Date:     Wed, 21 Jan 2009 (extremely delayed)

To:         touring@phred.org

From:    Michael Ayers <michael@terminalia.org>

Subject: Gondwana – Gladly Inconspicuous on the Galapagos Islands

Hola Phreds,

Whenever I had previously added any new locations to my original route plan, they had always turned out to be exceptionally interesting experiences that I never regretted. I did that one more time in Ecuador, and it turned out the same way.

I had never really considered going to the Galapagos Islands, a province of Ecuador, because my plan for South America was already overloaded with places to see, with the corresponding time and resources required for that, and because the islands are not really a bike-tour-friendly kind of place.  However, while on the slow Atlantic crossing, that would have me arrive on the continent in mid-February instead of late November as I had originally planned, I realized that my original schedule for the final two Stages would then put me back in the States in the middle of winter. Accordingly, I began to lengthen the route in South America considerably, such that I would then get home the following spring. The islands were one of the places that I could not resist including, largely thanks to their famous and unique collection of flora and fauna. I told myself at the time that if I could arrange maritime transport to the islands that I would make the trip, otherwise, I would not. There are a number of references on various travel Web sites that describe booking passage on one of the cargo ships that service the islands on a continuous basis, which depart from Guayaquil, Ecuador. Most of those sites gave the names of the ships and contact phone numbers, but no information on schedules or availability for passengers. In Lima, after days spent futilely calling incorrect phone numbers, I actually got through to one of their offices, and learned that one of the ships would be sailing just when I needed it, but the rest of what was said was not understood by me, thanks to my poor level of comprehension of Espanol. Nevertheless, I was optimistic for being able to reach the islands that way, and planned the rest of my route through Peru and Ecuador accordingly. Of course, when I reached Guayaquil, and made my way to the tiny office of the shipping line, I discovered that while it had been possible to get to the islands on that ship in the past, the National Park Service had, some time earlier, enacted a prohibition on passengers using the cargo ships. That left only air transport as a possibility.  Additionally, since the Stage though South America was already around 4 months behind my modified plan, the need to avoid arriving home during winter was no longer an issue and I certainly no longer needed to lengthen the rest of the Stage (and shortening it would have been more practical.) Therefore, due to both of those factors, not to mention my already vaporized bank accounts, I probably should have skipped seeing the Islands.  I decided to go anyway.

The Galapagos archipelago straddles the Equator, about 970 kilometers west of mainland Ecuador. The islands are primarily of volcanic origin, with the largest and youngest lying to the west of the group, while the oldest are closet to the mainland. Thirteen larger islands dominate the group, while a large number of small islands and exposed rocks are scattered about, providing important additional habitat for wildlife. My visit, in February, was in the “warm-dry” season, which is, as you might expect, warmer and drier, though rain showers are still frequent enough. Later in the year is the “cool-damp” season, which, while not really that cool, is frequented by fog and drizzle brought in on the cold Humboldt current of the Pacific.  There are only three small towns in the archipelago, each on one of the large islands, and a handful of tiny settlements, most located not far from the large towns. The total the population was around 40,000 at the time of my visit, virtually all of whom are migrants from the Ecuadorian mainland, or their descendents, and who essentially unanimously show little desire to ever return there (a smaller number of expats from various places have also found their way there, as well as sizeable temporary community of researchers) Most are involved, one way or another, in the tourism industry, though there have been efforts to develop an agricultural sector there, especially in fishing. However, as the entire archipelago, including the surrounding sea, but excluding the town sites, is now a strictly controlled national park, and the climate and soils are unfavorable for most crops, that enterprise has been somewhat restricted. That may turn out to be a good thing as both agriculture and tourism have placed large stresses on the islands’ ecosystem, and it is that ecosystem that draws visitors to the islands in the first place, including me. As each of the islands was originally barren volcanic rock, all of the life living there consists of whatever could fly or float out from the mainland, landing on the islands by pure chance. Of course, the archipelago is most famous for the divergence of those pioneer species, which occurred after they had first colonized the group. With most of the islands possessing a somewhat different set of conditions, both physical and ecological, a number of distinct species have evolved on the various islands. The main goal of my visit was to se as many of the endemic (as well as the resident) species of the islands. Secondary goals were, as may be expected, to relax a little and have a nice time.

Most visitors to the islands fly out and then join a small cruise boat for usually 3-8 days to visit the various small sites on the islands that are open to tourists. I have never been fond of cruise boats, however, it is also possible get a good sampling of the islands by spending most of the time in any of the three main towns and then taking day trips by boat to some of the smaller islands. That is what I chose to do, though the disadvantage of this approach is that the more distant islands are out of range for day trips. The cost of doing the visit that way turned out to be comparable to what a cruise would have cost, however, as you might expect, everything about a visit to the Galapagos drains one’s finances to an extent far beyond other parts of the continent. There are only a few short roads on the archipelago, but since I wasn’t able to take the bike to the Amazon, I decided to bring it along this time, and use it for some nice short rides. Of the two airlines flying (Booo!!) to the group I went with AeroGal, though booking a seat with short notice wasn’t too easy. I needed to spend an extra day in Guayaquil, three extra days on the islands, and return from an airport on a different island than the one on which I arrived, in order to find available seats. None of that bothered me very much, and actually worked to my benefit in some ways. I was not charged extra for brining the bike, though I was required to plastic-wrap it in Guayaquil, for the out-bound flight (that service wasn’t available in the island airport for the return.) After all of the rescheduling, I ended up taking a total of 14 days for this side- trip, including the two air travel days.

Isla Santa Cruz, the tourism headquarters for the province, was the first I visited, and where I spent the longest time. However, the main airport is on Isla Baltra, just off its northern shore, being built originally as a US Air Force base in the 01940’s. After reassembling the bike, I was the last person out of the airport that day, and the ferry that goes across the short sound to Santa Cruz was about to shut down for the day and charged me extra to take me across solo (of course, a bunch of airport employees came along a short while later and caused the boat to cross again.) From the airport to the town of Puerto Ayora is about 48 kilometers, and though the road is paved the whole way it takes a direct route there, rising up to near the peak of the island, at 600 meters, so it wasn’t exactly a quick trip. It was also drizzling for most of the way, so my introduction to the Galapagos was a little less than ideal. Santa Cruz is where most of the day tour boats are based, and I spent the next day figuring out a schedule for those, as well as the boat transfers to the other main islands. It was a bit more complicated than I expected as there aren’t fixed schedules for the tours, and trying to arrange tours to three or four different islands on three or four consecutive days was quite a logistical challenge. Santa Cruz itself has some incredible beaches a short walk from town, as well as the Charles Darwin Research Center close by, so it was a pleasant place to see in its own right. Several days later, during my second stop on the island, I spent most of a day doing a fun ride and a little more sightseeing, cycling back up to the higher elevation part of the island around the old volcanic peak. In that area are two large sinkholes surrounded by a forest composed of endemic trees related to daisies, that I found to be surprisingly lush and green. Off along a short side road was an impressive lava tube that took quiet a while to walk through, but the highlight of the day was further down the hill, in a still very green part of the island. That was a ride to see the famous giant Galapagos giant tortoises in their natural habitat. Of course, I had already seen some in two breeding centers, but that was more like a zoo experience than what I had in mind. On Santa Cruz, there is a tortoise reserve not far from town, where it is possible to see them in the wild. However, some of the local farmers have discovered that for a few dollars they can allow tourists onto their farm where the big reptiles can be seen more easily and dependably.

That’s what I intended to do, and set off down a narrow dirt road to have a look, following the directions I had been given. Shortly, after I believe I missed a turn somewhere, as I seemed to be heading away from the farming areas and was descending the big hill back towards the coast. At that point I was about to give up, but moments later, I spotted a juvenile tortoise in the road ahead of me. It was quite young, but still much larger than any wild tortoise I had ever seen, and my presence made it a little nervous.  That sighting prompted me to continue on, and after a short while I noticed two big blobs of soupy, green semi-digested plant residue on the path ahead. A telltale sign that the creatures were nearby! Sure enough, a quick look into the field along side revealed two huge tortoises, each grazing happily beneath nearby trees. I had to hop over a fence to get a close look, but my presence didn’t seem to bother them in the slightest way. They really do resemble slow-motion lawn mowers more than anything else, plopping themselves down in some leafy-looking spot, then stretching out their necks and munching anything green within the radius that can be reached. Once that is all consumed, they drag themselves forward a little bit more, plop down again, and repeat the process. I enjoyed that encounter, and was pleased that I was lucky enough to find what I set out to see.

The second of the main islands that I stayed on was probably my favorite, Isla Isabela. It is the largest of all the islands and actively volcanic, though access is limited to a small area on the south end of the island, and a few boat moorings on the western side. The transfer from Santa Cruz was on a fairly large motor cruiser, not a traditional ferry, and the rough seas that day, combined with the pilot’s insistence on going at full speed tossed me around like a rag doll from my seat in the bow. That may have actually been the most uncomfortable two-hour period I had spent during the entire Tour. The settlement on Isabela, Puerto Villamil only houses perhaps a few hundred residents, and is perfectly located right on a bright white beach. Services there were a little less numerous, though quite adequate for me, and I really enjoyed the peace and quite during the four days I stayed there. On one of those, I took the horseback tour up to the cone of the big Sierra Negra volcano. Visitors are bussed up to around 800 meters up the slope of the mountain where the horses are waiting to take them the rest of the way. There was a lot of interesting things to see on that trip, but I had only ridden a horse once before, and I soon learned that two and a half years of cycling doesn’t really prepare one for three bumpy hours on horseback. The following day I did my sightseeing ride for that island.  After a ride down the sandy beach road to an old penal colony, I rode back up the gravel road towards Sierra Negro, as far as the 720-meter point. It was very pretty, but as that is the agricultural area of Isabela, probably not the best place to see endemic flora and fauna. Later, back down by the shoreline a group of the ever-present marine iguanas, emblematic of the islands, examined my bike as I refreshed myself with a cool drink, There was also enough time while I was on Isabela for some nice snorkeling and one trip to a nearby dive site, as well as some basic beach relaxation, before the much smoother transfer back to Santa Cruz. The one disappointment of my time on the islands was not being able to arrange a visit to the western side of Isabela (a long sea trip only practical for the folks on the big cruise boats.) On that part of the island, and on nearby Isla Fenandina, is the only place where flightless cormorants live, one of the more noteworthy of the endemic species of the Galapagos.

I was only able to fit in three day-trips to smaller islands, though I had been hoping for at least one more. Two of those departed from the ferry dock on the north side of Santa Cruz, which meant bus transfers back to there. One of those was to Isla North Seymour, which was a good place to see birds, such as the local favorite, the blue-footed booby, and a colony of magnificent frigatebirds, with many males fully displaying their ungainly bright red air sacks in hope of attracting a mate. Another tour was to Isla Bartolome, which is noted for its vistas of volcanic scenery, but was more important for me as the place where I saw a group of Galapagos Penguins, my fifth, and final, penguin species of the Tour. The final boat trip left from the main Purto Ayora docks and went to Isla Santa Fe. On that island was a species of iguana endemic not just to the Galapagos, but to that island in particular, as well as some fine stands of giant, tree-like prickly pear cactus, and one of the finest lagoons for snorkeling I’ve ever seen.

The end of my stay involved one final boat transfer, to Isla San Cristobal.  The town there, Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, the capital of the Island, was a rather nice place and probably the most town-like of any of the tree main settlements. There were a few nice short hikes nearby, one of which passed by the cove where Charles Darwin first landed on the archipelago. My fun ride on that island was not difficult to find, as there is only one road there. It ran up into the highlands, past the tiny settlement of El Progresso, maxing out at around 600 meters, and the heat and humidity that day made it one of the sweatiest rides I had done in months. The road then became gravel and dropped down towards the far side of the island, but I only went part way down as there wasn’t much of interest in that area.  After that I, rather unfortunately, needed to repack the bike at the airport on San Cristobal for the trip back to the continent.

The 150 kilometers that I rode on the Galapagos didn’t seem like much for a two-week period. However, that represented perhaps 80-90% of the roads on the entire archipelago, so I suppose in that respect I did quite well. I was very pleased to be able to say that I had cycled in such a unique place as part of the Tour. More importantly, I had been needing a vacation for a while (participants of this list will realize that while most ordinary folks may think a long bike tour is just one big vacation, that perception is usually rather far from the truth,) and, for once, that is what I got. I had an exceptional time, and the effect on my schedule and budget would just have to be dealt with later.

Next would be the mainland part of Ecuador and my last days in the southern hemisphere (!)

Gracias,

Mike

The Tour of Gondwana

May 5, 02005-August 22, 02008

http://www.terminalia.org/tour