We're back from our Galapagos Hiking Adventure, which seemed worlds away from Quito. Yes, we did get what we asked for--heat! It hit us, along with the humidity, as we crossed the tarmack on San Cristobal, where we were met by our guide, Alfredo, an adventure sports specialist. The first full day we thought he'd mixed our group up with the Multi-sport tour, which he's guiding next week.
Besides Judy, Mike and ourselves, our group included two muy simpatico women {Gayle from Alaska and Heather from Minnesota} After a half day hike and swim Sunday to break us in, we set out Monday morning in a loncha to snorkel the coastal waters off S. Cristobal. Off Isla Lobos we swam up close to the frolicking sealion pups and marine iguana in the shallow, warm water. On Kicker Rock we spotted all three types of Boobies, Blue and Red Footed and Masked, as well as the red pouched frigatebirds, pelicans and herons. Even more thrills waited below in the deep waters. As well as the colorful tropical fish, we swam over four large, graceful Eagle Rays who glided back and forth in formation. Then, suddenly, Alfredo yelled, "Over here, Hammerheads!" There was a school of at least 15. I think if we'd been on our own, we'd have been out of there PDQ but somehow, with him there, if was okay to swim over them. He says they're not seen there that often. That was definitely the highlight.
But that wasn't the end of the adventure for the day. After a late lunch back in S. C., it felt like siesta time, but no, ocean kayaking was the activity for the afternoon. This was a new experience for us, but Heather and Gayle are experienced kayakers so took single boats, while Jim and I had a double. The first launch site was quickly abandoned due to crashing surf, lava rocks and rebar, not a good combination. Instead, we carried the kayaks over to the dock where, after a quick orientation we put in safely and paddled for over an hour in moderate chop over to Darwin Bay, arriving just as I thought my arms would fall off. A quick look, then we turned around as sunset was less than an hour away. We were feeling quite pleased we'd made it back without overturning, but just as we pulled in to the first lava/surf/rebar site Alf chose as a landing spot, a large wave crashed and flipped us. Jim had a scraped hand as he was in the rear and got the worst of it {I just got some water up my nose} but it could have been worse, so we were lucky.
The three islands we visited were all very different and held a variety of endemic species, which we got to see on our hikes exploring lowlands and highlands. There was a real downpour on the highland hike on Santa Cruz, so we brought out the raincapes we've been lugging for years and never used. On that hike we saw the Giant Tortoises and Land Iguana in their natural habitat. Puerto Ayora, the largest town in the Galapagos, only has a population of 18,000. We had local guides everywhere, a make work for locals kind of think. Most were knowledgeable and several spoke good English. The third island, Isabela, is almost all lava and looks like your picture postcard tropical island. There, we hiked up 1000 m to a huge caldera, 5 miles x 6 mi. which erupted just last year. As we left this morning in an 8 passenger Cessna for the Baltra Airport, and our flight to the mainland, the views of the deep blue waters, black rocks, and white sand were awesome. I brought back a few mementos from the Islands: 101 jellyfish bites on one arm alone and myriad horsefly and mosquito bites on my legs, neck and arms. There is a price to pay for paradise!
Felicidades to Anna, John and Forest!
Tomorrow, exploring Old Town Quito and the start of Semana Santa then off to Peru Monday.
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