The Beginning of Darwinville.
Trip Start
Sep 15, 2008
1
20
122
Trip End
Jan 01, 2009
Galapagos Islands,
Ecuador
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Day 1
After arriving in town and grabbing some lunch with Phil and Tatiana we headed to the beach (Tortuga Bay). The walk was about 20 mins, but the result was worth it. Half a mile of powdery white sand and turquoisey blue ocean. The beach was littered with iguanas, pelicans, and surfers. We were graced with the most beautiful sunset of our trip before heading back to town to meet up with Phil for some dinner at their family restaurant, Angermeyer Point
Heading to Bartolome Beach
. The food was amazing, and a great finish to our second wedding anniversary. The restaurant is located on a point only accesible by boat. Ironically enough we shared a boart taxi back to town with a couple who were celebrating their 2 year wedding anniversary....what are the chances? Before leaving Canada Charis' Aunty Jen and Uncle Ron gave a wonderful gift with instructions to buy ourselves a nice dinner while on the road. So we were able to splurge and had a Lobster Salad Roll, Lobster Salad and a Fish stuffed with lobster, crab and prawns. It was delcious. Thanks Aunty Jen and Uncle Ron!!Day 2
Excited to see what was out there, we woke up early and headed to the Darwin Research Center where we could see massive tortoises and a selection of land iguanas. The tortoises where huge, old, and made crazy sounds when breathing. After the research station we booked a few day tours (opting out of the longer tours) rented a surf board and headed for the beach. Arik surfed with the marine iguanas while Charis lay on the beach and read her book. This it truly the best part of the Galapagos. In the morning you have to decide if you want to surf with sealions or snorkle with sharks. It's a tough life but someone has to live it!
Cool rock outside the pirate cave
That night we stopped by Angermeyer Point again for the opportunity to meet Tatiana´s father (whose family has lived on the Galapagos for generations) and her younger brother and sister. Again, the food was amazing and we reccomend the restaurant for anyone visiting Santa Cruz. We stopped by a few other night spots before heading home.Day 3
Thursday we tried our first round of ceviche (raw fish marinated in lime juice) which was delicious. After lunch we went for a kayak west past Finch Bay to do some snorkling in Shark Bay.
Our guide for the day, Phillip, had some trouble with the snorkles, and the visibility wasn't great. Even still we saw tons of fish and a turtle. Half way through the snorkle we ventured into Shark Bay. This is where many of the white tipped sharks sleep during the day and are almost always visible...however we were at low tide which meant two things. Number one, visibility was horrible! Number two, there wasn't a whole lot of water in Shark Bay to hold both us and the many sleeping sharks. Most people fear seeing a shark while swimming, we felt NOT seeing the sharks was much worse! We couldn't see anything so bumping into rocks felt like life or death...
After our adventure kayaking we took an easy night with a movie and the most expensive street meat in Ecuador (in fact everything in the Galapagos is about double the price on the mainland).
Day 4
Today we woke up at 5:00am to catch a boat to Bartolome Island
Sea Lion Relaxing on Floreana
. This is the money shot from Master and Commmander where the captain climbs up over the mountain to see the beaches below. Once on Bartolome we hiked up the side of the Volcano for an amazing view of the beach and other islands below. Back on the beach we did some more snorkling with turtles and fishies. Even with SPF 45 Arik got another sun burn - why oh why???Back in Puerto Ayora we headed to Angermeyer Point for Sushi night which was delicious! After dinner we meant to go out and join up with Phil and Tatiana for a friends going away party...but passed out at 8pm - getting old.
Day 5
In the morning we caught a small 400hp powerboat to Floreana Island. The bumpy ride resulted in a few green faces and full barf bags. Once on this island, which has less than 150 inhabitants, we stopped by a tortoirse refuge and then hiked up to the towns freshwater source and some historic pirate caves, thats right genuine pirate caves!!
Side Note: being a volcanic chain the Galapagos Islands lanscape does very poorly to trap and hold rain water (fresh water). Therefore the main populated areas have brakish tap water (a fresh and salt water mix from sticking a hose into a crack in the land)
Lava Rock Dinner
. Therefore fresh water would have been a big deal for visiting pirates.After the caves we stopped by 3 seperate snorkling sites. The first spot had lots of fish and a very playful sealion who circled us over and over. On the way out we spoted a masked Boobie, a lonely penguin, and some dolphins.
Second snorkle spot was called Devils Crown and had some crazy currents. Here we saw fish, sea rays, and dozens of sea turtles.
Third stop was a small island where we had our first shark sighting (not to be confused with swiming in murky shark infested bays). It was a 5ft white tipped shark. There were even more playful sealions. Seeing them laying on a dock is pretty neat, but having them swim right up to you and glide around is truly spectacular.
Back in town we had a lava rock dinner. We were brought meat (tuna and steak), sides, and a hot lava rock to cook our meat to our liking. Cool!!!!
Tomorrow we are either heading to Isabella or San Cristobal Island?!? Not sure, but we've heard lots of good things about Isabella.
Comments
Thats right genuine pirate caves!!
Hey guys, it sure seems like you are having a great trip! I am really enjoying reading about your adventure and it sounds like a great experience. To see more and more of God's beauty everyday must be breathtaking, be sure you stop and just take it in and gives thanks in those moments.
God bless you both.
:P
Re: Thats right genuine pirate caves!!
Thanks Pat - it really is something special. The scenery is nice, but the true blessing is meeting so many people from around the world. What is Draester gonna be for Halloween?