Galapagos

Finally, I've made it to Galapagos! My flight was delayed by 1 hour but finally departed from Guayaquil to Baltra. There I was met by the tour guide and 1 other guest who had arrived the day before from Quito after an adventurous 3-day journey from Riobamba because of the road blocks. But where were the other passengers for the cruise?

It took the guide quite some time to find out that they were stuck in Quito because all flights from Quito airport had been cancelled. So we started the tour without the others and departed for our first tour on Santa Cruz island followed by a short snorkeling 'exercise' ;-)

It felt a bit awkward being just one of 2 passengers with a crew of 8 plus our guide Milton. However, I was determined to enjoy this trip and so we took off for the cruise without the others as it was completely uncertain when they would be able to get to Galapagos. To cut things short - they never did. Shaham from Israel and I stayed the only guests on board getting the full attention of the crew members and the cook who apparently tried to make us eat all the food he had stocked for 14 passengers :-)

Galapagos was amazing. Before the tour I had not fully realized just how special this place is. The whole group of islands is situated on a lava hotspot and as the tectonic plate moves eastward the most western islands are the youngest. The last eruption on Isabela island happened in 2018! As a biologist it is especially interesting for me to see how the unique geological and climatic circumstances have led to the unique flora and fauna on the islands. But the most unexpected thing for me was how tame the animals are. Especially on the uninhabited islands they are not the least afraid of humans and let you come as close as you want - and to keep it this way everyone is expected to keep at least 2 m distance.

It meant that we could observe the animals from very close and were snorkeling with unimpressed sea turtles and sea iguanas and very curious and playful sea lions. I will not give a list of all the animals and plants we saw. Have a look at the photos for a selection. We were especially lucky to see some of the rarer species like the Galapagos hawk and almost all the finches. For me the plants were no less interesting, especially impressive are the pioneering plants on the lava fields such as the lava cactus and the Tiquila plant.

I am not sure whether I should call this past week the highlight of my trip because of the many other wonderful places I visited but it certainly was a very special experience. Altogether I have found this vacation to be an enrichment - more because of the people I have met and the fact that my limited Spanish enabled me to have conversations with many local people. 

Now I have 2 more days to spend in Ecuador. Today I explored the old colonial centre of Quito. Maybe it is because I have been travelling for many weeks but I don't think I like Quito as much as for example La Paz and Cuzco. Well, there is more to see. Tomorrow I want to visit La Capilla del Hombre - the house and museum of Oswaldo Guayasamin - and the Botanic Garden. And on Wednesday I hope to go to Otavalo. This will be my last posting. On Thursday I will fly back to Amsterdam. Thanks for following me. I hope to see you all again soon.