November 15th 2014
The morning begins early and I’m up and out of my dorm at Galapagos Best Home stay by 7:30 am. The first step is dropping off my laundry around the corner, something I do only because I’m feeling merciful for my fellow cruise passengers. From there comes the not so simple matter of securing 1000 USD.
I wander through the city and try every ATM there is, but, for whatever reading, none of my three cards will give me any money. Luckily there’s a back up plan and after asking some friendly locals for directions I’m off to the bank. I reach there just before opening at 9 and find a long line of locals already assembled outside. They seem amused watching me watch pelicans and frigate birds diving into the water just a few feet from where the line ends.
I ask around in line and the locals seem fairly sure I’ll be able to get a cash advance off my visa. The bank opens promptly and the line reforms inside. There’s at least 40 people in front of me and I’m settling in for a long wait but the bank tellers work faster than anyone I’ve ever seen and about 10 minutes later I’m walking out of the bank with 1000 USD in my money belt and a smile on my face.
I head back to Sea moon travel to get the money out of my hands but find it closed so instead I wander a little ways from the centre of town and find a delicious ecuadorian breakfast across from the central mercado on the main street for 4 USD. The friendly ladies behind the counter keep cooking my meal despite a sudden power cut and soon I’m chowing down on a delicious Bolon con Queso, and a small thin steak in a mild tomato sauce, alongside a cool glass of tree tomato juice. (For those who don’t know a Bolon is a huge ball made of mashed plantains with cheese meat or vegetables mixed in… And it’s delicious)
After breakfast I head back to Sea moon Travel and find it still closed. I’m find myself glad I’m in Galapagos as here walking around with so much cash doesn’t seem as dangerous as it might in a major city. So, determined not to waste the day, I put on lots of sunscreen (Do this even if it’s cloudy, the equatorial sun doesn’t have a merciful bone in it’s body) and headed off towards the Charles Darwin Giant Land Tortoise breeding centre.
It doesn’t take long before I’m detouring though as I pass a small market place near a dock with countless lobster and huge Tuna fish for sale. But it’s not the dead animals that bring me off my planned path, it’s the live ones. As more and more fisherman bring in their catch countless pelicans and other birds circle and swoop down for scraps. I’m utterly enthralled and standing at the edge of the pier staring at the birds for a good few minutes before I look down beside me. A sea lion is maybe 3 feet from my feet staring up at me inquisitively. I jump up and barely manage not to fall of the edge of the pier in shock. The sea lion just seems to smile. Eventually she gets up and heads closer to the men gutting the fish for sale.
As I watch more closely I notice three more sea lions down in the water, one of whom, a young female, eventually climbs up onto the pier. A few tourists stop and gawk at the animals and together we marvel at the fearless nature of the wildlife here. Not only do they not run away often times you have to move to avoid touching them. One tourist passes some wisdom to me before moving on, “Always have your camera out, every step something breath taking could happen.” Undoubtedly good advice for the galapagos.
Most tourists snap a few photos and head on their way, but I’m too enthralled by the life of the marketplace, both animal and human, so I take a seat and watch the merchants carving up fish, generously sharing the unneeded fish parts with the hovering sea lions and pelicans. One of the men strikes up a conversation with me and encourages me to give the female sea lion a pat. Not knowing this is a big no no, and heavily encouraged by the local man I reach out and pat the beautiful sea lion.
Much to my delight she emits a sound akin to a purr and rolls on the ground letting me pat her for a good few seconds before climbing backup onto her flippers and scampering away. Only later do I find out that by no means should you touch any of the animals in the national park, although perhaps that rule only applies in the national park, and not in the city itself. Either way I eventually walk away from the fish market knowing I’ll not forget it anytime soon.
I continue on out past the edge of town and into the National park, that is most of the Galapagos islands. The breeding centre is an easy half hour walk from town and before I even reach the centre I’m stopping to go out and explore a pier where I find a group of marine iguanas and countless crabs, not to mention pelicans and frigates circling above.
Everywhere you look in the Galapagos is teeming with life, and as I look more closely down at the crabs I notice a small heron and countless more Marine Iguanas on the lava rocks, slick and wet with the Oceans lapping waves. After a few photos I carry on, signing in at the information booth before proceeding along the road passed a small beach and towards a collection of buildings.
I’m overheating and relieved to find some shade for a few minutes before leaving the main scientific study buildings of the centre towards where the keep the tortoises. The tortoise projects across the islands played a large part in the founding and development of the Galapagos National parks. It is a story full of tragedy and triumph. Lonesome George, the most famous tortoise in the world and the last of his race from his island passed in 2012, making for another extinct race. But one most focus on the bright spots sometimes, and when the project began the population of tortoises was dwindling, now it is quickly growing, and more and more of these massive prehistoric beasts roam in the wilds on many islands. There’s still work to be done, but progress is being made.
I walk up through well defined paths and stumble upon a few dozen tortoises sharing an enclosure with a group of local high school girls who are cleaning the enclosure and having water fights all at once. The tortoises though, despite their silence, are what draw the attention. They’re huge, and look ancient beyond even their years. They are also as slow as you’d guess, and incredibly inconsiderate walkers. Clambering over each other roughly rather than take a few steps to go around. I stand there in awe just watching them for a good half hour before finally moving on.
I then find my way through some paths to the baby turtles and a single lonely land iguana. A few more minutes are spent watching these babies and reading about the placed for them. In general the eggs are collected and incubated at the centre. The turtles are then raised there for 7 years, until they are big enough and strong enough not to be overly vulnerable to possible prey and then they are released. One fun fact from the days explorations is that the sex of the turtle is determined by the temperature at which the eggs are incubated. 27 degrees brings forth men children only, 29.5 degrees yields females.
From the tortoises I walk back into the centre of Puerto Ayora. On the way I stumble into a ceramic garden and head down to the coast where again tucked away in the maze of black lava rocks I find countless animals, Pelicans, Marine Iguanas, Herons, and Countless crabs.
I make another brief stop at the fish market to watch the receding action as the fish stock disappears. The birds are out in even more force and I’m glad I’ve followed that sage advice from earlier and still have my camera out and ready.
I head back into the centre towards Sea moon travel only to find Betty still not there. Frustrated, I run into Thomas and Christian sitting in a restaurant and join them and a few friends for a chat to kill some time until Betty arrives.
Around 6pm we split up and I’m finally able to hand over 1000 dollars before heading back towards my dorm. Of course let’s not forget the mandatory stop at the street food stalls nestled behind the central mercado. This time my trusty beef intestine lady isn’t there but I find something even better, huge freshly fried empanadas flying out of the boiling oil like hot cakes as locals clamber for more. After a few minutes I’ve secured two, one cheese, one chicken for 1.75 total. Of course, they’re too delicious to leave it at that and the lady behind the empanadas stand laughs and smiles as she sells me two more for the road.
I eat as I walk, managing to navigate my way in the dark using the local high school as a landmark to find my laundry and then my hostel. Back in the dorm I meet a lovely german couple Phil and Sabine who, randomly enough, are also booked onto Guantanamera the next morning.
I settle into a sleep after a long time lying awake, too excited for the next 8 days. I dream I’m back in bradford, with a class to teach, but no idea where to find them. The next morning Phil and Sabine tell me I was talking in my sleep most of the night. Sorry guys! Bad hostel etiquette!
2 Comments
Love reading your galapagos posts. Brings back many great memories. I also did the Guantanamera boat cruise. Wonderful! Wish i was back there. Looking forward to reading more when you return to the land of wifi.. 😉
glad to hear you’re enjoying the blog. Guantanamera was a surprisingly excellent boat wasn’t it, thanks mostly to the crew and guide.