Galapagos Islands, Ecuador - Day 5

Thursday, February 17

Last day on the Monserrat! I woke up at 5:00am to pack up the last of our bags. At 6:00am, we met everyone on the cruise boat in the saloon and then left in the dingy boats for a morning nature walk on North Seymour Island. Tory couldn’t believe we were getting up so early to go exploring, but I kind of liked it! It was really beautiful to see the island wake up with the sunrise.

North Seymour Island looked like a strange horror movie. Stark, barren trees all over the landscape swarmed overhead with black magnificent frigate birds. The black birds were calling to one another in an unique mating ritual. Specifically, the male frigate birds inflate their red chests to attract females. The bigger the red balloon, the more attractive the bird appears to the opposite sex.

Also on the island, we saw more blue-footed boobies. The famous Galapagos birds were nesting on North Seymour Island, and our group learned about the many harsh realities of animals in the wild. As our naturalist explained, blue-footed boobie chicks often die from falling out of their poorly-made nests. Another species of boobie bird in the Galapagos lays two eggs and the first chick that hatches pushes the other egg out of the nest to ensure its superior placement for food and care from the mother. Add in other dangers like feral goats or rats eating the eggs or weather phenomenons like El Niño and it’s easy to understand how delicate animal livelihood is on the island. Galapagos park rangers do what they can to protect the native island species by irradiating pests while also respecting the nature order of life on the island.

Walking along the beach, we saw a few sea lion pups and their mamas resting in the sand. One of the pups we saw was as tiny as a human baby — the naturalist estimated it was less than a week old.

At 7:00am, our group rode the dingy boats back to the Monserrat for breakfast. The kitchen staff served fruit, strawberry juice, scrambled eggs, pan de yucca, pepperoni, cheese, ham, and bread with jam. Pan de yucca, has quickly become one of my favorite foods in Ecuador. They are a warm potato patty made with cheese and herbs. While we ate, the Monserrat was underway to our final destination at the Baltra Island pier.

The boat crew worked to shuttle everyone’s bags to the pier while all the passengers sat in the saloon together and watched a thoughtful compilation video that Adrian, one of the boat’s naturalists, made on his computer.

Then, it was time to say good-bye to the Monserrat. We loaded into the dingy boats and motored over to shore. From there, everyone took a bus to the Baltra Island Airport where some boat passengers met flights and others (like us) took a water taxi to Santa Cruz Island where the largest town in the Galapagos is located. Finally, we took another 30-minute taxi ride by car to get to Charles Darwin Street in downtown Santa Cruz.

David, one of the naturalists on the Monserrat, suggested a hotel called Ninfa in Santa Cruz. We didn’t have a reservation anywhere in town, so we had the taxi drop us off there. It looked nice enough and we were able to check in right away, so Andi and I agreed to book a hotel room there for two nights. It felt like we’d put in a full day of sightseeing and travel already today, but in reality it was only 10:00am.

All Tory and Aden wanted to do in Santa Cruz was swim in a pool, so we were pleased to see Hotel Ninfa had one. Our hotel room wasn’t anything special — three modest beds and an attached bathroom.

{Ninfa hotel room}

I dropped off our wet, smelly laundry with the hotel front desk and watched Tory and Aden swim in the pool for a few hours while Andi returned phone calls. The internet in Santa Cruz was brutal, but at least there was a signal. We were completely disconnected from the world on the boat the past five days.

For lunch, the four of us walked into downtown Santa Cruz which is just a block away from our hotel. Aden saw a sign for chicken tenders, so we obliged and sat down for lunch on the outdoor patio of Golden Prague Pub. Andi ordered chicken schnitzel, Aden got chicken tenders, and Tory ordered a burger (of course). I went out on a limb and ordered a seared tuna salad which which tasted so fresh and delicious!

Next, the four of us wandered around downtown Santa Cruz. The fish market by the pier was a sight to see. We stood around watching fishing boats bringing in their fresh catch. There was also a table with a handful of women standing at it cleaning & selling the fish. One lucky sea lion positioned himself directly under the table and the woman on the end threw him fish scraps every once in a while.

Andi stopped for an espresso at a local cafe and we all sat at a street view table watching locals and visitors milling about town. He was excited to taste real coffee again. That’s one thing hasn’t been very good in Ecuador — coffee.

This weekend, the Galapagos Islands celebrated the 49th anniversary of becoming a recognized canton in Ecuador. There was joyful music blaring from a courtyard by the pier, a wood-carving contest happening there and signs that read “Viva GPS!” Many inhabitants of the island know the hardships of island life before Galapagos became a recognized state because that really wasn’t long ago! These islands are a precious natural resource and their livelihood, so it was neat being there during the celebration.

Eventually, the heat of the afternoon chased us back to our hotel for some reprieve in our air-conditioned hotel room. It felt like we were walking around town in an oven. Most businesses and restaurants in Santa Cruz close from 1:00pm-4:00pm during the hottest part of the day.

On the walk back to our hotel, we stopped into the Proinsular grocery store to buy a few snacks and drinks for our room. We miss being fed every few hours on the cruise boat!

Around 4:00pm, when the heat of the day had subsided some, the four of us walked back to the main street in town to browse some of the shops. I hoped to find a few inexpensive swimming suits to replace the ones we forgot in Guayaquil, but didn’t have any luck. Tory has been practically melting in the heat, so we bought her a lightweight sundress with a Galapagos sea creature on the front — very cute! Hopefully that’ll keep her a little cooler than she was in shorts & a t-shirt.

We returned to the hotel once again & all took showers. None of us were very hungry for dinner, so Andi said he’d walk back into town to get something small to-go for us. Poor Tory fell asleep before he returned. She must’ve been tired. I think we’re all feeling a little worn out after a busy week of activities on the cruise boat.

We let Tory sleep, and Aden, Andi and I sat outside our hotel room at a patio table and ate a slice of pizza and a chicken schwarma wrap for dinner. We all headed to bed after that. Travel days are long & tiring no matter the location. We’re all in need of a little R&R after the Galapagos cruise, but excited to explore the city of Santa Cruz tomorrow.