GALAPAGOS

I arrived at Baltra Island Airport on a flight from Guayaquil in the company of two friends. From the airport we got on the free bus to the small harbour on the narrow channel that separates the small Baltra from Santa Cruz Island. Here with a boat we quickly crossed the channel. Having checked the possibility of reaching the only town on the island by public transport, we decided to share an off-road taxi with a couple to Puerto Ayora. Arriving in the town we settled into the accommodation booked previously. After a look around the town, a walk to the port and a meeting with an acquaintance from there, we began exploring the surroundings.

From the port, with a small boat we reached a path that passes alongside small beaches surrounded by strange cacti and old salt pans, and arrives at a hollow of volcanic rock into which the sea water penetrates. There's a family of locals swimming but the water, despite us being at the equator, due to the Humboldt Current is fairly cold around here.

Back at the landing stage we take the first boat for the port. On the quays the iguanas sunbathe, the red crabs climb on the rocks below, everywhere birdlife heedless of the people walking along the seafront. In this sparse group of volcanic islands 1000 km from the coast of South America, things are still as the first explorers found them, because apart from a few settlements that grew up for the National Park, the Galapagos are still unspoilt. On the lava cliffs the iguanas camouflage themselves, having evolved to take on a black colouring. The Galapagos iguana is the only one able to feed in the sea, being an amphibious animal. Between land and marine iguanas there are so many that you have to be careful when walking not to step on them. But the symbol animal of the Islands is the giant tortoise, which can reach 300 kg in weight and 1 metre 80 in length.

The average life expectancy of this species ranges from 150 to 300 years. The locals consider them domestic animals like a dog and they're often seen in the gardens of their houses. In Puerto Ayora there's also the Centre that preserves them and which bears the name of Charles Darwin, who arrived here aboard the Beagle and studied the evolution of the species.

At the small fish market of Puerto Ayora we have a slice of fish cut for us that one of my travel companions will cook in the kitchen available to guests of our Hotel.

In the town we also take part in the inauguration of an Exhibition at an Art School. The next day, with a boat we cross the arm of the sea that separates Santa Cruz Island from the wilder Isabela. The splendid equatorial sea of a blue with a thousand shades is crossed by the cold current that makes it unsuitable for swimming but perfect for sea turtles and sea lions. Isabela is a primordial island with lava cliffs that alternate with wind-swept sandy coves. The island is rich in animals, some of them endemic. The animals are used to human presence and live undisturbed even in the few humanised places. On a small beach surrounded by volcanic rock a sea lioness calls her pup's attention by making a sound that seems like a lament.

One of my companions, the youngest, braves the cold waters and goes snorkelling together with other tourists.

On these islands far from the Continent and with a wide climatic variety, the animals have adapted to the environment with a different evolution compared to their fellows living in other parts of the world. During an excursion on the volcanic rocks that emerge from the sea in front of the coast of Isabela we spot sea turtles, iguanas and small sharks. Returning to the Island we manage to see a group of pink flamingos in a small lake and the land tortoise breeding Centre. Isabela Island has a settlement called Puerto Villamil with a small harbour and rather spartan dwellings.

From here the following day we take the boat to return to Santa Cruz. Overnight on the Island and the next morning by taxi we cross the Island to the landing stage on the channel in front of Baltra. Boat to cross to the other side, then shuttle bus to the Airport and from here a flight to Guayaquil with which we leave the Galapagos Islands.