Dream Trip - Galapagos Islands Part 1

Think of a place in the world that is exceptional, unique and never in your wildest dreams would you think you could go there. Well for me that was the Galapagos Islands. I always thought of that destination as a magical place, full of all types of odd animal life. Plus it is a group of small islands in the middle of the ocean. Kind of scary. 

In 2015, thanks to my wonderful adventurous husband, I was able to go there. In the next few posts I will share the experiences I had in this amazing place. 

Our journey started at  Logan Airport in Boston where we boarded a COPA Airlines plane, first stop was Panama City. This was our first time with COPA and I must say it was a pleasant trip and we consider this airline to be our favorite so far in all the trips we have taken before and since this one. 

On the flight from Panama City to Guayaquil, Ecuador we sat with a resident of Guayaquil. She told us about other areas to visit other than the coast. It sounded nice but since we were only on the mainland overnight so we would not be able to do anything else.  

We flew out of Guayaquil the next morning. Before getting on the plane you must have your luggage checked by the quarantine staff. You have to pay $20.00 for a Tourist Transit Card. It was a short plane ride to Baltra Island.

Flying into islands

 At the airport on the island of Baltra we departed the plane on the runway, went down steps and walked to the building. Here we had to pay $100.00 per person entrance fee to Galapagos National Park and go through security. 

There wasn't much outside the airport building. We looked for our contact person who I will call W from here on. We found him and he explained how we would take the bus to the boat that would take us to Santa Cruz Island. After the boat ride we would meet him in his white pickup which we discovered were the taxis on the islands.

W took us to the apartment we had rented which was called Orchidea in the town of Puerto Ayora. Along the way we spotted a giant turtle in a field and he pointed out all the trees along the road - banana, papaya, coffee. The apartment was on the second floor and quite nice. It had a balcony out front with a hammock, two bedrooms, kitchen, living room and bathroom. 

                                                        

There were certain things that had to be done differently here. Because the island had an antiquated sewage system toilet paper could not be flushed down the toilet. It had to go into the trash. All of it! Water had to be conserved. There was a big water container in the kitchen for drinking and cooking since the tap water could not be used for consumption. Looking out the window at the houses in the neighborhood, they all had cisterns for collecting rain water. I saw a lot of palm trees and coconuts too. There were some pretty flowers and plants along the staircase up to the apartment as well as in the yard below.

After checking out everything we took a walk into Puerto Ayora. 

There was an open air fish market there. Seals and pelicans were all around the outside hoping for some treats. We bought some fish for dinner then found a store where we got a few groceries. We stopped at a stand and got a plate of rice with fish and shrimp. It was very good! Walking along we got our first look at a marine iguana, one of the many interesting species found in the Galapagos Islands. We also saw a yellow crowned night heron in a tree.

             

 

 

 

 

 

We had fresh fish for dinner that first night in our special paradise. 

 

                     

 

 

 

                                                                                                                       

                                                                                                                                                                       

                                                                                                              

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