So now that
I've had a chance to complain about my time on the Galapagos, I have to admit
it wasn't all bad either. I had almost a full week off where I had the
opportunity to explore 2 of the neighboring islands; Isabella and San
Cristobal. These two islands are available to people like me who want to visit
some of the other sights without going on an organized tour...this is because
these two islands have towns were people live full time and a regular commuter
system takes people between them and Santa Cruz. So no, it wasn't the virgin
Galapagos thing, but each island WAS distinctly different, not just in the
animal life, but also in the culture. It didn't take long to realize that I had
been living on the tourist trap island and these other two spots were still
slightly tourist trappy but also had a lot of other stuff going on too...like
animals, lots and lots of animals.
Yes, cool
animals DO live on the Galapagos and they really aren't shy, not even a little.
My first stop on my shoestring Galapagos tour was to Isabella Island. This is
the largest island in the archipelago, and home to the second largest volcanic
crater in the world (the first being in Hawaii) as well as GALAPAGOS PENGUINS!
uh-huh, I said penguins. Obviously this was high on my list of things to see
while there, as well as the Tintoreras sharks, manta rays and green sea
turtles. I was planning on spending about 3 days on the island and hoped that
would be enough time. There are two boats that leave daily from Santa Cruz to
Isabella, one at 7 am and the other at 2:30pm. I stayed in town the night
before and opted to take the 7 am so at to arrive at Isabella around 9 and have
a full day there. I was blessed with absolutely perfect weather the entire week
and to top it off I found a cheap little place to stay that had a kitchen,
hammocks and free bananas for the taking.
Like usual,
I didn't really have a too much of a plan for my time there. I was considering
some of the tours, one in particular that took you specifically by the little
island where the penguins were rumored to live. Maybe I would rent a mountain
bike and ride around to some of the sights on the island, there was a ride that
you could do to go out to the Muro de Lagrimas, a famous wall built during the
period of time where the island housed a penitentiary. The job of the wall was
that it made "weak men die and strong men cry." Looking at the wall
it wasn't hard to understand why that was the case, it was tough sentence to be
sent to the Galapagos to fulfill your prison term...these islands weren't
always a dream vacation destination.
But first
things first, I had to get my bearings in the little town and had to scrounge
up some food. I noticed on the walk over that there were a few little stores
that would have the basics: cereal, yogurt...ramen, kind of like being in
college again. There was a nice beach not too far away where surfers hung out,
and a good portion of it was roped off because it was a nesting beach for
marine iguanas.
Close to
where the boat docked was the short trail head for a popular snorkel area
called Concha y Perla. It is in essence a natural salt water pool that rises
and falls with the tide. I figured that would be a good place to start my
search for animals. I had borrowed a snorkel and mask from GSC so as to save
myself a few bucks in rental fees and headed off toward to the pool. It was
high tide, I wasn't really sure what that meant for wildlife, but I figured I
would try my luck. I wasn't that lucky, but there was one very large, very lazy
adult green turtle munching away on some delectable sea treats, which meant
that I could get within inches of his/her face without it so much a bothering
to look at me. I took advantage of this apparent weakness and got all up in
that turtle's face, swimming around it, coming up for air and diving back down.
I never touched it, I can respect the rules, but it wouldn't have been a
challenge if it wanted to; I honestly doubt it would have even bothered to
move. Eventually though, I got bored with him/her and was getting a little cold
so I bid her farewell and collected my things to do some other sightseeing. I
was stopped by a guy, perched up on the wood fence that surrounded the natural
pool. We got to chatting, his name was Luis, he was from the island and worked
as a dive guide there. He had the next couple days off and wanted to know if,
well, I wanted some company. Sure, why not?
So I
managed to get myself a local guide. I didn't know how handy this was actually
going to be. It turns out my new friend Luis knew other people who could get me
things for free or for very cheap. For the first time on this trip I was going
to pay local prices. This was a welcome change. Plus I did get the added bonus
of having someone to show me around. My tour started right there, we walked
back to my hostel to drop of the gear and then went to the land tortoise
breeding center. This was similar to the Darwin research center on Santa Cruz,
where the famous lonesome George lived, but this one was much better done.
There was a really great information center that showcased the life of the land
tortoise, the reproductive process and had handy life-sized models showing
their growth.
My guide
Luis, asked me if I had any plans for the following days, or if there was
anything in particular I was interested doing. I told him that I was thinking
about doing the tour to Las Tintoreras maybe tomorrow or the next day. If I was
willing to wait until the next day, he might be able to get us on the tour for
free. So I readily agreed...free was definitely in my price range. He had the
next day off and suggested we take bikes and ride out to the wall. He would
show me all the cool things along the way. I wasn't entirely sure what I had
done to earn this guide, but I wasn't about to complain. He wanted to show me
around and I wasn't about to complain.
So that is
exactly what we did. We made plans to meet the next day, rent bikes and ride
around to everything we could get to on bike. I really did have a great guide. He had the
route all planned out, and we saw the Muro de Lagrimas, all the fresh and saltwater
pools along the way – one of which had a couple bright pink flamingos, small
beaches full of marine iguanas, lava tubes, and finished up in town to return
the bikes. It was full great day, he
even accompanied me to dinner, showed me his favorite spot in town. It was the local spot with local prices and a
very predictable local menu, beans, rice and meat. We made plans to meet the
following day to snorkel and go on the tintoreras tour. He had been able to get
in touch with his friend and they did have space for us to go for free.
I had the whole
morning to myself so I decided to park it down on the beach and read. It was
easy for Luis to find me and in the early afternoon he showed up. It was time
to rent me a decent snorkel so I gathered up my stuff and off we went. We spent
a good 2 hours snorkeling around Concha Y Perla, climbing up and over the rock
pools, but mostly we just saw fish. All the sharks and turtles were hiding somewhere
else. We saw them that afternoon when we got on the tour…and the sea lions, and
penguins, and rays. There were so many of these critters around and they wanted
to play! The sea lions wanted to play more than anything. I was so thrilled, I
got to not just see the penguins and sharks but swim with them too.
So I really
am on the Galapagos!
I thanked
Luis for being such a great guide, he really made my time on Isabella that much
better. If it wasn’t for him, I probably would have missed a lot…and paid
considerably more. I had an early morning boat back to Santa Cruz the following
day, but the connecting boat to San Cristobal didn’t leave Santa Cruz until the
afternoon. That meant that I would have practically half a day to bum around,
which clearly meant that I would go to Tortuga Bay, the beautiful white sand crescent
beach on the island. The boat left at 2 and got me to San Cristobal by 4:30. I
found a great little place to stay close to the dock, dropped off my stuff and
took to walking along the pier. The first thing I noticed was the obscene
amount of sea lions. They were everywhere. They had completely taken over the
pier.
I would
only have 2 full days on San Cristobal, and there were a few things that I was
hoping to do. Mostly, I wanted to surf. I had seen pretty much all the critters
I’d wanted to see on Isabella, but I hadn’t had a chance to surf. I didn’t get to do this. It is stupid
expensive and only reef breaks. I am not good enough to mess with reef breaks.
Fortunately there are lots of other things to see and do on the island so it
was easy to fill my days.
There is
actually a really, really great information center on the island. Cristobal is
the historical capital of the islands as well as the base for the military. The
information center talked a lot about the history of the islands, the
challenges that the islands currently face and the hopes for the future. From
the information center was couple of trails to take you to different look-out
points and swim spots. It was easy to spend a whole day there, and that was
exactly what happened. One of the swim spots was a rocky cove and a small group
of sea lions were hanging out there and wanted to join me for a swim. Of course
I had to indulge them. J
The next
day when I was walking along the road to the beach I started talking to a guy the
same way. He was an American who got a job teaching English at the university
on the island. It was his day off and he was heading to the beach. But he knew a different beach, so he invited
me to go with him. He would be meeting some friends there, and hopefully if
there were good waves, he’d be able to surf. So I tagged along. What great
luck, this beach swarming with sunbathing sea lions and in the water…tons of
giant sea turtles. My new American friend
let me borrow his mask and snorkel so I could see all the turtles. I had no
idea how many there were! He told me some great stories about his life on the
island and how the sea lions had taken to playing with him and his board. They are
like giant puppies he told me. I soon got to see what he meant. These were the
most playful yet, not a care in the world as they spent hours sunbathing,
rolling in the surf and swimming. If I ever get to come back and give this
world another shot, I think I’d like to be a sea lion. I stayed on that beach
until the sun set, fully aware that my time on the islands was drawing to a
close. Pretty soon I’d be back on the continent and scooting my way up to
Colombia and then all the way back to Chile. I must just well enjoy my last day
to sit on the beach; it will be a while before I get to this again. It is most certainly
the last day that I will ever be here.
It was a
happy place to be. Things were going to be changing for me pretty rapidly. My time
as a solo backpacker was ending. I was going to be meeting up with my brother
soon and reuniting with old friends. Soon after that I would be heading down to
Chile to work…and then I would be coming home. In whatever form that might
take.
Home…it’s
time to start thinking about what that might be. So with my toes buried in that
tropical Galapagos sand, the sinking low over the horizon, and sea lions
beckoning me for one more round of play, I really started to think about home.