Ecuadorean Adventure--Galapagos

Ready to snorkel in the Galapogos.

For two weeks in frigid February, we escaped a major snowstorm to visit friends who have an apartment in Quito, Ecuador. This is my first time in South America. The city is surrounded by mountains and it is so highly elevated I feel out of breath after only a few minutes of walking. The first day we took a tour of the old town with its colonial-style churches and then drove out to the Equator monument where you can stand in the exact center of the Earth. The location was originally designated by French scientists in the 18th century but advanced technology has determined the exact location about 20 meters away. There are gimmicky attractions like standing with one foot in the Eastern hemisphere and another in the Western. 

The highlight of the trip has been a four-day travel package to the Galapagos Islands which I found on line. The $700 package included transfers from the airport (which involved a bus, a ferry boat and a long cab ride), meals, and four excursions. I was excited about going by myself but a little nervous. I managed to find a direct flight from Quito to Baltra, the one airport on the island chain, but there were several hoops to be jumped through at the Quito airport. First you have to buy a travel permit to visit the islands ($20, Ecuadorean currency is the same as US), which you must download to your phone. Then you have to have to bags inspected to make you're not carried anything that will disturb the ecosystem, fill out a declaration form and that has to be downloaded to your phone too. Once in Galapagos airport, who have show both docs as well as your passport and a $200 visitor's fee in cash. 

While waiting in the Quito airport for my LATAM flight to Baltra, I sat very close to two old white American guys. They began chatting about living as expats. One guy mentioned he had dinner with some Germans the previous night. "They really hate Trump. With him, you either hate him or you love him," he commented and then went on to say he loved Trump. The other agreed, affirming, "He tells it like it is." I wisely kept my big trap shut and did not ask if Trump was so wonderful, why were these two looking to live abroad? When their conversation turned to travel in general, I related about the great package deal I found on the Internet. I would have liked to said that like those Germans I despised Trump, but realized it would not be productive or change anyone's minds.

A sea lion relaxing at a bar lounge
in Porto Arroyo.

I was met at the Baltra airport by a guide who got to the hotel on the Island of Santa Cruz (very basic), the meeting point for tomorrow morning' first group trip and then the restaurant where the free meals would be provided (about a ten-minute walk from the hotel). Lunch was served and the guide left me. Of course I got lost and it started to rain heavily and I had no umbrella. What a mistake this was, I said to myself. But eventually I found my way to the hotel, and explored the little waterfront town of Porto Arroyo. Sea lions and iguanas walked freely on Charles Darwin Avenue. I had thought the Galapagos would be nothing by wildlife preserves but the town was your typical tourist place with restaurants, souvenir shops and travel agencies. Cute. I loved the smell of the ocean. A sea lion was relaxing on a couch at one bar with a lounge open to the street as if he were about to order a drink.

Tortuga Bay Beach

The next morning we met at the Tortoise Monument on Charles Darwin Ave. for a trek to Tortuga Bay Beach which was gorgeous. But we had to walk 3 kilometers to get to it. Lead by naturalist and tour guide Paola, we hiked from the center of city to a nature center and then a mile-long trail through a forest of cactus with iguanas and lizards scurrying past us. The beach was vast and sparsely populated since you weren't allowed in past your knees. The tide was considered too dangerous and only the surfers braved it. 

There was a lovely, smaller side beach where we could swim. I made friends with a mother and son traveling together who rode with me from the airport. We had a choice of walking back to town or taking the speed boat. On that speed boat was one of the Trump-supporting old white guys from the airport. He was very chatty and when I told him I was from NY, he asked what I thought of or my new mayor. "It's only been two months. I'll give him a chance," I replied. He said Fox News doesn't like Mamdami. Once again I wisely refrained from voicing my true feelings and did not say "F**k Fox News and the horse you rode in on." Instead, I said "No comment on Fox News."

That afternoon we took a bus tour to twin craters, a lava tunnel and a tortoise farm. The lava tunnel was deep underground and reminded me of the movie Journey to the Center of the Earth and episodes of Doctor Who. I half-expected Daleks to emerge and threaten to exterminate us. At one point the cavernous ceiling dropped and I had to crawl through the passageway. The tortoises were old and huge, roaming freely on the grounds of the farm. They had a cute tourist attraction where you could crawl into the tortoise shell and take pictures. I wasn't going to do it, but a Swedish tourist I had befriended forced me to since he had done it.

The following day was the highlight of the trip--snorkeling in the ocean and in a deep ravine or canyon. I'm so glad I had bought a wetshirt at a NYC scuba shop. The boat was much smaller than I had expected. The passengers included a group of Italians with two young women who had professional looking underwater cameras. We disembarked first onto a landing area where you could view an area where there were supposed to be sharks. But we only saw one small one. Then we hiked to see some more cactae and iguana (two of whom where fighting). Back on the boat and into the water. Beautifully colored fish and two sea lions swimming very close to us. I managed to keep up, but my moustache did not allow for a perfect seal for my mask so water would slowly leak in. That always happens and they didn't have any vaseline on board. The second location involved docking and walking to the canyon. You had to jump off some rocks or a dock into the water. It was pretty frigid. The water was so deep, the sunlight made beautiful streaks. By the time we got back to town, I was exhausted and just collapsed into the pool at the hotel.

I took a nap and didn't think I could drag myself to the afternoon event--a walk through the Charles Darwin Conservancy to see the tortoises being raised. The big attraction was the taxidermied Lonesome Charley, the last survivor of a particular species of tortoise. The conservancy takes tortoise eggs from other islands, raises the babies, shows them how to climb and fend for themselves and then releases back where they were found. If they were left in the wild, their chances of survival would be lower and the species would be in danger.

The next morning I flew back to Quito and continued my trip with my husband Jerry and our friends who have an apartment there. (More in a later blog).