July 9th - la Garrapata - Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz, Galapagos - Parilla Paradise after Gordon's Rock

Crazy Big Manta Ray with Fish Riders

It's our last night in the Galapagos.  We had a glorious last day of diving.  Yes we dived the last day.  I was not sure I was upto it but D was set on doing Gordon's Rock.  Yesterday, evening we were strolling on Darwin and there was a big sign outside one of the dive shops offering a special on Gordon's Rock.  D asked a few questions and we were pretty doubtful because they weren't absolutely certain they would do 1 or 2 dives there or at Seymour.  He said that he would only go if they would absolutely do 2 at Gordon's as did another rather crabby gentleman in the shop at the same time.  Actually, it worked out because we did not have to fuss at all, he did all the complaining because he had already paid. 

They had enticed D with the photos of their Gordon's dive that day with schools of Hammerhead Sharks.  One thing that I am a sucker for is missing out on excitement.  The agent promised to have extra dramamine for me on the boat.  So I signed up.

In the end, we did see quite a few Hammerhead Sharks but no schools that day.  I did say glorious because we did see some amazing things but 1 thing in particular.  As we were rounding a corner, a gigantic Manta Ray with a 6 m wing span was turning the other way.  He caught us all off guard.  I wasn't even sure what I was seeing.  I thought it was a whale at first.  It was enormous.  There were four seasoned divers with us including D.  Everyone on that dive, except me, had nearly a hundred dives.  They were all awestruck.  I was petrified.  I filmed him for a bit but when it looked like he was turning back, I swam away.  He was just changing direction.  The one crabby man, followed him for a while.  As it turns out he was a marine biologist.  Had I known that, I would have followed as well.
 

That all said and done, I would NOT RECOMMEND Shark Friends Diveshop.  I really would strongly advise against it.  They have Padi Certified Dive Masters but they are not a Padi shop.  There is a key difference.  They are not held accountable to any standards.  Myself and another diver had stale air.  It tasted like a musty closet.  I had remembered in my lessons that that was not a safe thing and you should NOT dive with stale air.  But since I had not dived that much, I did not know what 'bad' tasted like.  I looked around and all the other experienced divers did not seem fussed.  I knew we had a limited amount of tanks so I did not say anything.  I had a headache after the first dive which subsided over lunch but then it came back with a vengeance on the second dive.  I was not the only one.  D said that happens when people refill tanks without bleeding out the remaining air.  As well, they had a disovery diver on the boat with us that was obviously not instructed properly and did not even know that he should have cleared his ears the whole time.  Poor kid asked me at lunch "J, if I can't clear my ears but I can still breathe, is it safe?"  I said NO!  You need to keep trying until you clear your ears.  Rise a bit and keep trying.  You can severly injure your ears if you do not.  That Discovery Diver should not have been at Gordon's Rock.  I wrote Padi but they said as they were not a Padi Certified shop they could not sanction them, that is, unless the shop had advertised themselves as a Padi shop or if the Discovery course was advertised as a Padi course.  Anyway, be cautious, read reviews, check with Padi.com and do not dive with shops like "Shark Friends" that are not held to any standards or quality levels!

We were exhausted and famished after that day.  D was down way too long on the second dive.  He was just so thrilled ot be at Gordon's Rock he pushed too far considering we had a flight the next day.  Even the Primary Divemaster was muttering under his breath that D and the other Master should have not stayed so long.  The watches are conservative but we were down to the last minute on safety for flying after a dive. 

We went down the road to Garrapata for dinner.  We noticed it had seen a decent crowd every night and during days.  That could be on account of the listing in every guide book and the free working Wifi.  It is an open patio Grill Restaurant next to a Disco and a Church.  Yes, I am serious.  There was a loud raucous bar next to a small church advertising temperance. Awesome.  We sat in view of the grill so we had what the Galapagos should be best at, grilled seafood.

Mixed Seafood Grill Special

D had the Mixed Seafood Special on a mini chafing dish with coals inside.  I had the Ecuadorian Grilled Tuna.  It is absolutely confirmed in my mind that Ecuadorians simply like to thoroughly cook their fish.  The tuna was very over done.  If it were not for the sauce, it would have been very dry.  The same for D's grilled mix.  Still, it was a lovely evening, we had a bit of wine called Sunshine and the service was friendly and attentive.  I might have thought after a while not to over cook our fish but each evening we seemed to tired to be that aware as well did not want to be rude in another country.  Particularly when the dish is called Ecuadorian style fish, who am I to say how it should be cooked? Well, I think I would have enjoyed it more a bit pink in the middle.  2c.

Ecuadorian Style Tuna with Plaintains

Cost: $$ (relative to area)
Service: warm and attentive
Ambience: Open Air
Wine: Decent glass and half bottle selection
Free working Wifi

La Garrapata

Av. Charles Darwin, Puerto Ayora
Santa Cruz, Galapagos
Phone: 05/252-6264

July 8th - Galapagos Diving - Seymour - the Rock for Coconut Lobster Linguini

Hammerhead Shark too close for comfort

I could not get out of diving today.  I would have had to cancel with enough time for them to try to resell that day but even that is against their policy.  She could see by the greeness of my palour that it was in both our best interest she try for the third day.

One interesting note is that if you are on a Tour Boat, you cannot Dive.  It is illegal. You cannot snorkel the dive sites either.  It is too dangerous.  On the flip side, if you are on a Dive Boat, you cannot go ashore.  The guides are not certified or permitted to go on shore.   We visited Seymour on our cruise but a different part and the water was much calmer.

Seymour was only a 20 minute speedboat ride and I was better prepared with the dramamine so it was a 20 dollar day at most (see my motion sickness game from yesterday).  It was a challenging dive for me.  I am a relative newbie but D is Advanced and Rescue certified.  He assured me that I could handle it so I trusted him.  I was a bit nervous from some of the discussion on how strong the current in the area can be.  There were areas during the dive where we were literally, climbing from rock to rock against the current to move.  As professional as Scuba Iguana was, that was something they could have better prepared us for.  Our dive master rather assumed that we all knew what was coming.  We had the junior of the two and he was very attentive so I was okay.  I was rather annoyed that the more senior dive master took a much smaller group because he let his brother in law and nephew tag along next to us on a Zodiac and then he led them all day.  Nice.

So we saw a few sharks and lots of turtles but for me it was the experience of navigating that current.  We had a lady on the boat who bailed out of the dive as soon as she dove in.  She had said she'd actually been diving for 20 years or so we were rather surprised.  And as I said, since JC of Scuba Iguana had taken a smaller team so he could let his brother-in-law and nephew tag along gratis, we were stuck waiting on the bottom for 15 minutes while she had to be fished out by the boat.  Not impressed. 

After that exhausting day as well as the day we had planned for tomorrow, I wanted a hefty meal.  I was so pleased that I was able to each lunch on the boat and all.  I recall staring at everyone eating yesterday and being so envious that they could even look at their food.  We chose the Rock on the main road.  I chose it mainly because it had Wifi and I wanted to upload photos.  The Wifi sucked.  We were at the window and I could not get coverage. Oh well, we at least got in there just time for their 2 for 1 Mojito special.  They were strong! Or I was tired!

I had the Linguini with Galapagos Lobster with a Coconut sauce.  I ordered it for the belly full of starch and the intrigue.  It was very good but it was a bit cloying by the end since the sauce was a tad on the dry side and continued to dry out.  Still, I enjoyed it.  D got a mixed grill with every possible mean under the sun. 

Overall, the food was well prepared though some of the meat too well done and presented.  The drinks were well made.  The service was excructiatingly slow and the prices on the high side for the area.  The place is clean and modern and you can read about the history of how Baltra and the area came to be called the Rock on their place mats.

D's Mixed Grill Side Dishes

I had forgotten my camera in the hotel so I took them with the webcam on my netbook.  All these places offer Wifi and some of them work so no one is surprised or put off by the presence of laptops..

Galapagos Lobster Linguini in Coconut Sauce

Cost: $$$ (relative to area)
Service: Tortoise slow
Ambiance: Tropic Trendy
Drinks: Specials nightly only applies to 2-3 drinks and beer.
Reservations: Yes

the Rock
Avendia Charles Darwin,
Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz
Galapagos

Mixed Meaty Grill

July 7th - Puerto Ayora - Galapagos Diving - Cousins Rock and North Plaza - Isla Grill

Sea Turtle near Cousins Rock

I was so ill on our boat ride out to Cousins Rock that I was prepared to cancel the rest of the diving.  It was a 1 hour speedboat drive out to the first dive site.  I had taken half a dramamine tablet in the 45 minute car ride to the boat.  I guess I might have gotten a bit cocky after the week on the cruise that I thought that a quick zip out would be a cake walk.  Foolish foolish me. 

I started to play a game with myself whilst weighing the possibility of throwing away hundreds of dollars of diving that we had already paid for versus what I was going through then.  If I had a thousand dollars in my pocket, how much would I pay someone right then and there to make it stop... completely, instantly and wipe out the unpleasant memories of having gone through it.  How much?  That day was a 400 dollar day.  I saw a poor American university student 2 days later go through a 1000 dollar day.

That said, Scuba Iguana, that led that trip where great.  They were very skilled masters, organised, helpful and prepared.  I would recommend them to anyone even after my 400 dollar day. But take a full dramamine in the morning no matter how you're feeling and one with your lunch.  TRUST ME.

Greasy Frozen Crust Pizza

Dinner that evening in town was at Islas Grill across from the Tame offices.  It was not really worth writing too much about.  Though I will say, you should choose your dining places by having a look around the restaurant.  The Islas Grill had a big open grill.  So their Seafood mix a la Parilla (BBQ) was pretty good.  Their Pizza on the other hand was horrible.  The crust was a dry, frozen biscuit type of crust.  It was not very well cooked and I suspect done in a simple oven.   It was slathered with a greasy blend of random melting cheeses.  The toppings of Anchovies and Capers on the Manana pizza were spare (not Manyana, as I was corrected).  Of the half a dozen places we tried in Puerto Ayora, this was my least favourite.  I would not recommend it.

Marsicos a la Parilla

Outside Isla Grill

Cost: $$$ (relative for the area)
Ambiance: Tropical Dentist Waiting Room
Service: Mediocre to slow
Wine: more by the glass selection than others but almost all Chilean

Isla Grill
Av Charles Darwin
Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz
Galapagos

July 6th - Black Turtle Cove-Baltra-Puerto Ayora - Galapagoes Boat Cruise - Day 8-End

Pelican Diving for a Fish - Black Turtle Cove

This was are last day on the boat.  We had a Zodiac boat ride through the Mangrove rich area called Black Turtle Cove.  We saw a number of Rays, Sharks and Turtles as well as birds out for the food.

Boat Kitchen

Tutu - aka Francisco - our Chef!

I finally took a picture of Tutu and his magical little kitchen.  I have him my Canada bucket hat with my Blog website inside.  I hope he visits the site to see how much we enjoyed his food.

Breakfast before we left was Scrambled eggs.  Tutu made me separate scrambled eggs since the others had Bacon in his eggs.

The rest of the group went to Baltra to catch their flight out.  Originally we were meant to end in Puerto Ayora so this threw us a bit.  We had to make our own way to the town.  A taxi from the Airport to town should only cost you 15$ and they will help you with your bags onto the shuttle to the ferry.  You can take the bus to town which will only cost you 2$ per person but they leave on scheduled departures so you can wait up to half an hour and they will only drop you either at the main dock or if your hotel is enroute.  We decided it was worth the extra $.  The ferry is only 80c per person.  Oddly enough, it was only 75c on the way back.

We were staying at the Casa Natura.  D booked it on line.  It was rather expensive and not at all worth the price and that is not on South American scale.  It was as expensive as a 3*-4* in North America but probably 2*.  Most nicer places on Santa Cruz will run you higher than Quito.  There are hostels and small motel type places that are much much cheaper but you will have to book them on arrival.  Some places will charge you more for hot water in room.  If you are diving, you will want a warm shower. 

We had lunch at Cafe Hernan in town on the boardwalk.  We wanted somewhere that had big screens to watch the World Cup.  Most places on the main strip had pizza on the menu but Cafe Hernan but alot of them have frozen crusts.  Cafe Hernan had fresh dough and were oven baked in a proper baking oven.  I had a Tuna and Green Pepper Pizza.  I washed it back with a Mora berry Juice.

D had a Cubano Burger.  It is a cheese burger with a fried egg.

Cubano Burger

It was reasonably priced and there were big screens everywhere.  The place was packed and looked quite popular.

Cost: $$$
Ambiance: Beach bar
Staff: Slow

Cafe Hernan

Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz
Galapagos

Nightly Ecuadorean Volley in Puerto Ayora

In the main port area in Puerto Ayora, there is a large nightly gathering to play Ecuadorean Volley.  The net is about 3 ft higher han a standard volleyball net and the allowed 'touches' are slightly different.  I saw alot of directing and palming.  But that is not really the biggest different.  I discovered that it is a very competitive sport and betting is standard.  Where monthly salaries are in the hundred's, it is not uncommon to bet upto 60$ on a match.  The players that come out are often well known and if you are recognised as a strong player you are assigned a handicap.  I saw one guy only allowed to play with one hand and yet another allowed only lift.  Very interesting. Someone told me that even when children or high school students play, they will bet a few dollars as well.  All shapes and sizes played and they played hard!

July 5th - Rabida-Puerto Egas - Galapagoes Boat Cruise - Day 7

Racing Fiddler Crab on Rabida

Along the beach on Rabida, there were several of these little Fiddler crabs. Our guides drew a square in the sand and raced them.  We saw the etchings in the sand from the previous group.  I am guessing this is a regular source of tourist entertainment.

Breakfast Omelette

I had thought I had taken breakfast photos all along but now that I look back on the photos and my notes, I realise that I did not have my sea legs the first few days and was not physically fit enough in the mornings for photography.  We had something different each day on the boat.  We always had fresh fruit, toast and cereal along with the plato fuerte.

Cream of Mushroom Soup on Galapagoes Cruise

Lunch started with a nice cream of mushroom soup.  July was the start of the dry season but that did not mean that it was warm everyday.  When it was overcast, it was quite cool and so the soup was welcome warmth.

Spinach Rice and Preserved Vegetables

Tutu made the rice in a large round form but the chafing dish really did not support it so it sort of fell in.  Too bad, it was pretty.  We just served it on the counter instead. The sides today were unusual.  We wondered if it were an common sort of Ecuadorean side.  There was a platter entirely of preserved, jarred vegetables: Asparagus, Mushrooms and Green Beans.  There were Salads and Cheese as well.

Pineapple Flan/Mousse

Dessert was a nice light sort of .... well, we could not figure it out but it was definitely Pineapple on the bottom.  The top of the dessert seemed like a cross between Meringue and Flan.  It was not too sweet and had a nice smooth texture.

Pan de Yuca (Mantioc) - Cassava Bread

I have a new favourite Ecuadorean food as of this day. After our morning visit, Tutu made us a snack called Pan de Yuca or Yuca/Cassava Bread with a Honey dip.  It was YUMMMMMO! It has a very mild yet sturdy cheese in the centre that made it nice and chewy without oozing.  I could not tell at first if it were cheese or the chewiness of the bread.  It was SOOOOOO GOOOD! 

Swimming Marine Iguana

We saw something today that I had been looking forward to for the whole trip.  We had seen Marine Iguanas on several islands by the dozens and dozens lying sprawled on the beach.  Up until today, we had not seen them swim.  On the beach here on Egas, there were swimming in the little tide pools as they munched on the moss and algae growing on the rocks. 

Pan Fried Fish with Tomato Salad and Broad Beans

Our last dinner on the boat started with a sort of Caprese Salad with a Soft Cheese with Tomatos with Shallots in Balsamic.  There were sides of Roasted Potatoes, Broad Bean sautee and salads.  I had pan fried Fish and D had a kind of Meatloaf.

Meatloaf Roll

Two desserts today! Dessert for dinner was a Caramel Flan.  The use of those green cherries was pretty frequent and superfluous. The pudding was delicious.

Caramel Flan

July 4th - Cerro Dragon/Bartolomé - Galapagos Boat Cruise - Day 6

We visited a fantastic island today. Bartolomé island is one of the younger islands and though the volcanic activity is thousands of years past, the craters and lava flow speak volumes.  The views were spectacular and the snorkelling magical.

Breakfast varied day to day but always had yogurt, cereal and fruit.  The mains were omlettes, fried eggs, and today was French Toast with Syrup. Light and fluffy.  Yum.

Gino our guide mentioned that Tutu was planning something special for us.  Tutu prepared an Ecuadorian lunch which started with a gorgeous Ceviche. Ecuadorian Ceviche is different from Peruvian or Mexican in that is served wet as a soup.  Sometimes they will come with vegetables like Tomatoes and Onions.  It was delicious and I had my eye on the bowl of B sitting next to me who was eating slower :^P.

The main was full of signature Ecuadorian dishes.  We had a light Avocado salad.  I am not certain that there are differences in Avocados there but they were lighter and fluffier.  There was rice, Mote (Hominy) and Fried Bananas.  Of course there was also Llapingachos, potato and cheese cakes. There was a hot sauce and a peanut sauce too.  Everything was delicious.

Everyone else also had Horneada or roasted meat.  Tutu of course made me some fish but I was pretty stuffed with Avocado Salad and Llapingachos.

Dessert was a Fruit Salad served in Juice.  I think it was Guanabana Juice.  It definitely had the creamy fruity characteristics of it.  Guanabana is often served as a fresh juice here.  It is also known as Sour Sop or Durian. 

I am guessing that Wahoo is a very affordable fish.  It is very versatile, that's for sure.  I had it most days but I did not mind.  Tutu went out of his way to do it differently as often as possible and as I have said, his other dishes often filled me up before the fish.  Tonight he also had done Green Beans wrapped in Bacon but he made a small portion for me and another vegetarian with Cheese.  Even the snacks between snorkelling like pizza had a small cheese side.  There was a couple of girls who would not respect that even after polishing off the pepperoni and they were often gone before we got any.  Nice. This ain't an all you can eat buffet! It's a boat.

With the Fish there some lovely roasted Potatos, Egg and Spinach and Fava Beans.  Who needs roasted chicken? Not me :)

45th Anniversary Cake

Dessert was very special.  There was an American couple travelling for their 45th Anniversary! Isn't that amazing?  They were sweet though we were rather surprised they were on an adventure boat. The cake was frosted with a Blue and Pink icing on each side.  The staff made sure that all the boys had blue pieces and the girls had pink.  Though I was stuffed to the gills, I finished the whole velvety chocolatey piece.  Since it was D and my honeymoon, we considered it good luck to eat it.

Jul 3rd - Santa Fé / Barrington and South Plaza - Galapagos Boat Cruise - Day 5

  Sealion and Galapagos Hawk

I do not think that I have paid sufficient homage to the fact that there were hot showers on the boat! I'll admit I was surprised and had planned on 'bathing' most of this week in the ocean.  I really cannot stand cold showers.  I mean cannot.  It is torture.  I do not really remember whether we had warm showers when we were on our little tugboat in Egypt but I was younger and heartier then.  There was better water pressure in the boat shower than in my hotel in Quito.  D was happy that I did not have to resort to snorkelling as my method of bathing. :^D.  Bring biodegradable toiletries please.

Lunch started with a very popular and common soup call Sancocho.  It can have many bases, the most common of which is Chicken.  This one was Fish based.  The thing that is invariable is the stubby chunk of Cob of corn.  It is not sweet corn.  It was tasty.  There is no easy way to deal with the corn.  You will have to pick it up.

Mains were a nice Basil Pesto Spaghetti, Potatoes and Beet and Egg Salad.  The potatos were a bit waxy but the Beet and Egg salad, as unusual as it sounds was really good.  The pasta was yum.

Dessert was a custard pudding. We decided as a table it was Mango with a Mint Sauce.

We saw Sealions everywhere we went.  When you snorkel, they will play with you.  There were 4 playing with D and I when we set off from the boat ahead of the others.  When D stopped to ask me if I filmed it, I rather bashfully admitted that I had been to busy watching.  They nibbled his fins and swam straight at us dodging at the last minute.  Very cute.

Dinner was Fish in a Wine sauce with an Aubergine Fritter, Rice and Vegetables.   The Fritter was very good.  I would say I ate just about everything except the Lettuce.  D tried to avoid raw veg to avoid the eating the tap water the uncooked vegetables were washed in.  No one really had an issue.  But who is to say what will work for you.  You can ask if the vegetables are washed with the purified water.  The boat has a supply which they have accesible to all to fill their water bottles.

Dessert were very sweet Caramelised Bananas.  I am not aware of any of the old wives tales on motion sickness but sweets definitely helped me out and I have been told that Bananas help as well.  The boat had a bunch of Bananas hung from the back of the boat.  I had one once in a while to help.