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 Galápagos islands 2009
 In september 2009 we made a 14 day trip with Sawadee to the Galápagos islands. There was no dutch guide with this trip, a local agent arranged transport to and from the airport. First we stayed two nights in Quito. Then we flew to the Galápagos islands. Here we joined an international group on the Yacht Darwin. After a 8 day cruise we flew back to Quito for another two night stay. All pictures can be found at our Multiply page. There are more albums from this trip. On this trip we made a movie too. The movie can be seen here. Or read the travelstory below. Monday 21/9 and Tuesday 22/9 It is a long day of waiting before we finally leave for Schiphol airport at 8 pm. There are not many people at the airport at this time so everything is going quickly and we have some time left to shop and even drink a beer in the bar. Just before midnight our plane leaves for Bonaire, the first stop on our flight. For a few people Bonaire is the end destination. The others can leave the plane as transit passengers. We decide to get some fresh air. That was a wrong call, it is warm and muggy although it is 3 o'clock at the night. In the small terminal building there are only two shops. Both are open even at this hour. When we have a look at a world map to determine where the rest of journey goes we meet Herman and Niesje, our travel companions. After an hour we fly on to Guayaquil, the next stop. This is a major destination and many people leave the plane. Thirty minutes later (we had to stay on board) there are a lot of people coming on board. No freedom anymore, no empty seat between us.  We are glad it is only 30 minutes to go to Quito.During the flight we had to fill in three forms, an entry form, a form for customs and one to declare we are healthy. The health form was never collected at the airport and the custom officers didn't seem very interested in their form either. This means we are ready with all formalities and go to the door where the local representative is waiting for us. A minivan drives us through the busy city traffic to hostal Villa Nancy. Herman and Niesje stay in another hotel for a reason we are not aware off. Despite it being the early morning we are tired and choose to lie down for a while. After a refreshing shower, around noon, we go outside to explore the neighbourhood. Our hotel is just outside Mariscal Sucre, the tourist centre of Quito. There are a lot of bars and restaurant in this neighbourhood, but no major attractions. The driving style in Quito is very easy compared to home. It is too much hassle to cross the busy road on foot. It takes us 30 minutes to get to Plaza Foch, a square with many restaurants. We enjoy a lunch here at 'Suzette'. Salty pancakes with all kind of stuffing are served here. On our way back to the hotel we stop at the bank to get some dollars from the ATM. (In Ecuador they use the US dollar.) Next stop is a small supermarket to buy some soft drinks and bottled water. In the hotel room we settle down in front of the television. There are over 100 channels, but almost every channel is in Spanish. Even a channel like Discovery is dubbed. We are still tired of the flight and the height in Quito, so we decide to have dinner at a restaurant nearby. We choose Barlovento, a fish restaurant on the corner of the street. For starters we share a plate with local dishes. It tastes very good except for some brown things that taste like wet cookies. After dinner we have a stroll around, there are many restaurants and bars in the vicinity. We make it an early night, hoping we are feeling fit tomorrow. Wednesday 23/9 Despite the fact there is a busy road close to the hotel, we had a very quiet night. There are hardly cars after 11 and it doesn't start again before 6. Waking up in room 11 is not bad.  With all the space in our two bedrooms
and windows on two sides of the building.
We slept in the room with the television, this means we can watch the news from the bed.
It takes us a while to find a network that broadcasts the news in German, so we can understand it. Nothing important happened.Time for breakfast. It is a good breakfast, not too much but enough choice. There is fruit, bread, cheese, cereals and fried eggs. This morning we walk to the old city. In this centre there are many churches, we enter a few. They are all very different inside. Students are demonstrating at the central square in front of the presidential palace. Many police officers are around, but the atmosphere is not threatening. 
Some Indian women with colourful clothes are enjoying a day in a park. They are watching while their husbands are rowing in the small boats for rent here.We have lunch at Plaza Foch again. But we choose another restaurant. This one is specialized in fondue, but we order a salad. Tired but contented we get back to the hotel. The height with its thin air and the steep roads up to the hotel are just a little bit too much. Again we end the day in front of the television set. We enjoyed the food last night so we decide to have dinner at the same restaurant again. For starters we choose another regional plate with more fish. It is a bit more expensive, but the crab claws and the shrimp in coconut are worth it. Back in our room we have to try our bottle of rum ($1,25). It has a strong vanilla smell but the taste is good. All pictures of Quito are at our Multiply page. Thursday 24/9The alarm clock beeps at 6, but we are long awake. There is enough time to take a shower and pack our bags, today we fly to the Galápagos islands. This sounds easy, but it can be complicated. First you have to pay $10, in return we get a very nice plastic card. Then scan the luggage before we can check in for our flight. We end up in a large hall with 5 gates. 
On the boarding pass it states our flight leaves at gate 0. But there is no gate zero.All announcements are in Spanish and it so crowded and noisy we can't hear them anyway. The panels tell us our flight is boarding, but there is no gate mentioned. Suddenly we pick up an announcement: gate 2. But at gate 2 they redirect us to gate 4. Here they tell us "not yet". Other get the answer "10 minutes", or even "30 minutes". Just at the point all the passengers are very confused we are directed to gate 1, where we leave 45 minutes after schedule. I have a  window seat and a great view of the old city. Some pictures and on to the islands.Our flight was scheduled to have a stop in Guaiaquil, but we fly directly to Baltra. This makes we arrive earlier than expected. The first thing we have to do here is pay $100 entry fee. Then we wait for the previous flight to collect their bags. After that we are allowed into the luggage room to search for our bags. Our guide, Serjio, is waiting for us outside. As soon as all 16 passengers are in the bus we leave for the dock. It is only a 5 minute drive. At the dock we are greeted by sea lions, a marine iguana and some striking orange crabs. The dinghy first brings the luggage to the ship. Then the first 8 passengers are taken. After the second passenger ride everybody is on board and Serjio tells us which cabin we are in. We have cabin 7, in the middle of the ship, downstairs. Which is good against seasickness, it is the place with the less movements. The cabin is not very large, but it will do for the next 8 days. After lunch Serjio gives the first briefing. This afternoon we start with our first wet landing. Las Bachas is a beach at Santa Cruz island, where turtles lays their eggs. We don't find turtles, but we see their tracks clearly. It is unbelievable how many we see, and so close by. 
There are blue boobies, frigate birds, pelicans and even a few flamingos in a lagoon. At the black lava rocks the black marine iguanas are showing a great camouflage, the orange Sally Lightfoot
crab is just the opposite. After a short walk, there is time to snorkel. Back on the boat we are introduced to a Galápagos ritual. In order to have no contamination from one island to another our feet are washed every time you gat back on board. The other advantage is that no piles of sand are collected on board. At 6 the security briefing and some things about tomorrow. Until 5 this night we stay in a bay near Santa Cruz island with some other ships. We thought we were going to sail the entire night, wrong it is only 90 minutes to the next island. No night at sea. All pictures of Las Bachas are at our Santa Cruz page at Multiply. Friday 25/9The engine starts at exactly 5 in the morning. Before breakfast, at 7, we are anchored between North and South Plaza.  Next to us
 is a ship of the National Park Police. There for we have to wear life vests in the dingy.
We are greeted by sea lions on the landing. The black lava is dotted with orange crabs and a yellow warbler is also sticking out here.Under the tall cactus trees we find lots of iguanas. A hybrid between the marine and land iguana is speeding off. All these animals before we even started our walk. The landscape of South Plaza 
is striking. The red undergrowth and the tall green cactus trees are a nice contrast. On this island we also see the swallow tailed gull, the blue footed booby and the masked booby. Two hours
later we have a huge amount of pictures and many minutes movie material.
When everybody is back on board we sail to Santa Fé.After two hours we anchor in a secluded bay. A good lunch is served. Next it is time to snorkel in the clear water of the bay. Wellington, the cook, is feeding the scraps to the fish. That was not necessary, there would have been enough fish around without feeding. After a while Serjio takes the dingy to guide the swimmers along the lagoon. Close to the beach they see some white tip sharks.  When everybody is back on board
Serjio takes the non swimmers to see the sharks.In the meantime the captain fried some banana fritters. They are delicious, the captain is smiling when we give him our compliments. At 4 there is a wet landing. The beach is filled with sea lions. The Galápagos pigeon and the mockingbird make their appearance too. The iguana of Santa Fé is looking much different from the iguana this morning at South Plaza. They have another colour, another shape of the head and they eat the flowers of the cactus in stead of the fruit. Before dinner there is a briefing about our visit to Espańola tomorrow. Dinner is great fish with rice and vegetables. When everybody is going to bed we drink a beer with Herman. At 10 we think it is enough and go to bed to dream about an unforgettable day. All pictures of South Plaza and Santa Fé are at our Multiply page. Zaterdag 26/9We sailed the entire night. Now and then there were huge waves. We are so glad we are at the bottom of the ship. Imagine how big the swaying is two decks up.  It is 5:15 when we anchor in
Gardner Bay at Espańola. At 6 we think it is time for coffee. Except for the crew there is nobody outside their cabin. When the breakfast bell rings some still have to come out.
There are people who were sick this night, others just don't like to get up early.At 8 the dingy leaves for the beach with all the passengers of 49 and older. Some of the younger guests come with the second boat 30 minutes later, most of them stay on board though.  Ofcourse there are sea lions on the beach, but really special here are the marine iguanas. They are much larger than the ones we saw before and they have striking red spots in their otherwise black skin. The lava lizard female with her red head and the larger male with only red in its body are great too. At 10 the dingy takes us back to the Darwin. We sail on to Gardner Island. Here it is snorkelling time. 
After lunch we sail to Punta Suarez, also on Espańola. Here we walk along a track that isn't too long, but still takes us 3 hours because there is very much to see. Many marine iguanas.Nestling boobies, blue footed and masked, and nestling albatrosses. The young albatros is ugly, yet adorable. It is fluffy and looks like a character of a children's show. That night the captain is putting stamps in our passports of the Post Office Bay on Floreana. He also sells postcards which we can 'post' tomorrow at the Post Office Bay. At request we start to sail at 7:30 pm so there is still some time left to sleep after we arrived at Floreana. All pictures of Espańola are at our Multiply page. Sunday 27/9It was a good idea to start sailing early. The sea was rough and it didn't feel good until we anchored. Didn't look what time it was, but I was tired enough to sleep a bit. A quarter past six, we just arrived on the stern, a penguin passes by. A large school of sardines was swimming under the boat. The penguin was hunting them. A blue footed booby was also hungry and dived into the school, next to the boat. 
At 8:15 the dingy leaves for Post Office Bay on Floreana. After a wet landing we walk a bit land inwards to get to the post box. It is a barrel where you can put your mail in. The next
ship sailing by will have a look and see if they can deliver some for you. The first barrel was put here by whalers in 1793. We have a look at the cards already there, some of us take a
few others find nothing for their neighbourhood.The path ends at a lava tunnel. This tunnel is ending in the sea. Inside it is dark and wet and after a short walk in there everybody emerges at the land end. Besides these two points of interest there is not much here. The landscape is dry and there are not many animals around. Next stop is only 10 minutes over the water: Punta Cormoránt. Behind the beach is a lagoon where the flamingos nest. But they built their nests at the other end of the lagoon, almost 
out of sight. A path across the island brings to another beach. In the water are two turtles mating. They are really close to the coast. There are also some rays feeding on small crabs
almost on the beach. Just of the coast of Punta Cormoránt is an old eroded crater, Devils Crown. The Darwin anchors near it and we can go snorkel around the crater with the dingy guiding us. The currant is  very strong here but there are some good sightings.After lunch the ship sails to Santa Cruz. It means hours on a rough sea. Most passengers lie down until we enter the harbour of Puerto Ayora at six. Wellington has dinner ready at seven. Tonight we can visit the town, there are a few bars and souvenir shops. But we decide to have a drink on board. When the others come back they tell us it was not very exciting and we made the right choice. We are going on land tomorrow anyway. All Floreana pictures can be found at our Multiply page. Monday 28/9The group that is going to leave us has breakfast at 6:30. All 6 of us, making the full 8-day cruise, are also present.  Just to be sure they are really leaving.
We have breakfast at 7 and at 7:45 we go ashore to visit the Charles Darwin Research Station. In the station we see some very large tortoises but also the very small that just hatched.
The other group is just leaving the CDRS to go the airport. After our visit we have some time off to see the town. Time to have a coffee and shop for some souvenirs. Lunch is in hotel Red Booby, the hotel is owned by the same company that owns the yacht. The lunch is very good. Soup, a huge lobster and a dessert. Maybe a bit too much. After lunch we have some more spare time in the town. We find a lovely church, where the entire interior is tuned into the islands and their nature. But overall it is not an exciting town. At 2 a bus brings us to the mountains, looking for tortoises in the wild. It doesn't take long to see some, just besides the road in a meadow. The first scheduled stop is at a lava tunnel. This tunnel has electric lights and is very spacious. Just a short passage under a low ceiling on all fours. Higher up the island the 
atmosphere is not dry but very moist. The tunnel is wet and muddy. At the end of the tunnel we find an owl sitting in a hole in the rock. This makes it a great walk.
The bus picks us up at the other end and drives on to a farm. This farm is bordering the national park. In the grass between the cows are some very large tortoises. You can go up to them,
but they will pull their head and legs in. This is different from the ones in the research station. Clearly they were more used to people.Back on the yacht we take a quick shower before the new guests arrive. They come aboard at 6. Serjio starts with the briefing about tomorrow. Then we go back on land, dinner is again in the hotel. Tonight they serve lasagne. After dinner we drink a coffee in a bar on the main street before we go back to the yacht. All Santa Cruz pictures at our Multiply page. Tuesday 29/9This night was the first time we put plugs in our ears. Why didn't we think about that before? We start sailing around one and the waves were not that bad. We had a good night sleep. 
Tea at six on the stern. We are anchored near an island with a red beach: Rabida.
Breakfast at 7 and a wet landing at 7:45. The new guests are very excited about the sea lions on the beach. That is a good thing because we think there is not much to see here except
for the beautiful landscape. Nevertheless we manage to see some 'new' animals: the ghost crab and the oystercatcher. Snorkelling is from the beach. Lots of starfish. When everybody is back on board we sail to Punta Egas, Santiago. Two hours later we stop in a bay with a view on the Sugarloaf. A wet landing on a black beach. We start with a 2 hour walk. 
Marine iguanas, sea lions but also fur seals. The dark lava heron is well camouflaged against the black lava rocks, unlike the orange crabs. The inland route back is not very exciting,
everything is dry and barren.There is again snorkelling from the beach. This time there are some turtles around the swimmers. At 5 everybody is back on board, the crew too. They played a game of soccer against another boat. They tell us they won, the captain claims to have scored three goals. Before dinner we sail to Buccaneers Cove where, while the sun sets, we admire some stunning rock formations. Dinner is served but in the meantime the captain sails on to the next destination. This night we are anchored. All pictures of Rabida and Punta Egas are at our Multiply page. Wednesday 30/9Our last full day on board of the Darwin. As usual we are on deck at 6. Today I brought my camera, that could be the reason no animals show themselves. Just at the moment I am thinking 
this a lava gull lands at the dingy and a large shark is swimming by. So I am wrong.There are many boats in the bay at St.Bartolomé. The passengers of the catamaran are already boarding their dingy for an excursion to the top of the island. We are lucky we get breakfast first. When we board our dingy the catamaran group is already returning to the ship. After a dry landing we walk up along the slopes of the volcano. The sound system at the large ship is making an announcement. They have to get ready to follow us. The climb is beautiful. There are many different lava formations and we also see a cactus we didn't see before. At the top there is this great view of the two parts of the island with the sand in the middle. You can also see the lava field on Santiago and a submarine crater below us.  At 10 we go to the beach. We land at the north beach
and walk to the south beach. In between it is very green in contrast to the rest of the island where you find hardly any plants.
Back to the north beach from where the snorkelling is good. Only one person sees the shark near the pinnacle. Back on board lunch is ready.After lunch we set sail for Sombrero Chino. But first the captain stops at Rocas Bainbridgen, an eroded crater. Inside there is a lagoon with pink flamingos. Again a great moment. At Sombrero Chino we see the usual, sea lions, marine iguanas, lava lizards and crabs. The scenery is different though. There are some nice lava formations like tubes and bubbles. Just before the sun sets the dingy brings us along the coast of Santiago. A few penguins are posing for us there on the rocks. The captain is waiting for us in his uniform. Tonight we have a farewell drink with the crew. And after dinner there even is a farewell cake. At 8:30 we start sailing to North Seymour and the passengers are, one by one, making their way to their cabins. All pictures of Bartolomé and Sombrero Chino can be found at our Multiply page. Thursday 1/10No breakfast at 7 today, but our last land excursion. Serjio promised us frigate birds with their large red swollen throats. And he was right.  The island is used as a nesting site for the frigates.
The mail bird is trying to attract a female by showing a large red balloon on his throat. Many males did already succeed and there are quit a few large young frigates around.
There are also some iguanas here. They are originally from Baltra. When Baltra was a military base during the second world war the iguana there was almost wiped out. To preserve the species
they some iguanas were placed on nearby Seymour.Getting back to the dock our road is blocked by a large male sea lion. Serjio has to work hard to scare him away and secure our safe passage. Back on board we have the last bananas for breakfast. They are a bit small, but there is a piece of watermelon to accompany it. In the meantime we sail to Baltra, where our trip ends. After saying goodbye to the captain and the crew we are brought to the dock with the dingy. A bus is waiting for us at the dock. After check in we said goodbye to Ashley and Kirsten. They stay here for a few more days because they want to go diving. Then we have to hurry and pass the luggage check. For an unknown reason we are on flight 180 at 11:00 instead of flight 193 at 11:30. Everything is going smoothly and it is before eleven when we leave ground and see the island gliding away under us. We are curious if we have a stop this time or is it a direct flight again? It turns out to be a direct flight. This way we are at Quito airport two hours early. No one is waiting for us at this time. 
Herman asks the man waiting for the Gecko's group (our English speaking travel buddies) if he can help us. It turns out he is working for the same company (ATC) and he calls the office.
Our driver is at the other end of town and can't get here fast so he arranges different transport.Two vans because we are in different hotels. It is arranged very fast and very well. Compliments to ATC. Our driver doesn't know the neighbourhood very good. He turns into a wrong street. He is amazed when i tell him where to go exactly. We are lucky it is the same hotel we stayed in last week otherwise we could have been cruising around for some time. It takes a long time at reception, they are trying to find something. Just when we think there is a problem they found our register card from last week and we get the key to room 1. A room on ground level this time, not such a good view. But there are two king size beds in the room. A lot more comfort than on the boat. Tired of all the impressions from last week, we decide to relax and read a book in our room. Dinner in the fish restaurant. Again we are the only ones, at lunch it is always full but dinner is not that popular. All pictures of North Seymour at our Multiply page. Friday 2/10Despite the fact we fell asleep early yesterday we are staying in bed until 7:30. Later than we normally would do. We take our time for breakfast and after that we slowly make our way to the botanical garden. The botanical garden is situated in a large park where exercise is a theme. There are jogging and cycling routes, playing fields and even an athletic track. Ofcourse you can also hire boats here to row through the canals that are special made for that purpose. 
In the park is also the cross of the pope. A huge concrete cross erected for the visit of the pope. Not really worth visiting though.
There were many dogs in the park. Some with trainers, at least it seems so, they walk the dogs for a few meters and let them jump over a small fence.The botanical garden is nice to visit but not very large. And before noon we saw the entire thing. So we walked to Sucre Mariscal, the tourist area. Lunch at Suzette at Plaza Foch. Herman and Niesje show up here too. On our way back to our hotel we stop at the bank to get some dollars to pay the departure tax. Our books are still not finished. So another relaxing afternoon. Just like yesterday at five we see a hummingbird eating from the flowers in the garden in front of our window. In the meantime it started to rain. The rain is falling straight down and it looks like it will be raining for quit some time. At six we have a dinner appointment with Herman and Niesje. Raincoats out of the bags and hope for the best. It stopped really soon and we got there almost dry. Dinner is at an Arabic restaurant. Good food, but very much. Nice to walk 30 minutes back to the hotel and let the food settle. Time to go to bed, it is an early rise tomorrow. saturday 3/10 Not much rest this night. Not only because we had to get up early. It is clearly weekend, at other days it was always quiet after 11 at night.  But this night there was noise from
bars or just on the street. Breakfast is ready at 6. Everything is there except for the eggs. The woman who fries the eggs is not coming until 7.
Just like last week the driver is 20 minutes early. We like it, it is better than waiting and hoping you will be on time for your flight.Advantage is we leave early for Amsterdam and arrive there 25 minutes ahead of schedule. Just before 6 in the morning we are home, in time to get a few hours of sleep and dream about a fantastic but tiring trip. Our travels Africa America Australia Asia |