We Got Served in the Galapa-go-go-go-gos

Flight to the Galapagos was just under two hours....but as usual, I assumed we were going to crash the entire time. We did so much in our 5 nights there....here is how it went:

Day 1: Arrived at noon and took the short ferry from Baltra to Santa Cruz and caught a bus to Puerto Ayora, the largest city in the Galapagos (19,000). We had not booked anything...no hotel, no cruise, no day trips. So we went to a computer to try and write some of our friends that said they might be there at the same time. We ran into them in the streets and followed them to our hotel. Only $12.50 a night and the ladies that worked there were awesome. The 4 of us immediately hopped in a truck for a land tour of the island. We saw two massive volcanic sinkholes, walked through underground lava tunnels, and went to see the giant tortoises in their natural habitat. It was like Jurassic Park, except I wasn´t (that) scared. The turtles are massive....but completely worthless. They are tied with mosquitos for most worthless animal on the planet. It is amazing to watch them interact and we followed them around (at 0.1 miles an hour) for a long time. We went back to the hotel and wandered around to see what the locals were doing. We found a huge crowd of people surrounding courts that appeared to be volleyball courts...but they weren´t....they were Equiboli courts. There was money being passed around and people were getting very into it...so I took a peak and asked a few people what was going on. Apparently you can pay $20 per person and play winner takes all. I was intrigued. So I gathered my two friends and talked them into playing this silly game they call equiboli. I better explain it before going on...it somewhat resembles volleyball....except the net is over 9 ft tall (because all ecaudorians are midgets and this high net is the equalizer)....and there are really no rules, they literally catch the ball and throw it over the nets or double hit it or throw it granny style. You play 3 on 3 and you must serve by tossing the ball up with one hand and hitting it with the same hand. You have 3 hits to get it over and you play to 15 points, best out of 3 games. Our 3 challengers included one guy that was 4´3´´ and thought he was hilarious, his sidekick Forrest Gump legs (pre-braces and football stardom), and an old guy. I knew they were playing us, but I am so cocky that I thought we could win. Needless to say....we were winning halfway through the first game and I spiked it in the old guys face a few times, but then he kicked it into gear. This grandpa was the Michael Jordan of equiboli. He made it rain on us...and the crowd loved it. Needless to say, we payed their rents for the month of September and got severely served.

Day 2: Kroopf and I rented snorkeling gear and made the 2 mile hike to Tortuga Bay. The beach was the nicest beach I have ever seen....soft, white sand....no baby diapers or seaweed to spoil the beauty. We saw a plethora of iguanas hanging out on the beach, swimming and spitting salt out of their nostrils. We also saw a group of 8 sea turtles, 6 sting rays, a small shark that surfed into shore trying to catch its prey, and plenty of blue footed boobies. All this in one afternoon.

Day 3: Floreana Island was our destination today. The boat ride was 2 hours from Santa Cruz and we arrived to a welcome of sea lions and iguana waiting by the dock. The animals are so apathetic towards humans that the sea lions barely glanced upward as we stepped over them. We hiked to the top of the island and saw some ruins from the first settlers and a group of tortoises being reintroduced into the wild. The views are amazing everywhere you go....pristine turquoise water spotted with massive volcanic bobbers.

We hiked back down and drove around to a couple of snorkeling spots. We saw masked boobies, blue footed boobies, and cormorants flying around and resting awkwardly on the outcroppings that line the coast. We hopped in the water and I thought I was in the movie Open Water....we were in 30 ft of water and I could see the bottom...any fish over a foot made me turn the water a little warmer. I got over my fear as I started swimming in the middle of a large group and made them the easier targets. We saw massive schools of yellow, black, orange and striped fish....sting rays and turtles were all around, and the floor covered with sea cucumbers and weird fish and organisms. Went to a second spot and it was more of the same, just a little more shallow. Hitched the boat back and rested for the night....we booked a day trip to Bartolome leaving at 5 am.

Day 4: The lady that worked at the hostel found out that we loved empanadas (and by found out I mean I told her all about my obsession). She happened to like us and woke up at 4:30 in the morning to make us bacon and cheese empanadas....and we didn´t even ask her to. I had 6.

The boat was massive and had a second story with mattresses spread out, so we all crashed on the deck listening to music and basking in the equatorial sun rays. Bartolome is amazing...by far my favorite island. We hiked up to the top of its volcanic beginning to take in the amazing views of the turquoise water and white sand beaches. You could see about a dozen other islands around. Halfway down we saw 6 dolphins soaring out of the water. On the way to our snorkeling destination we saw a group of penguins perched on the rocky shores and they pretended not to see us.

It was by far the best snorkeling I have ever done. I swam with sea lions, penguins, sharks, and thousands of fish....ranging from 2 inch bright orange fish to massive rainbow colored suckers. It was unreal. I was swimming back in by myself when a 6 ft white tip reef shark was swimming in the opposite direction. I was so scared that I couldn´t do anything until he swam by...then I ran on top of the water all the way back to the beach. We waited for the small boat to pick us up and return us to the mother ship. 25 blue footed boobies hovered overhead and proceeded to dive bomb into the water. A massive school of shad swam into the bay and the penguins joined in on the onslaught. It was one of the most spectacular things I have ever seen......10 boobies would shoot straight down into the water at the same time.....I couldn´t stop watching. Eventually we were forced to go back and we sat on the back of the boat for another 3 hours. I forgot sun block and turned into a stop sign by the time I woke up.

Days 5 & 6: We woke up early and returned to Tortuga Bay to show our friends the beach. We were forced to come back quickly because we were taking a 2 pm ¨speed boat¨to Isabela Island for a 2 day trek. The speed boat ended up being a tin can with two different motors on the back...and one of them wouldn´t start. They handed us huge life vests to put around our necks, and I wondered what they were for. I discovered that they served a dual purpose: 1) as a neck brace to prevent your neck from breaking as the boat launched 10 feet into the air and 2) might help as a flotation device if we were to capsize or get launched out of the boat. It got to the point where I was so scared and sick that I couldn´t do anything but laugh. We finally made it there and I kissed the ground as we stepped on dry land. We went to the hotel after a brief tour of some flamingo filled lagoons.

Our second day consisted of a 10 mile hike to 3 separate volcanoes, one of which is still active and happens to be the 2nd largest volcanic crater in the world (10 km across). The hike was interesting...the first half consisted of muddy roads through lush vegetation and ended in volcanic deserts with cactus and lava tunnels. The views were incredible and it was amzing to see how the volcanoes shaped the island. We went straight from the hike to a boat where we saw more penguins , iguanas, and sea lions. We hopped off and hiked to a shark resting zone and stared at 13 reef sharks sleeping on top of eachother from 5 ft away. We then hopped in the water and snorkeled around some more. The highlight of this snorkeling adventure was a massive manta ray that we followed around for 5 minutes. It looked like a stealth bomber gliding through the shallow water. We turned back and went to the hostel for our last supper together....dreading the awful 2 hour carnival ride back to Santa Cruz. The sea wasn´t as angry that day my friends, and we had a much better ride. Kroopf and I then spent an hour and a half on buses and boats getting back to baltra to catch our flight to Guayaquil...then sat in an airport for 2 hours and flew to Lima, Peru. The Galapagos Islands were incredible and I hope that they have not desensitized me from appreciating any other type of nature.