Going to the Galápagos

We arrived at Guayaquil airport early in the morning, anticipating that we may need to pay a fine for purchasing the incorrect fare. Fortunately for us, there were no issues with our tickets. But there was a queue a mile long at the customs counter. All checked baggage had to be scanned by customs and we had to pay a departure tax before we could check-in to our flight. Instead of all of the transactions being processed at one central point, we had to line for customs and then stand in line to pay the departure tax. We split up and one scanned the bags while the other stood in line to pay the tax, before checking in with the airline. After an hour in line, eating breakfast and striking up a conversation with a Croatian couple, who live in Panama but holiday in the Galápagos, we reached the front of the queue and had just enough time to check-in and get to the gate before take-off.

We were prepared for the Galápagos to be expensive but we had heard such amazing stories about the islands that we thought that it would well-worth it. It's supposed to be a trip of a lifetime to an area that is full of unique wildlife and landscapes. David Attenborough’s documentary and indeed Ecuadorian tourism market the islands as a special place on earth that (helped) contribute to Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. And while the history of the island and the scenery are interesting, it really fell short of all the hype, particularly for two Australian boys who have seen blue, crystal-clear water and plenty of unique wildlife in our own backyard.

We were told by one of our tour guides that the first inhabitants were only interested in making money from the island and it seems hundreds of years later very little has changed, except much of the wildlife have been reduced or disappeared due to human activity and the introduction of foreign flora and fauna, changing the eco-system of the islands. Immediately on arrival, foreigners are required to pay $100 each to enter the Galápagos, which if it was directed to the protection of the island and providing infrastructure we would have had no problems, but our impression was that only some of this money is being directed to these causes.

Only four of the islands are inhabited by people so to see more remote areas it is necessary to go on a cruise or tour. Our first day on Santa Cruz Island was spent roaming from one travel agent to another trying to find the best last-minute cruise. We had heard of some people spending US$4000 for a seven day cruise, which works out to be a five day cruise, because most boats don't leave port until late in the evening on the “first day” and return early in the morning on the “last day”. We were convinced by one travel agent that we would be better off doing day trips to maximise our time without compromising on the opportunity to see a variety of animals and scenery. It also worked out to be a cheaper way to see many of the islands.

Our first tour was to Pinzón Island to go snorkelling with the sea lions, sharks and fish. At first, snorkelling took a bit of getting used to, as neither of us had experienced anything like this before. Despite growing up in a beach culture, neither of us had really been water babies. Apart from a few sea lions, the wildlife that we saw was fairly scarce and was unlike the David Attenborough documentary. Maybe it was the wrong season or maybe we went to the wrong islands. Our first impressions were that we could have seen more on the Great Barrier Reef. However, we did meet some great people on the tour, particularly a German couple, Jenz and Sandra, and their two children who had recently visited Australia and couldn't stop raving about their adventures. At first, Jenz spoke English with a thick German accent, but, by the end of the day, he had switched to more of a British crossed with an Australian accent. His wife, Sandra, was fluent in Spanish, so we tried to brush up on our Spanish with her; that was in between Sandra and Ricky vomiting over the edge of the boat as it bounced across the ocean.

The following day, we had a spare day to wander around on dry land to the Darwin station on Santa Cruz Island, along with one half of the los Canadienses, David, while the other half of los Canadienses, Terrie, got pampered at the local spa. Unfortunately, the Darwin station was not as impressive as we had expected, except we somehow missed the turtle breeding centre. We did witness, on a number of occasions, sea lions making themselves at home on park benches and seats along the shore or begging at the fish market for any off-cuts on offer.

After being land bound for a day, it was time to hit the seas again. This time, we headed for Santa Fe for some more snorkelling and the promise of seeing more wildlife. Unfortunately apart from a few fish, a manta ray, a stingray and a few sea lions, the two-legged creatures on our tour were more interesting and made up for the lack of wildlife. We spent most of the day exchanging travel stories with Nynke and Erik, a Dutch couple and practising our Spanish with Eylen and Carlos, a Colombian couple from Medellín. We all hit it off so well that we ended up continuing the party with some cocktails afterwards. We exchanged contact details and vowed to catch-up. In fact, we caught up with both couples numerous times over the next few days.

After four days on Santa Cruz Island, we travelled to Isabela Island, where we spent the day wandering along the beach. Unlike Santa Cruz, Isabela was less touristy but more polluted. We couldn't get over the amount of rubbish that littered the Island. It certainly wouldn't make for a great postcard picture and it didn't feature in David's doco.

Our second day on Isabela commenced with a tour to the Túneles, which are volcanic lava formations situated in the ocean. We almost didn't make the tour because the tour group had forgotten to pick us up. In hindsight, it was a sign of what was to come. Unfortunately, we weren't lucky enough to be part of a fun, social group, which had been our previous experience. Instead, we were faced with a rude, overweight Spaniard and his wife. The man was so arrogant that he thought the rules of the island didn’t apply to him. On the tour, we were fortunate enough to catch sight of three blue-footed boobies, which are native to the islands. Insert boob joke here. Except the Spaniard couldn't understand that we shouldn't intrude upon the boobie's territory and remain at least two metres away. Maybe he wasn't familiar with the metric system. But, when we were snorkelling and a huge sea turtle swam by, he couldn't stop himself from grabbing the turtle by its flipper. This kind of behaviour continued throughout the day, despite being told not to by the tour guide. At the end of the tour, he went up and close with one of the sea lions. But the sea lion wasn't having any of it and stood up and roared at him. Pity the sea lion didn't make a meal (or two or three) out of him. Obviously, even the sea lion thought he tasted a bit off. The day finished on a brighter note when we met up with Nynke and Erik, los Hollandés, for more drinks, along with a Canadian couple, Debbie and Irene, who we kept crossing paths with.

The final day on Isabela Island was spent on a tour to the volcanos. Again the tour group almost forget about us as we waited and waited for the old, converted truck to arrive. As we jumped on-board, we immediately saw two familiar faces, Pierre and Gita, another Canadian couple who we had crossed paths with in Huanchaco in Peru and Baños in Ecuador. The volcano tour was actually more interesting than expected, mostly because the tour guide was knowledgeable and informative. After the tour, we caught up with los Hollandés once again for drinks and dinner, but only after Jason cut Erik’s hair. The end result was a Dutchman with a German haircut, just like us. Instead of craving herring, Erik is now likely to be on the search for some sauerkraut or currywurst.

Early the next morning, we boarded our boat back to Santa Cruz Island. Unlike the boat on the way over, this one was no larger than a small fishing boat and only slightly bigger than a dingy. From the moment that we left the harbour, the boat bounced and crashed against the waves. Jason assured Ricky that once we had passed the breakwater that things would settle. However after almost two hours, our stomachs ended up in our throats. Thankfully the motion sickness tablets kicked in and we made it to dry land alive. We have whinged and whined about some of the flights along our journey but none of the flights come anywhere near this experience. Even an industrial-sized washing-machine-cum-plane couldn't spin and toss as much as this boat trip.

We were looking forward to getting to dry land and were expecting to take a tour to see the giant land turtles in the highlands. When we got to Santa Cruz Island, the tour agent claimed that this was not included in our package, when we were under the contrary impression. Lesson learnt. Make sure to get a detailed itinerary in writing before agreeing to the tour package. So we made our own way to the highlands to see the turtles. Afterwards, we couldn't get off the islands quick enough to return to the mainland and continue on our journey. Despite many of the negatives, if we hadn't of visited the Islands we would’ve never formed great friendships. The two-legged creatures on the islands were definitely far more interesting.

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