The Galapagos Islands by Margaret Rhijnsburger

Ever hear of the Galapagos Islands? Do you know what makes these islands so special? Do you know where the Galapagos Islands are? I didn’t know until a short while ago. Where do I begin? The side trip we took there was amazing! You really must go there sometime and go for at least a week as our 2 ½ day visit was too short, although we were limited by the cruise ship schedule. (As a free advertising plug, we direct you to Debbie Hughes of Marlin Travel at (403) 255-6707 in Calgary who did a great job in booking our Galapagos adventure – Thanks Debbie!)
The Galapagos Islands are made up of 13 large islands, six minor ones, and more than 40 uninhabited outcroppings, all from volcanic eruptions. Some of the younger islands still have active volcanoes. These islands have mammals, birds, flora, and fauna different from any others found elsewhere in the world. This makes these islands so special. You can find sea lions, dolphins, whales, multitudinous colourful fishes, different species of giant tortoises, and iguanas. Galapagos is home to a variety of birds such as: blue footed, red footed and masked boobies, flamingos, frigate birds, albatrosses, unique small penguins, non-flying cormorants, and different types of finches.

We were the only passengers from the ship to venture off to these remote islands which are located 1000 km. west off the coast of Ecuador. We left the ship at Manta, Ecuador and drove with our guide and a driver to Guayaquil, Ecuador’s economic hub. This 200 km. road trip took over four hours, over a very rough and bumpy road.

The next day a new guide met us to take us to the airport. There is only one flight daily to the Galapagos Islands and this flight took us to the Island of Baltra. This island only serves as an airport site and was originally built for US military defence of the Panama Canal during World War II. A short 10 minute drive took us to the Itabaca canal and a ferry ride took us across the canal over to the Island of Santa Cruz. A 45 minute van ride with a full police escort took us to the town of Puerto Ayora and made us feel like royalty (ok, we were the 4th van in a parade of about 20 vans and buses, but it was our first police escort!). In Puerto Ayora we stayed at the beautiful Red Mangrove Inn and it would be our home for the next few days.

Puerto Ayora is a quaint small town with shops, art galleries, restaurants, a harbour, and the Charles Darwin Foundation headquarters. This was our first stop to explore where our guide showed us the giant tortoises breeding center, as well as a small land iguana breeding center. We learned of their conservation efforts for these endangered species and their varieties. There we also saw the Opuntia Cacti which is endemic of the Galapagos and 14 different types of finches that would wake us up in the morning with their song.

The next morning we went to the harbour and picked up a boat that would take us on a tour of some of the other islands and eventually the island of Floreana with the black sand. The boat ride like the taxi ride to Guayaquil is not for anyone with a weak stomach. We first went to a small island and saw frigate birds nesting in the rocks. Another island introduced us to blue and red footed boobies. The next stop was a place to go snorkelling with sea lions, large sea tortoises, colourful fish. It was so much fun that even small sharks could not scare Erin out of the water, although they got me back to the boat quickly despite claims from the crew that they were “friendly” sharks. A friendly shark is an oxymoron to me! At Floreana Island there were playful sea lions and very small penguins, iguanas sunning themselves on the rocks, and more sea tortoises. After this island and a few more opportunities to snorkel we went to an island where we saw pink flamingos and cacti that you couldn’t believe could grow there because of the barren lava rock found there. Too soon we were back in the harbour. It was difficult to believe we had been out for more than 8 hours!

That night we explored the tiny gift and craft shops, as well as the art galleries. We also stopped by the fish market where we saw pelicans and sea lions poised to pick up any leftovers from the catch of the fisherman cutting up the tuna.
Too soon we left this oasis of nature. We retraced our steps to Guayaquil and then flew to Lima, Peru to catch the Royal Princess and set sail to Easter Island. This is one place we all want to go back to. Muchas gracios Ecuador!