Galápagos Baby

The Galápagos islands are known to be expensive. Most tourists stay 5, 7 or 10 days. Volunteering is permitted but my host for the dog rescue wouldn't let me declare I would be helping her. (I don't know why). So, I came up with a story to explain my 60 day trip which surely any half-arsed Immigration officer would ask. In Spanish, I memorised mending a broken heart, relaxing in nature and writing a book. My immigration control lady was gossiping so much with her colleague that she wasn't even a quarter-arsed and waved me through with a mere raised eyebrow.

Wake up on time. Check.
Get taxi to airport without being robbed. Check.
Pass immigration control. Check.
Drop off oversized baggage without being charged extra. Check.
Sitting in cafe with an hour to spare, relaxed. Check.

Then I heard my name being called over the tannoy. Damn, I thought, Miss Slackass's boss has double checked and determined I need further investigation. How do I say 'broken heart' again??

But no, instead I was escorted for a 'random' baggage extra security check in the bowels of the airport before the bags are actually loaded into the plane. Except it wasn't random. They had clocked my aerosols in my bag, deodorant, mosquito and cockroach spray. I always fly with these. I have never heard of someone's deodorants getting confiscated. I explained this to them in now panicked and broken Spanglish. Then he got a bit of paper out and I shut up thinking I was about to get fined. Luckily, just confiscated, no fine.

In San Cristobal island (Galapagos, Baby!) baggage handlers unloaded the luggage and sent sniffer dogs around it all in front of us, before letting us get hold of our bags. The dog did not look particularly focused on the task which was quite amusing.

I walked from the airport to my Airbnb accommodation The third Ecuadorian airport that is in walking distance to towns. My room is above a juice bar run by a nice couple who play the TV from 7am to 10pm very, very loudly. I went for a stroll and in less that 4 minutes I saw sea lions, lava lizards, jumbo dragonflies and red crabs called Sally Go Lightly.

The little town, Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, is the capital of the Galápagos Islands (which are part of Ecuador). It is clean, pretty, calm, safe and looks like a lot of coastal Mediterranean holiday spots, with a promenade, bars and cafes etc. It's hot and humid.

Beyond the chatter of voices, music from the bar, sound of the waves is the constant, smile-inducing sound of sea lions talking to each other.

I went on to a little beach with sea lions on; avoiding them (2: meter rule), I almost tripped on a baby seal. Apparently, the locals keep clear of sea lions as they can be unpredictable. Only the tourists get close enough to be hurt :-)

I saw a young boy about 6 years old, in his own, with a 10 inch fat, orange fish in his hands. Quite an intricate fish with fancy gills and bits coming out of its head.
Is it real? Yes, he said.
Is it dead? Yes
What are you going to do with it? Cook it for dinner, of course! Dummy!

He didn't say 'dummy' but pretty sure that's what he was thinking.Read more