R: We made it to the Galapagos! An early morning taxi ride got us to the aeropuerto with mucho tiempo to spare. A rep from the travel agency met us as expected - yay, our expensive tickets weren’t a scam - and we were able to nap on our flight to Baltra (with a stop in Guayaquil in southern Ecuador) despite the woman in front of me who kept her seat reclined into my lap the whole time. Our naturalist guide, Juan, met us at the small open-air Baltra airport where we walked through a wet mat to rinse off our shoes before entering the island. We then met the others in our party, a family from LA with three college-aged children (2 boys and a girl), one couple about our age, one mother-daughter couple with a daughter also about our age, and two couples from Italy. (We were surprised that there are actually more people under 50 than over in our group.) We boarded a bus for the harbor, and were ferried out to our boat, the Cachalote, luggage coming separately. But not before we already spotted some iguanas, pelicans, and herons on shore.
The Cachalote
J: After a delicious lunch of red snapper (possibly caught fresh that day), we were assigned our cabins. Rebecca and I are sharing a spacious room with 2 bunks and small bath. Unfortunately, it’s below deck and was exceptionally hot when we arrived, so even if we had room to move, I don’t think we’d want to spend any time in there. But, there is ample deck and salon space for the passengers to gather in.
J (cont’d.): We left the boat at 2:30 for our first island adventure to South Plaza. Once there, every passenger on the boat became a professional photographer - at least in our own minds. Within 5 minutes of landing, I had taken approximately 30 pictures of sea lions, sally lightfoot crabs and iguanas. (Over the 2.5 hours on the island, I racked up an impressive 84 snapshots. Rebecca surpassed me with 100).
The Cachalote family ready with their cameras to take pictures of flying birds.
R: Yes--30 of my pictures alone included at least one iguana! Jen discovered that taking photos of moving birds was highly challenging, though we did manage to see flying frigate birds, red-billed tropic birds, yellow warblers, finches, and blue-footed boobies, though you really couldn’t see their blue feet while they were in the air. The island itself is not inhabited by people. It’s a pretty small island and you have to keep to the paths so as not to trample vegetation, but fortunately all types of wildlife--including the sea lions-were directly on parts of the trails. I think Darwin had a good-time getting reacquainted with the Galapagos today.
Darwin on South Plaza. (Actually, the real live Darwin never landed on this island.
But I figured it wasn't too late for him to see it.)
One of Rebecca's 30 iguana pictures.
Yellow warbler
Sea lion napping inland
J: Once we got back to the boat, things got a little rough. And some folks turned a little green. Several passengers, Rebecca included, lost their lunches. Luckily, the passage from South Plaza to Santa Cruz did not affect me. But I did have some trouble walking a straight line at times (for once without alcohol to blame). Dinner consisted of chicken, asparagus and rice. After a brief discussion of the day’s activities and tomorrow’s itinerary with Juan, we were all off to bed. The equatorial sun really does take it all out of you!
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