Take Risk: The Galapagos: Home of the Giant Tortoises & the Blue-Footed Boobies

¡Hola!

Below is my latest update. You can view my progress by clicking this link. Also, don't forget the extra photos at the end. Enjoy.

Vista of Cuenca

Cuenca - Not Quite Home After an overnight bus from Peru and crossing the border into Ecuador, I bought a six-hour bus ride to Cuenca. Cuenca is one the cities I had considered studying abroad in about seven years ago, but I ended up in Mexico. It was great to finally see this city that I could have called home. Cuenca is a beautiful colonial city that exudes a calm, peaceful atmosphere with the greenest main plaza I’ve seen in South America. Apart from getting to know the city, I traveled to the ruins of Ingapirca, the most important ruins in Ecuador and a union of the Inca and Cañari cultures. Leslie, whom I met in Chile a few months before, also contacted me to let me know she would be in Cuenca the next day. I ended up exploring the city of Cuenca and all of Ecuador with her.

Ingapirca & Museum Exhibits

Cuenca's main plaza

During my Ingapirca tour, I met Pedro, who was traveling with his mom and 90-year-old grandmother (very inspiring!). They offered to take me back to Cuenca in their taxi, but Pedro ran into a friend who was exhibiting a display at the museum for Inti Raymi or Festival of the Sun, which is celebrated around the summer solstice, June 21. We decided to help his friend create the exhibition and as a result, received a VIP tour of the inner workings of the museum.

Pedro was staying at a hostel called Cafecito and by coincidence, so was another friend, Leslie (more below). I met Leslie at the cafe/hotel, and then also by coincidence, Pedro also joined us. We talked about music, sociology, anthropology, and anything else that came up during the next five hours. It was a great evening. Leslie and I also decided to meet up the next day and go to a museum before I jetted off to Guayaquil to start making plans for Galapagos.

Ruins of Ingapirca

Leslie is from South Africa, but was living in London before she took a year off from work to travel South America. Leslie is a teacher and child psychologist. She also practices and teaches yoga. We originally met in Chile in March, but had been traveling separately until we met again in Ecuador.

Planning Next Steps with Leslie - Galapagos
The next day, I talked to Leslie about the Galapagos and wanting to know more information, we spent the entire day researching. She eventually decided to go with me and we booked flights to the islands. That evening we celebrated by joining in Cuenca’s Corpus Christi festival. Our main focus was trying all of the delicious sweets that everyone was selling on the streets. Unfortunately, while we were doing research and taking care of business in an internet cafe, Leslie’s bag was stolen, along with her camera (luckily no passport or other documents were inside!). The teenager working at the cafe said he saw nothing, so were out of luck. We went to report the incident to the police and they took their time driving to pick us up in their fancy police truck. Since Leslie was without a camera, I promised to take and share our trip photos with her. However, she also had a Blackberry phone with a decent camera.

Galapagos!

I have wanted to visit these mysterious islands since my younger sister, Courtney, began talking about the curious blue-footed boobies and the giant tortoises. Unfortunately, she was unable to come, but I’ve scoped out the islands so that when she does decide to go, she’ll have the inside scoop.

Leslie and I researched and met with many travel agencies and in the end, decided to do a seven-day visit independently. Most tour books and agencies say you can’t do the Galapagos justice if you do it yourself (instead of a cruise), but I disagree. It was more of a hassle to plan out every day, but I found it a very rewarding and magical experience. Below I’ve detailed the highlights of each island. If you would like more details, feel free to email me or set up coffee! :)

Santa Cruz

Land lizard in Darwin's Research Center

Flew into Galapagos and saw each individual island from the plane. Very cool!
Found no public transportation to the main city, Puerto Ayora, so hitched a ride in the back of a pick up. This city was our base during the stay.
Instantly saw wildlife! The coolest thing about the Galapagos is that you can get close to the wildlife. The animals are accustomed to humans and don’t consider them predators, so they don’t run or fly away unless you get too close.
Took a water taxi over to Bahía de los Alemanes (German Bay), swam, gazed at Darwin's ground finches, and through Leslie’s curiosity and tenaciousness, we scored an impromptu tour of an ecological hotel. They have their own bio sewer system (no chemicals) to help decrease ground and water contamination.
Swam at Turtle Bay (named such because many sea turtles lay their eggs on the beaches) and on our way there, saw at least four of the seven species of Charles Darwin’s finches. He studied their beaks and habitats before he proposed evolution. If you’re interested in more details, read On the Origin of Species or just check out the Wikipedia article. (Thanks to Chuck and Jean Fowler for getting me excited about the finches!)

Floreana

The blue-footed boobies and I on North Seymour

Visited the turtle reserve and saw giant turtles chomping down on their lunch, giant banana leaves.

Explored the island, the lava tunnels, and an old stone statue.

Snorkeled with giant sea turtles, penguins, and sea lions! This was my first time to snorkel so I almost hyperventilated at first (how do you breathe and swim at the same time?), but left my death grip of the guide when I saw a sea lion in front of me. Somehow, I was able to breath perfectly after that!

North Seymour

Visited the flattest island I’ve ever seen, covered with blue-footed boobies and two types of frigate birds (great and magnificent). You practically trip over them they’re so tame. My favorite moment was seeing the cartoon-like blue-footed boobies do their mating dance.

Watched a lone sea lion cub search for its mother. In the process, the cub checked out our group, but without success.

Ended our day with a taste from the local merienda, a cheap 3-dollar set option for dinner. Leslie and I did this every night, followed by a treat of ice cream! My favorite was a mix of maracuya (passion fruit) and manjar (dulce de leche).

Isabela

Sea lions resting on the rocks on North Seymour

Stayed overnight on the island and climbed a live volcano with gorgeous and varied terrain.

Endured the tour guide asking me out to dance and insisting that my “no” meant “yes”, because that’s what some girl from California said about American girls. I assured him that “no” was “no”. I wasn’t alone either as he asked another girl on the tour if she wanted to dance with him. Loved the professionalism.

Met a wonderful couple from Spain, Aurelie and Marcos, and spent a few evenings out on a beachside bar. My new favorite drink is a caipirinha, a Brazilian concoction with lime.

Snorkeled with huge manta rays and beautiful fish.

Back at Santa Cruz

Stayed at Santa Cruz another day instead of venturing out to San Cristobal because our tour guide didn't time everything just right. We missed the boat, literally. We got our money back, but not the opportunity to see another island.

Leslie and I went our separate ways because she wasn’t feeling well that day. She had a relaxing day with friends and snorkeling close by, while I explored the lava tunnels and Chato Tortoise Reserve.

Met a local on the public bus to the lava tunnels and decided to go straight to the reserve as his farm was in front of it. Helped him plant something for his farm, ate sugar cane straight from the plant, and tried an orange off one of his trees. From there, I explored enormous tunnels and tread cautiously through the tortoise reserve. Someone got lost years ago and ended up dying (being a past Israeli soldier, he tried to survive off of the land and accidentally ate something poisonous).

Hitched a ride with two Argentinian girls who were on vacation and had rented a taxi. It was a better option than the bus back.

Observations

Two is Nice - It was a joy traveling with someone else for an extended period of time. It also made finding tours or day trips MUCH easier. Thanks, Leslie!

Getting Close to Nature - It fascinated me how easily and how closely you could approach wildlife in Galapagos. They considered you just a part of life and nothing to be scared of.

Snorkeling World - If you haven’t done this, do it. I am enthralled with the new world underneath the water’s surface and intend to explore more.

Fight for Service - The experience at the Galapagos was unforgettable, but despite the expense of getting there, that doesn’t mean you always receive the best service. Leslie and I had to stand up for ourselves to make sure that we got what we needed and that we weren’t cheated out of an experience. The Galapagos was no exception to this.

Cold Waters - Despite the Galapagos being islands, the water can be quite cold. I expected it to be much warmer; however, this didn’t keep me from enjoying anything.

Lonesome George - No, I didn't see him before he and his entire species disappeared. I saw his home, but he was hiding the day Leslie and I visited. Maybe he was sick?

Visiting the Galapagos - Do it and do soon. With the influx of tourists and the increase in hotels, this habitat is in danger of disappearing or at least being what it is today.

Next: More of Ecuador and into Colombia!

Saludos,
Ashley