Las Islas Galápagos

One of the few places on earth untouched by pre-industrial man. The site of one of humanity's most significant scientific advancements. A land lying directly on the Equator, representing a diverse palette of life found all over the world. The Galapagos Islands. Ecuador commonly is divided into four pieces: the Amazon, the Sierra, which is all the land that lies in the Andean Mountains, and the Coast. But often a fourth piece is added: The Galapagos. It is a popular, yet scarcely visited tourist destination due to the enormously high costs of traveling there and the strict regulations placed on the islands to preserve its natural beauty. So the fact that I had the opportunity to visit is an incredible blessing that I will probably never have again.

On our first day, Holy Thursday, I woke up early and, thanks to the graciousness of my ecuapadre, was driven to the airport early in the morning. We all met, bags in hand, went through security, and boarded the plane. The plane ride was very comfortable, and we acted fairly ridiculous. The plane made a forty-five minute stop in Guayaquil to unload some passengers, and take on a few. During our recess, some of us contemplated playing hide and go seek on the plane (though not seriously) but ultimately rejected the idea. The ride to the islands themselves lasted about an hour and a half, and we finally landed on the tiny island of Baltra, which is just north of Santa Cruz.

As soon as we stepped off the plane, we were hit by a wave of heat that we would then be enduring for the rest of the trip. We waited in line to go through the security check. Afterwards, we grabbed our bags, and met our guides for the first time. All travelers to the Galapagos are required to be accompanied by a guide, both for the security of the tourists, and the protection of the environment. Ours were a tall, skinny man named Ramiro, and a shorter, stouter man named Humberto. They would come to play a very important role in our Galapagos adventure.

Next, we boarded a boat to go to Santa Cruz. The distance was so short between the islands that you could see the other side, but during our very short boat ride we saw some pelicans, and two sea lions, the first of many that we would see during our trip. Once we reached the other side, we got off, and got on a bus to our hotel. We dropped our bags, and went to dinner. Afterwards, we took a bus to a place called Los Gemelos, which is Spanish for the twins. The twins were twin craters in the ground, which were enormous and beautiful. We hiked around, and ended at a swamp. We tried to find tortoises, but could not, so we returned to the hotel. That night, a group of us walked to a karaoke bar, where a group of Ecuadorians was singing, and not well I might add. We wrested the microphone from them, and sang some songs of our own. We traded back and forth for a while, and our English songs attracted the attention of some elderly female American tourist. For our grand finale, we sang “My Heart Will Go On” by Celine Dion, and all the American women joined in. Needless to say, it was epic display of gringo grandiosity.

Despite the hard bed and hot room, I slept like a rock. The next morning we woke early and ate breakfast. Everyone filled their water bottles, purchased medicine for seasickness, as we would be taking a boat ride later that day, and we were off to the famous Charles Darwin Research Station. At the station, we split into two groups, which would be our groups for the rest of the trip. My group was with Humberto, and was named Los Piqueros de Patas Azules, after a famous bird from the Galapagos. The other group, whose guide was Ramiro, was named Los Piqueros de Patas Rojas, which is another famous bird endemic to the Galapagos. On our tour we saw many different kinds of plants, and more interestingly, many different tortoises, including the famous Lonesome George, an iconic turtle who is the last of his species. We saw tortoises up close, tortoises mating, and land iguanas. It was at this time that everyone came to the realization; Los Piqueros de Patas Azules was definitely the better group.

Next, we headed back to the hotel to grab our bags, and then to the dock to board the boats. Each group boarded a different boat, and we were off. The waves were choppy and the boat bounced quite a bit. I had taken the seasickness medicine beforehand, but I felt sick anyway. I found that if I lay down on the floor of the boat, the urge to vomit was not quite as powerful, so I took a nap on the floor of the boat. Finally, after an hour and a half, we arrived at our next island: Isabela. We felt like champions as we chugged into the bay of Isabela in waters that were full of sea lions, small sharks, fish, and various rays. The water was clear as crystal, and we felt like we were in paradise. We got off, boarded a bus, and went to our hotel. We changed into swimsuits, put on our sunscreen, and went for a walk. We explored a part of the town, and ended at the beach, where all of us, the students, the guides, and the program directors, all plunged into the cool water. Many of us in our excitement took up a chorus of Journey's “Don't Stop Believing”, changing some key words to fit our location. We got out, and followed our guides to an underwater Mangrove, where we dove in again to explore. When the sun was setting we got out and headed back to the hotel. After dinner, we were free, and naturally, we went looking for ice cream. We made a visit to the beach and then returned to the hotel for another wonderful sleep.

We rose early again the next morning for breakfast and then changed into hiking clothes. Before I go on, let me describe the island of Isabela a little bit. It is the biggest island in Galapagos. The Galapagos were formed from volcanoes, and where most of them have one volcano, Isabela has five, and the most southern volcano has the second biggest crater in the world. We drove to the foot of a trail on this volcano and from there; we began our hike up to the crater. The day began very hot, but cooled as clouds rolled in. We reached the top of the crater, and could see down into the old volcano, which was covered by volcanic rock and green growth. From there, we hiked around the crater, stopping for lunch at some benches, until we reached the opposite side. Then, we crossed a field of volcanic rock, the site of an old eruption, which was covered in black rock and cactus. We finally stopped at a crest in the mountain, where we overlooked a beautiful view. After taking some pictures, we turned and went back.

We were exhausted, but the day was only half over. On the bus ride back, a group of us (that may or may not have been led by myself) treated the island of Isabela to a full spread of jubilant American songs ranging from “A Whole New World” to “Take Me Home Country Roads” to “Ring of Fire”. We returned to the hotel, applied second layers of sunscreen, changed into bathing suits, and prepared for snorkeling. We each received a mask and pair of flippers, boarded a bus, and drove to the docks. There, we divided into our groups and boarded boats which took us out into a bay. And there, we dove in. The water was filled with absolutely beautiful, and plentiful, fish. There were fish of all different colors. Partway through our swim people started exclaiming about a sea lion that they had seen swimming around. Occasionally I would hear someone shriek in excitement as they declared that they too had seen it. The sea lion in question finally came up to a small beach area, where we all gathered to watch him play. At one point during our swim, one of our guides declared he was going to look for sea turtles, and swam off. In a short time, he began calling to us. I was one of the first to reach him. He had indeed found a turtle, and I came upon it quite suddenly gliding through the water. The animal was beautiful. It swam slowly and gracefully. It controlled where it went with slow beats of its flippers, but also let the waves carry it if they came in. The animal appeared as if it were flying. It was very calm, and made no reaction when I swam up beside it.

Soon the turtle had led us all far out in the bay, and the sun was beginning to set. Our guide told us we should begin heading back, so we began to the swim back to the boats. That night we ate, and I went for a walk with some friends to the beach where we stayed until nearly midnight looking at the incredible display of stars over the ocean.

The next day was the fourth day, Easter, and we were all very happy. Maybe there were divine graces surrounding us, or maybe we were growing so tired from all the activity without proper rest that it was beginning to make us crazy. Whatever the reason, we were all in a good place. After breakfast, we gathered our stuff, including our snorkeling equipment, returned to the docks, and boarded our boats in our respective groups. This boat ride, I chose not to take my seasickness medicine. I felt the same as I had before, so I spent the majority of the boat ride on my back, keeping my stomach from giving the ocean my breakfast.

After about two hours we arrived at our destination: the island of Floreana.
When we arrived, there was a blanket of clouds covering the sky. We waited on the boat until our ride arrived on shore. We got off, leaving our luggage on the boat, and took only what we needed. We got into the back of a pickup truck, which proceeded to drive us to the hiking trail we were going to. On the way, it began to rain, and we sang songs the entire way, slowly getting soaked. A bus full of Ecuadorians came up behind us, laughing and taking pictures of the truck full of gringos singing “Baby Got Back”.

When we arrived at the trail, we were soaked. We set off, encountering giant tortoises, man-made caves, and a big statue of a face made by pirates years ago. Afterwards, we went back, got back into the truck, and returned to the dock. We got back in our boat, which took us out to a bay in Floreana. We met our friends there, and had another round of snorkeling. I spent about half the time swimming, and the other half on a small beach watching two sea lions play with one another. Finally, it was time to go, and we all returned to our boats. This was the one island we were not spending the night on. Instead, we were off to our final destination: San Cristobal.

On this boat ride, I tried a new tactic. The captain, for whatever reason, decided to be far laxer with the rules on this final trip. The boat had a back area to sit in, but the front was sloped, and not meant for people. Nevertheless, he let some girls lie down on the sloped front, and let me sit at the nose. The boat was very bumpy, and more than once my butt came off the boat itself. I gripped the rail in front to keep myself from flying off into the sea, and enjoyed the combination of the beautiful view and the wind on my face. And I found if I sat in the front of the boat, I didn’t feel seasick.

During the boat ride, the captain saw something, and stopped the boat. We all looked out to see what he had seen, and saw a huge spout of water come shooting up from the surface of the ocean. It was a whale! More than once he surfaced for air, and we saw the length of his backside. Finally, he disappeared altogether, but it didn’t matter. We had seen a whale, and that was enough for us.

The second half of the boat ride was wonderful. I could see the silhouette of San Cristobal in the distance, and watched, as it slowly grew closer. At my back was the sunset, which was a beautiful one. Finally we reached San Cristobal and drew into port. The port town was gorgeous, and was my favorite of all the ones we had been to. We took a taxi to the hotel, where we dropped our stuff. We had an hour until dinner, so I went walking around, and came to a playground on the beach, where nearly a hundred sea lions had come ashore to rest. I passed the time talking to people and watching the sea lions until it was time for dinner. After dinner, we walked down the pier, and got ice cream. We considered staying out for longer, but everyone was so exhausted, that we just returned to the hotel to sleep.

The next day was the final day. We took a bus to a trail, where we hiked through forest and mist until we reached a huge lagoon. After admiring it for a while, and taking some pictures, we returned to go to a museum. This was the one part of the trip that no one really wanted to do. Most people felt like going to a museum was a waste of our precious time left in the Galapagos. Thankfully, the museum was closed. So instead we walked down to the beach for some independent exploring. After we had spent the remainder of our time, we got back in our bus, and drove to the airport. We bid farewell to our guides, and boarded our flight. As we took off, we said goodbye to the beautiful islands that we would probably never again have the privilege of visiting.

The trip was incredible, and by far the best one I have taken here in Ecuador. But it was significant for another reason as well. Because for all of us, our trip to the Galapagos was that highlight of our time in Ecuador that was far away, that was near the end. It was always something standing between us and leaving the country. Now that it has passed, we are all realizing how little time we have left in Ecuador, and how close we are to returning home.