The Land of Darwin: Islas Galapagos

Our flight from Quito to Isla Baltra, Galapagos, departed at 8:30, but we stopped in Guayaquil for 40 minutes. Most of the Ecuadorians on the plane got off at Guyaquil, and the whities stayed on the plane. The majority of Ecuador´s population cannot afford the trip to the islands, so most of the visitors are foreign. Visitors must pay a $10 arrival tax, involving a long form that is officially stamped, as well as a $100 park fee. Ecuadorians only pay $50.

The flight from Guayaquil to Isla Baltra is about an hour and a half. I slept until our descent, where I got a view of some whales as well as an island that looked completely surrounded by cliffs. The airport is your typical open island affair with some hawkers but nothing ridiculous like I have seen in other places. Lee and I decided that we would try to stay at the Red Mangrove Adventure Lodge, which had a good recommendation in Lonely Planet as well as the highest ranking on TripAdvisor.com for the Galapagos Islands. When we deplaned, we saw that Red Mango had a little booth set up at the airport so we went over to talk to them. We were shown an ´Island Hopper´ tour itinerary that featured three islands as well as all inclusive stays on Red Mangrove lodges on all those islands. We were offered the price of a single person stay, but for both of us. The itinerary included airport transfer, snorkel equipment, all meals, guide service, etc. We did the math and it was $850 per person, a great deal. We decided to do it! Things worked out so well for us, since that was the place we wanted to stay anyway, and we´d get to see three different islands, but would not be stuck on a boat with people we might not get along with.

The Red Mangrove is a top class operation and I recommend it to anyone traveling to the Galapagos. Even if you are looking for a mid-range option, traveling in the off season such as we are yields some good deals!

Isla Baltra is uninhabited and is separated from Isla Cristobal by a narrow channel. When you exit the airport, a free bus takes you to the ferry that connects the two islands. The bus ride takes about 10 minutes and is utterly packed. The ferry seats about 50 people and luggage goes on top. The channel crosing takes another 10 minutes. We were then driven in a private truck to the town of Puerto Ayora, which is on the south side of the island. We crossed through the highlands, which were cloudy. The drive took about 30 minutes. We saw some small villages of people, which were tidy and well kept, with lots of banana plants. Our driver wanted to drive as fast as possible (muy macho!) but for most of the drive a police car was behind us so he stayed at a calmer rate of speed.

The town of Puerto Ayora is charming and relaxed. It´s the largest town in the Galapagos islands and has most of the hotels. All of the Red Mangrove staff we chatted with were all born on the islands. The girl who transferred us from the airport to the hotel said she learned English in high school and attended college in Cuerca, a town on the mainland.

The Red Mangrove is located in a stand of mangrove trees and is designed to blend in with the scenery. It´s quiet, secluded and completely relaxing. I never want to leave this place! We enjoyed a delicious buffet lunch while sitting on a dock overlooking the azure water in the bay. We were visted by some pelicans, marine iguanas and some seals! The food was very tasty.

Our itinerary kicked off at 2pm with a boat trip to Tortuga Beach with snorkeling and sunning on the beach. Tortuga Beach is about 20 minutes via boat from the harbor. The boat seated 12 people comfortably. It had benches down either side and a canvas sun cover with twin 85mph Yamaha engines (I checked). The other folks in our tour featured a Luxemborgian couple, an Irish couple and a Scottish couple who seem to be close to our age. There´s also an elderly Italian couple who don´t appear to speak any English. Our guide, George, speaks Italian as well so everything is repeated twice.

The seas were quite rough so those of us on the windward side got sprayed on the boat trip over. Tortuga beach is not accessible via road, only dirt track, so it was very pleasantly secluded. There are two parts, a windward and a leeward side that are separated by a rocky spit with giant cacti and mangroves. We got dropped off near the tip of the point and snorkeled all the way to the beach. We had flippers, masks and snorkels and I would say it was about a mile. I saw plenty of marine life, including tons of fish, an octopus and several varieties of rays. The octopus´ body was about the side of my fist, it had a big yellow eyeball and changed colors! The top of the body also had these feathery bits that let it blend in perfectly with the coral vegetation. I didn´t even realize it was an octopus until I saw some tentacles move. It also changed colors as I watched! We saw a blue ray, a spotted ray and some sort of GIANT ray that was at least 4´ in diameter. I´m not kidding. It was crazy! I wasn´t scared, though, as giant rays aren´t dangerous. They glide quickly, but flap their massive wings slowly. The water clarity was not amazing, and as we got closer to the beach it got a bit murky. Not dirty, just murky.

The leeward beach where we landed was perfect, powder white sand and nice warm sun. We walked over to the windward side which has large waves and swimming is not allowed due to rip tides. We saw some huge marine iguanas sunning themselves on the sand. The beach was almost completely deserted and I felt like I was in a dream. I took some pictures, but I don´t think they do the scene justice.

We spent a few pleasant hours whiling around on the two beaches, snacking, and then piled back in the boat for the trip back to the hotel. I cleverly sat on the leeward side this time and did not get soaked. Lee was not so lucky! Hah!

Our room is charming and is on the second floor, so it´s quiet and has plenty of light. We are off to dinner now, tomorrow we have a tour of the highlands to see giant tortoises and then we go to Isla Floreana, which does not have any official human inhabitants. I love this place and I never want to leave!