After finishing my last weekend in Montanita I headed down
to Guayaquil with three friends from the Spanish school. We had been told
Guayaquil (Ecuador’s largest city) was not very interesting so we got there
Sunday evening and left the following morning. We were all more less going in
separate directions following Guayaquil so once again I was back on the road
solo, headed towards the Galapagos Islands. I was able to leave my surfboard in
the hostel’s storage space since it would have been a hassle to bring the board
with me on the plane/boats on the Galapagos. I would pick it up a week later
upon my return to mainland Ecuador. On the flight were a bunch of tourists, especially
alot of families and older travelers. Getting to the Galapagos and seeing
everything there is to see requires a pretty hefty budget, thus the reason for
the lack of younger/budget travelers. My
justification for deciding to go the Galapagos was mainly based off my
proximity already to these islands. Being relatively close to one of the
largest ecosystem diversities in the world and why Charles Darwin spent so much
time here, justified my detour to these islands.
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Tasty airplane snacks |
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The start of the Galapagos islands |
Upon arrival to Baltra Island where the main airport is, the
climate was very desert-like and arid. To get to Puerto Ayora, the main city on
the Galapagos, I had to take a 10 min bus, followed by a 10 min ferry, followed
by a 1 hour taxi. By the time I arrived in Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island, I
had gone through a desert climate, a rainy jungle like atmosphere, followed by
this seaside port town. A pretty big variety in environments already….
The next day I was off to Isla Santa Fe, a 2 hour boat ride
from the main island. Most of the morning was spent doing some snorkeling,
seeing the infamous blue footed boobies and a bunch of sea lions and seals.
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The sea lion did not seem to like me |
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He definitely did not like me |
The
snorkeling was followed by rice and Ceviche for lunch (a mix of chopped up
fish, lemon juice, onions, tomatoes and seasoning). We then did a quick hike on
a deserted beach and saw a whole colony of marine lizards. Our 2 hour boat ride
back to the main island included a little snack of some freshly prepared
barracuda sushi by the captain.
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Barracuda sushi |
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I had to... |
The next day consisted of checking out the Charles Darwin
center, a ranch with Giant Tortoises (Tortugas), and Tortuga beach. The tortoises
were very impressive to see with weights reaching up to 400 kg (880 lbs) and
ages up to 170 years old! That means some were
born in the mid 1800s which is pretty amazing if you think about it. I had lunch right next to Puerto Ayora’s main
fish market. As you can see in the photo below, as the ladies were cutting up
the fish to sell it to customers, there were about 10 pelicans and a seal ready
to snatch the scraps of fish that she would throw out. As soon as one pelican
would grab a piece of fish, the other 9 pelicans and seal would get pretty
vicious and try to steal it from the first pelican.
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I think the guy was pissed off at the seal stealing all the fish he was going to buy |
The final two days of my trip were spent on Isla Isabela,
the largest island of the Galapagos, situated about 2 hrs by speed boat from
Puerto Ayora. Upon arrival in the port on Isla Isabela, a ton of penguins and
sea lions were swimming near the dock and flamingoes were hanging out in a
nearby lagoon. With a few other people from the hostel we climbed the Cerro
Negro volcano at 4500 ft. It was interesting to start the hike in a rainy
jungle-like environment, followed by dry, desert conditions, and finishing on a
trail consisting of volcanic rocks. A perfect example of the Galapagos Islands’
biodiversity.
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The desert near the Cerro Negro Volcan |
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Isabela Island |
As I flew back to mainland Ecuador, I had some time to
contemplate on my week in the Galapagos. The variety of flora and fauna I got
to see with my own eyes was something I’d likely experience in very few other
places in the world. The preservation of this environment/ecosystems on the
Galapagos is very impressive, but is one of the upsides to all the fees you
have to pay to get on the islands. But I also concluded that after 2+ weeks of
always having people to hang out with and talk to at the Spanish school in
Montanita, it was strange going back into solo traveling mode on the Galapagos.
I have to say although there are benefits to traveling solo such as having your
own schedule and being able to make 100% of the decisions, I did miss the
social interaction aspect of being in a group setting.
I was back in Guayaquil for an afternoon and night in the
same hostel I had stayed in the previous week. I would be meeting up the next
day with a friend from the Montanita Spanish school to do the 8 hr bus ride from
Guayaquil to Mancora, Peru with.
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An Ecuadorian board bag |
Upon checking into the hostel we quickly
realized we were in the biggest party area of one of the biggest party towns in
Peru, even on a Sunday night. Kiss goodbye trying to get a good night’s sleep
after an 8 hr bus ride! The next morning I got my first surf in Peru where it
was around 3-4 ft but really shallow so a lot of the rocks were exposed. I
squeezed in an afternoon/sunset session as well where there were some really
clean 5 footers coming in, ending my surf session in the dark.
The next morning I wanted to avoid the crowds so I was in
the water a bit after 6 AM and got a solid 2 hr session in. Although Mancora
had some fun waves, after talking with some locals, I decided I could score even
better waves in Lobitos, a surf town 2 hrs south of Mancora. I was warned though
that the water would be much colder, the winds a lot stronger, and in a much
more remote area of Peru. Lobitos
consists of 7 points as can be seen on this map: http://surfinglobitos.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/lobitos-surfspots.jpg
That afternoon I surfed La Punta (see map) where it was
around 6 ft but very crowded with everybody fighting for the take-off closest
to the rocks. The hostel I stayed at had a perfect view of Generales (see map) and
consisted of mostly Argentinean and Chilean surfers/travelers. The next day
consisted of a morning and early afternoon session in 5-7 ft conditions.I haven't decided how long I will stay in Lobitos. I guess it depends mostly on the surf conditions, but I am shooting for being in Cuzco, Peru to do Machu Pichu by the end of the September. Stay tuned for the next blog entry!
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One of the smaller waves of the day... |
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Cold barrels for breakfast in Lobitos |
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