Day 25. Monday, 23rd September, 2024. From Quito to the Galápagos Islands. By plane, without Poki. 

I couldn’t get to sleep last night. It’s always the same when we have to get up very early. I always worry the alarms won’t go off. However, we were successfully up at 04.00. Struggling to get dressed in the restrictive space within Poki, without the tent. We had a quick breakfast of granola, moved Poki to a different location, where 3 other overland vehicles are parked. Their owners having gone off to the Galapagos too.

Andy had his ute ready and waiting at 05.00 and off we set for Quito Airport. Apparently the last couple Andy took to the airport missed their flight. There is a special desk for Galapagos travellers, where you have to pay a $20 departure tax and are issued with an entry document. The queue was so long, this couple missed their flight. We didn’t want the same thing to happen to us, so we made sure we left in good time. 

As it was, the queue was tiny. About 5 people ahead of us and 3 desks processing documentation. We had checked in online and were quickly through to the departure area. Having time for a leisurely coffee/hot chocolate.

Flying over the crater overlooking Quito

The Avianca flight, an Airbus A320, was completely full. It was about 35 minutes to Guayaquil where we stopped for an hour. At first the view was spectacular. Leaving the mountainous city and flying past a chain of volcanoes, including Cotopaxi, along the spine of the Andes. It became cloudy as we approached Guayaquil, but as we came into land it looked very different to Quito. Water everywhere.

Landing at Seymour Airport on Baltra island, my first impression was what a barren, unwelcoming looking place. It was overcast and windy. There was quite a long walk from the plane to the terminal. A LATAM plane was also deplaning passengers, so the terminal was busy. On the walk to the entrance was a large, battered, ugly looking iguana with half a tail. Everyone was stopping to photograph it.

Once in the terminal the queues moved quickly and we were soon as a desk and relieved of $400 entry fee. The government recently increased the amount from $100 to $200 per person to try and control the number of tourists to the islands. The population is 30,000 and the number of visitors 300,000. There are worries regarding maintaining the pristine environment and the flora and fauna. 

Once through the terminal our guide for the day, Edgar, met us and introduced us to 2 other group members, Duncan and Mariana from Colorado, although Mariana is Mexican. More people will, apparently, join us on the cruise tomorrow. We, along with a bus full of other passengers, were taken to a ferry on the other side of Baltra Island.

The ferry was to take us to Santa Cruz island. At one point we had to stop for a slow moving iguana.  For the short ferry ride , we all had to don life jackets.

Santa Cruz is the second largest of the 13 Galápagos Islands. There are 52 other rocks and islets.

The main town on Santa Cruz is Puerto Ayora. It’s the largest town in the islands and it is where we are now located, at the Galapagos Native Hotel. Once we disembarked from the ferry, we were put in a ute taxi to travel across the island to Puerto Ayora. En route I saw 4 large tortoise. 

It is the dry, cooler season here at the moment. This is why some places look so barren as the deciduous trees have all lost their leaves. The scenery rapidly changes dramatically, though. As we ventured inland on Santa Cruz, it became much more lush and green with scenery more similar to rain forest. Although it’s the dry season, there is a damp mist in the air.

No time to check in, lunch at the hotel was next. As our breakfast was a very long time ago, we were starving. Three courses, soup, a rice dish with prawns and pulled pork, in Dennis’s case, fish, and a raspberry/Chocolate desert went down well.

The afternoon excursion was a walk to a beach. Edgar advised us to put on our swimming things underneath, so we could swim at the beach. I wasn’t feeling very enthused. However, it turned out to be a great experience. Apart from the exercise, about 5 or 6 miles, doing us good, it was fascinating. Edgar, our guide, was very informative. Once through the town streets, we entered a National Park with a walkway to Tortuga Beach. It is a solid stone path built  across the jagged, black lava rocks. 

Edgar identified the different cacti species, 3 of which are endemic to the Galapagos. The largest giant cacti, looking more like a tree. Until the age of 40 it has a very spiky trunk, to deter predators wanting to reach the water inside. It then becomes very solid and hard and impenetrable, like a wooden tree trunk.

Along the pathway we met many lava lizards darting out of our way. We saw and heard mockingbirds in the trees. Once we reached the beach, it was a complete contract to the dark lava rocks. A very fine white sand formed by broken down fish bones and shells. Easier to walk on with bare feet. The bay itself is unfit for swimming, having dangerous currents. We walked, probably a mile, around this bay to a small secluded neighbouring bay.

On the way we came across many black marine iguanas huddled together in clumps. When we arrived at the next, small gentle bay, we were met by two dozing sea lions. The wildlife seems unconcerned by human presence and takes no notice.6

There were several people sitting on the beach. A few venturing into the water, mainly wading rather than swimming. The water was cold. Dennis and I ventured in to about knee level. It was more interesting to observe the birdlife. Small Galapagos finches. The male black and the female rather dull and mottled. Black lava gulls, brown pelicans and herons.

National Parks close at 5, so we began the long walk back. Along the shoreline there are small, darting birds that run at a rapid rate of knots. One being a ruddy turnstone. The names of the other 2 species escape me.

Back at the hotel we had a well deserved rest, before dinner and an early night. We have to be ready to go at eight tomorrow morning.

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