Galapagos Islands
We arrived in the Galapagos Islands after a decent sail from Cocos Island. Now let's just say that Cocos
is one amazing place to dive. Sadly we did not have the same experience diving in Galapagos, but the
land life more than makes up for that.
The first hassle of the Galapagos is having to decide if you want to visit one island or 4. If you choose 4
then get an agent 2 months in advance and expect to pay him at least 800 in agent fees then island fees,
customs fees, etc. Yes you need to do immigration at each island just to make things worse and it costs
15 bucks each time you visit. Oh and don't forget the fumigation certificate before leaving panama. We
opted to go to just one island and our so called agent we had been in contact with blew us off on arrival.
We tried to clear in ourselves at Santa Cruz island, but the officials would not deal with us and referred
us to another agent. He was nice and cost around 170 bucks on top of all the official fees. Let's just say
Galapagos is rather expensive to visit by boat, but still worth it.
If you choose to visit Santa Cruz island (Academy bay) expect to bounce and roll. This is one nasty (fuel
spills) rough anchorage. I say this even as a cat so you know it must have been bouncy! Also expect
growth and diesel residue to ride about 1 foot up the side of your boat. When I first arrived I assumed
the guy next to us never cleaned his boat. Sadly 1 week later we looked just like him and even now in
Canada we are still trying to get it all cleaned off!
The great news of being at Santa Cruz is the chance to visit all the tour agents and work a deal on a boat
trip to the outer islands. Yes it is rather funny to pay nearly 900 bucks to take a 7 day tour on another
boat, but that is the only way to do it. If you book in advance or online you will pay a ton more, though
you might be on a fancy boat unlike the one we took. No matter what if you are into nature book the 7
day trip or you will miss out on a few nice islands. Also note that few places take credit cards so take lots
of cash for diving and tours.
The bird life is just amazing is all I can say. We saw nesting albatrosses, frigate birds with their red
pouches inflated, red footed boobies, blue footed boobies, masked boobies, gulls, finches, pink
flamingos, tropic birds, etc. Tons of birds and really up close. Sometimes so close they block the trail!
Also you have marine iguanas, land iguanas, tortoises, sea lions, penguins, sharks, turtles, rays, and the
list goes on. Certainly in all of my travels this place is the best for nature photography.
When you are ready to leave make sure to visit the twice a week veggie market as well as all the stores.
Even then you will not get everything you wanted and much of it will rot sooner than you expect. Most
people will do fine for the short (ok 3000 mile) trip to the Marqueses where you will really learn what
expensive groceries is all about. We opted to do the 6000 mile run to Canada instead for some crazy
reason!