The EB Hotel is the nicest airport hotel we’ve ever experienced. We have a 6:30 shuttle to catch our flight,
so the staff has open the breakfast service early just for us. Then walking out, the doorman takes it upon
himself to make us a couple of lattes for the road. Five stars for service.. highly recommend!
Once at the airport we are immediately greeted by our host,
who gives us our tickets, our registration docs and a blue Galaxy Sirius sticker.
He explains the next few hours and gets
us to the security line then reminds us to put the sticker on as soon as we
land. Again the Latam flight is efficient
and uneventful and in no time at all, we’re on the island of Baltra taking our
first steps in the Galapogos. Once we’re
in the terminal, the host spots our sticker and it’s VIP treatment all the
way. Ours was one of three flights that
all landed within a few minutes, so there’s a crush of people in line for
security. Due to strict environmental
regulations, every bag needs to be screened for prohibited items such as food
and other organic material, and that long line is going slow. Good thing we’re not in it. The round blue sticker affords us a private
lounge with the other 14 passengers we’ll be with for the next six days. Some very kind person gathers our luggage while
we have a nice snack, get a cool drink and are introduced to the cast of our
very own six episode season of White Lotus Galapagos.
We pile into a small bus, well, most of us do. It’s a little small so we get into a waiting
van with a couple from St. Petersburg, Florida.
Our caravan of two drives 15 minute to the Baltra Ferry Terminal, where
we again skip the line and are loaded into our own boat, this one thankfully
seats all of us, but its seaworthiness under full load may be questionable. It only takes 10 minutes to cross the Itabaca
Channel to Santa Cruz, so we figure we’ll probably be OK.
In a recent online review of the Santa Cruz ferry/bus
terminal, one sealion wrote: “why are all these people trying to sit on my
bench?” And we’re loaded into another
bus.
The trip is about 45 minutes traversing Santa Cruz Island,
up over the highlands and back down to Puerto Ayora, the island’s largest town
and tourist hub. Fernanda, our host
since the airport, refers to it as the t-shirt capitol of the Galapagos. She’s right.
The streets are lined with boardwalk quality souvenir shops, open air
bars and kiosks for day-tour operators. We head to the dock, long with lots of births on either side. More sealions hang out and mug for the people. It’s
here we first board our panga, the zodiac-style inflatable dingy which will
become our constant companion for the next week. Our ship has two pangas, and our group is
split and shuttled to the bow of the waiting vessel.
The Galaxy Sirius. The
119’, 8 cabin catamaran with a crew of 10 that will be our home for the next 6 days.
It’s a purpose-built yacht, specifically for exploring the Galapagos. As a matter of preservation, you can only
tour the archipelago with groups led by certified national park guides, and only
groups of 16 people plus 2 guides can land at a time. There is a fleet of similar size ships for all
budgets for you to choose from when you visit, some doing basic day trips, some
multi-day itineraries. The Galaxy group
has 7 ships in their fleet including this, the newest in the entire Galapagos.
It's swank. Sleek black
exterior, modern finishes, very generous staterooms, a top deck hot tub with
360 degree views, two chefs. It’s also
billed as one of the most ecologically sound ships ever built, made to share these
precious lands, not damage them. In
short, gorgeous. In real time, we know
how lucky we are to be here.
After being assigned our stateroom, we’re gathered in the
common area living room for a quick briefing and safety discussion. The group is excited to be here and starting
to interact. We meet the two couples
traveling together from Indianapolis.
Lunch is served around 2, buffet style in the adjacent dining room, and
it’s very good with some top notch local red snapper. We meet more of the group, the travel agent
from Quito and her young cousin, the transplanted New Yorkers now residing in
New Mexico. It’s an interesting mix and
we are looking forward to seeing how the group unfolds.
Our first excursion set us back into the pangas to an
awaiting bus. We head back the way we
came, up into the highlands, to visit a private farm. We’re not here for the crops. We’re here to see the giant Galapagos tortoises that are
native and free-roaming here. The ranches build their fences with raised
bottom rungs so even the biggest tortoises can come and go as they please. The biggest guys are over 100 years old with
shells over 6 feet in diameter and weighing in at almost 900 pounds. And they are everywhere. And completely unfazed by our presence.
As an unexpected surprise, there is also a lava tunnel here. This was formed during a long-past volcanic eruption when the lava was moving horizontally underground seeking a week point to blast up through. It’s tall enough to walk through and in places it’s two levels, suggesting this tunnel was used in multiple eruptions many years apart. We are enthralled.
We end at their lodge where we get to play with the tortoise shells. Mandy even does some push-ups in a big shell to see how heavy they really are.
Back on the bus, back to Puerto Ayora where we’re given a
few minutes to shop for any essentials we may need. These will be the last stores we see for many
days, so stock up now. Waiting on the pier
for the Pangas, we’re entertained by the pelicans doing pelican things. Diving, clumsily landing on things not made
to hold pelicans, trying to swallow too big fish who do not want to be
swallowed. On board, we’re given a
briefing of what to expect for the next day, then it’s a full course, Ecuador themed
dinner. My octopus is prepared
perfectly, tender but not overcooked.
Mandy steak is equally as good.
Then it’s back to our lux stateroom. There are 4 on the lower deck, 4 on the
second deck. Because Mandy has never
been on a ship this size overnight, we specifically chose a lower deck cabin for
less movement. We started our night’s
navigation about the same time dinner ended.
The water in the bay is choppy, not a great harbinger for the trip. The open sea is downright rough, the boat tossed
around in the big swells and it’s concerning.
And loud. Mandy only tells me
later what she thought: “What have I gotten myself in to?” My running joke echoing in her head… “you can
always walk home!” But somehow, we don’t
need Dramamine. We’re strangely rocked
to sleep occasionally woken by a particularly big lurch, but fall right
back. We’re in your hands, Gods of the Galapagos.
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