Woken unhappily from much needed sleep by the shrill call of my alarm at 6am. We’d both woken up some time around 4, Glen having to put the air conditioning on because it was 27 degrees in the room. Getting out of bed when the alarm did go off took a while.

We went for breakfast in the hotel. There was quite a spread, though the only obvious absence (for us) was any type of eggs. There were fruit, cereals, hams and such, cheese, toast, and a few hot dishes (plaintains in batter being one). I enjoyed a couple of passionfruit that were yellow on the outside. The goopy stuff around the seeds was white, while the taste was much sweeter than the passionfruit we get back home.

Checked out and jumped straight into the taxi that we’d requested the night before. It was great to see Quito by daylight. We went a different route for half of the journey, going down narrow back alleyways with cobbled streets. Everything is so green because of the rain and the temperature. In the distance you can see a snow-capped mountain.

The driver got us there quicker than expected, which was fine (though I was certain we were going to either kill or be killed along the way he drove so fast). At the airport, I saw a line for “Galapagos Passengers” and had read that we need to get some sort of pass to be allowed onto the islands.

I wanted to go there first to check it out but Glen shouted me down saying that just because it said Galapagos didn’t mean we had to join that queue. So we joined the queue for the airline (after failing our self-check-in) only to find that when we got to the front we had to go to the Galapagos queue to get our $10 entry card thing and have our luggage checked and tagged.

I didn’t gloat. Much.

Checked-in, waited in the terminal, boarded the plane. Unfortunately, for some reason, Glen and I weren’t sitting next to each other. This time I had a window seat and was glad of it because it meant I got to look out the window for a bit and see the green below.

Our flight to Guayaquil didn’t take long, sort of up and down again. When we landed, we stayed on the plane while more people boarded. It was then that the sharp twang of the Australian accent broke through my concentration as I read my book. People were sitting in their seats, or weren’t, or who knows. From the sounds of it they’d had a rough time, taking a while to get to this point and having had flights cancelled. I get the frustration, I really do, but you still come across sounding like a tosser.

Hammered home by the fact that the husband said they don’t speak Spanish, like it’s Ecuador’s fault that the country doesn’t speak English. I don’t speak Spanish either but that’s my problem. And if they took the time to learn a few phrases (which I doubt they did), it would go a long way to you looking anything other than the self-entitled wanker you look like.

/end rant

Take off was fine. Once again I wonder if pilots bitch about how bad other pilots park their planes?

We left Guayaquil behind, flying over a packed town below. For most of it, it’s set out in straight lines but then someone breaks the patterns and then you see diagonals. What struck me though was how the streets and the houses go right to the water’s edge with perhaps only a few metres to spare. Everything’s so packed in in some places, yet there’s just this big expanse elsewhere.

Before long we were out over the ocean, about 1000km from the islands. Coming in to land on Isla Baltra, I started to get excited. I couldn’t believe I was actually going to the Galápagos Islands. I’d only really taken notice of them when we got Galapagos Tortoises at the Zoo and I was researching them. Then found out how amazing the place is so it went on the list. Felt unimaginable then to think I’d ever get here so soon.

Once in the terminal we paid our $100 fee each for entering the national park, then gave our luggage to the bus driver and hopped on the bus to the ferry. From there it was a ten minute boat ride to Santa Cruz.

Along the way we saw lots of birds, including pelicans that were diving into the water to catch fish. We also saw a sea lion basking on one of the buoys.

After getting off the ferry we could have taken the bus to Puerto Ayuero, which would have cost about $5 for the two of us. Instead we opted for an $18 taxi ride that got us there much quicker, and we both had window seats. It was a hair raising experience though, particularly as, like all other taxi drivers we’ve had so far, our driver tail gated another taxi most of the way. He also did a good job of avoiding the giant potholes.

We arrived at our hotel, Casa Natura/Galapagos Islands Hotel, checked in, dumped our stuff then went to check out the town. We stopped for lunch at Isla Grill, ate some food, then went walking in the rain to try to find last-minute cruises.

Our intention before coming to the islands was to book a cruise for five days once we arrived as last minute deals are much cheaper. However, we soon discovered that most, if not all, cruise ships are full. I was deflated. The benefit of going on a live-on cruise is that you get to islands that you can’t visit on day tours alone.

One guy tried to sell us a mash-up of a number of tours for $1500 per person, which was actually more than I was thinking we’d pay for a high end cruise. I said we’d think about it and left.

Once back at the hotel, I poured over the guide book again, trying to determine our best options for wildlife viewing, now that a cruise wasn’t an option. Whatever way I looked at it, we could do a lot for much less than $1500.

We set out again later to wander a bit more (finding an interesting ceramic sculpture garden) and then headed back to the port area to enquire about day tours. We found one who could offer us the standard tours (really, they’re all standard) of a couple of a days on Isabela, a day tour around the bay (4hours) and a day tour to Seymour Nort (another island). All for $770 total.

There are still a few gaps in the itinerary but we’ve got an idea of what we’ll do for them. The tour to Isabela is over a couple of nights and includes a hotel stay. The girl who was helping us asked if it was for “dobles”. The penny eventually dropped and Glen and I laughed. Yes, a double bed. “It’s ok,” she said, and laughed too.

So once that was all booked I felt calmer. We then went for dinner in this street eatery place where the locals go (and the more adventurous tourists). Cheap food, any cuisine, all cooked close to the street. In front of a few stores were tables with raw lobster, chicken or fish. Whole uncooked and just sitting in the open air.

Glen and I eventually settled on one place where the sweet girl gave the hard sell. I had a chicken and rice dish while Glen had breaded chicken. It all tasted good and the price was better than what we’d paid at lunch.

Now we’re back at the hotel. It’s only 8pm but I’m exhausted. I’ve also got to sort out what we’re taking on the bay tour tomorrow. Now to worry about whether I should even bother with contact lenses for tomorrow’s snorkelling.