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Arriving in Galapagos, after sailing from either Panama or
Ecuador, is a milestone for many cruisers. And for most, being the last landfall
on the journey that will take them over the Pacific, the Galapagos Islands will
not disappoint them. There are four ports to choose from for making your
landfall but, most people go to the most modern town in the Galapagos of Puerto
Ayora on Isla Santa Cruz and so did we. From here, you can either get a cruising
permit to visit the other ports by yourself, or go with a speedboat from a local
company and stay on one of the many Islands for a change. Even though Galapagos
might seem a little expensive, it is easy to find a reasonable hotel to stay at
in Puerto Ayora or go on one of the many excursions which are available. In the
past, the Galapagos has not been regarded as a great place to do your
provisioning, but they do have most products available and you shouldn’t have
any problems re-stocking your boat with canned goods, fresh fruit vegetables and
meat. The prices might be slightly higher than on the mainland since that is
where most of the products have to come from. On the contrary to other reports,
you will have no problem finding both gas and good drinking water here. There
are boats that will come by with diesel and fresh drinking water or a gas
station in town that you can take jerry cans to for gasoline. Immigration in
Puerto Aorya is easy with no hassles but, the customs Capitania can be a little
different. We arrived with our transit papers stating our sail was from
Esmeraldas to French Polynesia and had to do a bit of explaining, in Spanish,
why we stopped at Galapagos. But, they did not seem too worried about us having
the wrong destination. I guess that is normal these days. If you don’t want the
hassle of running around to get the paperwork done there is a great agent here
called "Naugula" who will do the papers for you. Naugula can get you all the
clearances and papers you need beforehand or upon arrival according to where you
want to go and what you want to do.
The town of Puerto Ayora is easy to navigate
and you can do most things on foot. There is not much of a dingy dock but lots
of small yellow taxi boats that take you ashore for 50cents (Ch 14). The nightlife is great for
such a small community with one of the best bars being The Lemon Cafe. This
is where foreigners and locals meet for a cold beer and some Salsa dancing.
Being an island you would think that internet is hard to come by but it is not
so. The days are passed when internet is slow and Noonsite is available in text
format only. They have satellite internet and an acceptable bandwidth. We were
able to talk to family and friend through msn and skype for 2 dollars and hour
at Internet Galapagos.
While in Santa Cruz we recommend you to:
- Go see the Darwin Research center and try and get a
picture of Old George
- Go the beach called Tortuga Bay, take the trail
because the walk is nice by itself
- Go diving or snorkeling. Here you can snorkel with sea
lions or dive with hammerhead sharks.
- Take a taxi (2$) to the lava caverns and walk the 800
meter lava tunnel.
- Take a taxi (5$) and see Land Turtles in the wild at
the turtle sanctuary.
- Walk to Laguna las Ninfas and watch the birds fly
back to the ocean just before sunset
- Spend 20$ on a guided 'snorkeling with sealions' tour.
(Ask for Paddy at the docks)
For more first hand information please feel free to
contact us with any questions you might
have. To get information in Norwegian please contact
Kjell
We stayed in Galapagos quite a while and wrote
meny letters both in English and Norwegian, press here to access the travel
letters page.
Kjell & Darryl |
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