Travels with V
Peru & Ecuador
Last day in the Galapogos
Ecuador: Galapagos part three
Charles Darwin is celebrated all over Galapagos. Which is a bit ironic, since his discoveries totally wrecked the biblical fundaments of the Catholic faith, the religion so strong in Latin America.
The day we have to leave San Cristóbal we just stroll around the little town to pass the time. It’s still raining and the rain is getting more intense. It’s a perfect good-bye weather.
Returning to Santa Cruz and its harbour Puerto Ayuru we can compare the two towns and see that this is a more sprawling town than Baquerizo Morena, and at the same time a little more showy. Like it dearly wants to be the capital, but isn’t. There are some elegant hotels and restaurants here, but also lots of rough areas, gardens full of rubbish, abandoned concrete building projects and gravel roads. But this island has something unique – a micro climate that has allowed the southern half to be almost lush and green with tall trees, banana plantations and lots of farms. While the northern half is a dry lava desert.
In Puerto Ayuru we end up in a psychedelic dungeon of a hotel, painted in yellow, green and blue and with winding stairs and gangways. The manager is a harsh but confused lady, and her husband is kind and even more confused. For 20 minutes they read us the house rules, when the reception is open, and when it’s not you have to use another entrance, first press a button and then open with a key. We nod and forget everything, we’re not staying long anyway.
Just a few blocks from the hotel we find a beautiful restaurant by the sea where we have some sparkling cava and a perfect tuna steak. Happiness.
And when we wake up next morning the sun is shining again. We’re sad to say goodbye to the Galapagos, but we’re now heading into a part of journey that we know very little about. Yet.
Here’s some pretty pictures of Galapagos’ fauna and flora:
And finally, a beautiful morning in Puerto Baqueriza Morena, with the harbour sea lions barking:
Join us next to the big city and the jungle that lies beyond!
