Ticking one off the bucket list: Galapagos

28 July 2010

If there’s one thing that South America lacks, it’s wildlife. Apart from the llamas and alpacas, there isn’t much to see unless you hike for days into the jungle. 

Until you get to Galapagos.

1000 kilometres off the coast of Ecuador and famous for their part in forming Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, the Galapagos Islands are barren but incredibly beautiful. The islands are also smack bang on one of earth’s hottest volcanic spots and activity as recent as two years ago has helped shape their dramatic landscapes. 

To be honest, I was a bit nervous about going to the islands. Galapagos has been at the top of my bucket list for a long time and I didn't want it to disappoint. 

It definitely did not.

We'd selected an itinerary of eight days of sailing around the northern Galapagos Islands. It should cover the animals we want to see – blue, red and grey footed boobies, albatross sanctuaries, sea lion colonies, whales, giant Galapagos tortoises, and the land and aquatic iguanas.

  
We board our flight to Isla Baltra in Quito and I can barely contain my excitement.

Ecuador and a travel low

Ecuador: 24 July 2010

Guayaquil. Definitely not my cup of tea. At the risk of sounding like a spoilt brat, I’m already missing the beach. And the shabbiness of Ecuador's largest city is just not doing it for me. 

The street food is weird and bland, and the hostels are grubby, basic and expensive. 


There is a festival on this weekend in Guayaquil but no one knows, or wants to tell us, about it.

Guayaquil and Quito are the places to book Galapagos but, here, it is hard to imagine this would be the case. 

There must be more to it than this?

Lacking the passion to stay and find out, we head north to Riobamba. We discover that the original train where you ride on the roof (and one of its drawcards) has been replaced by a nasty touristy tram and it appeals to none of us. 

We sack it off.

And we move on. Again. To Banos. 

That night I feel unsettled. We’ve moved quickly through several towns because on the surface they’ve looked shabby, a bit boring or just plain dodgy. I question whether I'm feeling this way because Mancora was too luxurious.

I also wonder if it's time for a rethink. 

To be honest, so far Ecuador has disappointed me. I don’t know if we’d just been trying too hard to get the Galapagos Islands and skipped the best parts of the country but I can’t shake the feeling that perhaps I’ve just been on the road too long. 

I lie awake fretting about it.

My spirit is lifted when we arrive in Banos... and then crushed when we discover that most of it is shut down because of the threat of a volcanic eruption and horrendous weather. The hot pools are open but the queue stretches from one side of town to the other. And it's bucketing down.

I feel completely disheartened and wracked with guilt. I’m in a travel low. 

I take some time out on my own to write and to snap myself out of it. I know that the Galapagos Islands will be amazing. But what about everything before and after Galapagos? 

I know that good times are ahead. I just need to get my mojo back.

Beach time

Mancora, Peru: 19 July 2010

Exhausted from so many overnight bus journeys, I’ve barely closed my eyes for a catnap when an uber-excited Meg and Hunter bounce into our room. It's only been a few days since we saw them but I’ve missed them.

They take us to their favourite beachfront cafe, Green Eggs and Ham, and we eat the best food we’ve had in months on the deck. I’m still chewing the last mouthful when I decide a swim can’t wait any longer.

I am so content.

Later that day, we take a tuk tuk into town. I’m so busy watching the street go by that I barely notice a tuk tuk coming in the opposite direction which smashes into ours and swipes the door off barely an inch away from my arm. An ugly fight erupts between the drivers, and when Meg and Hunter pull up behind us we dive into their car and get the hell out of there.

After a spectacular sunset on the beach, I leave my friends on the balcony and lie in bed listening to the ocean.

I wonder if it's wrong to have skipped through the north of Peru to get here. Surely if it gives me this much peace, it's a good thing.

The next few days are a haze of beer, beach and late night on the balcony. One night we sit up until dawn, watching the sunrise, drinking and talking shit. Despite having spent the last two months solid with each other, the conversation between the four of us is so easy. We bare our souls.

Reluctantly, eventually, we leave our paradise and leave Peru. We have spent six weeks in this glorious country so rich in culture and dotted with landscapes that have literally made my jaw drop.

But it's time to move on.

So we cross the border into Ecuador, eager to organise our next adventure. Sailing around the Galapagos Islands for Hunter’s 30^th birthday.