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.

Jul 2nd - Darwin Centre and Santa Cruz Highlands - Galapagos Boat Cruise - Day 4

Lonesome George - Giant Tortoise - Darwin Centre

We landed early morning at Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz to visit the Darwin Centre and to switch up half the passengers.  I think that both the centre and all the cruise boats time this visit because it was a sudden onslaught shortly after we arrived.  The thing is that the flights out of Santa Cruz back to the mainland are few and regular.  So everyone leaving was most likely on the same mid morning flight.   After the group left, the 4 of us who did not have the same rush, were able to linger about.  There was nobody left.  All the other tours had left too.  Just a tip. 

The site is wonderful from all the tortoises being raised and protected there but from a learning centre perspective it is very disappointing.  The welcome centre was all but a small room with a half dozen posters.  We did not have a guide to show us the room or give us any information since our guide had to go to the airport.  The library and education centre were closed and had been for a few years for reconstruction.  So you are going to be going just to see the Tortoises.  Most famously, people go to see Lonely George, seen above.  He was enormous.  He is the last of the Pinter Island Giant Tortoises to have survived the pirate invasions during the turn of the century.  He is estimated to be nearly 170 years old.  His nick name is derived from the fact that attempts to mate him have been rather unsuccessful. 

To say that Puerto Ayora is small is an understatement.  The main tourist areas are just a few roads accessible by foot.  The back off the main strip along the water are residential and rather dilapidated. The town seems to be the jumping off point to the islands for touring or diving.  There are hotels dispersed through the residential area but there is no real visiting to do.  After a few hours on our own in town waiting for the boat, we were happy to re board for lunch.  Lunch was Grilled fish which I think was Wahoo and Steamed Vegetables and lots of salads. The saw the cheese you see on the Broccoli quite a lot.  It had a peppery and herbal quality to it.  It was nice but I never got around to asking Tutu what it was called.  :^( Yum.  Dessert was ice cream.

After lunch we returned to Puerto Ayora to visit the Highlands away from the town in the middle of the Santa Cruz Island.  We were visiting a reserve for Wild Giant Tortoises.  For those who joined our boat today and were only doing the half cruise, they missed this and went to the Darwin Centre instead.  I would have suggested they do this instead.  I think they had the option.  You don't miss much other than the gift shop.

We saw nearly 10 giant Tortoises roaming around freely.  The area is considered part of the National Park but it is inhabited by local farmers.  Their fences are constructed in a way that the Tortoises can pass underneath.  We saw some eating, bathing, wandering about freely.  It was great.  We also saw a Galapagos Pintail that looked like a duck, skimming the algae off the pond where two Tortoises were cooling off.  Very cute.

Giant Tortoise with White Heron friend

Dinner was a stewed Chicken with Brussel Sprouts/Green Beans with Rice.  Tutu of course made me a side of fish as well.

Jul 1st - Floreana - Galapagos Boat Cruise - Day 3 - Canada Day!

It can be tricky deciding when to go to the Galapagos.  Though it is all said in various books and websites, there are still decisions you need to make.  Why do I want to go? What would make me happy?  I can tell you that, given I live in Vancouver where it rains for nearly 9 months of the year,  what I wanted out of a vacation was for it not to be raining.  So therefore, the dry season was a must.  Galapagos does not get terribly hot or cold given it's location on the Equator but it does get very wet.  Now, there are other things associated with this as well.  This will impact the presence of wildlife, like the lonely Flamingo above.  In other times of the year, this lake would be a sea of pink.  I went down to the lake's edge even though the group could not see any flamingos from the view point and I found this one beautiful Flamingo on its own.  The other wildlife that might vary on seasonality besides birds would be Sharks, Whales and the like, depending on migratory patterns.  The only 'big thing' we did not see were Whales.  Something to think about. 

One thing that is not that intuitive that my guide pointed out, is that, while everything is more lush and green in the wet season, that very lushness makes spotting wildlife more difficult.  During the dry season, many plants go dormant and the islands are bare and rocky.  You will want to weigh some of these things together as well as the weather impact on the ocean currents and waves.

Lunch was Tuna Salad which Tutu formed into a Sea Turtle.  I mean really!? How cute is that?  He has to make 3 meals a day for loud, vacationing tourists and he goes out of his way to do this.  Adorable.  The Red 'fruit' in the bottom left between the Lime wedges are called Tomates de Arbol or Tree Tomatoes.  There were sides of Salad, Stuffed Tomatoes and a Rice Pilaf with Walnuts and fried Noodles.  Yummy.

Dessert, which we usually got once a day, which meant we either had one for Lunch or Dinner only, which was fine.  Tutu had the meal plan planned so we would never feel hungry and I never did!  Dessert at lunch was Preserved Figs with Cheese.  Very sweet.

We did alot of snorkelling this day and the water was rather cold as it normally is in July.  So coming back to the boat to find freshly made Yucca fries was fantastic.  I love Yucca.  It is a root vegetable which is somewhat similar to a potato but much more flavourful.  It has a skin that looks like tree bark and preparation can be quite involved the first of which is getting the bark off.  I made Yucca fries with a friend once and between the peeling, boiling and frying, I deferred all future Yucca activity to the professionals.  YUMMO!  I definitely took more than my fair share of these (sorry fellow travellers).  I've been accused of having a hollow leg.  It's an important thing to have when you are storing extra Yucca fries. 

Oh that reminds me, the boats will supply you with Fins and Masks but not wetsuits.  There is a nominal daily charge which is totally up to you.  $5/day USD.  D and I had our own from home.  At snorkelling depth, you only need a 3mm Shorty.  You'll need 7mm full with hood at diving depth.  I was still shivering  but that's next week.

Tutu made something special for us. Rather surprised us all.  We had Lobster! Galapagos Lobster, granted, which is less expensive and has a meatier texture and flavour than the Atlantic variety but still Lobster on a adventure cruise.  Amazing.  

He also did the fresh potato mash and vegetables in a roll.  There were a few salads and vegetable sides as well.  What a marvel!

D and I did a quiet Yay Canada! I had planned on buying temporary tatoos but they were none in the shops I went to last minute.  The American's were equally non-chalant 3 days later.  Yay Canada!