Today started nice and early we were up and ready for breakfast by 6 and left the hotel for the airport by 6:30. Once at the airport we had to get our bags scanned by the representatives for the Galapagos and our luggage was tagged with a special tag that ensured the bags would not come open. To get our bag scanned we had to pay 20 dollars and got a receipt that we had to keep with us for the entirety of being on the islands. We then went through security against and arrived at the gate extremely eager to get going. We again were on an Avianca flight and I again was looking forward to the food, this time it was a little hot chicken and cheese sandwich, so good. The flight was short only a little over an hour, as we descended the islands started to appear as we looked out the window. We were relatively low when the islands became visible so we didn’t see the whole archipelago but o couple formations and even that was mind blowing to me, my first sights of the islands of which Darwin based his theory of evolution off of, I very well could have walked on the same land as him at some point and that was a cool thought to me.
The Galapagos islands have two airports, on one San Cristobal and one on Baltra. We landed at the airport in Baltra which happened to be the first ecological airport and was classified as a US green building. The building was cool, it had all open walls and seemed very energy efficient. One of the things that also caught my eye was the diligence in which they sort trash, there’s general waste, recycling, and then organic material. I’ve never seen a trash can made specifically for organics and thought that it was an interesting idea. Once we payed our 100-dollar national park fee we headed off to a ferry that would take us from Baltra to Santa Cruz. Baltra is a very small island on the north shore of Santa Cruz, the island used to be home to a United States military base in world war two but was then abandoned after in was no longer needed. There were still structures and pads of concrete left there untouched since then. The landscape in this area was like no other I’ve ever seen, so arid and full of cactus and various different plants and trees that I have never seen before. We then arrived at the port for the ferry that took large amounts of people back and fourth between the two islands so that they can get to where they need to go though a mode of transportation that is waiting to pick you up on the other side. We threw our suitcases on the top of the ferry and walked down into the cabin area, I walked to the first open seat which was at the back of the boat and sat down. The first thing that caught my eye was how beautiful and clear the water was, i.ve never seen anything like it before. As we made our journey across the water to Santa Cruz we saw our first Blue-Footed Boobie. It was far away so it was hard to see but I definitely was able to see the bright blue feet. We then docked at Santa Cruz, retrieved our bags and threw them in a pick-up truck designated to us by Diego, this truck would take our bag to the hotel while we made a couple stops on the way there. We all boarded the bus and all I could pay attention to was how different and intriguing the surrounding landscape was. Some of the plants made the setting feel like you were on a different planet. We boarded the bus and made our way to the first stop of the day which was called “Los Gemelos” Basically what they were, were giant volcanic craters. From what Diego explained to us, there was a giant air bubble under the ground that kept expanding to the point where the ground above the bubble collapse all the way in and made these massive craters. I would never be able to imagine what it would have been like to witness that actually happen, the magnitude of that event blows my mind and here I was standing in front of the remnants. There was also something different about this area, it was much greener than when we got off the ferry. This is because as we continued along the road we were increasing in elevation and as you go up in elevation in the Galapagos it gets more humid and more green/ supportive of life. After we spent some time looking at the three-different cratesr and the surrounding vegetation including the invasive blackberry plant. we boarded the bus again and embarked on our way to the El Chato giant tortoise ranch. On the way to the ranch we passed through a large majority of the island’s agricultural land. There were patches of field all over and it really resonated with me how much vegetation was cleared to enable the land to be used for human agriculture. It was just so clear cut and on the sides of higher elevation land from your vantage point you can just see how there is supposed to be an abundance of green and trees and whatnot but you either see shortly cut grass and a bunch of cows or you see dirt from the use of growing crops. There were many castle farms that we passed. We also learned that many of the people that live in the areas and own these farms were born into it. In other words, Ecuadorian citizens can’t one day wake up and say “I want to go live in the Galapagos” you must be directly related to a resident to be able to reside in the inhabitable islands of the archipelago. Which is good to preserve the integrity of the islands, but the current residential population must be careful not to increase to high too quickly in my opinion. We finally got to El Chato and walked around the ranch, the ranch was a large plot of preserved grassy land with scattered trees, perfect conditions for the grass loving giant tortoise’s. The ranch was home to around 1500 tortoises and they were just walking around and chilling, you were able to get pretty close to them it was pretty amazing (had to stay 10 feet away). Within El Chato there was a volcanic tunnel that went down underground, walking into that was very power as well considering at one time extremely hot molten lava was running through it and actually creating the tunnel itself. We then saw a bunch more tortoises and then departed El Chato to make our way to the hotel.
As we approached the hotel I got my first glimpse of the city of Puerto Ayora. It was nothing like I was ever expecting for the Galapagos islands. I could not believe how many people and how developed it was. Santa Cruz has the highest population of the three inhabited islands with around 16,000 people. For some reason I was coming to the islands with the expectations that we were going to be surrounded by nature and there wasn’t going to be much development and I would be very tranquil and amazing. Not that this experience wasn’t amazing just wasn’t as disconnected as I had originally though and really shows the true potential for man to make a major impact on the land that we live on and use for our wellbeing. We then arrived at the hotel and checked in and went for lunch at the hotel restaurant. I again had a good meal with a traditional soup for the appetizer which eventually I would get very tired of towards the end of the trip. After lunch we had time to settle into our rooms and change to go to a ravine filled with water that you can swim in called Las Greitas. Las Greitas was on a different part of the island that was most easily assessable by a short boat ride and the about a 10-15 min hike. Our hotel was right down the street from the bay in which tons of boats were scattered and anchored up. We walked up to the dock and there were various “taxi” boats waiting for people in need of transportation from one side of the bay to the other, we all boarded the taxi and paid our 25 or so cents to take a ride. While boarding the taxi we saw a couple sea lions chilling and jumping up onto the dock, they were so close to all the people but did not care at all! We then made it to the other side of the bay and made our way towards Las Greitas. On the way we passed a beach in which the marine iguanas used for nesting. These marine iguanas were, everywhere. They are a very communal species and like to gather in packs to avoid predation and to protect the weaker/ smaller individuals, the females and young were all black and the males had more color in them, as the male ages the colors become more vibrant and pronounced. Once we passed the iguana nesting beach we saw a salt mine that is used for the production of table salt on the island. The area I made up of all crystallized salt that got there from a flooding of the ocean at one point and there the water sat and eventually it all evaporated without a reflooding and what was left was massive amounts of sea salt which was then harvested by local workers. We continued on and finally made it to our destination of las Greitas. It was amazing, just a huge crack in the volcanic rock that was filled with crystal clear water that was swimmable and beautiful. We jumped right in and started to explore. Me and Aiden were climbing up the rocs on the side and jumping into the water in areas where it was safe to do so. A couple times while swimming I spotted a couple fish swimming beneath us but there were many. Tait tried to tell us they were baby sharks to scare us, but we weren’t falling for it. Some people like Tait didn’t go in and took a hike around the outside and were able to look down into the ravine at us swimming. That is when he tried tricking us saying that he had a better vantage point and view. We spent about an hour or so exploring and enjoying ourselves in the water of Las Greitas, but then it was time to head back to the area of the hotel. At this point it was starting to get dark and I was really hoping to get the chance to see some stars because I figured the would look magnificent out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, however I wasn’t going to be able to see them 1. Because it was cloudy and 2. Because of the light pollution of the city that we were staying in. Oh well, we got back to the main city area and had time to explore. The city was a very nice and friendly area, very touristy however even the locals were pleasant and nice to everyone. While walking around the city we noticed the abundance of crafty souvenir shops, I don’t get how there are so many of them, and that they all stay In business, because they all basically carried the same items. After this we headed back to the hotel for dinner, a presentation, and finally bed after our first long day in the lonely awaited and intriguing Galapagos Islands.
The Galapagos islands have two airports, on one San Cristobal and one on Baltra. We landed at the airport in Baltra which happened to be the first ecological airport and was classified as a US green building. The building was cool, it had all open walls and seemed very energy efficient. One of the things that also caught my eye was the diligence in which they sort trash, there’s general waste, recycling, and then organic material. I’ve never seen a trash can made specifically for organics and thought that it was an interesting idea. Once we payed our 100-dollar national park fee we headed off to a ferry that would take us from Baltra to Santa Cruz. Baltra is a very small island on the north shore of Santa Cruz, the island used to be home to a United States military base in world war two but was then abandoned after in was no longer needed. There were still structures and pads of concrete left there untouched since then. The landscape in this area was like no other I’ve ever seen, so arid and full of cactus and various different plants and trees that I have never seen before. We then arrived at the port for the ferry that took large amounts of people back and fourth between the two islands so that they can get to where they need to go though a mode of transportation that is waiting to pick you up on the other side. We threw our suitcases on the top of the ferry and walked down into the cabin area, I walked to the first open seat which was at the back of the boat and sat down. The first thing that caught my eye was how beautiful and clear the water was, i.ve never seen anything like it before. As we made our journey across the water to Santa Cruz we saw our first Blue-Footed Boobie. It was far away so it was hard to see but I definitely was able to see the bright blue feet. We then docked at Santa Cruz, retrieved our bags and threw them in a pick-up truck designated to us by Diego, this truck would take our bag to the hotel while we made a couple stops on the way there. We all boarded the bus and all I could pay attention to was how different and intriguing the surrounding landscape was. Some of the plants made the setting feel like you were on a different planet. We boarded the bus and made our way to the first stop of the day which was called “Los Gemelos” Basically what they were, were giant volcanic craters. From what Diego explained to us, there was a giant air bubble under the ground that kept expanding to the point where the ground above the bubble collapse all the way in and made these massive craters. I would never be able to imagine what it would have been like to witness that actually happen, the magnitude of that event blows my mind and here I was standing in front of the remnants. There was also something different about this area, it was much greener than when we got off the ferry. This is because as we continued along the road we were increasing in elevation and as you go up in elevation in the Galapagos it gets more humid and more green/ supportive of life. After we spent some time looking at the three-different cratesr and the surrounding vegetation including the invasive blackberry plant. we boarded the bus again and embarked on our way to the El Chato giant tortoise ranch. On the way to the ranch we passed through a large majority of the island’s agricultural land. There were patches of field all over and it really resonated with me how much vegetation was cleared to enable the land to be used for human agriculture. It was just so clear cut and on the sides of higher elevation land from your vantage point you can just see how there is supposed to be an abundance of green and trees and whatnot but you either see shortly cut grass and a bunch of cows or you see dirt from the use of growing crops. There were many castle farms that we passed. We also learned that many of the people that live in the areas and own these farms were born into it. In other words, Ecuadorian citizens can’t one day wake up and say “I want to go live in the Galapagos” you must be directly related to a resident to be able to reside in the inhabitable islands of the archipelago. Which is good to preserve the integrity of the islands, but the current residential population must be careful not to increase to high too quickly in my opinion. We finally got to El Chato and walked around the ranch, the ranch was a large plot of preserved grassy land with scattered trees, perfect conditions for the grass loving giant tortoise’s. The ranch was home to around 1500 tortoises and they were just walking around and chilling, you were able to get pretty close to them it was pretty amazing (had to stay 10 feet away). Within El Chato there was a volcanic tunnel that went down underground, walking into that was very power as well considering at one time extremely hot molten lava was running through it and actually creating the tunnel itself. We then saw a bunch more tortoises and then departed El Chato to make our way to the hotel.
As we approached the hotel I got my first glimpse of the city of Puerto Ayora. It was nothing like I was ever expecting for the Galapagos islands. I could not believe how many people and how developed it was. Santa Cruz has the highest population of the three inhabited islands with around 16,000 people. For some reason I was coming to the islands with the expectations that we were going to be surrounded by nature and there wasn’t going to be much development and I would be very tranquil and amazing. Not that this experience wasn’t amazing just wasn’t as disconnected as I had originally though and really shows the true potential for man to make a major impact on the land that we live on and use for our wellbeing. We then arrived at the hotel and checked in and went for lunch at the hotel restaurant. I again had a good meal with a traditional soup for the appetizer which eventually I would get very tired of towards the end of the trip. After lunch we had time to settle into our rooms and change to go to a ravine filled with water that you can swim in called Las Greitas. Las Greitas was on a different part of the island that was most easily assessable by a short boat ride and the about a 10-15 min hike. Our hotel was right down the street from the bay in which tons of boats were scattered and anchored up. We walked up to the dock and there were various “taxi” boats waiting for people in need of transportation from one side of the bay to the other, we all boarded the taxi and paid our 25 or so cents to take a ride. While boarding the taxi we saw a couple sea lions chilling and jumping up onto the dock, they were so close to all the people but did not care at all! We then made it to the other side of the bay and made our way towards Las Greitas. On the way we passed a beach in which the marine iguanas used for nesting. These marine iguanas were, everywhere. They are a very communal species and like to gather in packs to avoid predation and to protect the weaker/ smaller individuals, the females and young were all black and the males had more color in them, as the male ages the colors become more vibrant and pronounced. Once we passed the iguana nesting beach we saw a salt mine that is used for the production of table salt on the island. The area I made up of all crystallized salt that got there from a flooding of the ocean at one point and there the water sat and eventually it all evaporated without a reflooding and what was left was massive amounts of sea salt which was then harvested by local workers. We continued on and finally made it to our destination of las Greitas. It was amazing, just a huge crack in the volcanic rock that was filled with crystal clear water that was swimmable and beautiful. We jumped right in and started to explore. Me and Aiden were climbing up the rocs on the side and jumping into the water in areas where it was safe to do so. A couple times while swimming I spotted a couple fish swimming beneath us but there were many. Tait tried to tell us they were baby sharks to scare us, but we weren’t falling for it. Some people like Tait didn’t go in and took a hike around the outside and were able to look down into the ravine at us swimming. That is when he tried tricking us saying that he had a better vantage point and view. We spent about an hour or so exploring and enjoying ourselves in the water of Las Greitas, but then it was time to head back to the area of the hotel. At this point it was starting to get dark and I was really hoping to get the chance to see some stars because I figured the would look magnificent out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, however I wasn’t going to be able to see them 1. Because it was cloudy and 2. Because of the light pollution of the city that we were staying in. Oh well, we got back to the main city area and had time to explore. The city was a very nice and friendly area, very touristy however even the locals were pleasant and nice to everyone. While walking around the city we noticed the abundance of crafty souvenir shops, I don’t get how there are so many of them, and that they all stay In business, because they all basically carried the same items. After this we headed back to the hotel for dinner, a presentation, and finally bed after our first long day in the lonely awaited and intriguing Galapagos Islands.