Jeff and I figured we’d take advantage and get there sooner or later, but an ideal chance popped up that we simply couldn’t pass over. Friends of ours had rented a house with a few other couples on Santa Cruz island but, alas, life got in the way and they couldn’t make it. Would we take their place? they asked. Heck, yeah. We jumped at it!
We landed in Baltra Airport, which is just across a strip of water to Santa Cruz island. The views coming in from the plane are surreal ~ the islands look desperately desolate, dotted with piles and piles of rust-colored volcanic rocks, cacti, and bare silvery trees we later learned were called Palo Santos, or “holy sticks”. I guess I was picturing a lush, green, tropical island kind of landscape. This was wild.
Following the lines on the tarmac, we entered the airport's tiny arrival area. It, too, is currently under renovation and expansion ~ yet another reminder of Ecuador’s vast effort towards growth and development. And this project is totally ecologically “green”. Very cool.
Now that we have our Ecuadorean residency visas and “cedula” ID cards, we were able to go straight to a “Nationals” line. Okay, I have to admit, we felt a little smug to be able to go through the much shorter non-tourist line, only to pay $6.00 each for the entry fee as opposed to the typical $100 cost per person for tourists. Now that’s a deal!
We then waited for the other two couples to arrive on a different flight. Once altogether, we were herded onto a bus for a very brief ride to the ferry, which got us quickly over to the main island of Santa Cruz. Luckily, our friend Barry and the house manager Paul had already prearranged for taxis (here they're pickup trucks) to await us. So we threw our luggage in, and hopped in for the 40 minute ride down the length of the island south to the main town of Puerto Ayora, from which everything happens. Our driver Jorge was a wealth of info along the way, noting especially how we went 600m up from the arid coast to verdant agricultural highlands where the giant land tortoises love to roam the grasses. Finally, we dropped back down to the coastal town, inhabited by a bustling mix of local “Galapageños” and tourists.
Ah, but still yet, there was one more quick journey to go. At the main dock of Puerto Ayora, water taxis await all the time to take people to and from areas in the crystalline harbor that are unaccessible by foot ~ like Finch Bay where we’d be staying. Greeting us at the landing was a bevy of crabs, two marine iguanas, and a sea lion lazing contentedly on one of the cement steps. What a wonderful welcome! Surely it was a sign of great things awaiting us.
Oh, but after dragging our stuff out of the boat, we found ourselves staring down a long, winding, cement path. Uh-oh. How far away was the house? And how in the world were we going to get all our luggage to it? Thankfully the house cook had met up with us on the water taxi, and pointed with a more-than-amused smile to a couple of wheelbarrows designed to traipse the belongings of locals and hotel guests to their destinations. As she guided our way, we were cracking up to be rolling crazily down that undulating path. It was brief enough, though, thank God, and we just had to hook another right onto a shorter pebbly volcanic path to our island home “Mimosa”.
Woohoo! Once at the door, Jeff and I grinned at each other. We could both feel it ~ this was going to be one cool adventure. So come along with us in the next few blogs. I'm guessing you’ll agree!
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