Instead of going to what would have been my fourth tortoise center, I decided to hang back at the hotel, relax the broken toe, and drink a few beers with the sea lions. They were like, “oh hey, you’re back? Cool. Do you mind if we eat a snake and then maybe nurse our babies? That’s cool? OK great. You’re fun.” You do you, gross marine mammal monster things, you do you.
Oh wow, this was by far the rockiest boat trip. I was really looking forward to it, and it was fun for the most part, but had I known how choppy the waters would be I probably wouldn’t have sat at the end next to the engines. I got so wet that my emergency beacon triggered. Still, who can complain when you’re next stop is Floreana Island?
At the end of the trip we all agreed this, our first snorkeling excursion, was among our top activities of the whole trip. We saw all sorts of fish, a white tipped reef shark, and a raw among other things. It was immediately after our kayaking trip, and thank goodness we didn’t do them in the reverse order. We were pooped! Poor LB lost have of her snorkel almost immediately, and a few of us were stung by what might have been tiny jellyfish. Still, an adventure! Continue reading
Sea kayaking was never listed on any of our [constantly changing] itineraries, so it was a pleasant surprise to do this on our first full day in the Galapagos. Currents were occasionally strong, and paddles sometimes fell apart, but it was fun. I spotted a blue footed boobie, and we caught sight of a quick-moving sea turtle too.
Of our three Galapagos resorts, Aventura is probably the most complete, and this was certainly our best room. It’s not far from Puerto Ayora’s main street, and lots of things were walkable. No beach, but sometimes it’s nice to be on the marina. As you can see we had plenty of marine visitors. I cannot oversell how frequently we would be tripping over sea lions and marine iguanas.
These huge lava pits were supposed to be a major part of our first night, but because of late flights and other issues we ended up seeing them on the way to kayaking the following day. As you can (/can’t see), they’re not much to look at in the fog. Large. Pretty. Los Gemelos.
The owner of the tortoise reserve lost a cow one day. He eventually discovered that it had fallen into these lava tunnels, which were obscured by long grasses. As the Galapagos are entirely volcanic in origin, lava tunnels are pretty common. They eventually lead to the ocean, like this one did prior to a collapse.
Alright, here’s the deal: There were a lot of tortoises on this trip. Like, a lot. Still, this was our first real sighting of them. Baby (up to 30 or so years old) tortoises live mostly near the coast — wear the soft sand allows their mothers to make nests. Then they slowly migrate up to the highlands, where we found them on this private reserve. Rather than parcel out his land for farming, this landowner chose to open up his space for tourists to watch tortoises in their natural habitat. The fences surrounding the land allow the animals to come and go as they please, and the fruit trees provide plenty of food.
Also, no one mentioned on the itinerary, at the hotel, or in the car that the place is crawling with fire ants…hence the boots.
Evidently this airport is brand new, as a colleague later told me when he was there it was simply a landing strip. It’s a small terminal with your basic amenities, and the indoor/outdoor design makes sense. It’s the setting, though, that really drives home that you’ve arrived in an otherworldly place. Cactii and sparse vegetation are everywhere, and in the distance one can see many volcanic islands and blue water. Such a nice welcome!
Lady Boy Time 