The Captain Says the Envelopes are Empty
OK, so I told you how I did two trips to the Galapagos and the first one was magical. I decided halfway through the first visit that I would return with my niece who was meeting us in Quito rather than do Banos and Cuenca as planned before moving on to Peru for Machu Picchu. Folks suggested to me that it might not be a great idea because it might be a letdown since it will be following such a stellar visit. I agreed that it would because it would be a cheap visit rather than the high end excursion of the first trip, but I also said that regardless of cost the wildlife and scenery would still play out the similarly. And it was important to me for my niece to see it. I’m happy to report that it was worth doing for the reason I stated. I am also sad to say that we were able to see the truly ugly side of Galapagos traveling and how that is potentially destroying this wonderfully unique place. Truly another case of scratching the fine veneer surface painted for the casual visitors and seeing that the veneer is thin and the coating something not so pleasant.
We signed up Tuesday for a boat called Yolita leaving from Puerto Ayora on Thursday. We were the ninth and tenth passengers on a sixteen passenger boat and that sounded good. Maybe we would even get our own rooms. Upon arrival we discovered that other boat tours had been canceled so consolidation could take place and the boat was filled. My guess is that there are only a few operators with many of the boats and this goes on all low season long. Maybe some opportunities for bait-and-switching? We also quickly learned that the boat was probably safely built for 8-12 passengers, but whose counting. The accommodations were even more skanky than I low-balled them to be, but I didn’t really care since you spend so little time in your room. Basically, you are in your room for sleeping, showering and changing clothes. The general areas were good enough although the dinner table was obviously built for… 8-12 people. We would become real chummy, real soon.
The boat had folks from USA, of course, Sweden, Australia, Holland, Switzerland, Austria and UK. Jillian and I concluded in the end that we liked the couple from Holland, the guys from UK and Australia, the woman from Switzerland and one guy from USA. We like each other so that means we thought eight out of sixteen of us were normal. The others included two college roomates from the States that had the maturity of fifteen year olds with one needing attention all the time through antics and the other being a drunk, three older US citizens who are Seventh Day Adventist missionaries in Ecuador to ruin another culture, two very weird sisters from Austria who seemed to have too close of a relationship and a Swedish guy who said so many stupid things that I was thankful no other Swedes were on board so they would not have to be ashamed like I was for being from the same country as the two children and the holy-rollers. We soon learned that just about all of the young people (everyone was under 32 except me and the bible-thumpers) were there to party. I really don’t get the going to Galapagos to party thing. Sure, a couple of beers, some wine or a drink after a busy day is quite nice. But staying up until 1:30 AM (last night) when hikes start at 7:00 AM and the cost for even a cheap trip is so high just seems odd. Why not stay on the Ecuadorian shore at one of the party beach towns? Furthermore, the last night we were on the boat included pulling out some cheap Bolivian alcohol which I identified with one whiff as rubbing alcohol – not consumable! I remember being stupid with alcohol, but never with rubbing alcohol. And not on a top wildlife adventure thousands of miles from home! Odd…
You can only imagine the dynamics between the holy-rollers and partiers. My guess is that every tour above the absolute low-end avoids this by marketing to a narrow demographic. For instance, elderly travelers or partiers, but not both. Church groups or hedonists, but not both. It was all pretty odd and Jillian and I just watched it unfold. And then there was the naturalist. Every boat has one provided by the park to lead you onto the islands and during the snorkel outings. He or she is suppose to show you the wildlife and teach you about the Galapagos history, wildlife and general sciences. They are also suppose to teach you how to act around the animals and act accordingly themselves. We had Luis who must be a flunky assigned to a sorry-ass cheap boat. He couldn’t teach much, his jokes were lame and he made things up. For instance, he tried to tell us that a crack in a lava vent on Santiago Island was created by the US Army Air Forces when they dropped live ammunition during practice runs in World War II. While they did practice on Santiago, they supposedly used dead weapons. But more importantly, the crack is obviously caused by a lava flow and not by munitions. He also told us how he guided veterans from those “attacks” not too long ago to the site and they cried. I have heard the story before and I think it is crap. Maybe the park service feeds them with things to say to fill the airwaves.
Plus, it plays well with the anti-American faction. I was wishing there were some howls from the European contingent so I could point out that we had a base in the Galapagos during that war to protect the Panama Canal and not to just take crack shots at a natural wonder. But they even seemed to be weary of Luis’ stories not knowing when fantasy, fiction, lies and facts collided. My “favorite” moments with Luis included when we were snorkeling near two obviously stressed sea lions (a large part of the group had already gotten them freaked while Luis had his head under a rock-outcropping trying to antagonize a shark to come out) and he literally tried to push Jillian and I closer to them from the five meter distance we were maintaining. They obviously did not want to play or want closer contact with humans and Luis was totally oblivious to this. Luis told us how he would show us a dozen lobsters he was saving to harvest when they got big enough – ha ha ha! Luis provoked many sharks – real smart! He also touched a stingray on the tail. No two meter distance rule needed to be followed by Luis on his quest to show us everything on his list and to make it better than it is in real life. Luis spent his time on the boat chasing the women, none of which wanted anything to do with him. “You need another boyfriend” he would tell them seriously. When asked if he liked his job he said it was horrible. He had huge mood swings and I got the impression he was probably drinking, but maybe he is naturally weird in this respect. He encouraged the partiers to party it up and then was mad when they didn’t follow his directions early the next morning. I would say he is a maniac and that is being kind.
The crew was fairly useless and they kept the boat in always-needing-maintenance shape. The dinghy we used to go to shore was also sized for about eight people and it was falling apart. The engine spewed fumes and smoke and died the second day out. Luckily, they were able to borrow a much better and larger dinghy from another boat. The crew decided to paint one day and painted the rails at the back of the boat where we get on and off the dinghy and they didn’t mention it to anyone or put up a sign… DUH! A crap boat and a crew that matched beautifully. But this is all fodder compared to three major offenses. First, the boat leaked diesel fuel constantly. I could barely be down in our room while the engine was running because of the fumes and there was always a slick around the boat which made swimming really enjoyable. Second, when we were anchored a hundred meters off Rabida Island they discharged the toilet hold into the ocean. There was another discharge of white liquid later that I did not witness, but others did. Finally, the cook was throwing food into the ocean when anchored near islands. One of the days we returned to the boat on the dinghy and I saw pelicans on the side with frigate birds diving towards them. I thought I saw a pelican swallow a huge fish which I concluded to be a puffer since they are always near the surface near the boat. It wasn’t until I learned from a Luis tale that they throw fish parts, chickens skins and the like (I did eventually witness this) into the ocean for the birds and fish that I figured out that the pelican ate the fish head and body remnant from that night’s dinner rather than a puffer (which would be quite difficult anyway – puffers puff up!). So, what’s the harm? Well when I saw this, I ran up the opposite side of the boat and cut across to get film of the pelicans and frigates gorging thinking it was a natural thing. I’m filming when Matt joins me and all of a sudden three of the pelicans go nuts. I wondered why until I saw the large shark just below the pelicans. Feed the animals food and the animals are endangered by predators. Furthermore, it attracts sharks to the boats where humans like to swim. One night they banned us from swimming because of sharks. I was thinking that was crap – of course, there are sharks, but they aren’t looking for human food. Well, little did I know that night that they had probably chummed the water with dinner scraps and they were telling us the truth!
Regarding that pelican/shark incident… Matt and I yelled shark. Everyone on the boat ran to our side. The boat tipped and all I know is that I really thought we were going over right into the water with the shark. As Matt said, he screamed like a six year old girl (and I have it on tape!). I’m not sure if I got the shark on video because that was quite secondary importance to preparing to be on a capsized boat. You see, the boat had a whole floor added recently to allow two more rooms above and it is terribly top-heavy. We had been kind of laughing that one person walking across the top deck could make the boat go from a starboard tip to a port tip. We laughed at Crystal when she caused this and I doubt she weighs 55 kilos. It wasn’t really funny at all. The last night, Luis got the partiers dancing so that the boat went wildly from one side to the other. Real funny, Luis. I will not be surprised to read that it sinks in normal seas someday soon. I was quite happy that we only had very calm seas.
The last evening included envelopes for tips (one for crew, one for Luis) being dropped off in our rooms. I told people how the only tip I was making was the tip to the park service about the leaking fuel, discharging sewage and discarding food. We left our envelopes empty. We got to the airport and Luis approached me. He asked me where we were from which was odd since he knew we were from the States. He then said in a booming voice, “The Captain says the envelopes are empty!” He implied that as US citizens we owed tips. I told him, “Luis, I’m not going to discuss this with you.” His last statement was “SHEEEET!” He totally lost it and stormed off. I was dumbfounded by how he got to the subject about not leaving a tip. Jillian and I have laughed ever since at our favorite new line “The Captain Says…”
We paid a visit to the Darwin Society and found park personnel to whom we reported the incidents. They confirmed that fuel leaking and discharging/discarding anything within twelve miles of the islands is forbidden. They took my name and statement and said they would file a report. I hope for the Galapagos sake that they do, but given that the boat is allowed to operate as it does before my report, I am concerned that nothing will change. I get the feeling that there is a very incestuous relationship between all of the locals (that being a different type of incestuous relationship than the Austrian sisters!) and I wonder if the park service is above that. Thankfully, for this trip the wildlife and scenery did play out totally and Jillian and I had a great time despite the human elements. Lesson to be learned… If you go to Galapagos, make it the trip of a lifetime and pay for the high-end. If the Galapagos isn’t that important to you, don’t go.
Tags: Travel
vagabondrick
Wish you had emailed us before you went. You could have stayed on the islands, selected your day boat tours, used a sea kayak, hiked and slept in a completely affordable B&B.
Galapagos Park have three levels of naturalist guides 1, 2, and 3 – 3 being the highest level. Unfortunately for the cheaper boats, like Yolita, you get the not so great level 1. The luxury boats tend to get 2 and 3. Level 3 guides tend to have appropriate university degrees in biology or ecology. The way the system works there, there is little incentive for the naturalist guides to improve and actually provide “service”.
What you experienced on this boat – tourist class boat is – typical.