I got up this morning in Guyaquil a little after 6, before the alarm went off, and got ready to go. I ordered breakfast this time. Big mistake. First, they have to take you next door. Then it was scrambled eggs and a funky cheese sandwich. No fruit. No black tea, but there was a jasmine herbal bag. The watermelon juice was good and the scrambled eggs were okay. I've had better. Headed to the airport after breakfast. Breakfast there would have been more expensive, but at least it would have been tasty. Oh well. Live and learn.
I found the line to get the Transit Control Card (TCT). It looks like any other airline ticket counter. I waited in line then gave the guy my passport. He filled everything out for me, getting most things right. He just left out part of my name, but nobody seemed to care. You must run every bag you plan to take to the Galapagos with you through a scanner, where they look for seeds, dirt, and other things that might contaminate the islands. My bags cleared, and I decided to check my carry on case, since there is no layover. Kinda hard to lose it with only one stop. So, they zip tied it closed. My backpack with my camera and other electronics was left unsecured. After checking my bag and getting through security, I bought a bag of chips and a soda pop for much more than I should have, even considering airport prices, but hey, they're imports here and imports are taxed heavily, a tax paid by the consumer. Almost $15 just for a large (not family sized large, just 174 grams) bag of Lays and a 410 ml bottle of Coke without sugar.
I got on the flight and learned that I didn't need to do that because I bought premium seats on this set of flights since they were only a couple of dollars more, and they fed us lunch in the good seats! Nothing great, just a ham and cheese sandwich and a small bag of Ruffles. I ate my sandwich and left my Ruffles closed and hoped they would let me bring both bags of chips into the islands!
My seat mate waffled between sleeping and trying to carry on conversation with me. He just seemed a little “off” to me. No big, though. It was a short flight. When we landed, he stayed close to me, even getting my suitcase off the stand it was sitting on for me before I could lift it off. I couldn't even shake him when I went to the ladies room. It was like he waited for me to come out! He made sure I knew to get a ticket for the bus instead of just paying the driver on the bus, and then he sat beside me on the bus to the ferry. On the bus, he started asking questions that crossed the line – things like what hostel was I staying in, so I just told him I had somebody meeting me on the other side of the ferry (which was the truth, as my tour guide hired me a personal driver to pick me up there). It really didn't seem to help. He kept on. He didn't even take the hint when I started turning away from him and snapping pictures out the window. After several tries, I did get a shot of the "Iguana Crossing" sign.
He made sure my suitcase got loaded onto the same ferry I was on (and him,too), but I squeezed between a couple of other people so he couldn't sit by me on the ferry. I did feel like a local when everybody started yelling out the color and size of their cases so the dock workers would load them on the right boat. I was good and loud with “Pequenia morada! No, la otra! Si, esso!” The luggage went on the same boat we were in, which was very overloaded, past maximum occupancy (not even counting the captain) and with the luggage just kind of hanging on the edges. I'm not sure how we didn't lose at least one bag!
When we were unloading on Santa Cruz Island, I had my backpack over one shoulder, like I normally carry it, and he decided to adjust the strap and grab my other arm so it would go over both shoulders. Not cool! But rather than turn and potentially cause problems on the boat (on which I wasn't terribly stable to begin with), I just kept walking, thinking I would get my suitcase after somebody took it off the boat for me. Unfortunately, this guy was the one that took it off, following after me! So, I got my bag, and I saw my driver. My tour guide had sent me a picture of him and his name, and I also saw him holding a sign but I was too far away to read it. I yelled, “Wilson!” and headed toward him. He seemed to catch on because he yelled back, “Beth!” and came quickly to collect me, grabbing my suitcase, and clutching my shoulder like an old friend while tucking his sign away so it wasn't very obvious. I don't know if he got it or if he was just putting the card away since he no longer needed it and he just responded in kind, but the creep then backed off. I don't have the Spanish to convey my relief to him and the safety he provided, but I did let my tour guide know. This was only the first of the times I was really happy I went with a local tour guide, and specifically the one I chose. Before anyone asks, I used Galapagos Surf Discovery, and I highly recommend them!
Wilson took me to the place where the volcano crater collapsed without any eruption, Los Gemelos. A huge sinkhole! I tried, but my camera didn't have a wide enough angle lens to get the whole thing. Even having lived in Florida, where sinkholes are an everyday occurence, this one was impressive!
Wilson was chilly, and it was a bit moist and cool out, so after showing me a few things about the formation and surrounding flora, he went back to the truck while I finished the hike. Saw some pretty birds, but couldn't get any decent pictures of them because they stayed behind the trees. The flora was pretty thick, and the ground was wet, so I didn't get very aggressive on trying to get to a focus point.
After I finished my hike, he took me to see the tortoises. He gave me a choice of two different reserves, and I chose the one with the shorter walk to and through the lava tunnels. Go me! Lazy forever! Driving to the reserve was amazing! So many tortoises! Just in the field with the cattle and the cattle egrets! He stopped for several and taught me how to tell the difference between the males and females. (The females are smaller and darker and have shorter tails.) He stopped for a gargantuan one, too, but I couldn't get a good shot of him because there was so much other stuff in front and the focus never would take. He said they eat all of the corn, ears and the whole plant and he showed me the low bamboo fences they lay to keep the tortoises out of the corn fields. Big enough bamboo logs that the tortoises cannot get over them!
When we got to the reserve, we put on gum boots and shloshed through the field, stopping at a couple of big guys munching on the grass. Our guide, David, spoke excellent English and told us the other way to tell the males from the females (flat vs concave lower carapace so the male can get on top). Kinda hard to look for that one when they're walking around, though! He also told us that these tortoises live to about 175 years. He says it's difficult to age them until their upper carapace smooths out, at around 100 years, and no longer has any big dents in it. In another part of the island, there is a different species of tortoise that has longer front legs and longer necks because they live on more arid turf and have to reach higher to forage.
He said they eat and then they just leach out the vitamins and nutrients from the grass without really digesting it. After they have their nutritents, they just expell a “grass ball” as poop. It's a big grass ball, too! When David kicked it open, you could see that the grass inside was still intact!
Because they're cold blooded, they like to lay in water to regulate their temperature. We couldn't see his head and was wondering how he breathes, so David took us around and showed us how, if you looked really closely, you could see his little nose up under the carapace elevated just above the water.
After that, we went by a pond and talked about poison apple trees that are good for the tortoises, but will kill humans. And we went to the lava tunnels. I've seen a bunch of lava tunnels, and these weren't really anything special, except there was an owl at the entrance of the second one!
After that, Wilson brought me to my hostel (Hostal Sir Francis Drake in Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island) and made sure everything was good for me to get checked in before he left me. The hostal was great. Hot water, comfy bed, but the internet sucked, which is to be expected on the islands.
Tomorrow, I will finally get in the water! Alethea with Galapagos Surf Discovery has arranged for Juan Carlos to meet me at my hostel and walk me to where I meet my group, making sure to hand me off to the right group! She says it can get confusing since all tours meet at the same place, and she wanted to make sure there were no hitches for me! I'm sure I could have navigated it on my own (like I normally do), but it was nice not having to! A lot less stress already.
No comments:
Post a Comment