Galapagos land based journey
 

On a land based tour of the Galapagos. Booked via Galapagos alternative as a rather late plan as we were set to do a family trip to the Dordogne but had issues with family availability. Bought a lot of 30 and 50 SPF synthetic slacks/ shorts/ long sleeve shirts as well as water shoes/ hat from Costco/REI and Merrill for the trip. Mosquito Repellent and reef safe SPF 50 sun screen. Travel cameras brought along were my Nikon Z50 mk 2 with 16-50 and 28-400 lens and OM TG7 for the ocean. This was a land based tour as I have a tendency to get sea sick. Flew out of SFO after spending the night at the Hotel Nova (clean and inexpensive) with morning flight on UA with about a 3 hour connection in IAD, landing in Quito around midnight. United club IAD overcrowded but travel was otherwise uneventful. Stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott across the street from the airport. Typical Courtyard. Could have used some potable water bottles in room as the country water is not safe to drink. Next morning had us walking across the bridge to the domestic terminal, First order of business was the TCT stand where we showed our preregistration forms. Second order of business was the bio security check that was prepaid and preregistered and our luggage was xrayed. LATAM check in followed. This all took about 35 minutes. Went to the VIP lounge courtesy of Priority Pass to wait for our flight. Decent lounge but most of the electrical outlets were worn out and it was difficult to find some in working order to top off our Phone charge. Latam flight took off on time for the 2 hour flight to Baltra. After landing we walked off the plane to the terminal where we were greeted by signs with our names and we were escorted into the VIP lounge where we handed over our passports, luggage tags and $400 for the Galapagos entry fee of $200 per person. Fifteen minutes later we were escorted to a van with our luggage and were greeted by our guide for the day and driver who transported us to the channel between Baltra and Santa Cruz. We were boated across the channel and picked by a truck and another driver. A short tour of the highlands followed with a visit to El Chato ranch for lunch and to visit the giant tortoises. A drive to our hotel in Puerto Ayora followed. Our hotel was Villa Escalera. Nice boutique 4 star type hotel with a pool in front of the harbor. Room was good sized and very comfortable. Staff very helpful. Mosquitos in the lobby were a nuisance but otherwise had no complaints. Multiple ocean iguanas in trees overlooking the pool. Ate diner at the 1835 restaurant across the street, then retired to our hotel.

We were picked up the next morning at 0640 for a 45 minute ride to the Baltra channel where we were transferred to a Yacht, the Winross for a journey to Bartolomé island. Nice modern boat with room for about 16-20 passengers. Bar and kitchen and three modern bedrooms with bathrooms for changing clothes or resting. WiFi available. Fast boat and the journey took less then 3 hours. Did a dry landing followed by a hike up Pinnacle rock. The hike is via wooden stairs and moderately steep. Very hot and humid hike as there is very little vegetation on the island. Nice view of the island from the top. This island was featured in the Hornblower movie master and Commander. We returned to the sea and the zodiac raft with which we explored some of the inlets to find penguins and blue footed boobies. A return to the Winross and lunch was served as we motored to a different location for about 45 minutes of snorkeling. Gear provided by boat. Water was warm with no need of a wet suit and a variety of fish and a few turtles and sea lions could be seen. The 2-3 hour ride back to the Baltra channel was somewhat choppy unlike the morning but not bad. My scopolamine patch which I placed the night before worked well. We returned to our hotel a little after 5 pm. Went out for some mixed seafood grill at the isla Grill which was a 5 minute walk.

Thanks. Did you feel like you saw a good amount of wildlife?

We were not overwhelmed by wildlife on this cruise. Mostly blue footed boobies, a few pelican, a few penguins, a few dolphins and a few seals and a few crabs.

It was nice that someone from Galapagos alternative met with us at our hotel or spoke to us each night of our journey.
The next morning had a 0720 pick up for a cruise with the same boat and guide to the North Seymour island and South Plaza island. The North Seymour was a dry landing followed by an hour hike where we saw a lot of Land iguanas, frigate birds with their red pouches and blue footed boobies. Lots of wildlife. Again very hot with no shade although a fair amount of vegetation.Sharp lava rocks with a rough trail. Fortunately everyone wore good hiking shoes with front protection for their toes. The trip to South plaza took over an hour. Again a dry landing followed by another hike where we saw different iguanas, lots of sea lions and a variety of small finches. Left South Plaza island for some snorkeling at Punta Carrion where we mostly saw a lot of different fishes. Returned to Santa Cruz in the early evening and dined at the 1835 restaurant for dinner. Popular restaurant with the locals and decent food.

The next day was our off day and we were exhausted from the early mornings and heat so we slept in. Spent time exploring Puerto Ayora and doing some shopping and getting laundry done at the hotel. $5 per kilogram at the hotel and returned to you in later afternoon. Also had massages in the late afternoon. Lazy lobster dinner at Isla Grill.

The next day was a travel day to Isabela island. We enjoyed our stay and hotel in Puerto Ayala. My only complaint was the mosquitos in the lobby and by the pools. We had a 1300 flight in a twin engined small plane that held 5 passengers. I placed a Scopolamine patch on 4 hours before the flight and survived the 25 minute journey without a problem. It was pretty smooth. Previously I had experienced severe air sickness on one engine planes in Baja and the Bahamas.
We later met people we saw in Santa Cruz. They came by ferry and they described the boat ride as punishing. We were picked up at the airport by out island contact, Emily, who took us to her shop to pick up some snorkel gear and then to our hotel, La Casa De Marita. Clean, pleasant 3 star - hotel at the beach. A clear down grade from our previous hotel but the only better hotel was sold out. Puerto Villamil is a very small town with a lot of small rustic hotels and hostels and restaurants. Unpaved streets and a very rustic vibe.

Our next day started by being picked up by our driver and guide and driven up into the highlands where we climbed the Sierra Negra crater. Misty cooler weather with many small finches, horses and many trees and bushes, unlike the dry lands near the ocean. lunch at a farm that grew bananas, avocados, mangoes and guava. Returned to our hotel than walked 15 minutes to a wharf with a sandy beach with multiple resting sea lions, marine iguanas and penguins, pelicans and Blue footed boobies diving into the water to feed, I would not say the snorkeling was great here as there was lots of sand in the water but lots of wildlife including fishes and marine turtles.

The next day involved a boat ride to las Tintoreras where we saw lots of Penguins /Frigate birds/ and Pelicans. Snorkeling among some sea Lions and sea turtles. Latter in the day we went back to the nearby Wharf after low tide to watch the sea lions