Galapagos! Day One.

So, let me tell you about one of the most unbelievable experiences of my life. This past weekend we spent our "spring break" in the Galapagos Islands, which are located a little ways off the coast of Ecuador. They are property of Ecuador and are therefore just another province, so we got to fly domestically to get there. In case you forgot, the Galapagos Islands are super famous partly because of Charles Darwin, who visited them before forming his theory of evolution. They're one of the hottest tourist destinations in the world, and it is not cheap to get there! I'll tell you why in a minute. 

We left really early on Thursday morning for the new Quito airport. After I arrived in Ecuador the government moved the airport from the middle of the city to a suburb about an hour and a half away. This is supposed to be a lot safer, because it used to be really difficult for planes to land in the city due to  the inclement weather, the altitude, and the fact that the airport was in a neighborhood. So that's all pretty great, but the sad part is that now it's so much farther away :(

Anyway, we flew from Quito to Guayaquil (Ecuador's largest city, located in the Coastal region) and then Guayaquil to the island of Baltra in the Galapagos. Once off the plane we had to go through something like customs, even though Galpagos is part of Ecuador. They're very strict about what you can bring into and take out of the province because they're trying to conserve the environment there. At this time we also paid a "tax" (more like an entrance fee) of $100 per person, just to stand on Galapagos soil! And Ecuadorians only pay $6! That's one of the reasons why it's so expensive to visit. 

A long bus ride took us from the airport to a ferry, which would bring us to the island of Santa Cruz. We piled our luggage on top of the boat (not tied down or anything!) and rode a short distance across the channel to Santa Cruz. From there it was another bus ride to our hotel in the town of Puerto Ayora, on the south end of the island. We didn't stay there long though! We had an almuerzo (lunch) of the typical rice, beans, soup, a piece of meat, and juice before going on our first adventure in Galapagos. This involved hiking over volcanic rocks to a place called Las Grietas, which is freshwater pool surrounded by cliffs. The water was a bit chilly, but I still went in! A bunch of students climbed the cliffs and jumped off, although I was content to swim and watch. It was a beautiful place, even if the hike was a bit treacherous!

That night we had dinner on our own, and my group picked a grill restaurant. This involved another typical meal of grilled meat or seafood, a potato, and salad, and afterwards we beat the heat with some Pinguino ice cream bars (Pinguino is the best brand here). So that's day one of the Galapagos! More to come soon. :)