On Friday, we took the ”fast ferry” from Isabela to Santa Cruz, our last stop in the Galapagos. The ferry ride was quite unpleasant. It took far longer than advertised, and we got wet, and were cold. Plus the boat dealt with a lot of swells. It was plain un-fun. Anyway, after we got off, we did some grocery shopping and headed to an AirBNB in the highlands. Ash thought since we stayed in the city in San Cristobal and the beach in Isabela, we should try the highlands.
Our AirBNB is sweet. Its a cabin, all glass windows and is on a hill overlooking the bay. It is also on a fruit farm, but the only fruit that is ripe is papaya, which are yummy but not my favorite.
On friday, it was rainy, cold and windy so we just read and napped at our AirBNB. Saturday, we woke up and enjoyed real coffee (most of it is instant here), ate some pastries we picked up and had some oatmeal.
Then our taxi arrived. We jumped in went o El Garrapatero. Lonely planet said that it had excellent snorkeling, sea turtles, flamingos, and pelicans. Well, the beach was lovely. Beautiful white sand. It was a bit more crowded than most places we have gone but the beach disappointed on the wildlife. We only saw crabs, lava herons, and marine iguanas plus the ever present frigate birds. We did enjoy the time on the beach but were somewhat disappointed in the spotting.
We came back to our cabin and enjoyed a peaceful afternoon exploring the farm and the magnificent views.
Today, we headed to Tortuga Bay. The guide book said that the snorkeling was great – sharks, turtles, marine iguanas, rays and sea lions. Well the beach was gorgeous. And we did see some sea turtles in the waves and a few marine iguanas were swimming too. But the sign said not to get into the water.
The area were we could snorkel was cloudy, and while I did see two sharks (white tipped reef sharks), we didn’t see too much else as the water was cloudy due to high seas. We also saw striated herons, blue boobies, and pelicans. A pleasant day but was hoping for more on our last day here. Tomorrow we fly to the mainland, then head to a hippie little town on the SE coast (Ayampe).
We have absolutely adored the Galapagos. I didn’t think we would love it as much as we have, a true treasure.
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