Galápagos: Day 1

We checked out of Vibes Aurik and headed to the airport around 07:00. While on the way there I entered a state of panic because I decided to Google and check if coffee was allowed into the Galapagos. The night before I'd done a good job convincing myself it wasn't a seed/nut because it was roasted and it certainly wasn't a fruit. Why I decided to Google it on the way to the airport, who knows. But I was devastated to read coffee was not allowed in as they try to support local Galapagos coffee farms.

We got to the airport, received our Transit Control Card, and then went to put the bags through the agricultural screening...moment of truth. I put them through and walked as unsuspiciously as I could to the other side. I saw Allan chatting with the woman, saw my bag come out of the x-ray, waited a second, saw the “ok” tag get put on, and grabbed it off the belt.

It turns out Allan was asked if we had any food, he said no, and the woman asked if he had any souvenirs and where he'd been travelling. When we replied Colombia, the woman asked if we had coffee, he said some tonight along the lines of, “ah, yes, I think my wife bought some as a souvenir”, and she waved him on. What a relief! Having done a bit more research, it seems as though coffee isn’t prohibited on the same way as nuts and seeds, they just want you to buy Galápagos coffee.

After clearing immigration and security, we went to the lounge for some breakfast and then headed to board our flight. It was a short half hour to Guayaquil to refuel, and then continued on to the Galapagos!

We landed in San Cristobal around 12:30, an hour behind Ecuador. There was a sniffer dog, a very excited one I might add, sniffed all the checked bags and I prayed the dog didn't know what coffee beans smelled like. Luckily, it all worked out and we just had to wait for the tour guide to arrive. We decided to organise our own flights rather than pay ~20% commission to Happy Gringo for clicking the same buttons we clicked. We also opted for the slightly cheaper flight, which meant we had to hang around for a couple of hours for others arriving on the later (more expensive) flight.

When we got to the Monserrat, we were (very) pleasantly surprised. It was such a nice boat and the people all seemed lovely too, which is an added bonus. Shortly after arriving, we got our lunch (spaghetti bolognese with salad and ice cream for dessert). We then had a short briefing on the rest of our day in San Cristobal and the safety of the boat.

We disembarked and headed for the translation center that gives a short history of the islands; formation until present day. We then walked up a short path to the top of Tijeretas Hill. It was a pretty easy, quick walk along a concrete path and then some wooden steps.

At the top we had a nice view of the coastline. We took a different route back down to get us to the beach where we saw A TON of sea lions. And it's birthing season, so there were little babies all over the place. It was crazy to be so close to these animals and they just didn't care you were there walking around taking pictures of them. Most of the sea lions were lounging, babies were eating, and some of the bigger sea lions were running around barking or swimming.

We also walked to the other end of the beach and saw some lizards. Allan saw a blue footed booby (I only saw its head as I didn't want to climb the dilapidated tower).

We had some free time before boarding the boat, so I bought some postcards for when we visit the post office barrel. Allan wandered round for a bit looking for a barbers.

Prior to dinner, we met the rest of the crew, all 9 of them. There are: 2 captains, a sailor, 2 engineers, a chef, a sous chef, a housekeeper, a barman/waiter, and our naturalist guide (would make 10). We all had a drink and toasted together.

Dinner was either chicken with a very savoury sauce or shrimp in a coconut curry sauce. It came with a mound of mashed potatoes, pickled cabbage, and a carrot. We had poached pears for dessert. The rest of the evening was ours to chill out before our early start tomorrow in Española island.

Allan’s deal of the day(s): 55% off our Galápagos cruise. When we looked at this cruise while planning our trip it was almost £7,000. By booking a couple of weeks before, we ended up paying around £3,200!Read more