Galapagos Islands, Ecuador - Day 1

Sunday, February 13

It’s my birthday! I woke up excitedly at 5:30am and snuck out of our hotel room to get a workout in at the gym. Like the pool area, I had to make a reservation to use the gym so that meant I got the entire area to myself which was really a treat.

When I finished with my workouts, I returned to our hotel room and tip-toed in as not to wake up the family. In the dark from their beds, they all started singing “Happy Birthday” to me. So sweet!

We got dressed, brushed our teeth and headed down to breakfast which was included with our stay at the Wyndham. There was another big spread of food — eggs, sausage, bacon, fruit, yogurt, as well as many Ecuadorian dishes including humitas, tigrillo, and a tilapia with coconut sauce that Andi tried and said was very good.

After breakfast, we grabbed our bags and hurried off to the Guayaquil Airport about 10 minutes away. The taxi driver stuck Andi for a $5 taxi ride which we know is not the fair price in Ecuador. We’ve taken 30-minute taxi rides for cheaper. Nonetheless, Andi paid the driver and then we made our way into the airport to check in for our flight to the Galapagos. The airport wasn’t busy at all, except for the one airline we were flying which happened to have a long line. I presume it was for our same flight to the Galapagos departing at 10:00am.

We waited in the line of people for at least 20 minutes in line to check in at the airline ticket counter. When it was finally our turn, the employee asked Andi for our Galapagos transit control card which we did not have. Andi said later he knew that was going to happen because he heard people in line mumbling about something migration & he knew we didn’t have whatever they were discussing. Shoot. The ticket counter employee instructed us to go to the migration card counter which also had a very long line.

Ecuador uses the Galapagos transit control card as a way to track who is coming and going to the islands. Each card cost $20 pp. The transit control line was incredibly slow moving, and there was now 30 minutes left until our plane started boarding. Andi and I started to fear we were going to miss our flight. While we stood in the migration line, Andi noticed a side table that was checking vaccination cards. He was able to get that stamp of approval while the kids and I continued to wait in the other line.

Eventually, we got to the front of the transit control card line and processed our traveler information with the agent. It took 15 minutes for the woman to manually enter our information into the computer. It was now 9:30am and our flight was scheduled to leave at 10:00am. While Andi finished the migration paperwork at the counter, I hauled our bags to a different line for agricultural screening. With a stroke of luck, we made it to security by 9:45am and there was no line there so we breezed right through the checkpoint.

One the other side of security, Andi told the kids we needed to run to our gate. They looked at him with confused looks on their faces, but they didn’t ask questions — they just started running. We made it to our plane at 9:50am. Phew! When we were safely buckled into our seats, Tory said she’s never had to run to catch an airplane before. I assured her it won’t be the last!

In hindsight, we should have researched the travel / airline procedures requirements needed to enter the Galapagos. We were so focused on the COVID testing part of travel that we didn’t consider there might be other paperwork requirements. While we were standing in line at the airport, Andi saw that we could have completed the transit control card paperwork online beforehand, but when we tried to do it from our phones we discovered that the site is written solely in Spanish. It was too much of a pain to try to translate it on the spot. I wish there had been better signage or instructions at the airport or in pre-boarding information from the airline letting us know that we needed the transit card, vaccination card approval and an agricultural baggage check. Oh well, now we know. I’m just glad we made our flight.

The airplane ride from Guayaquil to Seymour Airport on Baltra Island, Galapagos was a smooth, easy ride. Once we landed, we waited in another line to pay our Galapagos National Park entry fee. This is the main source of income for the islands used for conservation. Andi and I paid $100 each for our fee and Tory and Aden cost $50 each.

Finally, we finished with all the lines & we were in the Galapagos! Between COVID testing requirements and almost missing our flight, I wasn’t sure we were going to make it here. Outside baggage claim, a representative from the Monserrat Cruise Company led us to a charter bus outside that took us to the Baltra Island pier. At the pier, we jumped into a dingy with our luggage and motored to the Monserrat yacht anchored in the bay. This will be home for the next five days.

Andi and I went back and forth prior to booking this cruise about whether or not this would be the best way to see the Galapagos Islands. We don’t usually like traveling with other people and don’t like adhering to a set itinerary. The alternative would’ve been to basecamp out of Santa Cruz or San Cristobal Islands and take day-trips to see the sights. For ease of travel and access to more remote parts of the islands, Andi and I decided a Galapagos cruise was the better option. Island cruises are small (max. 20 passengers) so we felt like we’d still get an intimate experience. And since we booked last minute, Andi was able to book our cruise for half the cost.

On the boat, we were given a brief orientation about boat safety and expectations while visiting the Galapagos Islands. It was during this talk that I suddenly remembered that we left our swimming suits hanging up to dry in the closet of our hotel room in Guayaquil. Specifically, we left Andi, Tory and Aden’s swimming suits. I didn’t get into the pool at the Wyndham Hotel so I still had mine. Crap! What were we going to do? We were now on a boat in the Galapagos Islands for five days without swimming suits. Quickly, I racked my brain for other clothing that everyone could use & decided Andi and Aden could swim in pairs of shorts. Tory, on the other hand, would have to wear a pair of her shorts and a sports bra. Fortunately, I still had my swimming suit with me.

After the brief orientation, we were given our room assignments and able to return to our cabins to get settled in. Andi booked us two cabins on the boat, each including two twin beds and a bathroom attached. We paid extra money to have rooms on the upper level of the boat with a window.

Once all 20 passengers were on board, we met for lunch on the main level of the boat. It was fun to see who would be our shipmates for the week. Andi and I were hoping there would be another family on board & there was — a family of four traveling from the Netherlands with children ages 5 and 2. The other passengers were couples traveling from Ecuador, Germany, London, Norway, and the USA.

Our first lunch on the boat was spaghetti with meat sauce, garlic toast, salad and fruit cocktail as dessert. “Eat up,” Andi reminded our kids. Like our time spent in the Amazon Rainforest, we have no control over what will be served at each meal on the boat, so if they liked something on their plate we encouraged them to fill up their bellies.

While everyone ate lunch in the dining room, the boat was already underway to our first destination. We finished eating and had about an hour of free time before arriving at Baltra Beach. The four of us sat on the top deck of the boat and played cards while the crew handed out snorkeling gear and wet suits to those who wanted it. All the gear was an additional cost, but Andi and I figured we could wear wet suits to cover up the fact that we didn’t have proper swimming suits. Plus, one of the naturalists said the waters around Isabela and Fernandina Islands are pretty cold.

Around 3:00pm, we arrived on Baltra Beach. Our group of 20 people (10 ppl per dingy) motored over to the beach for what the boat crew called a “wet landing.” That meant that the dingy got us close to shore and we had to throw our legs over the sides of the dingy to hop out into the ocean. That was trickier for some passengers than others, but the naturalists and crew were right there to assist anyone that needed it.

Once we made it onto the beach, the two naturalists — David and Adrian — broke our group of 20 people into two smaller groups. Each group went for a 45-minute walk along the beach to learn about wildlife and plants on the island. We spotted sting rays swimming in the water, sally lightfoot crabs crawling all over the lava rocks, and marine iguanas on the sand. The most exciting part happened when we came to a small lagoon where two pink flamingos were feeding! I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was so cool to see flamingos in the wild.

After our walk, we had about an hour to swim, snorkel and relax on the beach. We tried snorkeling, but the water was pretty cloudy near shore. The water was also busy as a few other catamarans and cruise boats were also anchored there.

At 5:30pm, we took a dingy boat ride back to the Monserrat yacht. The kitchen crew had chicken wings, Oreo cookies and juice waiting for us on the boat. I just wanted to shower though, so I bee-lined it to my room. Tory and Aden followed me to our cabins to shower. When Aden returned to the galley area to find himself a snack he discovered that all the appetizers were gone. He was so sad! I felt sorry for him. Lesson learned — if you want a snack after we returned from an excursion, you have to eat right away.

Judging by Aden’s tearful outburst, it seemed like the kids could use a little downtime. Andi and I let them stay in their cabin to watch a show on their iPhones while we grabbed two glasses of wine and headed to the top deck of the boat to chat with some of the other passengers. We met a couple traveling from Germany and another from London. Tory and Aden joined us on the top deck a while later.

At 6:30pm, we were called to a safety briefing on the main floor of the boat. There, one of the naturalists shared safety protocols and information about the islands we’ll be visiting tomorrow.

Dinner was served at 7:30pm in the saloon. It was a weird seating arrangement with five plates to a table (for 20 people) which made sense except that it meant that two couples had to eat at separate tables. Obviously, nobody wanted to do that. We invited the Ecuadorian couple to join our family at our table. It was a bit tight, but better than having them eat separately.

Dinner was a choice of fish or beef, soup, cabbage salad, broccoli and rice. For dessert, Andi and the crew surprised me with a birthday cake. That was a sweet surprise! Tory was so concerned I wouldn’t have a birthday present on the boat, she made me a coupon book that includes items like “free pass to get out of reading to kids at night” and “Tory and Aden to share a bed without complaining.” That was very thoughtful.

Tory and Aden were absolutely exhausted by the time dinner was finished. The four of us excused ourselves and made our way to our cabins located on the upper deck. Mainland Ecuador is in Eastern Standard Time, but the Galapagos Islands are in the Central Time Zone, so it felt like an hour later than it was. I read the kids a quick chapter from Summer in the Woods and then tucked them into their beds. I think they were both asleep by the time I shut off the light.

Tonight is our longest journey of the entire trip. We’ll be motoring overnight from Baltra Beach to the west side of Isabela Island which will take an estimated 14 hours. It felt strange to fall asleep in bed with the motor humming and the boat moving. Tomorrow, we’ll wake up in Targus Cove.