The Galapagos

I stepped off the plane ran by LAN airlines, a South American company, onto a black concrete runway surrounded by small shrubs, rocks and dirt, within a hundred meters of a deep blue calm ocean.  As I walked in, I was quickly ushered to a line cleared dominated by international guests while another line existed for Ecuadorian travelers.  Everyone was forced to give the same information as if crossing international borders and for foreigners, pay a one hundred dollar USD tax.  After a few hours of this, I walked back out into the hot, dry air to get on a bus to town.  I flew into the airport on Isla Santa Cruz which is on the Northern part of the island separated completely from the rest of the island by a small 100 meter channel of clear light blue water barely a few feet deep.  After the small boat ride across the channel costing 80 cents USD, I prepared myself for the 4 dollar USD cab ride I shared with those fresh off the plane.  It took us 45 minutes to cross the island to Puerto Ayara, the tourist hub I planned to stay in and plan my daily trips.  Puerto Ayara is a small, quaint coastal town booming with tourists quickly dissipating as you moved away from the water further inland.  I grabbed the third and cheapest room I could find for 15 USD and searched frantically for a dive tour to see hammerheads.  I went there already having an idea of the location I wanted to dive, Gordon's Rock, and is renowned as one of the one of the top dive spots in the world, and I quickly reserved my spot for 175 USD to see the hammerheads and fish cleaning stations.  I did the dive 2 days later and it was amazing, the best dive I have done.  Walls of barracuda and schools of hammerheads kept my eyes wide in fascination of nature.  The rest of the time on Santa Cruz, I wandered around Puerto Ayara visiting the Darwin Institute that housed a few indigenous species of the largest turtles I have ever seen, some older than 140 years and Tortuga Bay, a local surf spot with soft white sand and clear blue water.  On my second to last day I made the trip to Isla San Cristobal to get ready for my flight a day later.  The 30 USD boat trip between islands lasted around 2 hours by speed boat and got into Puerto Baquerizo Moreno in the early afternoon not leaving me much time to tour the island so I stayed around town again but even with this handicap, there was so much to do that my feet hurt for days after my return to Quito.  The Galapagos are renowned for their vast amount of unmolested animal species, but that was untangible to me until I saw sea lions dotting the cityscape, laying on benches, the sidewalks.  The locals even built them child size slides from the walkways bordering the streets to the ocean water.  About an hour or so outside of town there is a monument to Charles Darwin commemorating his first disembarkment on the islands at that location.  Slightly behind this statue of Darwin, is a cove bordered by a high cliff, a nesting colony for Frigate birds and a great view of the ocean and the town back behind.  All in all, this was an outstanding few days, in a place that should be reserved for weeks.  When life gives you the Cliff Notes!