Tag: Isabela

Galapagos – Otra vez

If doing the Galapagos again in the future, I’d recommend the following:

Definitely book a cruise. 5 nights is probably the right number for me before I go stir crazy. I highly recommend the Nemo III as we all agreed it was the best, most comfortable boat out there (much of it due to the extra width of the catamaran). Ideally the cruise leaves straight from Baltra after landing at its airport. That way you can avoid hitting Santa Cruz more than once as the cruise will most likely stop at Puerto Ayora to see the giant tortoises & Charles Darwin Research Center. With the exception of one cool street that transforms from nothing during the day to a thriving cheap fresh seafood scene at night as tables & chairs crowd the street, we found Puerto Ayora to be stifling hot & offering little more than shopping, a shitload of tourists (relatively speaking bc it’s still a little city with less than 10k population) & day trips from the main port. Hopefully with the cruise, you can knock out some far off islands that are not accessible by Santa Cruz daytrips. Few cruises include Genovesa & that was important to us & turns out we had one of the most incredible snorkeling experiences ever in Darwin Bay. 

Definitely visit Isabela. Even if you’re lucky enough to visit Isabela & Fernandina on the cruise, head back to Isabela to stay on the island. It’s an easy 2hr boat ride from Puerto Ayora & worth it. 

Consider flying out of the airport in San Cristobal, accessible via boat from Puerto Ayora as well. Or stay in Puerto Ayora if you want to knock out other day trips. Gina & I spent a couple days here before the cruise & enjoyed the hike to Tortuga Bay on day 1 where we saw a gorgeous beach, a bunch of marine iguanas & swam with our first sea lion & marine iguana as well as a day trip to Santa Fe Island where we saw our first blue footed boobies, I realized birds were really cool too, we snorkeled with sea lions & watched jumping manta rays. I certainly don’t mean to be negative about Puerto Ayora; rather, my preference is overwhelmingly in favor of Isabela. 

I inexplicably caught a head cold in the Galapagos so unfortunately was unable to dive. While disappointed at first, I then saw such incredible marine life snorkeling (& freediving) that I felt as if I wasn’t missing out too much. However, next time I will dive. And the best dive trips are run out of Puerto Ayora as well as one out of San Cristobal. 
The Galapagos isn’t for everyone. And it’s expensive so it eliminates most of the backpacking crowd. You need to be really into exploring nature & marine, bird & wildlife in an environment that’s been highly protected & regulated since the 1960s. Due to the regulations, a naturalist guide is required to do just about everything on the islands. Two exceptions are the hike to Tortuga Bay in Puerto Ayora & the amazing snorkeling on Isabela in Concha de Perla. As a result of these protections, the wildlife doesn’t seem to feel threatened & are oftentimes quite curious & playful. It made us wonder how much better the world would be if everywhere had the same common sense environmental protections. I found it to be absolutely amazing & this is one place where I know I’ll return within 5 years. 

The beach at Tortuga Bay


Galapagos – Isabela island

The second half of our trip involved escaping Santa Cruz (& the island’s biggest city of Puerto Ayora) in favor of hanging on Isabela, the largest island with 5 active volcanoes but limited population & a tiny little sand-road capital town of Puerto Villamil. It seems many people visit the island on cruises but don’t stay overnight & those who do, only stay a night or 2. We fell in love with the place, enjoyed some insane day trips (snorkeling & an active crater volcano), snorkeled daily at the magical Concha de Perla, celebrated carnival & even had our own local go-to restaurant.

The sweet little town of Puerto Villamil
Our first snorkeling experience at Concha de Perla, a little lagoon-like atmosphere bordered by lava rocks, featuring these cool tunnel formations good for exploring & reached by walking through mangroves.
On our first snorkeling trip (for free, no guide needed, 15-min walk out of town from hostal, we saw 2 eagle rays, a playful penguin, marine iguanas swimming & lazing about, tons of cool fish & sea lions sleeping under the bench.
Lazy marine iguana

Playful penguin

https://youtu.be/10pfRMcl5Co

5hr hike to top of Sierra Negra, an active crater volcano


Malene, a cool ass chick from Denmark we met on the boat, hung with us for awhile on Isabela & for this incredible snorkeling trip to Las Tuneles which included a first stop at this dope place containing quite a surprise.
We dove down to a shark den filled with white tipped reef sharks. OMFG it was amazing!!!

Please take the time to watch this 10 second video of the shark den. Trust me, it’s worth it. 

https://youtu.be/i57FA33hzbY

School of golden rays

Seahorse hanging in the mangroves
The biggest sea turtles I’ve ever seen. And lots of them.

This one was as long as me & its head was as big as me. Yes that’s me.
Las Tuneles

We saw a couple massive eagle rays in a tunnel as well as the large white tipped shark below
Marbled ray
Blue-footed booby showing off. We were lucky enough to watch 2 blue-footed boonies perform their mating dance.

Relaxing at happy hour after an amazing day of snorkeling
We rented bikes & hiked uphill to a nice lookout point over Isabela
We were finally able to see flamingos. We had tried a couple other times to see them in their typical habitat but they were a no show.
Isabela’s carnival celebration started the Saturday before Ash Wednesday & continued for 4 days. Lots of body paint, spray cans full of foamy body paint, water balloons, loud music, salsa, drinks & food til the early morning hours.

On our second snorkeling trip to Concha de Perla, among several other types of marine life, we swam real close to penguins. For once, they weren’t darting every which way being their elusive selves. Rather, they were floating much like ducks in a group of 3 & floated right up next to us. K, G&I had our masks half out of the water silently watching when after about 3 minutes, G asks “What are those?”. Trying not to drown due to laughter, I quickly responded “they’re penguins!”. It was first & only time of trip where those little guys weren’t  zipping past us so it was real nice (& unusual) to get a real close look. 

On our last snorkeling outing to Concha de Perla on our last day on Isabela, K&I came upon the little dock after a tour group had just arrived. People everywhere. We both silently cursed as we assumed we wouldn’t have the same amazing experiences given all the people. Boy were we wrong. After about 15 minutes, a young male sea lion slid into the lagoon from the lava rocks in low tide & slipped in right under me. Of course we attempted to follow him but clearly he was pretty quick. We guessed right & followed him into the mangrove tunnels where not only did we find him, he proceeded to swim & play with us for the next 15-20mins. He’d come swimming quickly right at me, making this intense eye contact & then within 4-6 inches of my mask, he’d quickly dart away. He was doing spins & twirls & flips, swimming all around us, darting every which way. He was rolling on the sea floor, then tried to pick up shells & other debris before he blew a big bubble that came directly up towards me. I reached out my hand & popped it & he seemed to respond kindly as he proceeded to continue blowing multiple bubbles at us. He’d disappear for a minute & then we’d think the games were over & K&I would celebrate with high-fives, when all of a sudden, he’d appear out of nowhere to seemingly surprise us & the games would start all over again. It was the most amazing magical experience being so up close & personal to this little guy. We kept our space, respected his, let him take the lead, & weren’t frantically moving about sticking cameras in his face to get the best shot. Perhaps it’s ridiculous but I think he responded to that. Eventually it had to end. But by this time, we considered him a friend so we nicknamed him “Jugue”, short for “jugueton” which means “playful” in Spanish. I love Jugue.