Chapter 3 Galapagos
Ariel
Mon 15 May 2006 19:32
After 7.5 days at sea we arrived at the very welcome site of land in the
form of Santa Cruz & the main town out here Puerto Ayora.Population I am
told is approx 7000 & I think most of them exist because of the tourist
dollar. The rocky outcrops,which I'm glad we passed in daylight & the dry
Northern end of the island gave us a fair indication of what to expect,
though it was still a surprise to see how dry it really was at 0 degrees
latitude.They have a desalination plant here to make water & we had to buy
at the rate of $2 per 20 litres to replenish the boat.I can only gather from
this situation that there is inadequate rainfall to do much with it. I
believe it has something to do with the cold Humboldt current travelling up
the South American coast.Sorry I can't be more informative but I have been
out of it the past 4 days and have not brushed up on my history.
The town itself is very much a developing (third world) place with mainly
it's sole focus the tourist industry.It is the largest town in the island
group and is famous for The Galapagos National Park and Charles Darwin
Research Centre. The Tortoises and Iguanas are held captive within the park,
but by the look on the tortoises faces they don't seem worried.They
certainly weren't in a hurry to leave. I guess it wasn't a picture I had
entertained about seeing all this wildlife in it's natural environment but if
you are prepared to pay $200.00 to a guide they can take you to areas where
you may be able to see them in a more natural environment.Access to a lot of the islands is restricted, I haven't
been able to decide if that is to protect the environment or keep the guides
in a style I would like to be accustomed to.For those of you dying to spend
the money to come over here & join us at Galapagos,I would suggest you buy a
video, I nearly did then I decided I will rent it at Video Eze.May be I am
being cynical or just making comparisons to Aussie, but apart from it's
unique captive wildlife & grotty rundown town there was not a lot to offer.
Nick was chaffing at the bit to get out of the place as he had seen
enough third world countries., but this may be a bit harsh.
So not a great deal to report on Santa Cruz, just numerous tourist shops &
numerous restaurants.We arrived on Saturday & left on Tuesday, I think,
memory is a bit of a blur due a solid bout of food poisoning at one of the
aforesaid seafood restaurants.Worst of all it was my suggestion "because the
locals were eating here. "
The meal tasted ok but was very plain. You had a choice of shrimp,lobster or
fish, all came with rice done in a coconut sauce, nothing else.(That should
have given me a hint.)The restaurant across the road does chicken in coconut
sauce, so I guess it is one of their favourites.(By the way when I say
restaurant in this cheapo street they are more like a Kiosk.Back home you
wouldn't entertain the thought, but some people are led by their stomach and
intellect places well back in the field.I seemed to have a delayed reaction
to the dreaded bug & started to feel a bit funny in the stomach late the
following day.Nick had already succumbed and left it behind so to speak
fairly quickly.So the day after the night at the dreaded dinner, we organised
water & a guy to repair the fridge that "passed out" in Panama.Simple
re-gassing with some dreaded banned substance that you can't obtain in the
western world anymore.But with my limited Spanish (6 words) something was
missed.Anyway it now works better than ever but draws twice as much power
for some reason.
So the next morning we are off with me prostrate aging for a motor\sail to
Isabela about 6.5 hours away.We arrived about 2.30pm.The arrival here was a
bit more pictures with a couple of volcano cones dotting the sea and a few
rugged outcrops and reefs waiting for any unsuspecting navigator.To do this
at night even with GPS I don't think I would like to attempt.We managed to
get into the bay without any difficulty and were greeted with more pleasant
surroundings.Not so many Yachts or cruisers here and a calmer bay, unlike
Puerto Ayroa.There are reefs all around the bay so you need to take a good
look or get advice before you take the dinghy ashore.
My entire observation of the island is contained in a painful walk down to
the medical centre(term used loosely) to have a very friendly doctor conduct
a reasonably through exam of me, though he did forget to take my temp, though
given the state of the place it probably wasn't in the budget.What he lacked
in equipment he made up for in quick diagnosis & prescribed three decent
size needles (they seem to be bigger over here) plus an IV drip. I figured
it must have been serious but even in Spanish I didn't think it was that
bad. So for the price of 2 needles in the arm & a beauty in the butt at the
going rate of $16.50 - $10.00 of that was a donation as that was the
smallest note I had, I had something flowing thru my veins, but at that point
in time I wasn't sure what.But as I write this 30 hours latter it seems to
be doing the job.The couch was obviously burrowed from the Op Shop, as the
springs seemed to be coming thru right on my spine.The cleanliness of the
place was the best they could do under ordinary finance, but if it was a
place you chose to end it all, this would certainly do the job.
I don't know if something was lost in the translation (he had less English
than I had Spanish), but he put a white towel down one end of the bed over a
used towel that took up the full length of the bed & I thought well at least
he is trying, but somehow that's where my feet ended up & the head where all
the road accident victims heads landed. ( could someone look up what the
Spanish is for "Can I see your qualifications")
Anyway between a very efficient and not unattractive nurse and numerous
handshakes from the doctor,(apparently he wanted to come on the boat -
,probably to escape, but I wasn't sure how much a house call would
cost,or was it because I survived or the fact that I didn't pick up on that he wasn't a doctor?)Patricia interpreting (and telling me very little) and Nick adding his full quota in English , they got the job done and I am probably cured of a
few diseases to come.
Next day,Friday we were off to Marquesas approx 3000nm away.We left in very light winds, so motor/sailed for a few hours before we encountered a light breeze that got us along at a reasonable pace.
There has not been a great deal to report over the past few days (we are now Monday, 12.00am here,I had a relapse of the dreaded bug) so the next update probably won't be until we reach Marquesas, which we are hoping is only 16 days away if the current conditions hold.
the breeze has been very kind to us today and freshened early this morning to about 20 knots at times,though it has backed off to a steady 12 to 15 now,so we are looking at 160 over this 24 hours.
The highlight of yesterday was being hailed on the radio by another Aussie motor cruiser heading to Tahiti then Australia.He apparently spotted us on his radar and decided to give us a call.He is from Melbourne and I gather bought this boat in the States and is taking it home.After about half an hour he came into view on the horizon but very quickly left us behind,but not before giving us a weather report for the next few days which promises more of the same.It's always of great interest when you spot another yacht,particularly out here as there is not a lot else happening.
(Did you know diesel fuel in the Galapagos is $1.05 per US gallon.Petrol is a little dearer though not much.)
So until we hit The Marquesas,keep the economy going.
Best regards,
Bern & crew of Horizontal