Galapagos Launch

The evening before last I arrived in Quito to connect with my tour of the Galapagos Islands. Andy and I had searched the net for days and settled on a 10-day GAP tour that was land-based. Many tours are ship-based, meaning that one lives on board a ship during the time they spend on the islands. We wanted to get to know the islands more intimately (by sleeping on them). I was also anxious about being in a constant state of seasickness (before discovering the power of Bonine) and thought that a land-based tour would be more settling.

First impressions: I had this idea that the Galapagos Islands were (and always had been a pristine) national park. Hardly. They were the outposts of pirates and whalers in the 1500s who ruthlessly destroyed tortoises and such. When Darwin came to study adaptation (which led to his theory of Natural Selection) in mid-1800s, there were already settlements in place on several of the islands.

Arrival: We flew into Baltras which houses the primary airport on the island of Santa Cruz. That airport was absolutely filled with tourists who were either leaving after their week or so long stays or who were arriving. Tour guides thrust signs into the air to gather their groups. Tim, an athletic guy with sandy blonde hair from New Zealand met our group. After claiming our bags we were whisked into a bus for a quick ride over to a motor boat. We then took a nearly 3 hour ride bouncing through rough seas to get to San Cristobal Island. Despite having drugged myself up with Bonine, I suffered. I sat quietly closing my eyes, hoping that ride would end...

San Cristobal is home to many Spanish speaking Ecuadorians, many who were born on the island. There are ranches and farms as well as low-keyed tourist offerings like day-trips, a number of small hotels, and a bunch of cozy restaurants. The first afternoon we went bike riding
through groves of coffee, papayas, etc. Today we took the boat out and snorkled in two amazing coves. I could not believe my eyes! I frolicked amongst baby sea lions, swam amidst countless schools of fish, and got upclose and personal with sea tortoises and sharks. Later we visited a culture and nature interpretive center and then went over crunchy lava fields (all of the islands are volcanic).

Tomorrow we´re off to Floreana, a small island that sports a rich social history including a 19th c. woman who came here with her three lovers with the intention of growing rich through opening a successful hotel. Instead the lovers fought each other other jealousies, with several ultimately losing their lives.

We have a super-early morning wake-up call, so I´ll write more the next time I can get online.