Ever since I learned about theory of evolution, I wanted to visit Galapagos islands and see things first hand. The islands I visited certainly did not disappoint at all, it was very interesting to see how truely the natural selection works differently on islands seperated by just 100KM. You can very easily see adoption in progress in different cacti found on the islands.

25th Aug, 2004

Since La Paz was locked down due to transportation strike to protest rising fuel prices, I decided to get out of town. The only way to get out of La Paz was to take taxi very early in the morning, before the striking transport workers & owners start blocking the highways. So on 25th I took a early morning (6.00AM)taxi to La Paz airport and purchased ticket to Lima. Since this was change from my original plan, once in Lima I booked a return ticket to Quito Ecuador. I flew on Avianca airlines, nice flights and good food. While in Lima, I purchased return flight to Baltra, it was very interesting 90 min walk around Lima in search for TAME office in Lima. The TAME office is actually located in a house in Lima.
Anyway once all the airline ticket hassel done, explored Lima city itself. Lima has some interesting museums.

The main town from where most Galpagos cruises depart is at Puerto Ayora on Isla Santa Cruz but on Aug 28th when we took off from Quito we were told that instead of Isla Santa Cruz we will be landing at San Cristobal because of runway repairs at Isla Santa Cruz. So after landing at San Cristobal I decided to take a water taxi from San Cristobal to Isla Santa Cruz. The taxi looked like this,

I thought it was just a boat taking us to one of the slightly bigger boats out at sea. Six of us were to go in this boat on open sea for next three hours and the sea was not calm, so basically by the time we got Isla Santa Cruz, everyone was completely drenched. On the way we ran out of fuel out in the open sea with Sun almost setting but a passing water taxi transferred gave us fuel and we finished the journey, this was the most interesting experience so far in my travel. I really would not want to repeat it ever again ;) On the boat it was me, two American princesses from Boston and a local woman with her smiling teenage kids. You can take a guess at who kept constantly complaning for next three hours.

So the travel tip for those reading this is, there is actually small prop plane that has daily flight from San Cristobal to Isla Santa Cruz, looking back I think I should have waited at San Cristobal and taken that flight next day, oh well, I am still around! All's well that Ends Well. The only downside of this interesting boat ride was by the time I got to Isla Santa Cruz all my traveller's checks, money, passport got wet because the were in money belt, but not in a plastic zip-lock bag. So once I got to the hostel had to spend some time drying things out. The Hotel Del Mar in Santa Cruz was nice, the room had big fan to dry everything.

On Aus 29th basically seached for 5-7 day cruise around the islands. Found the tour at travel agency called "Living Your Dream". I paid US$595 for 7 day tour on a boat called Free Enterprise. . The boat itself was nice, but if you do book the trip try to get room behind the Captain's cabin in the back. It is big boat, but still too small for rough sea, also in the cabins at the bottom you smell the fuel, so its very easy to become sea sick. If you do get sea sick very easily I would recommend ship like Galapagos Agressor or Galapagos Agressor II.

The food on the boat itself was great, usually had eggs for breakfast. For lunch and dinner you get soup, main dish and fruits. You can purchase beer, soft drinks on board or you can always bring your drinks on board. I rented wet suit for $20, did couple of dives with small, vegetarian sharks. Also did snorkeling, actually I was able to see sea turtles and sharks even while snorkeling.

The company on the cruise itself was nice. There was couple from Hungary, three fun girls from Holland, couple of guys from Germany and of course two American princesses that I met on San Cristobal were there. They were the only two passengers that complained about the food on board, well they were just fulfilling jobs as fussy American tourists? I know perhaps I am generalizing, but it is amazing everyone finds things okay, for the price paid, but these two ladies had to keep on complaining even about the scrambled eggs!

Apart from that small distraction this was a fantastic trip. There is no way I can describe this trip in words to make any kind of justice you can see the photos at Gallery 1 and Gallery 2.

Apart from the very interesting wildlife and plants you see on the islands the sea and mountains are spectacular. I particularly loved the Sullivan Bay on the Bartolomé Island. The sea around it was just spectacular.

The water was so clear, we could see about 3-4 feet long sharks on the left side of the bay from the hill. See the black dots in left bottom of the picture.

I would highly recommend Galapagos to anyone, but booking trip at the last moment is becoming difficult as lot of people now book trips online but they actually end up paying more. The trip for which I paid 595, some people had paid 995. So if you have extra 3-4 days to hang around Isla Santa Cruz you try the last minute booking, otherwise book in advance.