Galapagos Part 3

Friday morning dawned and it was time for us to don our waterproofs and put in the earplugs again as we were off to San Cristobal, one of the other main islands. It was just as well that we did as we got thoroughly soaked on the way over. It did make us chuckle to see a group of gap year girls get on, strip off and slather themselves in sun cream ready for what they expected to be a gentle sun bathing cruise, only to get drenched and look miserable for the rest of the ride.

Two bouncy hours later and we were in SC. The town is much smaller than Puerto Ayora and you can walk from end to end in 10 minutes. We got settled in at our air bnb before heading into town to sort out some diving. Through word of mouth from another traveller we’d had dinner with we’d heard of a decent dive outfit and how much they charged. Some swift negotiation and not so swift wetsuit fitting later and we were ready for our dive tour to Kicker Rick the next day. We had a home made lunch of omelette – which to be honest wasn’t the most pleasant thing we’d ever eaten – along with a few beers, and then spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the town. After the failed lunch we decided to treat ourselves to a pizza that evening and ended up at a place called Giuseppe’s which did a mean half and half pizza. Both thoroughly satisfied we rolled back to our gaff and watched yet another West Wing before hitting the hay.

The next morning we were down at the dock early to get our dive boat. It was pretty packed and we had to squeeze ourselves in for the ride out to the dive site. Once in we were surprised at how chilly it was, despite the two wetsuits. Even though we were only 50 miles or so from Santa Cruz Island the temperature difference was noticeable. The first dive turned out to be a bit of a farce. With such a big group, many of whom were inexperienced, we ended up strung out and people used up their air way too fast. In the end Hoff and I just did our own thing, keeping in sight of the group and coming up safely of our own accord using our dive computers. We weren’t exactly impressed but we figured that next time might be better.

After a quick surface stop we jumped back in again. This time the dive was a bit less manic and we managed to see hammerheads, turtles and quite a few smaller black tip sharks. Again we ended up surfacing last as everyone else had used up their air, but we were getting cold so didn’t mind too much. Lunch was spent on a nearby beach where Hoff and I amused ourselves by playing the age old game of “who can hit that rock with pebble first”. Then it was back onto the boat to head back to SC. That evening we went for a light bite and a drink with some Americans we met on the boat. It was fun to exchange travelling stories and catch up on world events – they were only there for a couple of weeks so had more of an idea of what was going on in the real world. Afterwards Hoff and I shared a fajita at the local fast food place, where the waitress took pity on us and gave us a free pudding. Evidently the fact that we were sharing food and drinking water from our own water bottles were hints enough that we were ‘travellers on a budget’.

On Sunday morning we grabbed our towels and walked the couple of kilometres to the local beach, stopping off to pick up a chocolate croissant on the way. We scoffed them en route and soon both felt sick – too much pastry too soon in the morning. On our way we realised how close the airport was to our bnb – the flights literally skimmed the road towards the beach as they took off – and how we’d not quite planned things as well as we could. Instead of flying directly back to the mainland from San Cristobal, we’d booked to go from Santa Cruz, and we could have avoided a costly, wet and bumpy ride back. We chalked that one up to learning and plodded on to the beach.

When we got there it was covered in sea lions along with lots of tiny sea lion pups. It was great to see them, but not so great to see moronic humans trying to take selfies with them. Eventually we had enough when one party cut off a pup from its mother in their attempts to get the perfect shot, and Hoff got out her lawyer hat and got the lifeguard to tell them off. Suitably chastised, they backed off, but they were soon replaced with another idiotic group trying to do the same thing. We couldn’t believe our eyes but luckily the local wildlife guide had clocked them and soon told them off. We spent another hour or so on the beach before the heat got the better of us. Even though it was overcast the suns rays still got through and we decided to head for shelter.

We ended up having the rest of the day out of the sun before grabbing a bite to eat at a very weird restaurant. The owners were going for some kind of nautical theme which had spiralled out of control somewhat, so the decor contained a very random mix of trinkets. One large shared bowl of shrimp spaghetti later and we again called it an early night. The combination of early mornings, busy days and early sunsets meant most days on the equator ended up in a relatively early night! We felt like we were both 90 years old as we turned in for the day at 8.30pm!!

We started the new week with a 5km jog up and down the sea front, then scoffed an egg sandwich on our way to the local museum and eco information centre. It was interesting to learn about the history of the islands and also what the locals are doing to protect them for the future. As Hoff mentioned previously, some of the indigenous wildlife is struggling to adapt to the rising temperatures and humans were also having their troubles securing electricity, food and water, with much of the latter two having to be shipped in from the mainland. We stopped off at the small beach in the way back to town, where we watched sea lions playing in the surf alongside humans, and grabbed an almuezos (cheap lunchtime deal) before heading back to grab our stuff and get in the ferry back to Puerto Ayora. We had a slightly panicked moment when the ferry providers told us we weren’t on their lists – as the saying goes, if your name isn’t down, you’re not coming in – so we ended up having to pay another provider to take us back. After the crossing we marched straight to the woman who sold us our tickets a few days before and got our money back. To be fair, it wasn’t her fault, but we’d have missed our flight the next day had the other provider not had space so we weren’t impressed. We went for one final dinner at our favourite place, TJs, before heading to the hostel to pack.

Tuesday morning dawned and it was a beauty. Typical that our last morning should be perfect when all the others had been slightly overcast (which is standard for that time of year on the islands). We only really had time to do a last minute bit of souvenir shopping before we grabbed a taxi to the airport and had to reverse the whole ferry and bus process as well. We had a while to wait the other end which Hoff filled with shopping for a t shirt. She’d ummed and erred over one in town and when she finally decided to buy one, the shop was shut. Luckily she found an even better one in the airport but our ability to haggle over prices was decidedly reduced! However we’ve got a saying on the trip – “no regrets” – which means that if we want to see something, do something or buy something, and we’re likely to regret not seeing/buying/doing it, we do it regardless of cost (within limits obviously). So Hoff came away happy with her purchase!

Before we knew it we were rumbling down the runway and climbing out of Baltra. We both couldn’t believe we were leaving already and it felt like just a day ago that the wheels were touching down at the start of our stay on the Galapagos. We’d had an awesome time and the islands really were everything we’d hoped for and more. It’s not often you go somewhere and it totally lives up to all your expectations but the good thing was that we left wanting more, and we’d definitely go back if we had the chance. As we settled in to another West Wing episode on the short flight to Quito we looked back with fond memories but forward with anticipation as to what mainland Ecuador, and the rest of South America, had to offer us.

Next up – Hoff will take you through our time in Quito, the highest capital city in the world, and our jaunt into the Ecuadorean cloud forests.