Day 5 on Galapagos Islands, Notes on Travelling in Galapagos
Sowell Family's Travels on Gijima
Skipper: Tim Sowell Admiral Tracy Crew Sean & Alex
Wed 14 Jul 2010 22:52
and boys and I went and visited the seals, and then on to the Darwin
institute to visit again the Turtles the breeding program and just spend
more time. The boys wanted to take a second time, and we saw the babies
breeding pens, and how they have divided them up according islands, and then
the giant tortoises which were being fed. Alex and Sean and I sat less than
a foot away from 3 feeding giant tortoises and just talked about them,
pointing out the features and the way they eat, Sean taking small sketches
so he can draw a picture in his journal latter, and Alex making comment on
what they eat. We were in no group, in no rush so we sat there for 1 /2 hour
before going on to explore the land iguanas. Both boys can identify and talk
about them where they go etc, and Sean asks a lot of questions.
Next stop was the beach in the reserve it is white sands with black volcanic
rocks all around, and crystal clear water, shallows, ideal for the boys.
There are natural water streams small running out of the higher rocks on the
beach causing streams in the beach, which Sean decided he could be an Inca
and divert and channel to different areas of the beach and divide up the
water. This was a good exercise and he learnt a lot in the building, and
dividing up, to achieve his goals. We also did 20 minutes of maths on the
beach (Sean has come on a lot in the last month with regular sessions he now
counting well, and doing addition and subtraction understand the
quantities), so completed a productive schooling morning in the field for
both boys, and they enjoy it.
Before I loose my thought I will now add parts notes on travelling in
Galapagos for both land and Sea.
1/ Bringing your boat here:
The rules are always changing, but after talking with yachties here, and
then 3 local cruise captains and port people the feeling is you should work
through an agent (which you can do line) to do paper work for you to arrive
at one of 3 ports. You could just turn up expect issues if you do make sure
you have a story around a repair to the boat and the Navy cannot refuse you,
and will give you 2 weeks, one boat took out running light bulbs and said
they broke and was able to get 2 weeks.
You will have to pay $100 per person for park fees just entering the waters.
You can move between the three ports. Do not even consider going to islands
as the cost goes up dramatically and you need a naturalist on the boat as
well which you must pay. It is cheaper to just get on a cruises leaving from
the ports for 3 nights and visit the islands, leaving your boat at anchor.
The anchorage at Santa Cruz is biggest population and has the best
facilities, you have ATMs, Cell coverage and internet. There is a good super
market for provisioning, and the taxi here is a 4 door pick up, so it is
ideal for cruisers. Diesel is a mixed bag, in the main port it is a jerry
jug job, and you can go to the north of island where the cruise boats fill
up, it is not clear if this can be loaded directly to the boat or not, the
channel up there is shallow, so I would assume jerry jugs.
The place is a nice place to be and you can explore worth the stop.
2/ If you come in by Flying with Kids.
Cruise boats with kids under 11 is an issue, not many take them and usually
on the bigger ones 50 guests and above, we went on M/V Santa Cruz and they
do take them and handled the dinner times and kids stuff pretty well. I
would recommend 3 to 4 days doing the outer islands by cruise boat and book
before but through a Quito agent we used Columbus (did a good job including
flights etc), they can get last minute deals which we got 40% off from
others on the boat we booked 2 weeks before the cruise date. The cruises are
hurting this year, except in the American holidays so if you are outside of
these holidays you can ask your price. Why I say outer islands as you can do
the inner islands on day trips from the land and you get to better spots,
have more time. So I would recommend 4 nights on land, book the hotel for
the first night and then search for the best deals as they are also hurting
and many good small hotels are available which are not publically seen on
the web. Getting day cruises or multiple day trips is easy once you are on
the island.
We have booked a night away on a different island with a hotel and jumped on
a local day cruise to get there and back we will get some snorkeling in and
we get a night on a different hotel, easy to arrange on the island.
Galapagos is not cheep but it is worth it, you need at least a week even
longer if possible, for the kids it is just eye opening, and great for
education, I am loving every moment, and Tracy coming back again has gained
from it.