50 for all trips within the city. Our cab dropped us off at El Muelle de Darwin, a restaurant located on Charles Darwin Ave, the main road in the city.
Immediately upon sitting down and browsing through the menu, we realized that we were in for an expensive next few days. Much like Hawaii, most things have to be imported to the islands, and much like Hawaii, the prices for goods are significantly more expensive than they are in the mainland.
Our lunch was decent, albeit expensive. When I say expensive I do mean relative. Our entrees were roughly $18 each, which although that may not be too expensive for us Americans, I would usually expect to pay well under $10 per person back in mainland Ecuador.
After lunch we went to a nearby scuba shop, Macarron Scubadiver. The shop smelled like the ocean as the crew from that day’s dive had just recently unloaded. We were greeted by Diana, the owner’s wife who gave us a run down of where the dive sites were depending on when we chose to go. We agreed to join a group that was diving the next day, filled out all the necessary waivers and forms, paid $350, and tried on our wet suits, flippers, and BCDs to be ready to go in the morning.
We left the shop and headed to the Charles Darwin Research Station (CDRS) which is part of the Galapagos National Park.
The CDRS is a complex dedicated to the conservation of the wild life on the Galapagos islands, as well as a scientific research base to study the animals of the island.
The research station is best known for it’s Tortoise Trail, a path that takes you to various exhibits about the wildlife in the archipelago and how the Darwin Foundation is working to conserve their environment.
The main attraction along the trail are several different species of tortoises that have been rescued from private owners that have tried, illegally, to keep them as pets.
In an air conditioned room towards the end of the trail is the preserved body of Lonesome George, a male Pinta Island tortoise who was the last known of his species and became a symbol for conservation efforts on the islands and around the world.
While observing the preserved remains of the last member of a species, I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of sadness. Memories came back to me of my last visit to the Galapagos in 2004 when I was 12 years old. During my visit I saw Lonesome George while he was still alive and learned about the attempts to find a mate for him to try to make sure his death wouldn’t mean the extinction of his species. As a young child I felt a sense of hope and optimism that maybe his species would go on. Now in the present he stands before me, posed in an elegant manner. The last of his species on display for us to see.
After finishing our tour at the research station, we had a light dinner at the Santa Cruz Brewpub on Charles Darwin Ave before taking a taxi back to our hotel. We called it a night fairly early as we would have to wake up very early the next day.
Our alarm woke us up at 6 AM on Friday morning. We quickly got dressed and were able to hail a cab that was passing by our hotel. We arrived at the scuba shop where we boarded a pick up truck that would take us back to the channel on the opposite side of the island where we would board the boat that would take us to our dive sites.
We were joined by a group of five university students from Portugal who were accompanied by two of their professors. We arrived to our first dive site of the day and were split into two groups. Since Audrey and I were scuba certified, we were placed into the group with the two professors who were also certified.
Our first dive was incredible. We went down to a depth of about 40 feet where there was a myriad of marine life including a tenacious little puffer fish who seems to have taken a liking to me.
We also ran into a few white tipped reef sharks, starfish, parrot fish, and sting rays among others. After coming up from our dive we had snacks and drinks waiting for us on board.
I suddenly felt very nauseated when I came out of the water but after sitting for a few minutes and eating a few cookies slowly, the nausea began to dissipate.
Since we had to remain at the surface to allow the nitrogen in our blood to dissipate from the previous dive, our instructors gave us time to snorkel for those of us who so desired. With no desire to sit on the boat for over 45 minutes, I took a snorkel and jumped into the water to snorkel a bit.
After getting back on the boat we headed to our next dive site. Audrey and I were the only ones in the group that wanted to do a second dive so we had the luxury of having a quasi-private tour. Unfortunately our second dive wasn’t very eventful and there wasn’t a lot of marine life down there. Audrey and I both had the same reaction after surfacing: we kept waiting for something cool to show up and then it just never did.
When we got back to shore, we got back in the pick up and were driven back to Puerto Ayora. We had lunch which was included in our dive at a restaurant next to the scuba shop at El Chocolate. Despite the name, it is not a bakery or dessert shop.
We went back to the hotel to nap for a bit before heading back to Puerto Ayora for dinner. The person at the front desk recommended a few places and we decided to try out Il Giardino.
Dinner was wonderful. Again, the prices were very expensive considering what they usually are on the mainland.
After dinner we walked along the pier next to the ocean. We sat by a bench as a sea lion slept peacefully a few feet from us. As we sat there and talked, I couldn’t help thinking about the wild animal sleeping near us, completely indifferent to our presence. It had absolutely no reason to fear us. Animals and man have been cohabiting peacefully on these islands for several decades now as any harming of animals has been made strictly prohibited.
I was once again saddened on our trip here, this time by what could and should be. My thoughts reminded me of the words of Sir David Attenborough:
“Using his burgeoning intelligence, this most successful of all mammals (man) has exploited the environment to produce food for an ever-increasing population... Perhaps the time has now come to put that process into reverse. Instead of controlling the environment for the benefit of the population, perhaps it’s time we control the population to allow the survival of the environment.”