Galapagos is
truly a world unto itself. Leaving there
is another matter entirely. We started
from Isabela Island on an open-air bus, then to a water taxi… but wait, let’s
do this like the computer wizards of today do it:
Open-air bus>Water
Taxi>Charter Boat>Water
Taxi>Foot>Bus>Ferry>Bus>Airplane>Bus>Foot>Bus>Hotel
Beginning
at 6 a.m. and ending at 6 p.m., count them>>>> 12 different modes
of transportation to get from a simple island to the mainland. And I might mention that during this time,
I’m carrying my backpack and the trusty tripod.
(I really MUST name him!)
Was
it worth it? Oh my, YES!!! During our stay on Isabela and Santa Cruz, we
had close encounters with marine iguanas, Galapagos tortoises, saddle-backed
tortoises, Darwin’s finches, Galapagos mockingbirds, brown pelicans, flamingos,
sea lions, land iguanas, frigate birds, and my personal favorite – the
blue-footed booby.
Isabela
reminds me of a moon-scape with fields of A’A lava everywhere you look. During one of our excursions, we encountered
a stack of marine iguanas, and I do mean stack.
They were piled atop each other for the sole purpose, we were told, of
getting warm after a swim in the surf.
In a close up picture courtesy of my spouse and Tripod, they really look
like Mesozoic/Jurassic creatures, with spines down their backs, long toe nails,
and white heads courtesy of their unsavory habit of spitting out the salt they
extract from being waterlogged after they swim.
Following
my honey around proved to be interesting since lava doesn’t really lend itself
to being the perfect platform for three tripod legs. More than once I heard a strange utterance
coming from his mouth, but I chalked it up to his attempt to grasp Spanish.
This
trip to Galapagos resulted from my grandson’s interest in turtles when he was 4
years old. We began showing him pictures
of the Galapagos tortoise and told him that someday we’d take him to see them
for real. Last year, when he was 12, he
sat me down, reminded me of our promise, and looking me straight in the eye,
uttered the prophetic words, “You know, JoJo, I’m not getting any younger.”
A
direct result was our doing our research and booking a trip for 4 (including
his mother) with REI Travel for an Amazon Basin and Galapagos Islands Family
Adventure. The trip included river
rafting, kayaking, hiking, biking and snorkeling and didn’t sound too terribly
strenuous. But then again, I’ve never
spent time above 9,000 feet, or in the Amazon rainforest, or hiking up lava
fields, or scaling a volcano – but yes, I did some of that in Hawaii.
Our
guide, Miguel, opened his eyes wide when he noted my darling spouse’s camera gear, but I think he’s seen this
before and he only chuckled slightly when he saw me raise the tripod to my
shoulder as we loaded the bus for our trip over a 13,000 foot Andes pass to Rio
Jatunyacu, a Class III river.
Thankfully,
the tripod stayed in the bus that time, but it accompanied us on most of our
remaining adventures, especially as we explored the rainforest from our lovely
little lodge strangely named Hakuna Matata.
Now I love the song of that name taken from the Disney movie, “The Lion
King” which was set in Africa, and I’m not sure of the connection to Ecuador,
but the lodge is really a neat spot, and we enjoy the torrential downpour during
the night which results in a river of water sluicing down the trail to the
dining room. Wonder what’s next?
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