Galapagos, Ecuador - A Final Word

It's the Critters
I hate to say it, but it's a mixed bag, the Galapagos. They don't tell you the whole truth before you get there but you figure it out quickly.  It's not the most beautiful - places like the Azores and the Maldives shine by comparison.  The town of Puerto Ayora is a complete dump - as ugly as any I've seen in the third world and I've seen many.  It's grown uncontrollably from 1,000 people to 20,000.  Why would anyone want to move here from the mainland?  Simple - to fleece the tourists.  The prices are 4-10 times higher than the mainland and depend on who's buying.  For some people a Pepsi is 50 cents, for others it's 2 dollars.  You're lighter by 125 bucks before you even get out of the airport - a pretty steep landing fee when Ecuadorians only pay 20.  Now, if I thought any of the money was making the place better for the critters then ok.  I'm just not sure that it is. 

Galapagos, Ecuador - Darwin

Truth vs Myth
He was only 29 when he arrived in the Galapagos islands.  He was on a two year journey around the world that stretched to an unfathomable five years.  When he got back to England he never got on another boat for the rest of his life.  Contrary to what we were taught in school, there was no eureka moment while he was in the Galapagos.  Matter of fact, he only spent 35 days there in total and only 19 of them on land.  It was only after a discussion with ornithologist John Gould decades later that he put the puzzle pieces together.

Galapagos, Ecuador - Deep Water Snorkeling

Isla Pinzon
We were looking to take a trip to Bartolome Island to hike the volcano there but that trip was all booked up.  We settled on a snorkeling trip at Isla Pinzon, a small uninhabited island to the west of Santa Cruz.  We were promised excellent snorkeling along the coast where we'd be sure to see sharks, turtles, sea wolves and many fish.  That little yellow dot is me.

Galapagos, Ecuador - Birding

North Seymour Island
The best place to see the iconic Galapagos birds is North Seymour island.  I'm referring to the magnificent frigate and the blue footed booby.  Darwin's finches may have been important for the theory of evolution, but they're not that interesting to look at.  We had fortuitous timing as this is the breeding season.

Galapagos, Ecuador - Cycling for Turtles

Santa Cruz Highlands
The Santa Cruz highlands are another ecosystem entirely.  They're 2,000 feet above sea level and under perpetual clouds, it seems.  It is where all the farms are - including the turtle farms.  We rented some bikes and grabbed a pick-up taxi to take us to the top.

Galapagos, Ecuador - Snorkeling the Cracks

Las Grietas
Las grietas means "the cracks" and describes a large fissure in the rocks that runs inland from the ocean on Santa Cruz island.  We traveled there to go snorkeling - it's one of the few things you can do on Santa Cruz.

Galapagos, Ecuador - Searching for Sea Creatures

The Way it Works Here
Ok, so this is how it works - there are three or four islands inhabited by humans, the rest are taken by the critters.  Just which critters depends on the island.  If, for example, you want to see land iguanas you have to pick a specific island.  You choose a tour company, pay money and they take you by boat to that island, give you lunch, supply you with a knowledgeable guide and take you to the iguanas.  If you want to see penguins the next day, you pick another tour company, take a boat ride, etc and so forth, rinse and repeat.  We chose to see sea wolves first.  We geared up in town getting ourselves wet suits and the newest fangled snorkel masks.

Galapagos, Ecuador - First Impressions

Cool and Dry
It took us an hour and a half to fly the 750 miles over the Pacific into Isla Baltra, one of the smaller of the dozen islands that comprise the Galapagos.  I was expecting a flush of tropical green but this was like landing on Mars.  The Galapagos, at least near the airport, is a moonscape with a thin coating of prickly grey frosting.  A desert speckled with cacti, surrounded by ocean.