10/9: Salt Flats, Sea Lions & Pelicans near Puerto Ayora, Galapagos!

After spending the morning touring the highlands of Isla Santa Cruz, north of the town of Puerto Ayora, we took a water taxi for only eighty cents each to the other side of the harbor. 

The water was the most picture perfect turquoise and the views of the boats just exquisite.

Another water taxi returning to the harbor from the opposite shore:

Clinging to the rocks on the opposite side were Sally Lightfoot Crabs. We didn't know then we would see hundreds of them over the course of our time in the Galapagos!

Our destination was Las Grietas, one of the beaches, located a good hike away. 

At least this time, we weren't walking underground in a lava tunnel as we had that morning.

Just over Academy Bay from Puerto Ayora were two popular swimming spots in an area surrounded by lagoons and saltbush teeming with birdlife.  

The path from the dock led to an attractive protected beach that was ideal for swimming in warmer weather or just sunbathing. The beach was named Playa de los Alemanes after the first German settlers who made their homes there.

We decided not to stop, preferring to continuing walking along the path which took us unexpectedly to some extensive salt flats.

There were many huge bags of salt that had been collected but we saw nobody working on or in the flats that day. I didn't see any means of hauling those bags up from the flats to the path and figured they just had to be brought up by brute force.

We enjoyed the change of scenery as we headed towards Las Grietas as I had envisioned it would be simply a path through the saltbush.

We came across a new variety of cactus, called Opuntia, and learned that there were six different species of that cactus in the Galapagos Islands. 

They were a constant feature in the arid landscape and recognized by their odd shape and giant size. Like all cacti, they withstand the dry conditions and only grow a few millimeters a year.

This opuntia cactus looked like it had Mickey Mouse ears!

When we finally reached Las Grietas, we realized we’d goofed as we thought it was another beach. Guess I had forgotten to re-read the notes I had carefully researched so long in advance!

I read later that Las Grietas was literally a canyon-like crevice in the volcanic rock. Sea water entered the lava-formed canyon via a pathway that was chock full of mangrove trees and fresh water entered from the highlands through underground filtrations. 

The roots of the mangroves filtered the sea water and helped create a magical blue, crystal clear pool that was a favorite destination for swimmers and snorkelers alike. The mixture of salt and fresh water limited the amount of sea life that could possibly survive in this extreme micro-habitat.

We hadn’t changed into swimsuits and people looked like they were shivering so we decided to hike a nearby trail instead. The longish trail bordered the cliffs over the channel below.

The very 'hairy' spikes of the opuntia cactus: 

We watched one bird flit from branch to branch. 

When we retraced our steps along the original trail, we had gorgeous view of Academy Harbor for a couple of minutes.

After the opuntia cactus had shed its needles, this was what the bark looked like.  It was almost as smooth as a baby's bottom!

We were so fortunate that we were almost entirely by ourselves on the path so we could admire the birds on the trail and in the adjacent trees.

We retraced our steps to German Beach and parked ourselves there around 2:30, quite content to be beach bums for a bit.

We must have dozed off as we almost got soaked when the tide came in! After walking back to the dock and getting a water taxi across the harbor, we headed to the fish market, only minutes along the waterfront from the main pier in Puerto Ayora.

The ‘fish market’ was in fact just an outside concrete table where fish were unloaded and then the workers started preparing the fish for sale by lopping off heads, gutting and chopping up the fish. 

Locals, including restaurant chefs, were there to buy fresh fish and lobster. Filleting on the spot left plenty of scraps and leftovers for the resident sea lions and pelicans!

It was amazing to see how disciplined the sea lions could be. They patiently waited for the fish scraps around the workers’ feet like family pets. With all of the fish on the counter, they knew not to touch and only pick up those thrown out.

Besides going there to see some of the local marine species, it was also worth a visit for the flying predators. Pelicans and other birds lurked behind the stall holders and bidders and sometimes even flew directly onto the slabs that were chilling the catch of the day.

We spent a fun time being amused by the antics of the sea lions, pelicans and occasional cormorant. Nothing like free entertainment to boot!

We checked out prices and what services were available for tours two days' hence at a slew of travel agencies and also on Isla Isabela in a few days. We were both aghast at the high prices and surprised that some islands could only be seen on certain days. That made it hard making a decision as to where to go as there were different animals to see at each island. We finally booked a tour to go to Seymour Norte or North Seymour Island.

As the sun was setting, we grabbed a bite with a view of the harbor. Others were also enjoying the magical sight.

On the way back to our hotel, we took a different route and came across 'restaurant row.' There people were mostly enjoying the catch of the day that had just been bought at the fish market while dining at long tables set up in the middle of the street.

It's too hard to list the highlights of the day as there were so many special moments: our first look at the misty sinkholes, soaking up the humongous turtles, expanding our comfort level hiking in the lava tunnel, the short hop across Academy Bay, taking in the salt flats that seemed to go on forever, discovering the opuntia cactus and finally the joys of the fish market.

Next post: Marine Iguanas at Tortuga Bay

Posted on November 11th, 2017, from Sucre, Bolivia.