After a long, bumpy boat ride, complete with sea spray, we motored into Puerto Baquerizo Moreno. And for the first time on the islands we didn't have to pay a separate lancha to get us to the land, our boat pulled right up to the docks! We had heard from another traveler about The Albatros Hostel, so we decided to check it out after hearing some higher prices to rent a room for a few days.
The lady at The Albatros was about as happy as I have ever heard/seen anybody in a while. When we asked how much for a bed, she pointed at each of us and exclaimed "diez, diez, diez, Ahahahahahahaha!" and burst out in laughter, while escorting us up to our room. The room was a long 8 bed dormroom with a couple of fans and not much else besides termite tailings that made me think of a few places in Belize. But the place was saved by a third story balcony which gave us a great place to sit and chat while watching the locals pass by underneath us. We met a couple from Australia that were heading out on a cruise the next day as well as a Danish couple. We enjoyed a beer or two with them before heading to dinner.
Dinner was another great economy option called Herbs. We got the typical: soup, plate of rice or lentles or beans, and some kind of meat with a juice, all of that for $3! We have eaten out more on the Galapagos more than we have on the mainland but we haven't had the use of kitchens as much on the islands. San Cristobal seems to be the most chilled out and relaxed island, and there are sea lions lying about absolutely everywhere, and the big ones bark at you if you get too close...and you're walking on the side walk.
Our first full day on San Cristobal we would spend exploring a few beaches on either side of the town. The first one was called La Loberia, where we got to see a bunch of baby sea lions and on angry dad bellowing at us if we got to close. We had planned to snorkel a bit in the little bay but with that big fatty in the water we didn't feel as invited. A quick bit that confirmed that we weren't getting in the water there was when a smaller male sea lion came swimming up and hadn't noticed the big boy there. When he did see him, he turned and Bolted, the big boy absolutely Rocketed after him, both of them looked like torpedos ripping through the water. We can't swim that fast so we were content to gaze from a distance.. We were getting a lot of sun and decided to head back through town to see the other beach and stop off at the Interpretation Center on the way. The Interpretation Center was a great place to get some human history about the islands, how many times they have been "colonized" how devastated the local species were by stock and other animals/plants that potential colonizers brought along with them. I was always curious about the freshwater on the island and we found out that most of the wells or sources have been tainted or used up, one island (Floreana) doesn't even have a source of freshwater! After all that brain food we went to check out the other beach, again not really good snorkeling there so we soon retreated to our hostel to start cooling our now pinky skin. Dinner again that night was Herbs and we also got ice cream on the way back to our hostel.
Day two on San Cristobal we organized a tour to Kicker Rock (this is that huge rock that has a big slice missing in the middle, see facebook). We had a quick stop off at a calmer snorkel spot first were we saw heaps of sting rays, a few eagle rays, fish fish and more fishes, even got to see a few octopuses!! We also got to swim with some playful sea lions again. They are amazingly graceful underwater and so darn clumsy out of water its really funny. Then it was off to Kicker Rock. We had wetsuits to keep us a bit warmer, and they were needed, Kasey and a few others weren't ready to plunge back into the water, so the capitan circled the rock first. Then we slipped back into the water, the current here was pushing us through the fissure that was super deep water. There were layers of marine creatures, first jellys at the top, then a few fish layers, then Galapagos and Blacktip sharks. It was fun to freedive down amongst the fishes and see the sharks circling below, deep blue water underneath them. After floating through the massive crack, we circled around to our boat, on the way viewing more turtles (snacking on jellyfish), many different fish, and one of guys claims he saw a Hammerhead.. The tour was concluded with a nice "warm" lunch at a beach and then we motored back to port. Dinner was the usual Herbs and ice cream :)
Day three was another travel day, we caught an early morning ferry back to Santa Cruz. We were all astonished at how intense our guy who checks our bags for seeds or fruits not able to travel between islands, as on the other islands it was very quick and not very thorough. Anyway we got to Santa Cruz without incident.
I'm going to cover our last few days on Santa Cruz here too, even though its the Cristobal post..
We got some brunch at a place that was recommended by Lonely Planet, and had good food, but the price was a bit higher than we've been paying. Then we trekked out to Tortuga Bay to lay in the sun and soak up some rays as Kasey ran laps on the big beach (she did 5!!) We enjoyed the low tide and the lazy day in the sun. Soon it was time to head back to snack on some Empenadas (this guys make the best in the world!! Chicken with peas, carrots, other veggies and even raisons, and has the best hot sauce too). Then we went down to the main square where school kids were performing their holiday songs and skits. It was fun to watch these kids all decked out in costumes but most of it was a bit out of tune, still great to see everyone out to support them. We decided to eat dinner and head to bed early as we had an early morning wake up call for our DIVE!!
Dive Day!
We got on with a company that after asking our experience diving they decided on Gordon Rocks. Oscar and Alice were our dive masters and after a quick check dive (we had to make sure we remembered how to dive and what all the gadgets did and how to use them..) we were off towards Gordon Rocks. The dive site is sort of like a crater/valley between two main rocks, the dives usually go on one side or the other but not through the middle as the current would take you away. Our first dive we dropped down to about 12 meters (36 or so feet) and hung out on some rocks. We had to be patient about the currents and letting the sea life get used to us so we watched fish float in and out of crevaces as we held on. I was just getting a little flustered by just sitting underwater and then Oscar made a move, deeper and along the rockface. Near the sandy bottom we started to see dark shapes floating around, they were Hammerheads!! I think there were about 30 of them, circling, most of them were about 8 or 9 feet, a few bigger ones, but it was sooooo awesome to see such a strange looking shark. They, like sea lions, make it look so easy just flying around and cruising lazily. Both myself and another guy had to grab our dive master's extra regulator and start breathing their air as we were pumping through ours. As everyone's air was getting low we headed up to our safety stop then a few minutes later we were in the boat. After a quick switch out of the tanks so we had full air, and a 45 minute wait at surface we went back to the other side of the crater/valley. Again we saw these massive predators, gliding in circles. Then our trip was over, the dive included lunch so after we got back to land and showered we grabbed lunch on the dive shop! Both of us felt as though we already had a full day and it was only noon! So it was back to Tortuga Bay, this time I ran a bit before blisters slowed me down. We enjoyed some snooze time on the beach before heading back to town for Empenadas!!
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Big news we got from Dave, Ellyn and Kelly: Kasey got accepted to the UW Nursing Program!!! We celebrated the best we could and are really looking forward to being around Seattle for the next few years (once we get back from travels). I am so proud of her, she was a bit skeptical as it is a really good school, but I knew she'd get in :)
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All in all the Galapagos has been the trip of a lifetime. Kasey and I knew it would be expensive but we both think we did a good job of finding deals, and doing as many things as we could without paying for it. It is amazing to see a place like this, so secluded from the outside world and yet such awesome creatures all around. Some of them look like they have come out of dinosaur hiding or something, others you think how the hell did they get here? We enjoyed our trip here and would love to do it again sometime, we could even be guides for anyone who is looking to go?? :)
So thanks for reading and we wish all of you a Very Merry Christmas!! We hope all of you are spending time with family, enjoying home cooked food and good beverages, and have a drink as well as your favorite Christmas food for us, we love you all!!!
Kicker Rock.
Sealion pups, so cute.
Romantic walk along Tortuga bay´s wet, white sand.
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