Day 3: June 22, 2007 Quito to Puerto Ayora

  Puerto Ayora, Ecuador
Friday, June 22, 2007

Day 3: June 22, 2007 Quito to Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz, Galápagos

I didn't set the alarm correctly, but fortunately woke up at 5:30 and took a quick shower. We were ready to go and in the dining room for a great breakfast at 6:00. Javier, from Columbus Travel, was there at 6:30 and took us to the airport under overcast skies. The flight to Guayaquil took off a little after 8:30. I got a good view of the steep, unforested but agricultural countryside. We were in and out of the clouds to Guayaquil, where we had to disembark for an hour while the plane was cleaned. Then, it was on to Baltra.

We were above a thick cloud bank most of the way. I had a patchy view of San Cristobal Island as we approached Baltra. Baltra appears to be formed from a large, horizontal lava flow that flowed down from the summit of Santa Cruz. It is flat, low, and semi-arid.

Baltra (L) and Santa Cruz (R)

We took a bus ($2) to the ferry ($1) across the Canal Itabaca between Baltra and Santa Cruz. Another bus picked us up on the Santa Cruz side of the channel and took us across the central highlands to Puerto Ayora, the main town, located on the island's south coast. Most of the island is covered with a dense thicket with lots of cactus and acacia. It reminded me of the Chaco of Argentina and Paraguay. When we arrived at the port we took a taxi to the Red Booby Hotel and contracted with our cabbie to take us to a local highlight an hour later.

Red Booby Hotel

The hotel was nice but cost $93/single. Our cab showed up on time and took us to the trailhead for Tortuga Bay. The trail is a beautifully constructed, paved, elevated path through the dense, and otherwise, impassable thicket. Lizards and birds zipped around for the whole 2.5 km walk to the sea at Playa Brava.

Playa Brava

Playa Brava has rough surf so there were a few surfers. We walked down the long, white sand beach to its west end. Many crabs skittered across the beach and ducked into their holes. At the far end, we saw our first marine iguana.

Marine iguana

The trail took us through a basalt flow that was literally littered with iguanas in places. We saw groups of about 20 of them basking on the white sand. They were not bothered by our presence.

Birds were all over the place too. The highlights were the Blue-footed Boobies on the lagoon side. I got within 4 m of several of them.

Blue-footed Booby

We walked back to the trailhead arriving just as our cab returned. The driver is named Rafael. The hike took just over two hours. I was surprised by the number of locals who use the trail for jogging.

Barbara bought a bottle of wine and we sipped it next to the rooftop pool. The sun set quickly and it was dark. At 7:00 another Javier brought us our San Cristobal ferry tickets and I paid him $60 for the two of them.

We walked a couple of blocks to a nice outdoor restaurant called the Garapata and had a good seafood dinner. When we returned to the hotel and watched the video I shot at the beach on TV. It came out well! Then I went to ask directions to an internet café. As a hotel worker was explained it to me on the street, Rafael, drove up with another fare and took me to a place several blocks away. I spent an hour there and then walked back to the hotel. I took a much-needed shower and then went to bed at about midnight, falling asleep instantly. I woke up at 2:00 and tried to sleep without the air conditioner but there was a lot of noise from the street so I turned it back on quickly fell asleep to its white noise.