I am sitting here, on a little boardwalk overlooking a beautiful beach, this is black lava rock beach, waves are crashing on it, and every few seconds heads of turtles emerge, they are just everywhere.
Yesterday, we finally made it to the island of Baltra. from the air it appears a desolate place, and appears desolate from the ground as well. we leave the plane and notice the unique trees right away. we enter the terminal, pay the 100$ park fees, and while waiting for the bag i spot my first lizard. we go on the bus to the ferry. few cacti trees are scattered about, and no wildlife, 10 minutes later we reach the ferry from Baltra island to Santa cruz and there, a Pelican flies above. sea birds of all kins fly or dive in the water. 2 minutes on the ferry and another bus on the other side. a slow moving bus.. the coastal desert is quickly replaced with the greenery of the highlands, very dense but low vegitation line.
the bus goes slowly upwards, where the air is chillier, and eventually began to descends and we see the coast line again and the city of porto ayora.
We notified the tour company of our delay, and were told that they would leave instructions on how to meet the group. when we arrived, the clerk looked at us with negative eyes, no note. we checked in and hear that they will pick us up in 5 minutes. we are starving and don't want to go on an excursion with no food. i dash out to find a quick bite. the pizza place has no ready made pizza. few other stores don't have anything snack worthy. a restaurant nearby has sandwiches. I share my need for hasty food and they begin making cheese basil and tomato (for Alla). some of you know that i gets quite antsy when there is a dead line to meet, i am in a rush and the cook is taking her sweet time. it takes a few minutes to understand what base is.. turned out to be basil. then i watched them slowly, cut a fresh tomato, slowly ripping fresh basil leaves. com'on. i am late and hungry, get the stuff you left laying around all day.. while waiting, Alla calls, the group has arrived and their next destination is …. lunch!
i get the sandwiches and head back, and now we all go to lunch, to some local place.
on the 3 minutes walk to the restaurant, we already see Iguanas, pelicans and seals, the seals just lay there, adorable.
the 1st dish is a basil soup i think, never had that before, yummy. A tropical type juice is served followed by Tuna. i strongly dislike tuna in a can, that oil is nasty to me, but this fresh Tuna fish is nice with Garlic sauce. some jelly thing is for desert, i can eat like this every day. in between, we also munch on the sandwich.
recovered, we took the bus and headed for the highlands. first we saw cows with herons, not a real endemic species and then we started seeing them. Huge tortoises! you've seen them on TV but it is unreal when seen up close. massive reptiles. we walk in their natural habitat, see them walk, eat or mostly just lay there, the most odd aspect is their breathing, it is sort of a hiss if you get a bit too close and it is quite scary. we get really close and take great photos. we see them eat grass and guava and hear random facts from the guide, Dario (not nahares).
be careful of ants here. tiny ants, but they do bite…
they also have giant tortoise shells and we full around, get in them and try to move, very heavy, we see a lot of bones and wonder on the strange way they move around, very similar to swimming motion, but when you put the shell on, it seems the only way to move. we try a some sour lemon orange pop sickle and leave this wonderful place.
next we head for the lava tunnels. this is a dormant volcanic area, but underneath are these long tunnels where lava used to flow, when this area was submerged in sea water, this tunnels was one of many chimneys from the earth's core. we hike this tunnel for a while, it is very tall and dark, but lanterns are scattered along the way. next to one of them we see a little green growth, even in the dark with the lantern light, life finds a way,
we return to the low lands, pass a few tortoise crossing signs and go get ready for dinner. I have some free time and go explore looking for snacks, as the next to islands are more remote. i buy water shoes, since i left mine at home and find the supermarket, get some snacks, wait a long time in line, lose track off time and arrive at the hotel 10 minutes too late and the whole group is waiting, awkward.
same as my last G ADVENTURES tour, there is a family of 5 from Canada, aussies, brits, israelies (us) and also a german couple. everyone is very nice and friendly. there is a side street filled with restaurants and every night they close off the street, fill it with tables and chairs. this is where locals eat and lucky so do we. you can order from any place and sit in any place. we order fresh fish with garlic sauce on the grill and a lobster, with rice and fries. we also go to a juice bar, i get Banana and orange shake. Alla gets orange and naranjillo. there is a tomato plant here that is used for juice, it looks like a mango, this naranjillo is from the same family. i tried hers, very good. it was better with the piles of sugar in this drink.
we sit with everyone in another place, most of the group has pizza or burgers while we enjoy the lobster/ fish combo. we chitchat and see Monday night raw on the big screen, my kind of place.
after wards we sample ice-cream and walk to the pier. here, with the pier lights, dozens of reef sharks swim below, so many it feels like a horror movie. they are small mostly, but no one goes swimming. there is also one seal, Fred, he is trained i hear, he sleeps in boats, we see him go up the ramp, lay there on a bench and kind of plays with the adoring tourists.
its bed time, after tow nights of max 5 hour sleep and stress time, early night is what we need. we have free time in the morning and plan to wake up at 6:30 and go hike.
my phone is somehow and hour early and we wake up at 5:30. enjoy breakfast, of melon, water melon, bred and some nice cheese, pancakes and head for les tiegras. at the harbor, we get a water taxi to the other side of the bay and we go by a local trips that passes few houses and a few marshes, we see lots of lizards, herons, tons of crabs and take photos galore. we pass a big pond of minerals, the ground is white and red, slight sulfur smells, and one fisherman working in the water, he is a bit far and we are unsure of what he harvests. with this remarkable nature all around, i suddenly get an urgent call. it is early, around seven, everything is closed and i have no emergency supplies or a place to go. but nature wants what it wants and i go in between cacti… not the type of leaves you want to use! lucky Alla stole a towel from the hotel. so it you see a random towel in Galapagos, don't go near it.
we continued on this lovely trail and reached los tiegras. and WOW, this place is where the earth's crust split. there is a 10 meter or so gap between the cliffs and as high as 15- meters and in the bottom you have fresh water intermixed with sea water. this natural tunnel of clear water, is just incredible. only us here and we change to bathing suits, ensure no sharks are here. we do see several fish below and we jump in off the ramp to the cold clear water. right away we get out, the fear of the giant squid that must be lurking in the paradise scares us. we go out, go to the ramp, dive in and get out multiple times.
i got new goggles on loan but something is wrong, the vision is unclear, at one point, alla points to something in the water, it is in the shape of a goggle, and i realize i didn't take the speaker of them, which explains the murkiness. we get the speaker out of this pristine waters and take the other one out as well. next dive, something is wrong again, goggles were up side down. the next jump i am finally managing to operate a set go goggles.. most of the fish are gone by now, with our jumps disturbing the water. regretfully we leave paradise, as we hike the cliffs on top, the next couple arrives, they do not fear the giant squid and swim across and we feel foolish.
we enjoy the cacti, the lovely bay views and the occasional bird and make our way back to the dock, where a water taxi awaits.
—sorry took a break for dinner….
it is now morning, and again i am on the little boardwalk, overlooking the ocean. Isabel islands can be glimpsed in the distance, but here on florin its a nice warmish morning.
yesterday with the water taxi we reached the Darwin research station, the water here is shallow and the boat took its time to avoid the perils of the not so deep.
there is no fee, we just walk in to shore, and loads of crabs make way for us, but the Iguana do not give a damn and just lay there. we visit the main hall, where info boards are scattered. we are short on time, but alla must consume every word. i prod her along. we go see the breading areas, but here it is more like a zoo, though it is a re-breading program, so not so bad. the turtles here are big, but smaller then the day before. we don't linger and walk back to town. we pass by more info signs about the local flora and fauna and again i am prodding alla. we reach a place that is a must for alla. a cemetery, it is nice looking, graves are above ground all in marble, nicely decorated. this is a place for alla since every tombstone is like an info board..she must read it all.
we pass by a few stores and Alla gets a hat. we pass by the fish market and now early, fisherman are coming in with their catch of the day. on this wharf, fish are on display for the restaurants to buy. they are gutted and cleaned, but behind and all around are other visitors. Pelicans, seals and gull are swarming all over the place. the seals come to the carving table, and get chunks of fish from the sellers. gulls try to pry left overs from a chewing seals, pelicans just stare and i can see what they are thinking, "just, look there for a second: and they are ready to pounce, we saw one of them catch a big fish and the bulge was visible in its stretchy bag thingy. an mazing experience. we reached the hotel, I took a refreshing shower, checked out. and headed for the supermarket for more supplies.
the group went to the harbor for the biological inspection. here each island is its own protected area. when moving between islands, you are inspected to remove all fruit, seeds and clean our shoes. we do that and watch fred the seal just lay there in a boat.
we go to lunch, garlic fish for me with a shake and some other fish for alla, all very fresh with no pelican bite marks on it.
we board the water taxi to the speed boat and head out to sea. there are two seats on top in front and i go grab them, Alla joins, here on deck it is more bouncy and you can see ahead, for a while we bob up and down. this is calm waters, and I enjoy every bounce, but Alla does not like it and we switch place for below. here it bounces less. i lay on the floor, and take a nice nap, 2-3 hours later we reach floreana.
we, move to the water taxi and go ashore. the crabs are everywhere in their hundreds and six or so seals are resting on the pier, we enjoy filming them and as we head out, i see a large lava iguana, partially red on the rock. it was camouflaging, so beautiful, i stare at it and then the group moves to the side and right there, i didn't even move a step, about 50 of these lizards, just piled one next to the other…
we get our flippers and goggles, take a vehicle called the goat, to our beach front huts and go snorkeling from that same pier we arrived on.
i go in quickly, the water is cold here, and after minute, a shark, a big reef shark 1-1.5 meters long just swims below me, freaking terrifying, but he goes on and so do i. we glimpse lots of fish and several more baby sharks. we could see turtles of the pier, in the same area we now snorkel, but they moved on now. close to the end of our freezing tour, the seals hop off the bay and i see two of them swimming by very fast. it is a frightening experience to snorkel here, since you view is limited and you can't hear much, you look to the side and a shark, or even a fellow snorkeler. if something else was out there you do not see it till you are fish food. i see some sea urchin and more fish before leaving.
we return to the huts, see more turtles bobbing their heads in and out of the water. shower and then dinner. the restaurant owner greets us, this is a really tiny village. we get cream of spinach soup, nice and warm, fried Yuka which was good, rice, fish and i ignored the plate with broccoli. chocolate cake for desert.
we thanked the chef and return to the huts. this is cloudy day on a dark islands. shame the stars would be amazing, next night perhaps.
it's 8-9 pm, no internet, no tv, pitch dark, so we go to sleep early. i wake up before 5 am. and now i am here on the boardwalk. more snorkeling today, breakfast will be served soon, i am quite hungry. by the time you get this entry, i will likely be on Isabela island or even back on Santa cruz, there is a signal here, but too weak to connect.
cheers from the boardwalk.
…
well, no internet here, i am continuing this entry, once again on the chair in front of the lava lodge. this morning after a good breakfast, we walked for 20 minutes along the beach to a little beach that has sea turtles. we snorkeled right in and there they are, huge creatures, moving slowly in the water, moving their front legs only. so serene. for an hour or so we seem with them occasionally seeing small sting rays and other less noticeable fish. very cold and relaxing experience. we returned to the lodge and headed for a black sand beach. Sea lions and iguanas are taking a nap here and we sat 2-3 meters from them taking photos. if you get a bit too close, they object loudly and in a scary manner. we maintain a safe distance (of 2-3 meters away!) , lunch followed, with a very troubling soup - Quinoa and cabbage, the troubling part is that i ate it, and am still alive.
the rest was rice chicken and ignorable salad. but also pineapple juice and a fruit cocktail. rest time came, but i chose to walk again to the same beach, now in high tide. the place we rested was now soaked. took photos of birds, crabs and more sea lions and returned to the lodge. in the afternoon we took the goat truck and headed to the highlands. Dario explained about the history of this island with it's criminal and or crash inhabitants while we gaze at giant tortoises. it was a very short hike with island stories. it drizzled just tiny bit and fog covered the peaks.
on the way down, we were given sugar cane and cut it to enjoy its sugary content. and now we wait for dinner. this active trip has more food than i imagined and not enough hikes to make up for it, i need a serious hiking trip..
cheers for now from the boardwalk where sugarcane pieces can be found everywhere.
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