10/16: Our Last Day in the Galapagos

We were in serious need of a laundry having just come back from Isla Isabela the previous day. There was one just a few minutes’ walk from our hotel so we took our dirty clothes there. The charge was only $1.40 a kilo and that include ironing! Steven said he should pay triple for his cargo pants as he’d worn them nonstop for several days and they looked pretty deplorable!

We walked through town to one of the few sights we hadn't seen it, Laguna de las Ninfas. Photos along the way:

 The pretty entrance to the enclosed lagoon:

 According to the sign, the boardwalk around the lagoon was 300 meters long and the visit would only take an hour. We were warned to be quiet as noise would scare the animals.

The boardwalk took us in and out of the mangrove forests. As I wrote previously, they provided important ecological functions in the Galapagos as they were home to a large variety of fish, crab and species of mollusks. The forests also purified water, served as nurseries for fish as well as trapping sediments and pollutants. In addition, their roots stabilized the ground preventing erosion. There were four mangrove species in the Galapagos: Red, Black, White and Button.

 A new bird for us to enjoy:

There were two mangrove forests in the lagoon. This was the White Mangrove, so named because of the white color of the trunk. It could be recognized by its paler, oval leaves and flask-shaped fruits. It's often accompanied by the Red Mangrove forest.

 I loved the advice written on the boardwalk: 'Breathe in the scents and colors that surround you.'

Sometimes people are lucky enough to spot sting rays, baby sharks, sea turtles and other creatures at this lagoon. We weren't that lucky, though, that day.

Different shaped leaves signified this was the Red Mangrove. The sign at our feet helped, too, figuring out which one it was!

The Red Mangrove had dark green, waxy leaves and above-ground prop roots which transported air to the roots below the ground. Its fruit was long and shaped like a bottle. I thought it was so neat!

 I looked but couldn't find any signs of its fruit.

The Las Ninfas was a gathering point of fresh water that came from the highlands and sea water that entered as a result of the tide. The salinity determined the life that developed in the lagoon.

After leaving Laguna Las Ninfas, we decided to return to the Las Grietas beach that afternoon as it was the closest one and the weather looked iffy with mist and drizzle falling to consider going further afield.

Going to any of the beaches near Puerto Ayora wasn't a spur of the moment decision as it involved taking a water taxi across the bay and then hiking along the path. We still thought it'd be well worth it, though.

Seeing the sea lion snoozing on the bench was sure to boost anyone's spirits and make one smile!

Views from our spot on the beach: Can't get much more beautiful than that, we figured. The sun finally made an appearance which was perfect. It was so blissful not having to do anything or be anywhere.

Our last iguana sighting was, fittingly, an adorable baby one!

 It was amazing that Ecuadorian law stipulated that anyone wanting to enter a bar or disco (!!) had to provide a passport and not a copy!

From the cute bathroom-sign department! Did you figure we ate a slice of pizza that night?!

Our laundry cost less than $5 which was the cheapest we've ever paid in our lives as far as we could remember and that include ironing it, too! 

It was sad to think that this was our last day in the Galapagos Islands as we'd had such an incredible time there the previous ten or so days. It was without a doubt one of our trip's absolute highlights: being able to be so close to the amazing giant tortoises in the breeding pens, in semi-wild areas as well as on the road to the Wall of Tears over on Isla Isabela was an experience we'll never forget; our first look at the exquisite blue-footed boobies; gazing in wonder at the flamingos; viewing the magnificent frigate birds and snorkeling among the turtles and sharks and I could go on and on but I am sure you sense my enchantment for the islands by now!

Next post: Another country awaited our discovery.

Posted at long last on December 3rd, 2017, from Buenos Aires, Argentina.

10/15: A Last Morning with Flamingos & Iguanas on Isla Isabela, Galapagos

We walked down to the beach intending to lie on the sand for a couple of hours before catching the afternoon ferry back to Puerto Ayora on Isla Santa Cruz, i.e. the same place we’d spent four nights at the beginning of our trip to the Galapagos.

Suellen: I thought of you and Ron as we passed this restaurant as each table was topped by a huge shell.

But it was misting and a little chilly so Steven wisely suggested we walk again on the boardwalk toward the Giant Tortoise Breeding Center again.

Our first day on the island, we’d seen iguanas and flamingos so we were curious as to what we might see this time. The sight of the baby and the huge iguanas didn’t disappoint us!

We came across a BBC crew filming a British family living in the Galapagos for a few months, presumably for an upcoming documentary. They were watching about a dozen flamingos in the lagoon. The father was imitating the flamingos and teaching his young daughters that flamingos hunt for food by stomping their feet up and down in the water which disturbs the fish. It was cute how the girls then imitated their dad in the 'flamingo hunt for food dance'! 

Seeing the brightly colored flamingos fly off and then land a short while later was so much fun to watch.

The color of the flamingos was so incredibly vibrant and their movements so graceful, the whole experience was nothing short of intoxicating.

I found it hard t pull myself away from the flamingos, not knowing if or when we might see them again.

The weather cleared so we returned to sit on the deserted beach and then had a hoot watching countless iguanas cavorting on the rocks.

It was much easier for me to take photos of the pelican flying than the flamingo!

Another of the psychedelically-colored sally lightfoot crabs we saw in the islands.

What unusual colors both the lizard and crab were. They certainly blended in well with the rocks, though.

All too soon we reluctantly had to walk back to our hotel and collect our stuff to make our way to the dock. 

Our hotel in Puerto Villamil on Isla Isabela:

The boat taxi took us to our boat, Miss Julie, with only five other passengers aboard for the two hour ride back to Puerto Ayora on Isla Santa Cruz. Our ride over from Puerto Ayora had been pretty hellish because of mechanical problems so we figured we were due for a gentler ride back. 

No such luck, however. It was a pounding, bone-jarring ride back and we both had headaches and neck pain from what we both thought was our worst trip ever. Isla Isabela was spectacular and far surpassed our every expectation but the process of getting there and back was pretty lousy!

Next post: A relaxing day back on Puerto Ayora.

Posted at long last on November 30th, 2017, from Valparaiso, Chile!