We said goodbye to Quito this morning after breakfast and flew to Galapagos Islands in the Pacific Ocean. We landed in Seymour airport on Isla Beltra. I was surprised that the flight was not full and there were less western travelers on the flight than I expected. To get to the Galapagos, one has to go through all sorts of hoops and loops. First, we have to get a migration control card (costs USD $20), then our luggages have to be screened for living organic stuff like flower seeds or live plants etc. After these two steps, we are then allowed to check in on our flight (2h flight from Quito). On arrival, we had to pay USD 100 entrance fee per person and all hand luggages had to be x-rayed again. Even the pre-screened checked luggages were checked one more time with trained dogs similar to checking for drugs!
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| View of Isla Seymour Norte and Baltra |
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| Channel between Isla Santa Cruz and Baltra |
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| Taking the short ferry across the channel to get to Santa Cruz |
Our guide, Dale, was already waiting for us. We got on an airport shuttle bus to the ferry transfer dock. Then we had to get on a transfer boat to Isla Santa Cruz across the channel. From there, a pickup truck taxi transported us to Peurto Ayora, the largest town in the Galapagos. Our hotel lodging is located right in Peurto Ayora. For today, there was no official program so we just walked around the town. The fisherman's wharf was a hive of activities. There were tons of fresh red snappers and big lobsters for sale. We bought a 3 lb red snapper (costs only 10 USD) plus a 3 lb lobster (costs USD 21) and brought it to our dinner restaurant to cook. Since our tour included dinners, the restaurant did not charge us anything to cook for our purchases since we substituted our set menu with our own seafood. We were so full and barely able to finish the fish and the lobster!
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| Tonight's dinner |
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| Marine iguana |
We experienced the wild side of Galapagos right at the fisherman's wharf. Sea lions were lying there sleeping on the ground or on the bench! Pelicans and other birds were eagerly waiting for free handouts. Marine iguanas were lying right on the sidewalk taking naps. One section of the sidewalk was closed off because there is a marine iguana nest there! On the shore, there were hundreds of brightly colored crabs. After dinner we strolled to the public wharf and even saw many baby reef sharks (black-tip) swimming and chasing small school of bait fish.
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| Sea lion taking over the bench at the pier |
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| Baby sharks roaming near the pier |
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