So Freddy's tour "muy economico" definately started off in an interesting manner. The boat we took over to Isabella, was a tin can with a roof with about 20 people squashed onto it. The two hour ride was bumpy to say the least. Four of the passengers puked during our little journey. I guess you get what you pay for...
We got to Isabella shortly before dusk. We took our stuff over to our hotel, which was actually a newly built home and then, as a group went to check out flamingos at a nearby pond. That was all that was scheduled for today. That evening we hung out by the beach and had a few drinks with a few local farmers. The conversation was very interesting, centering mostly around the local politics.
Isabella is amazing. It is the biggest of the Galapagos islands and it was a lot more like i pictured Galapagos. No asphalt roads, not much in terms of infrastructure, and people mostly self sufficient. It was a virgin paradise in contrast with the build up of Puerto Ayora. Outside of our group of about 15 people, I did not see any other visitors on the island. The next morning we got up early and packed into a couple of trucks. We rode for about an hour, mostly climbing. The temperature dropped by a few degrees by the time we reached our destination, a horse stable. The rest of the journey to the volcano would take place on horseback. The trip to the volcano was very surreal. Areas around the volcano looked more like scenery on Mars, then anything you would expect to see on earth. The lava from past explosions flowed over water and land and formed a land full of craters and hills. It was a sight to see.
The afternoon was spent snorkeling with crazy fish and seals. We also got to see some really unusual animals and more volcanic landscape. After another evening of relaxing on the beach, we were off on another exciting boat ride back to Isla Santa Cruz. Isabella was the definitive highlight of my time in the Galapagos. More thumbnails ...
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