Arriving in the Galapagos Islands

Last night was not a good night for sleeping. There was a concert at the arena next to the Sheraton that blasted “music” until after midnight. Then there were fireworks. Many of our team heard loud concertgoers returning to their rooms until 2 am.

We had to have our bags tagged and in the hallway outside our rooms by 6 am. We were to board the bus to the airport by 6:30, so we had a quick but tasty breakfast at the hotel. The 40 minute bus ride through Quito to the airport was a lot calmer than the ride from the airport with Denis’ taxi on Tuesday. I suspect some of the difference was the reduction on traffic on a Saturday morning compared to a weekday evening, but most of the difference was a far less aggressive driver. We checked our carry-on bags where they were sealed with a plastic lock and returned to us to take to ticketing. We went through the immigration checkpoint then a checkpoint for Galapagos National Park to assure that we were not taking any banned substances such as fruits or seeds. We proceeded to the scan of carry-on luggage and the standard TSA-type security scan. There seemed to be no problems for anyone on our team and the Road Scholar team had informed us well of the procedure.

Upon boarding, many of us remarked that the aircraft was much larger than we anticipated. We expected a small prop aircraft, but this was a medium sized jet. Since the flight had a stop in Guayaquil, many of the passengers would deplane there while other visitors to the Galapagos would board.

Baltra airport

Mary and I were pleased to share a row with Miko, an 80-year-old Cherokee man, who retired from the US Army as a full Colonel, His wife, Lorna, was an Army nurse and Lieutenant Colonel, now retired. Chatting with Miko was very interesting since grew up on the Cherokee Reservation, moved to California’s San Joaquin Valley as a child, graduated from Stanford then joined the Army as an enlisted man and advanced to “Full Bird Colonel” in his 24-year career. He did three tours in Vietnam between 1966 and 1970 and received three Purple Hearts including one for being shot in the face resulting in the loss of many of his teeth.

View from Baltra

Landing at the small airport on Baltra in the Galapagos is just like landing at any airport. We were met by our Road Scholar guide for the week. Willo, like Richard and Patricia earlier in the trip, is a certified guide as well as a certified naturalist. He was born and raised in the Galapagos, so we felt in good hands for our stay. Willo was very tall, especially for an Ecuadorian, standing at least 6’3”. 

We collected our checked bags and waited for the bus that would take us across this small island. While waiting, we saw several unique Galapagos birds including many medium ground finches and a blue footed booby diving for fish in the water around the island. The bus carried us across Baltra, where we saw the remains of many structures that had been built by the US Air Force in the 1940s as strategic location during the war in the Pacific.

On the south side of the island, we left the bus and boarded a small ferry to take us to Santa Cruz Island. There we boarded another bus for the 24 miles trip across the island to the village of Porto Ayora. Small inflatable shuttle boats (panga/zodiaks) took us to the Galaxy Yacht anchored offshore. The ship is very nice with room for up to 16 passengers as well as common areas for dining, socializing and relaxing. We met with 8 crew members and had the required safety information before going to our rooms where our bags awaited us. 

The sleeping room, like any other cruise we have taken, was small but well designed for our needs. The ocean was pretty choppy so we knew that we would need to use the scopolamine ear patches for motion sickness. We had lunch onboard the Galaxy Yacht which was very tasty and well prepared. The kitchen staff took requests for dinner. I chose the fettuccine with garlic and mushrooms, but other pasta choices were available.

Mary & Steve with a Galapagos tortoise

We had a short time to prepare for the afternoon activity on Santa Cruz Island which was viewing the giant tortoises on the island. We rode the bus to El Chato Giant Tortoise Reserve near the center of Santa Cruz and saw at least 50 giant Galápagos tortoises just in pastures and farm fields. When we got to the preserve, we saw dozens on tortoises that live in the wild on the island. 

Cindy with a Galapagos tortoise

The huge tortoises are amazing creatures with some being well over 100 years old. The turtles in the preserve are wild animals and not confined in any way, but the preserve provides water holes and keeps the grass cut to a height that the turtles prefer. At the preserve we saw many tortoises of all sizes and both male and female. We also saw the Galápagos mockingbird and several other endemic birds. We walked through a lava tube then out the other side where we saw 7 or 8 giant tortoises in a shallow pond. After taking a lot of photographs and marveling at the size and age of the tortoises, we boarded the bus back to the Galaxy Yacht.

We had a lifeboat drill and a brief meeting before dinner, which was the fettuccine prepared in our choice of sauce. We enjoyed the meal and especially the visit with the others in our group.

The ship was rocking a good bit, and we all had problems. Two of the group of three sisters were so ill that they were considering aborting the trip and returning to the US. We staggered our way back to cabin 7 and went to sleep although the room was very bright from the air conditioning. The ship sailed sailed to Isabella Island for our next few days of tours.