Day 8: Quito --> Galápagos!
The day we arrive for the primary purpose of this adventure Jill has dubbed Operation Cincuenta.
Despite getting up @ 6am to head to the airport, it's still mostly a travel day even when starting in the same country as the destination. The Galápagos National Park charges $100 per person when you arrive on the islands. This we took care of with our tour company long ago. We didn't know that each person also must get a transit control card for $20 that contains passport info and allows you to enter and leave based on when you say you are returning. Insane process that nobody at the airport in Quito seemed to understand. We got it refunded to us when we arrived because we had in fact already paid that too!
We got on a shuttle bus to board the plane. 3 open doors letting people on the bus. To get off though everyone had to plow through the middle door only as they apparently want to control deboarding chaos in some sinister manner.
It appears that all flights go to the Galápagos from Guayaquil, Ecuador so we had a quick stop over before heading out over some Pacific Ocean to actually get there. We stayed on with about 1/2 the plane full and then more joined us before departing for real destination.
Once we landed in the Galápagos I was so stressed about making our boat. Our flight was 30 minutes late and we had under an hour to "be checked in" (which felt nebulous). We had bags to collect and customs to go through and I didn't know how close it would get. We were the first two up the sidewalk to the airport and someone came out of the VIP lounge at the perfect time with our boat company sign. We walked in and were reassured that there was another plane still in the air so we were ahead of the crowd! I felt so much better immediately.
We then got word to contact anyone now because the boat has no internet. We were told just lots of time to enjoy nature for the next week. While sitting at airport waiting for later flight, we both wondered after an hour why our phones were still on mainland time. The Islands are equivalent to Central Time but are taking "island time" to switch... Our boat told us they just stay on mainland time by clock even though it isn't that time here. It's definitely light later.
We got on board and had "lunch" at like 4:20-4:45 then saw presentation of Black Turtle Cove - Santa Cruz Island. We were given 5-10 minutes to get hats, jackets, sunscreen, cameras and come back for Zodiac ride to see this. We were the first two people on the first departing Zodiac. I was READY!
We saw so many creatures in this cove area including the black turtles, Sally Lightfoot crabs, brown pelicans, rays, sharks, and blue footed boobies. Even though boat got a late start to the day, they pleased us before going over tomorrow's morning and afternoon walks/snorkeling and serving us dinner. They're going to keep us busy all week. They said we'll be tired by the end and need a vacation.
Black turtle cove by zodiac...
Despite getting up @ 6am to head to the airport, it's still mostly a travel day even when starting in the same country as the destination. The Galápagos National Park charges $100 per person when you arrive on the islands. This we took care of with our tour company long ago. We didn't know that each person also must get a transit control card for $20 that contains passport info and allows you to enter and leave based on when you say you are returning. Insane process that nobody at the airport in Quito seemed to understand. We got it refunded to us when we arrived because we had in fact already paid that too!
We got on a shuttle bus to board the plane. 3 open doors letting people on the bus. To get off though everyone had to plow through the middle door only as they apparently want to control deboarding chaos in some sinister manner.
It appears that all flights go to the Galápagos from Guayaquil, Ecuador so we had a quick stop over before heading out over some Pacific Ocean to actually get there. We stayed on with about 1/2 the plane full and then more joined us before departing for real destination.
We then got word to contact anyone now because the boat has no internet. We were told just lots of time to enjoy nature for the next week. While sitting at airport waiting for later flight, we both wondered after an hour why our phones were still on mainland time. The Islands are equivalent to Central Time but are taking "island time" to switch... Our boat told us they just stay on mainland time by clock even though it isn't that time here. It's definitely light later.
Black turtle cove by zodiac...