Santa Cruz, Galapagos

Landed on Isla Baltra, a small island where the airport is located, passed thru security, grabbed a map, hopped on a shuttle bus, ferried across a channel to Isla Santa Cruz, and yet another shuttle bus to Puerto Ayora. Call it movement of the masses. After arriving in the town square we were approached by Leonela and her baby who convinced us to check out her hostal, the Costa Del Sol Suites! This tiny 4 room hostal had one room left on the main floor, a large room with 3 beds for 40 bucks. We took it for one night knowing the Galapagos is expensive. Later I walked around checking out other prices and decided this is a good deal with it's central location etc... Later we upgraded to the top floor with an ocean breeze and partial ocean view. These rooms are usually 50 bucks a night but Leonela gave it to us for 40. Yipppeee! It also comes with hot/cold drinking water, coffee and tea. Saving money is making money!

We went out for dinner on restaurant street which is two short blocks away where after 6 pm the street closes to traffic and the cafes put their tables outside. You can get a whole fresh fish like a tuna or snapper for 10-20 dollars or lobster for 10-15. Prices are dependant upon size. We decided on lobster and watched the cute little gay chef grill it to perfection! Of course it was served with the standard fried plantains and rice, go figure! LOL

The following day we checked out the Charles Darwin research center,  a short 10 min walk from our place. We were greeted by a friendly local guide at the gate who explained the self tour process. There are over 200 scientists and volunteers involved with research  and conservation efforts. Here we saw numerous tortoises and a few land iguanas.

Later walking back to our hostal we passed  a dock area were the fishermen dropped off the catches of the day including many tuna, some small snappers and one huge marlin which required two burly men to haul into the back of their pickup. Now I realized the battle my dad must of had while he caught his trophy in Cabo San Lucas! It was fun to watch the locals clean and filet fish while sharing leftovers with hungry pelicans and sea lions. Great comedic action!

As we were walking along we stopped in at a ceramic garden. I've never seen anything like this. Many creative works consisting of tiny tiles and broken chunks of tile to create intricate mosaic masterpieces. Very talented artists!

Puerto Ayora has plenty of stores stocked with all kinds of overpriced Galapagos trinkets. For the vendors to make a living they must sell a shitload to the souvineer seeking touristas. Glad to be here be here during off season.

Guayaquil enroute to Galapagos

We enjoyed our stay at Tabuba in Montanita so decided to book into the sister hotel in Guayaquil due to it's close proximity to the airport. Knowing we were going to a criminally infested city we became well aware of the dark vibe right after exiting the bus! This terminal is attached to a huge mall and immediately noticed the glaring stares! Regardless of being Canadians our American appearances made us feel quite unwelcome.  Tabuba's manager/owner spoke excellent English and gave us very strict instructions on what to do and not do! It was about 2pm and said it was OK for me to cross the street to get a couple cold beers but to return pronto. It's sort of safe during the day but we are targets here! Our previous hotel in Montanita even called to check if we had arrived safely! YIKES! After the taxi arrived to take us to Malecon 2000 (a touristy area) we were instructed to have dinner and meet the driver for a 7pm pick up, again noting that we are targets! Holy scary! When the private unmarked taxi arrived the manager had us stay inside the hotel and took a picture of the license plate and wrote out specific instructions for the driver to make sure her guests were cared for. Thank you nice lady! Once in the taxi the driver immediately locked all doors and made sure windows were shut.
The whole time we were out Steve was quite edgy and explained his concern for our safety.
We ate at a beautiful restaurant on the malecon called the yacht club. We were the only customers as most eat later in the evening! The service was fine but the food wasn't! The lettuce in our caesar was wilty as well the meat was crappy. We left most of the food on our plates, paid our bill, and got the hell out!

Our taxi arrived on time and once safely in our little room I imagined what people must have experienced during stressful times like a war or a military coup, hiding in safety. OMG, what they must have gone through, we had less than 24 hours! Our hostal had the same taxi company take us safely to the airport. Again we waited inside behind metal barred doors and it was 6:30am in the morning! Holy crap what a good feeling to enter those terminal doors of a large airport full of security and other gringo travellers!

If your going to the Galapagos you must go thru two separate lineups, one to register entry and pay a eco park fee and the other to have your bags xrayed and searched for sand, seed, soil, plants, bugs, etc.. to avoid disrupting the sensitive ecology of the Galapagos islands, not a bad thing! Yet another line to get your seat assigned. My goodness, what a time consuming process. We had a two hour window to do this little dance and started to get a bit stressed not wanting to miss our flight and spend any more time in this city of ill repute! As a matter of fact the police will not investigate any crimes of theft under $600.00 us. People even go missing during daylight hours!!! A word of advice to anyone going thru Guiyaquil airport is allow 3 or more hours for processing. A lovely Taiwanese lady allowed me in front of her in the Galapagos eco fee line ($120.00 each) while Steve did the baggage xray thing. Wowsers, made it with just a few minutes to spare for a quick coffee and sandwich. Whew! The travel gods and gaurdian angels were with us. Thank you!