April 14, 2023
This tour is great because you do so much in a day; I feel so acclimated to the Galapagos already. Talking after dinner tonight, some of us joked how ridiculous it was to feel underwhelmed by a day where we snorkeled with a giant sea turtle and visited a tiny island with few inhabitants or visitors. It was a travel day for sure, but broken up in a way to feel like another full day of adventure. We started off after breakfast (grilled cheese and eggs and fruit), loaded our bags, and walked down to the pier. It had rained hard early in the morning, and Fiona slipped and hurt her ankle on a wood boardwalk, but seemed to be managing mostly ok. There are 3 medical professionals in our group of 7 so she was taken care of! We said goodbye to our local assistant Juan Carlos and boarded a water taxi with our luggage to take us out to our private boat for the day. We huddled in the covered outdoor section, trying to avoid the sun while reveling in the speedy boat splashing up big waves. I hadn’t mentally prepared for a 2 and a half hour boat ride, and I had left my earphones and book in my luggage which was a little hard to get to. So I ended up just zoning out, watching the water, dozing off a bit. It was nice.
We arrived in Floreana, the smallest of the 4 inhabited Galapagos islands. We took a water taxi to the little pier, where we were greeted again by sea lions we had to clap away, and once up on land saw several marine iguanas hanging out. Control agents checked our bags quickly (for what? Fruits? Lots of regulations here – they checked on the way back too!). The island was lush yet arid, it being the rainy season, and a tall green mountain capped off the scene. The island is weirdly known for many people disappearing.
We walked with our snorkel gear on a little hike, passing a black sand beach and entering an empty trail with lava rocks and sand next to the water. It was beautiful yet a bit difficult with the clunky snorkel gear. We arrived at our snorkel spot, a lava rock-covered sand beach, and geared up for our snorkel. This time the current was pretty strong in our bay, pushing us around in all sorts of directions while we tried to stay still and look at things. We saw one giant sea turtle up close, and this time my camera was working a little better. We also saw a weird looking big eel with its mouth open, and lots of great reef fish and other colorful dudes. After about 45 minutes we got out, thankful for towels the guy from the boat had lugged out for us, and hiked back. We picked up Wendy (who uses a cane for knee issues and opted out of many activities) at the beach bar and enjoyed the black sand beach for a bit before heading to our included lunch restaurant. The woman who owned the place and cooks the food was very friendly and the food was very nice, I got chicken plus rice, lentils, salad, a quinoa soup, some fried doughy cheesy bread, and a nice lemongrass iced tea and najarilla juice (a local fruit that despite its name is not the same as the naranja, or orange).
Back on the boat and it was another hour and a half ride to Isla Isabela, our next destination. Geographically the biggest island, Isabela boasts a good amount of touristic infrastructure yet bad wifi and cell reception, plus just one recently-added ATM that sometimes runs out of money. We are here for 3 nights, so disconnecting it is. It is slowly getting easier a few days in; I’m aware of how addicted I am to my phone. We paid a $10 island entry fee, carried our bags to a bus, met our local assistant Tito (groups don’t always get assistants, and we didn’t have one later on our last island), and checked into our rooms. A bit of an indecisive conversation later and I once again secured my own room, a nice spot on the second floor of the San Vicente hotel.
After a shower break we met Paulina for our next day briefing, and she walked us the few blocks into the main part of town to point out restaurants and such. We walked in the roads, avoiding a few taxis and motorbikes, and noticed as the pavement turned to sandy stone. There were a few options and we chose a spot with a nice happy hour and a good veggie menu. I tried vegetarian ceviche, a little out of my comfort zone as a non-seafood eater but Paulina had been hyping it up. It was delicious! Such good flavors; I get why people love the non-veggie version now. Dinner was $18 and my mojito was $5 for happy hour. Paulina joined us for a drink then went off on her own. We started walking back, a few of us opting at my urging to walk back along the beach, where we felt the cool white sand and took photos with the Isabela sign. Back to the hotel early tonight, and we have a late morning tomorrow with breakfast at 7:30. The mini market across the street is playing music into the street that I can hear from my room a bit and it is pretty annoying; it’s 10:30pm now so hopefully it stops soon. Getting tired. Goodnight!
travels.of.tara 