Galapagos first day walk about
Rogue
Alan and Noi not sure which is which
Tue 17 Mar 2009 17:54
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First day walk about.
The main town is small and laid back and pleasant
enough. The entire economy is based on tourism alone. Almost every shop or
business relates to tours or tourists in one form or another. Other than
that the buildings are restaurants, bars and hotels. The population is now over
20,000 in the Galapagos and although the Ecuadorian Government has stopped
issuing resident permits it seems to be a bit late. 20,000 people with cars,
motorbikes, boats, electricity, desalination plants for water, sewerage
treatment and so on doesn’t fit in with my purist idea of the Galapagos. There
is also a large amount of subsistence farming, or what was supposed to be
subsistence farming when people were given resident visas.
There are animals, birds and reptiles wondering
about all over the place but to get to any area that is anything like the
natural environment requires permits to enter and a guided tour. $100 per person
for the permit and anything from $85 to $150 per person for the
tour.
The anchorage is terrible, pebble and rock and extremely crowded with tour vessels that pass and anchor extremely close to us. They also run their generators all night. There are strong, unpredictable winds and a large swell entering the bay which has no protection from the South Easterly weather, which is the predominant weather year round. Which doesn’t make for peace of mind when leaving the boat. It is very expensive to enter by yacht, we are
certainly not the typical tourist that the government is looking for. They are
focused on air and cruise liners and we seem to be simply a headache
for them. First there is the entry fee to the country which depends on the size
of the boat, the weight, the number of people, the number of anchorages you want
to visit and the length of stay. None of which seem to have a fixed fee so
everyone is charged a different rate that has no logic as far as I can see. Then
the fee for the visa, then the fee for anchoring (although it is the worst
anchorage on the planet we still have to pay for it), then the fee for the
harbour lights, of which there is one, then the nature reserve fee!! Oh and you
have to pay all of this through an agent who also adds their fee!! I felt we
were hard done by, $500 for my wee boat, until I talked to the skipper of a 120'
boat who's owner wanted unrestricted access to the islands and a permanent
guide, his personal dive boat and dive guide. Landed up being $75,000 in fees
alone.
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