The Galapagos Islands are a 800 mile plane ride from Quito, Ecuador. We landed on San Cristobal Island.
August 24, 2024
We are only half way through the trip. We were in Quito for three days and after our flight early this morning, this is our first day in the Galapagos. We are here in the town of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, a town of about 7000 residents.
Puerto Baquerizo Moreno (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈpweɾto βakeˈɾiso moˈɾeno]) is the capital of Galápagos Province, Ecuador. It is located on the southwestern coast of San Cristóbal, the easternmost island in the archipelago, and is the capital of San Cristóbal Canton. It was founded by General Villamil Playas in the mid-19th century, and takes its name from President Alfredo Baquerizo (1859–1951). Today, fishing is the main activity of the locals, but tourism is on the increase along the waterfront with numerous hotels and shops.
The town has a cathedral, a post office, police station, a hospital, and a branch of the Universidad San Francisco de Quito. It also contains the Centro de Interpretación of the Galápagos National Park, which was established in 1988, and a natural history museum. It is served by San Cristóbal Airport, which connects to mainland Ecuador.
Below is the view of the town from the rooftop of our hotel:
We went for a hike from the hotel to the other end of the town and back. Random photos from that walk:
The day after tomorrow we will see the iguanas, although we saw two iguanas here in the Galapagos today. Black ocean going iguanas, Another full day.
August 25, 2024
Galapagos Islands
13,000 steps today. A beautiful day, many got sunburned and it was quite warm except in the shade and in the wind. And there is a lot of wind,
Up early and by 8 AM we were on the bus for a half hour ride to see the giant tortoises!! They are called Galapagos because they “galloped” with a rider. They weigh 350 pounds and when their 12 to 15 eggs are in the ground, if the ground becomes cold with rain. then they are born male. If the nest stays warm, they are born female. There are three kinds, and the young are protected in cages until they are 2 years old and their shells harden.
National Park:
Next we went to the facility where they keep the baby tortoises safe from predators in cages.
We hiked to a hut where they had a display.
Then we drove to the beach where there were many more Sea Lions and a cliff where there were three Blue Footed Booties.
Climbing up the cliff we came to where the Blue Footed Boobies were.
After walking for almost four hours we got back on the bus. We had an hour off for lunch. but it was too much trouble to find a place to eat, so we just rested.
At 1:30 off we go on another bus to hike to another beach.
The cutest sea lion was a baby nursing from its mother. Some of our group went in for a swim going down the rocky beach. They said that they saw giant sea turtles and a few fish. The water was quite cold.
After about 5 PM we got back to the hotel in time to walk downtown for lunch/dinner. Lobster, shrimp, octopus, and tuna together with a giant salad. They brought the lobster in a charcoal grill to keep it hot as we ate it!, that made up for missing lunch.
The first time I had a grill at the table was in Mexico City years ago..
All in all a wonderful trip to the Galapagos, I learned a lot.