Gotta have that executive lounge access. It sounds weird to be excited to arrive at a Hilton, but damn did those free canapes and cocktails come in hand. Also, as it turns out, WiFi that allows you to browse websites and upload pictures without failing ever 3 minutes is totally a good thing. Who knew?
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.
Here’s where the middle toe met its fate, but it was worth it. The photos come close to describing the beauty, but not quite. Just to reiterate: this was steps from our resort in Isabela. It was practically empty almost the entire time. There were marine iguanas, fish, and all sorts of birds everywhere. In the mangrove I found this bird fishing. Just, amazing.
After what was by far the most relaxing boat trip so far (dolphins! video…coming soon), we made it to Isabela. Isabela is just the best. We all agreed we could spend a whole week here. Our hotel, while not actually part of the Red Mangrove complex (yes, we left comment cards), we were otherwise basically within a few feet of free food, drinks, a gorgeous beach, sundry shops, and a view of one of the many volcanoes on the island. And wow, that marina. Crystal clear blue water, animals everywhere, and lots of people milling about getting ready to scuba and snorkel. Isabela is so laid back and conscious of its natural beauty.
Waking up early after a long night out in Floreana (yes, there is such a thing as a “bar” on this 150-person island), we strolled along the black sand beach admiring the sun-gathering sea lions, crabs and marine iguanas. I’m including a few photos of our hotel (if you can call it that…what’s hot water?), the cute restaurant where our meals were served, and one of the many Siamese cats roaming around.
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.
All said and done, we were here for 6 hours total, with maybe 4 of those being sleep. I’m not gonna lie, it’s a basic hotel, but it’s near the airport and nice enough. No window screens, one pillow, and an extremely light breakfast. Still, fine.
Lady Boy Time 