Day 2: From Guayaquil To the Galapagos
This day started out by waking up once again, bright and early! Victoria and I woke up at 6 since we had to get dressed, packed and get breakfast before 7 am. Luckily since for the next few days we weren't going to need any warm clothing, we combined our suitcases into one, and left one behind with the hotel. Less stuff to carry yeah!!!! After leaving my suitcase behind, we headed to the same hotel restaurant we had eaten at the night before. This time they had a free breakfast buffet, which as a broke college student, who was spending all my money on this trip, I truly appreciated that. The food items at the buffet included, crepes, sweet oatmeal with strawberries, fruit, pancakes, sausages, spanish bread and more. Along with coffee, milk, and sweet juices. I tried a little bit of everything to get the full experience.Soon after, we all got into different taxis to head to the airport.
If i’m going to be honest, traffic in Guayaquil is pretty hectic and stressful. When we got to the airport (around 7:30 am) we all checked our bags and went through security once again. This airport was about one of the largest airports we've been to on the entire trip. There was a food court, tons of shops and spas inside the airport. Our flight was supposed to be around 10 am, so we had some time to walk around, sleep and eat before our next flight! Once I got seated on the plane, I realized that Haley and I were again seated right next to each other. The actual flight to the Galapagos was by the for most anticipated flight of the trip. Being an environmental science student and being surrounded by all other environmental science students, going to the Galapagos was an absolute dream. Thankfully, the flight was only about an hour and a half. We again had tvs and were given food to pass the time.As we got closer to the Galapagos,you could see each of the individual islands from the plane .Then approximately about 1:30 pm we landed in Baltra. |
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Baltra island, caught me by surprise because it looked like a desert to me. Like usually, when you think about the Galapagos you think of green and lucious vegetation, and this was about the complete opposite. As I walked off the plane in Baltra to the airport - yes we walked off the actual plane- all I saw was barrenish land with finches flying all around us. Regardless, I was truly in awe.
Before we could go tour the wilderness of the Galapagos, we had to go through the airport, to get our luggage and our authorization to be in the Galapagos. This was by the far the smallest most interesting airport we had stopped at. The screening included being asked what my intention was in the Galapagos, paying the $100 fee, having my carry on as well as shoes checked for seeds and concluding in a rug sniffing dog walking over mine and Victoria’s luggage. Once the entire class had gone through these processes, we headed outside where we took a bus to the docks.
The buses run quickly in the Galapagos, so it was almost as soon as we got on, that we got off. The bus itself was so packed that I ended up standing during the bumpy ride. Once we got to the docks we quickly got our luggage, threw it on top of the boat. Yes on top!!! And got in on the lower level of the boat. On the boat, everyone piled in and were handed out life jackets. As the boat began to start up, we all were wide eyed looking at the crystal blue water looking at both the scenery and looking out for any little critters that would make an appearance. The boat ride to Santa Cruz was a short one, it was only about 20 mins. And then we were on Santa Cruz.
Before we could go tour the wilderness of the Galapagos, we had to go through the airport, to get our luggage and our authorization to be in the Galapagos. This was by the far the smallest most interesting airport we had stopped at. The screening included being asked what my intention was in the Galapagos, paying the $100 fee, having my carry on as well as shoes checked for seeds and concluding in a rug sniffing dog walking over mine and Victoria’s luggage. Once the entire class had gone through these processes, we headed outside where we took a bus to the docks.
The buses run quickly in the Galapagos, so it was almost as soon as we got on, that we got off. The bus itself was so packed that I ended up standing during the bumpy ride. Once we got to the docks we quickly got our luggage, threw it on top of the boat. Yes on top!!! And got in on the lower level of the boat. On the boat, everyone piled in and were handed out life jackets. As the boat began to start up, we all were wide eyed looking at the crystal blue water looking at both the scenery and looking out for any little critters that would make an appearance. The boat ride to Santa Cruz was a short one, it was only about 20 mins. And then we were on Santa Cruz.
Facts About The Galapagos Islands
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Santa Cruz is by far one of the most interesting islands (personally speaking) to makeup the Galapagos Archipelago . In total it is only about 986 square kilometers (Galapagos Travel Center, 2018).
Although being a pretty small island , about 19,000 people live on it . That being said the island is pretty popular for having numerous giant tortoise reserves and the Charles Darwin Research Center. When Tait said there was no stopping on this trip he meant it. Although most of us were really excited to be in the Galapagos, most of us were exhausted. The minute we got off the boat, we were on the run. We all loaded into our own personal bus and were on our way to El Chato Ranch , with our luggage being driven to the hotel, in the back of a truck for us. |
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Resources:
Galapagos Travel Center.(2018). Galapagos: What’s in a name? Retrieved from: https://www.galapagosislands.com/blog/what-is-galapagos-na
Watkins, G. & Pete. (2018). Charles Darwin. Retrieved from: https://www.galapagos.org/about_galapagos/about-galapagos/history/human-discovery/charles-darwin/
Watkins, G. & Pete. (2018). Charles Darwin. Retrieved from: https://www.galapagos.org/about_galapagos/about-galapagos/history/human-discovery/charles-darwin/
Images:
Galapagos Islands Map: https://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/samerica/galap.htm
Santa Cruz: https://animalcorner.co.uk/santa-cruz-island/
Santa Cruz: https://animalcorner.co.uk/santa-cruz-island/