Visiting the Galapagos is an expensive affair. I managed to get some bargain flights on lastminute.com from Ecuador to Baltra airport (in Santa Cruz, the main Island) for £175 return. At Guayaquil airport you have to pay $10 tax for ‘something’ but it was never made clear what exactly. When you get to Baltra airport you have to pay $100 just to get through customs. And then when you are actually there, everything is expensive.
Getting from the airport to Santa Cruz’s main tourist area is easy and fathomable without any prior knowledge. We got a free bus from the airport to the ferry which took about 10 mins. A ferry over to Santa Cruz costing $.80 and took 10 mins. Then a bus from north Santa Cruz down to the main port, Puerto Ayora which took about 40 mins and cost $1.50. We hadn’t got anything booked in the Galapagos but wanted a boat trip, as it seemed the most sensible way to see a lot with the bonus of free food and board.
We trotted around Puerto Ayora and its neighbouring streets in 30 degree heat, with our backpacks, for several hours, visiting travel agent after travel agent trying to negotiate a good boat deal. We wanted a cruise for 7 or 8 days, so we could see as much as possible without having to resort to day trips, which come in at $150 per person a pop on average. Noone could help us. Each travel agent we went to seemed to be ‘in’ with a few boats rather than have access to everything and they only had 4 or 5 day cruises or 15 day cruises due to new regulations which dictates which islands they can visit and the itinerary.
We decided to sack off the boat hunt, get a room, get some food and sort it out later. We booked in to Salinas hostel just off the port on Islas Plazas for 1 night ($25), dropped our bags and headed out.
We found 3 decent tourist companies (*companies listed at end) in Puerto Ayora, the others were less helpful, talked shit or had no decent boats at the time we needed. We faffed about until 5pm and decided on The Guantanamera, a tourist superior boat for 4 days. However, it was leaving that same day – at 6pm. We went back to Salinas, got our bags, gave the guy on reception $10 to shut him up (as we had no intention of paying the full night’s rate) and headed off sharpish to the boat.
The Guantanamera:
There are 3 kinds of boat here: Tourist class, which is cheap and basic and costs $130 a day on average. Tourist Superior, where you get better beds, better food and hot showers. These boats run at about $150 – $170 a day. Both of these kinds of boats are usually full of young people and backpackers so are a bit more laid back and fun. Then there are the first class and luxury boats which can be as expensive as you want to pay and are higher quality but usually full of elderly American bird watchers. Read: Not as much fun.
Our boat trip, if we had purchased it in the UK, would have cost around $1600 but we got it for a last minute price of $450. I know some people would not like to leave it to chance and would want to know they have something organised before they arrive, but really it is so much cheaper if you don’t. Some people book a week or so before in Quito (Ecuador) but it is still far cheaper to wait until you actually get to the Galapagos and there are plenty of boats available if you are relatively flexible.
View from boat – Chinese Hat. Not bad eh?:
Me on the boat:
Pads and I managed to get seperate cabins and they were pretty good, with their own bathrooms and hot water. We shared the boat with 8 other people, all couples and really good fun; Austrians, Danishs, very moody Italians and a really fun Canadian/ Brazilian couple.
My cabin:
We set sail at about 11pm on Thursday night after dinner – heading for Rabida island. The boats travel through the night, so that you are already at the islands in the morning, to make the most of the day. This is why the boat cruises end up better value than the day trips, as you get more time in each location and the day time isnt wasted.
Rabida
Rabida has gorgeous red sand due to the abundance of iron and it made for pretty spectacular pictures. This was our first encounter with the sealions, who are actually everywhere but retained the cuteness factor day after day, so I have so far ended up with about 600 pictures of them. Rabida is famous for its sealions, marina iguanas, flamingoes and pelicans however we saw no flamingos as they are pretty shy and don;t really like humans. We spent the first half of our day on Rabida walking the island with the guide telling us about all the animals. Then snorkeling, where we saw a 4meter Manta Ray and a reef shark. My brand new underwater HD video camera decided to break after 5 minuts under water and the one picture of a fish taken below. So any other underwater pics have been kindly donated by the other guys from our trip.
After lunch we headed to Bartolome island where we saw penguins and more Galapagos sealions. It is also home to one of the most famous landmarks in the Galapagos, Pinnacle Rock (the spikey one in the pictures) which is among the most frequently photographed vistas. We took a walk up to the top of the island to watch the sunset.
Famous most recently for its presence in the Hollywood movie ‘Master & Commander’, Pinnacle rock is actually an eroded lava formation. It is considered to be the emblem of the Galapagos to many and is one of the most recognisable sites in the Galapagos. The rock is full of bullet holes, as the American army used to train here and used the rock as target practice… as well as the iguanas until they were removed for their own safety to a research island.
Back on the boat that night we had a little party, Pads and I cracking open our bottles of rum and raspberry vodka and dancing to some Latino music with the guide. We were pretty beat after the day of snorkeling and walking in the heat and ended up in bed at about 10pm. Every day you are up for breakfast and 7am and out walking or snokelling by 7.30 – it’s like being at work! But soooo much better!
The next day we went to Genovesa Island, the most northeastern island. A small island with no real tourist visitor sites, this place is actually one of the best islands to go bird watching – if you like birds. Im not a great bird enthusiast and a full day of bird watching would have been too much to bear. Luckily, it was broken up with some eventful snorkeling, where we were fortunate enough to swim with some Galapagos sharks. Fucking massive ones at about 2 1/2 – 3 meters. We also swam with some Hammerhead sharks, who usually keep their distance below you; One broke away from the group and swam, at speed, right at us and was at touching distance. Everyone, including the guide shit themselves a little bit at that one.
The Galapagos sharks from the bay above, in Genovesa:
The aggresive Hammerhead as he swam away:
Genovesa:
Birds on Genovesa:
Red Footed Boobie
Nazcar Boobie
Galapagos Dove
Swallow tailed gull and chick
The boat we were on was great. It wasn’t the most flash boat in the world, but the staff were lovely, the food was top notch & plentiful, and the guide was really knowledgeable without being boring. Johan was lively and humorous so he was able to inject the tour with a bit of fun, although we had quite a fun group of people on there anyway, so we were also lucky with that.
North Seymour
On the final morning we went to North Seymour island, another bird island. It is possible to see birds nesting, mating and rearing their chicks all year round. Most people come here for the Blue-footed Boobies and Frigate birds. The Frigate birds have bright red pouches on their necks which they inflate when trying to attract a mate. If a female likes the male, she will come over and lay her head on the pouch for a few minutes – then the deal is done and they stay together for a year.
Blue footed Boobie:
Frigate bird:
The boobies are a bit different. The male puts a small stone or twig on the female’s foot. If she doesn’t like him, she kicks it off and he has to try another female. If she does like him, she follows him to the part built nest he will have made. If she isn;t impressed, she still has the chance to walk away. The ball is very much in the females court in bird world.
After Seymour Island we were taken back to Baltra Island, where the airport is, and had to make our way back to Puerto Ayora via the 2 buses and ferry as before. Ball ache. In all, we had a great time on the boat even if there were a few too many birds for us. We are going to bed for a good night’s sleep (hopefully 12+ hours) before we embark on another boat trip to the south islands tomorrow.
Guantanamera boat website: http://go-south-adventures.com/destinations/galapagos/guantanamera/
* DECENT TOUR AGENCIES IN SANTA CRUZ
- Joybe Tours SA (next door to Salinas hostel)
- Galapagos Cruising Muran SA (opposite Salinas hostel)
- Galapagos Voyages SA (on the front, next to the church)
Salinas website, with map, so you can see where the tour offices are: http://www.hotel-galapagos.com/english.html
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