Island Hopping In The Galapagos
Galapagos is a bucket list vacation spot. We really wanted to go, but we didn’t want to break the bank in one location. From first glance, it seemed unattainably expensive. With 5-day cruises starting at $4000/person, this was not going to fit in our budget if we were going to stick to our yearlong plan. We stumbled across a blog that detailed how to do the Galapagos on a budget and dug deeper.
Four of the Galapagos Islands are inhabited, and 3 are easily accessible without a cruise. We came up with a land-based travel plan of flying into San Cristobal Island, ferrying to Isabela Island, then ferrying back to Santa Cruz Island before flying back to mainland Ecuador. This route enabled us to spend 3 days on each of the islands over a 10 day total stay. Each island we visited was unique in its own way from the terrain and type of beaches to the wildlife and also the level of development. In all cases, the people we met were serious custodians of the environment that made their lives possible on the Galapagos Islands.
The Sea
Our visit to the Galapagos Islands was centered around our time near the water. We were excited to see the sea lions, which dominated the beaches, boardwalks, and docks. The Galapagos Islands are a sanctuary for the sea lions to safely rest away from the predators in their feeding grounds out at sea. The sea lions were especially present on San Cristobal Island where we had an opportunity to snorkel with them and share the beach. When snorkeling, some of the younger pups were especially playful in the water and it almost felt like we were dancing together.
…but, most of the time, it seemed like they were sleeping off an all-night party.
The sea lions seem to know this is their turf too. The kids were waiting on a bench for the ferry when a sea lion waddled up, stopped, and stared at them before giving a bark. The kids hopped up and she maneuvered up onto her bench.
Sea turtles also find sanctuary at the Galapagos Islands. At one of the sea lion loberias, we saw easily more than a dozen green sea turtles taking their afternoon siesta. These gentle giants were amazing to see up close and the kids were motivated to perfect their snorkeling nearby.
Along with the sea turtles, we enjoyed sightings of rays, eels, and many other sea creatures while we played in the water.
The marine iguanas are unique to the Galapagos Islands and could be found everywhere along the coast line, especially near the volcanic rocks where they find shelter. They made up a big part of the landscape. Occasionally while we were snorkeling, an iguana would startle us in the water as they effortlessly swam by us. At one site on Isla Isabela, we were amazed to see hundreds of iguanas stacked upon each other to find shade amongst the rocks. We were there during mating season where we could see the females preparing their nests in the nearby sandy soils and later collapsing from the exhaustion of their hard work.
We were also captivated by the birds of the islands. We became avid birdwatchers, spotting pelicans and the famous blue-footed boobies, and watching as they hovered then dive-bombed for their meals. The behavior of the frigate birds is different and a guide explained to us that they do not have the oil necessary for waterproofing their feathers. The frigates can only skim the surface of the water or steal fish from other birds, granting them the nickname pirate bird.
We were drawn to the sea and spent most days at the beach and in the water. We never felt crowded on the beaches and many times had them to ourselves. The kids took to snorkeling and that opened up opportunities for excursions. For one of our water excursions, we hiked out to a grotto in the intertidal zone where we were able to snorkel amongst the rocks in over 50 feet of water. Despite the water not being salty, we could see schools of marine fish near the bottom.
On Land
The volcanoes shape the land on the Galapagos islands. Surprisingly, the elevation change from sea level up to the highland areas noticeably dropped the temperature and amount of humidity and moisture in the air. As you go up in elevation, things turn from desert scrub to green fields and large trees. The lush greenery of the highlands is where the Galapagos tortoises make their home and we got to visit one of the ranches where they take refuge. We saw tortoises that were over a hundred years old as we drove down some of the country roads by the cattle ranches. We also found ourselves in a situation of explaining to the kids what happens when two grown-up tortoises love each other very much and want to make baby tortoises. There was love in the air! While we were at it, we got to wish each other a happy 15th wedding anniversary in matching tortoise shells.
Near the tortoise ranch were the remnants of an old lava tube. Walking through the tubes, you could get the sense for the amount of molten magma that helped shape the island. We entered the tube not exactly knowing what to expect and kept our fingers crossed that the lights would stay on for the full trek of it. We walked over fallen boulders and crawled through pinch points over the course of 1 km. Beautiful and eerie all at the same time, we were happy to emerge on the other side.
We also stopped at the Darwin Museum and learned these fun facts: Darwin suffered from seasickness; therefore, he spent more of his time on the islands and, through boredom, began to study the animals. He took his journal home and his kids repurposed them for drawing paper. Most of his original work that survives today is thanks to parents wanting to save their kids artwork!
Life on the Galapagos
The Galapagos Islands are a 2-hour flight from mainland Ecuador, but cargo ships supplying the island take quite a bit longer to make the trip. While we were on the island, we were told that the cargo ships are their lifeline as 97% of the islands are National Park land. On Isla Isabela, the cargo ship arrives only once every two weeks. We visited the Galapagos at the start of Lent and got a chance to experience Carnaval on Isla Isabela, where the cargo ship prioritized extra crates of beer for the weekend’s celebrations. Finding the right food and visiting multiple stores to get fresh produce seemed to be a challenge at times, but we managed to eat well and stay hydrated during our visit. We especially enjoyed our time cooking meals at our hostel in Isla Isabela and bumping elbows with new friends that had traveled from all over the world to visit the island.
We like to wander around town on days we need to run a few errands. It gives us a lay of the land and to feel the vibe of the communities we visit. We were obviously one of the plethora of outsiders visiting the Galapagos, yet we always felt welcome. Some of our favorite experiences come out of sticking our neck out there and trying some of the local places. The street-side empanada stand and pop-up neighborhood grill providing corn cob and chicken on a stick top some of our best street food experiences. A little restaurant on the other side of town was our introduction to queso soup and part of the fun of stumbling through our interactions in a foreign language was figuring out what we ordered only after it arrived.
On the move
Traveling within the Galapagos was some of the more challenging travel that we had experienced up to this point. The ferry rides between each of the islands, water taxis to get to the ferries, and extra steps to catch our flights (cab to ferry to bus) meant getting around was not always easy or pleasant. We expected the ferry rides between the islands to be a spacious boat ride on a larger vessel; however, they turned out to be small fishing boats with benches crammed full for the bumpy 2-hour boat rides. While some of us get seasick, Jon relaxes and reads his kindle enjoying how the roar of the motor blocks out any distractions.
Our stay in the Galapagos was supposed to last for 10 days; however, we missed our departing flight by less than an hour due to a missed email about a late schedule change by the airline. The Galapagos has limited flights per day and we couldn’t catch a flight out until 4 days later. It was a devastating experience at the time knowing how it would impact our upcoming plans, but in the end, who can really complain about 4 extra days on a tropical island?
The bonus days in the Galapagos gave us a chance to relax and decompress without a schedule, but we were sad to have to cut our upcoming time in Quito short. With the schedule change we arrived in Quito in the late afternoon and were booked to fly out early the next morning. We found the perfect fit for our short time, a home stay with a retired couple up in the mountains above the Quito airport. They picked us up from the airport and in short order we were at their beautiful estate. Eduardo, a retired architect had designed and built the house, and Olguita, a retired public affairs communications chief for the government of Ecuador, created a garden as beautiful as the house. The property provided a view of Pinchincha, the towering volcano overshadowing Quito, as the sun set that evening. Our hosts soon welcomed us in for a family dinner with interesting conversation. They were so excited to have our kids in their home that they set up the foosball table and spoiled them with sugary cereals and pastries before taxiing us to the airport early the next day. This very short stay had a big impact on our family and we would love to return in the future. Thank you so much for welcoming us like family into your home, Olguita y Eduardo!
Leaving Quito marked a milestone in our planned trip for the year as we were saying goodbye to South America. We left wishing we could spend more time there, but we were even more excited for the next leg in our journey, catching up with family and friends on their Spring Break vacations in Central America.