Galapagos Islands

Oh my God, Wow, incredible. We had just been on the first island for 4 hours and those were about our first words. Without having dipped a foot in the water or set foot on the beach, we had already seen pelicans, sharks, iguanas, turtles, and sea lions. The first sea lion was sleeping in the queue for the ferry, the first iguanas were lying next to the runway at the airport, and we saw the turtles by the roadside during the bus ride. The sharks and pelicans were in the harbor basin of Puerto Ayora, the main town on Santa Cruz Island. Sea lions and iguanas are everywhere, under benches, at the boat dock, on the sidewalks, and wherever people aren't bothering them.

The next days continued joyfully, to incredibly beautiful beaches where the white sand felt almost like dust. On the right are sea lions, in front swim iguanas in the water, and to the left, pelicans sit on towels while small Darwin finches are nearby, and above, frigatebirds fly.

We decided against a cruise since 4 days are said to cost around €1000, with the first and last days mostly just travel days, so we book day trips instead. Although the costs were also between €120 and €240, they were absolutely worth it. The first trip went to Santa Fe Island, where we first observed blue-footed boobies before swimming with countless sea lions. The sea lions are so curious that they swim up to only a few centimeters away or even nudge you... Along with picturesque bays, turquoise water, and snow-white beaches, simply put, an absolute dream.

We rented two bicycles and took the bus to Santa Rosa, which is 20km away. Then we cycled a few kilometers uphill to two old lava craters, before heading to our main goal, the Galapagos turtles. If you want to save the $10 for the mediocre tour, you can simply view the giant turtles by the roadside, as they sit in the hundreds on the meadows, by the roadside, or even in the middle of the roads. The tour was quite short and a few more details would have been nice, but it is what it is, we also went through three impressive lava tunnels before we were finally able to enjoy tea and coffee while observing the giants from a beautiful terrace. The way back to the main road was quite strenuous, and we often pushed our bikes, as the sun was blazing, and we were glad that the last 15km were almost downhill, before we returned exhausted to the main town.

The next wow awaited us on Isabela Island. Even longer and whiter beaches. If you see a shadow in the water, don't be alarmed; it might be a small shark, an iguana, a pelican diving into the water a meter away, a sea lion, or a penguin. Yes, exactly, there are penguins here, my first time outside a zoo, although the islands are practically a big zoo and people seem to be just annoying interlopers. I spent half the day swimming and watching the animals; sometimes, that's all you need. The wild ride continues with a day trip on a boat to 'los túneles', a rock formation formed by a volcanic eruption a hundred thousand years ago. Lava solidified on the surface and flowed further inside until nothing more came. After the ice age, the sea level rose again, and thus the caves are now in the water. A huge aquarium with seahorses, curious penguins, giant turtles that come very close, sharks, rays, and a variety of smaller fish; on land, we saw some blue-footed boobies and Nazca boobies.

Then we rented a kayak and paddled through a lagoon, and again the same image: penguins, iguanas, sea lions, boobies, pelicans, and so on. It may sound boring and repetitive while reading or writing, but it is not at all; I could observe all this for much longer and more thoroughly. For a change, we took the bike to the 'Wall of Tears', which had to be built by prisoners in the past, and behind it is a small lookout point. On the way back, we saw turtles, pelicans, flamingos, and hundreds of iguanas; if you don't want to run over any, you should go slowly because they really lie everywhere! Isabela has a bit of a Thai flair; some bars are right on the beach, and you can enjoy a mojito in a beach chair, but I'm still waiting for good food...

After 5 days, we continued by speedboat to our last island, 'Santa Cruz'; it was quite up and down, but if you sit in the back, it goes. I was mainly here for one animal, the hammerhead shark. It is currently peak season, and at the famous Kicker Rock, a rock formation through which a narrow channel runs, groups (schools) are said to be regularly seen; I'm excited! But the island has much more to offer. Sea lions, for example, many sea lions. I actually thought I had seen a few, but the number you see here surpasses everything. Just lying on the beach? Impossible! There’s always something going on; towels, shoes, or backpacks are lying around, so you have to be quick or patient, as the animals don't care at all; even though the sea lions look slow and clumsy, they are anything but! It is entirely possible for a sea lion to come out of the water just 20cm away from you and walk up the stairs next to you; for the sea lion, it seems like routine and no problem, for tourists, an absolute attraction!

Our booked 360-degree tour (around the island) started at 7 in the morning, our first chance to see hammerhead sharks, but first, we headed to 'Bahia Rosa Blanca', a huge natural pool with only a small access to the sea. Accordingly, the water was very calm, and we again got to see sharks, sea lions, turtles, and two huge rays (about 2.5 meters), the largest of this species I have seen so far. Afterwards, we went to the next bay to see the third type of boobies, the red-footed boobies, but from such a great distance that the animals were barely recognizable. Blue-footed boobies get their blue feet due to their diet, sardines. The red-footed boobies mainly eat flying fish and squids, which is why they have red feet. The boobies are disturbed during their feeding by large frigatebirds, which can be found on all three main islands. After lunch, we went to another snorkeling spot where a pretty big blacktip shark was interested in us :)

Then it was time, and we jumped into the water at Kicker Rock, next to me a steep wall that rises up to 150 meters high, and below me the deep blue sea, making it impossible to see the bottom, which is up to 40 meters deep. Then, after a few minutes, the first hammerhead shark appears, then the second, the third, fourth, and fifth. Wow, we are incredibly lucky and can observe up to 40(!) sharks for 30 minutes as they keep circling around; you can dive a few meters behind and swim along, what an experience! 😍

The next day, we went back to Kicker Rock, but this time, two dives were planned. Although there were not 40 sharks this time, there were still some very large specimens interested in us, along with eagle rays, turtles, more sharks, and finally a big manta ray! 😍

What were those two days on the boat? Unique(!) and absolutely happy to have seen that.

Via Guayaquil, we went non-stop to Cuenca, and the third-largest city in Ecuador is truly beautiful and nearly my favorite city in Ecuador. We ate very well (goat stew, Indian, Mexican), visited the ruins of Ingapirca, and hiked in the absolutely worthwhile 'Caja National Park'. Well, in the end, it was only almost a hike, more like a walk because someone didn’t get out of bed that morning and so we naturally got caught in the daily rain that starts between 12 and 1 PM. Nevertheless, it was probably one of the most beautiful short hikes I’ve done; the national park is at an altitude of 4000 meters with various peaks, lakes, caves, and cloud forests. Additionally, we accidentally stumbled upon a punk concert in Cuenca, tried the local beer (which we rated highly), and checked out the historic buildings as well as the river promenade.

Onward towards Peru, but first, another stop in Loja. We couldn’t quite explain why we got off here; there isn't much to see in the city, so we spent almost the entire day in bed, and I also went to the hairdresser. Then we went another hour to Vilcabamba. Picturesquely located in a beautiful valley, we stayed for two nights. After our arrival, I immediately got ready for a hike; 4 hours were indicated, Fina wasn’t in the mood and stayed in the village. After the first hour, I had already completed the ascent to the summit; then I continued to a rock with a really beautiful view; I overtook a few people and a few were coming toward me, so I decided to follow the path of my app because there were a few people around... It became a beautiful ridge walk at almost too warm temperatures; I gradually wondered why no one was following me and why the guide (of the other group) wasn't visible, but I thought they were performing some kind of ritual; they appeared a bit strange to me. Well, first I continued until the path became increasingly unclear and partly overgrown. However, I could orient myself well with my map. Eventually, I couldn't recognize the path anywhere; the dry grass was getting higher, and I couldn’t see where to step. Back to the last point, with the now torturing sunshine and the altitude. At some point, the grass was so high that I could hardly proceed and I slipped; I could just cling to some bushes, but I could no longer find the way back; furthermore, my phone battery was slowly dying. Panic rose in me, but I had to keep going down and tore my shirt on a thorny bush. I couldn’t go forward or backward, and I was somehow confused, wandering around in the middle of nowhere; would someone find me here? Fina would probably inform someone. I rested for 10 minutes, drank some cola, and tried to clear my head. Then I somehow continued, through bushes, high grass, scrub, and a dried-up riverbed. I followed that. In between, I saw something that looked like a well, covered with a tarpaulin, strange vessels, and a lot of barbed wire. I moved on and ran into a fence that I hadn’t seen; fortunately, I remained uninjured. It continued, slowly the paths got better. Because of the incident with the fence, I moved more cautiously and looked more closely and saw even more strange constructions; something odd must have happened here. Then something hit me on the head, barbed wire at head height (why the hell would someone do that?) a wound half a centimeter below my eye... Lucky to have escaped, that could have literally gone into my eye, and whether I would have found the way down after that is very questionable. I could finally see the road. That’s enough for the next few days, so I’ll take it a bit more cautiously...

So, the next day, it was time to go horseback riding. Less dangerous for me, but not for my behind. The horse was probably a bit small for me, the Western saddle was old, hard, and naturally also a bit small for me, so after a 4-hour ride, I literally had a sore bottom (chafed) :D

But it's not that serious; the view and the path were super beautiful, and it was a lot of fun! A minor drawback, I can’t judge whether the paths are a bit too steep and the tourists a bit too big for the horses. Because they are significantly smaller than the horses I know from home, but since the horses were not only small here but also in Central America and Colombia, I just trust those who know better.

Not less dangerous was the 12-hour bus ride to the border to Peru; unpaved roads, rain, mud, and deep gorges are not a good combination; my hands were slightly sweaty due to the proximity to the abyss, the blown tire was replaced in the next village with a worn-out 'spare tire' and didn’t really alleviate my discomfort. The border crossing was easy, and the roads to our first city in Peru got better.