Paradise found

  Santa Cruz, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador Friday, December 4, 2015

Our flight landed after 2 hours at the very reasonable time of 3pm. We were like a pair of wide eyed kids arriving at Disney land. We wanted to miss nothing and take it all in. Most people are aware of the Galapagos and what makes it special, but if you need a reminder, here is some info we have taken from the internet The Galápagos Islands, an isolated archipelago of roughly 125 volcanic islands and islets spreading over 224km (140mi) from north to south, straddles the equator about 1,000 km (620mi) off the West coast of Ecuador.  The islands are home to a very unique set of wildlife.  In fact 70% of the plants and animals in Galápagos are found nowhere else in the world.Remote and isolated, the islands are actually the tips of underwater volcanoes, and were never connected to a continent. All the astonishing varieties of creatures and plants, that call the Galápagos "home," either flew, swam, or were blown there at some point in time.  Because the archipelago has remained so relatively untouched, the majority of the species that exist there now developed in isolation over several million years and most of the life forms seen today have survived for thousands of years. On some of the more remote islands, while walking among the iguanas and giant tortoises, you can almost feel as though you have stepped back in time or into a different age.The archipelago supports more than 5,000 species of flora and fauna, and the islands retain nearly ninety-five (95) percent of their initial biodiversity. Hundreds of the species found in the Galapagos are endemic, meaning they are found nowhere else on earth. Moreover, there is a remarkable distinction in some species from one island to the next.  This is one of the things that makes the Galápagos such a special place.  It is like a continually evolving science lab. We were met at the airport by Sabah (a tour operator) as the office in Quito had targeted him with selling us an extra 4 days on the cruise – some hope at another $900 each - that's £600! Still we let him guide us to a bus which took us to a small ferry boat across the water to the main island of Santa Cruz. The airport actually has an island of it's own. Sabah treated us to a taxi ride to the town of Puerto Ayora which is at the southern tip and as far from the airport as it is possible to get.So as the road stretched out for 26km before us, there was nothing. Just a long straight road and little on it. Sometimes not even a road, the tarmac disappeared and we were on a dirt road. Unfortunately the weather had closed in around the island and it was cloud covered and wet. Many days on the island we had weather like this, the rain could come from nowhere. However many days were gloriously sunny too but we were soon to learn that the weather could change completely in an instant and never ever go out without your brolly! Our room is in a bungalow owned by Jonathan & Jenny, a young couple with a 2 year old and they were just starting out with the guest house. They lived elsewhere but spent every morning together in the guesthouse so we got to see quite a bit of them. Neither spoke much English so it was great to sit and chat with them in the mornings to help improve our Spanish. Jonathan would eventually get google out though as these conversations could take a long time otherwise. Bryan booked a few dives whilst we were here. We had a week to kill before our cruise began and as Galapagos is supposed to have some of the top dive sites in the world, it was too good an opportunity for him to miss. He has written about his diving separately.As the week went on and we saw other people come and go at the bungalow, we began to realise how lucky we had been to get the cruise we had booked our last day in Quito. Many others were here and also looking for a cruise around the islands. The internet is awash with stories about waiting until the last minute to get a good deal. Many of these cruises cost thousands of dollars per person when booking in advance. $8,000 is not uncommon. Each. Most of the year this rule may be true but we knew December was peak season and we hadn’t wanted to risk not getting a cruise at all by leaving it until the very last minute. Unfortunately that is what happened to everyone else we spoke to at the bungalow. One couple tried every agent there was in the town and still could not find a cruise. They had to resort to some island hopping remembering there are only 3 islands you can actually stay on and we were already on one of them. It was a risky strategy that didn’t pay off.One afternoon we took a small taxi boat across the bay to where there is a beach. We tried a spot of snorkelling but there wasn’t much to see in the water. Besides it was packed and too many kids there. However, a short walk away from the beach, through a very strange landscape, is a gorge formed by lava. Here it is possible to swim but this is obviously where the local teenagers hang out too as most of them were here jumping off the rocks into the cool water. Don’t blame them though as the days are scorching. Every day we went into town we had to pass where the fish come in. The men and ladies there have tables to gut and clean the fish and it gets weighed and sold here too, to the restaurants nearby. Every day there were sea lions, pelicans and iguanas hanging around for scraps. You never saw them get any though as there is a very well adhered to policy of not feeding any wildlife. Makes you wonder why they still hung around when they knew they wouldn’t get anything. It was always good fun to watch them though. As well as the no feeding rule, there is the no touching rule and you must stay a minimum of 2 meters (6 feet) away from all the animals. Putting your scent on any animal could result in it being rejected by it’s parents or it’s kind.One surprising thing about Santa Cruz is just how expensive everything is here. We know from staying on remote islands previously that anywhere where everything has to be transported to the island, makes everything that little bit more expensive. However here seemed a bit over the top. Here are some examples...shower gel $10 (£6.60) small beer $4.50 (£3) pizza - small vegetarian $14 (£9.20) large pizza $25 (£17). The biggest rip off came to light when Jody tried to buy a new diary ready for 2016. She was able to find some eventually but when she looked at the calendars in them, most ran from 2012 - 2014. When they are selling them for $25 (£17) each you at least want one with the calendar in for the year you will be using it. When Jody showed the man in the shop and told him it was old, he just said Yep - $25 please. Shocking! The wildlife really is the main attraction here though. It is everywhere you look. The sea lions and iguanas by the beach or the boat jetty, the birds that don't fly away when you walk past them, the small lizards that just continue to do their thing and completely ignore you. And the Boobies. Blue Footed Boobies to be precise - not the kind you might see at the beach.They are synonymous with Galapagos and a real icon for the islands. Not found anywhere else to our knowledge we were really keen to see some. We had been watching the pelicans diviing into the water from the harbour side and also watched a group of other birds flying around about 10 at a time, and all diving together. They were so fast our cameras had difficulty catching them in the dive - most photos wer ejust of a little group of splashes they left behind. Well we were delighted when someone told us they were the Boobies and we spent quite a few hours just watching all the antics of all the animals and birds down by the water. Well the first week went by really quickly and we have loved it here. But now it was time for part 2 – the bit we were REALLY looking forward to – the cruise. Bring it on…! [gallery columns="4" ids="12807,12813,12823,12832,12843,12846,12854,12868,12879,12886,12897,12911,12924,12936,12944,12957,12965,12975,12984,12991,13004,13013,13023,13035,13045,13057,13065,13076,13084,13088,13095,13104,13112,13122,13127,13133,13136,13146,13151,13153"]