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After a long time of talking about it, our trip finally started on the 3rd September 2008 at 8.10 p.m.. Our flight took us to Quito/Ecuador via Amsterdam, Bonaire and Guayaquil. After the tiring days of cleaning and arranging things back home we intended to have some relaxing days in Quito and to plan and arrange our next steps. It came completely different. As we ask for a trip to the Galapagos on Friday night the 5th September we were offered a last minute arrangement for a first class boat for the following Sunday for a really good price which we couldn't defeat. Everything was perfect and therefore we flew to Baltra on the Galapagos on Sunday the 7th September where we were picked up by our Ecuadorian guide Jorge. Together with the other passengers we were brought to the Marine Yacht Monserrat - our "hotel" for the next 8 days. We started our tour in Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz. Our Schedule: Day 1: Highlands of Santa Cruz - Day 2: Santiago and Bartolome - Day 3: Genovesa - Day 4: Playa Las Bachas in the north of Santa Cruz and Seymour Norte - Day 5: Kickers Rock and San Cristobal - Day 6: Espanola - Day 7: Santa Fe and Plaza - Day 8: Charles Darwin Station on Santa Cruz.
The boat trip was just awesome! The islands which we visited were completely different from each other concerning their character, their flora as well as their fauna. Most impressive was the fact that the animals seemed to be fearless and that we could approach them very closely. The Galapagos are a National Park which can only be visited accompanied by an official guide with the exception of three islands. Our guide Jorge was a perfect role model for a respectful treatment of flora and fauna, gave an adequate quantity of information and was friendly, patient and of good humor at all time – even though he had to remind us one million times not to cross the National Park marks. Also our group of 16 passengers which varied a lot in age and origin was easy going and friendly. In the first half of our trip everybody was even patiently waiting for cabin number 5 with its VIP guests for the island and snorkeling excursions.
Our days started at about 7.00 a.m. and the schedule for the day was packed with different activities on the islands as well as on the water. Our spear hours were mostly spent with relaxing and sleeping. For the boat was navigating at night our sleep was not as comfortable all nights depending on the waves. Luckily we didn’t get sea sick but after some days on the boat we experienced the feeling of land sickness during our trips on the islands. Our Yacht the Monserrat was a very modern vessel with enough space and with a very friendly Ecuadorian crew. We felt very much at home from the first day. The meals varied and were of very good quality, only the quantity used to be a bit short from time to time. Therefore the first command was not to be last in the food queue/chain which we managed quite well.
Though everything comes to an end. Our boat trip ended on 14th September and we told our friends good bye – passengers, guide and crew. Only one friend remained – Saket from England – and the others flew back to mainland Ecuador. We stayed until the 19th September on the Galapagos. The first night we spent at Puerto Ayora in a very lively(!) place together with cockroaches, ants and other thingies we do not wish to know closer. The next day we moved to a very decent place called Hotel Espana where we got a clean room for the same price including two of the most friendly hotel managers in the world which made us feel at home at once! If you are in Puerto Ayora go to: www.elhotelespana.com. Marc went on scuba diving trips for two days (Floreana and Gordons Rock) where he was cruising along with White Tip Reef Sharks, Turtles, Sea Lions, many other creatures of the sea and finally just on the ascend of the last dive with a school of 20 to 30 Hammerhead Sharks - awesome! Meanwhile Esther spent two lazy days on Santa Cruz and visited the beaches of Tortuga Bay. Furthermore, we spent a very pleasant evening for dinner at the Swiss-Ecuadorian household of the Montalvo family – muchas gracias otra vez!
On Wednesday we took a two hours boat ride to the neighbor island Isabela. Isabela ist the biggest of the islands and one of the youngest for she is closest to the hot spot – the cradle of all the Galapagos islands. Because of the big waves and the small boat the ride was pretty rough an we were looking forward to doing the way back two days later. Thursday we hiked onto the Volcano Sierra Negra with its enormous crater with a diameter of about 10 km and its little brother Volcano Chico which was born 2005 – one still could feel hot(!) spots on the ground. We were very lucky for the fog cleared when we reached the top of the volcano and we were able to completely see its crater -our guide mentioned that this would be possible at only half of the days. In the afternoon we took a boat to a small island not far off the coast where we were able to see about 11 White Tip Reef Sharks lying in a channel. Especially for non-scuba-divers – like Esther – it was amazing to see them swimming into the channel and resting on the bottom. Marc afterwards went to visit the famous but very sad Wall of Tears where prisoners were tortured to death while building a useless wall of volcano rock.
On Friday the 19th September we took our final boat to Santa Cruz and our plane back to Quito. And that’s where we still are today. We are living the Chicago Hostel an we are taking our time to plan our next trips, to get to know the city and its people. At the same time we get used to our new intestinal guests as well as to the altitude of 2850 meters above sea level. Next Sunday we will leave for a week to the east into the region of the Amazon which here is called the Oriente. We are very much excited about the rain forest and we will let you know soon about our experiences!
The boat trip was just awesome! The islands which we visited were completely different from each other concerning their character, their flora as well as their fauna. Most impressive was the fact that the animals seemed to be fearless and that we could approach them very closely. The Galapagos are a National Park which can only be visited accompanied by an official guide with the exception of three islands. Our guide Jorge was a perfect role model for a respectful treatment of flora and fauna, gave an adequate quantity of information and was friendly, patient and of good humor at all time – even though he had to remind us one million times not to cross the National Park marks. Also our group of 16 passengers which varied a lot in age and origin was easy going and friendly. In the first half of our trip everybody was even patiently waiting for cabin number 5 with its VIP guests for the island and snorkeling excursions.
Our days started at about 7.00 a.m. and the schedule for the day was packed with different activities on the islands as well as on the water. Our spear hours were mostly spent with relaxing and sleeping. For the boat was navigating at night our sleep was not as comfortable all nights depending on the waves. Luckily we didn’t get sea sick but after some days on the boat we experienced the feeling of land sickness during our trips on the islands. Our Yacht the Monserrat was a very modern vessel with enough space and with a very friendly Ecuadorian crew. We felt very much at home from the first day. The meals varied and were of very good quality, only the quantity used to be a bit short from time to time. Therefore the first command was not to be last in the food queue/chain which we managed quite well.
Though everything comes to an end. Our boat trip ended on 14th September and we told our friends good bye – passengers, guide and crew. Only one friend remained – Saket from England – and the others flew back to mainland Ecuador. We stayed until the 19th September on the Galapagos. The first night we spent at Puerto Ayora in a very lively(!) place together with cockroaches, ants and other thingies we do not wish to know closer. The next day we moved to a very decent place called Hotel Espana where we got a clean room for the same price including two of the most friendly hotel managers in the world which made us feel at home at once! If you are in Puerto Ayora go to: www.elhotelespana.com. Marc went on scuba diving trips for two days (Floreana and Gordons Rock) where he was cruising along with White Tip Reef Sharks, Turtles, Sea Lions, many other creatures of the sea and finally just on the ascend of the last dive with a school of 20 to 30 Hammerhead Sharks - awesome! Meanwhile Esther spent two lazy days on Santa Cruz and visited the beaches of Tortuga Bay. Furthermore, we spent a very pleasant evening for dinner at the Swiss-Ecuadorian household of the Montalvo family – muchas gracias otra vez!
On Wednesday we took a two hours boat ride to the neighbor island Isabela. Isabela ist the biggest of the islands and one of the youngest for she is closest to the hot spot – the cradle of all the Galapagos islands. Because of the big waves and the small boat the ride was pretty rough an we were looking forward to doing the way back two days later. Thursday we hiked onto the Volcano Sierra Negra with its enormous crater with a diameter of about 10 km and its little brother Volcano Chico which was born 2005 – one still could feel hot(!) spots on the ground. We were very lucky for the fog cleared when we reached the top of the volcano and we were able to completely see its crater -our guide mentioned that this would be possible at only half of the days. In the afternoon we took a boat to a small island not far off the coast where we were able to see about 11 White Tip Reef Sharks lying in a channel. Especially for non-scuba-divers – like Esther – it was amazing to see them swimming into the channel and resting on the bottom. Marc afterwards went to visit the famous but very sad Wall of Tears where prisoners were tortured to death while building a useless wall of volcano rock.
On Friday the 19th September we took our final boat to Santa Cruz and our plane back to Quito. And that’s where we still are today. We are living the Chicago Hostel an we are taking our time to plan our next trips, to get to know the city and its people. At the same time we get used to our new intestinal guests as well as to the altitude of 2850 meters above sea level. Next Sunday we will leave for a week to the east into the region of the Amazon which here is called the Oriente. We are very much excited about the rain forest and we will let you know soon about our experiences!
Until then, please feel free to have look at our pictures from the Galapagos (and dance a little...).
http://picasaweb.google.es/marc.buergi/EcuadorGalapagos#
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3 Kommentare:
Your pictures are fantastic (stories too, but I've stopped reading after arriving at the story about hammerheads - I am so jealous!!!:) Looking forward to more:)))
Greetings from your lovely apartmnet,
Aga
Dear Marc & Esther,
Happy to see you in wonderful places.And thank you so much for sharing your experiences.Looking forward to see more adventures of yours.Have a Wonderful Time.
Greets
Kumar
Thanks for sharing!!
So remind me so much when I participated a few years ago of some of the best Galapagos tours, it was great!!
I think Ecuador it's such an amazing place... dont you think so?
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