Galapagos, an introduction and the first ferry

We arrived in the Galapagos Islands on a Monday morning. Now before coming to the Galapagos I really didn't know a lot about them but we decided to make our stay land based instead of cruise based. Mostly because of the cost associated with the cruises, but also we weren't sure we wanted to spend that much time on a boat. We decided to spit our time between the three main islands. In the Galapagos, there are about 24 islands with 4 of them inhabited. Most of the islands are visited by groups on day trips where you have to have a guide. The three main islands are Santa Cruz, Isabela, and San Cristobal and we spent 4 nights on each with horrible ferry rides between them.

Just of the plane in Baltra

We flew into the airport at Baltra which is near the Island Santa Cruz. When we got off the plane, it looked nothing like I had imagined the Galapagos Islands to look like. Instead it looked more like a barren wasteland.

View after getting off the plane

We stood in a long line to pay our $100 each (except Jenna was $50) entrance fee. Then we got on a short bus ride that took us to a short ferry. We didn't quite understand the process of the ferry as most people had a guide with them but we were doing things on our own. Eventually we got on a ferry and took the few minute ride across the channel to Santa Cruz island.

Tying to figure out the ferry system

We then had the option of a bus ride or a taxi to the town and we opted for the bus because we would be a bit squished in a taxi. Only the bus didn't have enough seats so Rich ended up siting on the floor with his legs down the stairwell. Maybe the taxi would have been better after all.  About 45 minutes later we arrived in the town Puerto Ayora. Because of our earlier delay taking off from Guayaquil (due to the arrival of the Pope) we did not arrive in time to take the afternoon ferry. So we found a hotel and purchased tickets for the morning ferry. Puerto Ayora seemed so small after spending a few days in Guayaquil. We walked around the town a bit but were all so tired from our early morning that we went to bed early so we could get up early for our ferry ride to Isabela.

Jenna in front of our hotel

We were supposed to be at the dock the next morning at 6:30 for our 7:00. We arrived at 6:30, checked in, got our bags searched (they search every bag) and then waited for our ferry. Now the ferries are not very big, but rather a collection of boats that seat 16-25. The best way to describe the dock scene is organized chaos.

Getting on the ferry

At first we didn't know what was going on, but then figured there was a bit of organization to it all. When it was time to load our boat, we first had to take a water taxi at 50 cents per person to our boat. We ended up being the first ones on the ferry so we had our choice of seats. Joe and I sat along the back, Seth and Jenna were on one side and Rich was on the other side.  I had read a few reviews about how awful the ferries can be so we opted to skip breakfast, take motion sickness pills and hope for the best. In the end there were 16 passengers on this particular ferry.

The yellow boats are the water taxis to take us to the ferry

The ferry we were on, called Destiny

Four minutes into our ride, Joe clutched a pole and didn't let go until the end. Twenty minutes in passengers were shuffling seats so those who were sick could be near the back with the fresh air. Thirty minutes in barf bags were passed around. Three ended up using them while others clutched them for dear life. Those sitting in the back did have the advantage of fresh air, but also the disadvantage of getting very wet. About an hour in the "marked drowsiness may occur" hit from our motion sickness pills. I tried to stay awake but my head would jerk from a hard wave. Then I noticed the woman next to me also dozing too. But then I began to worry that she would fall asleep and drop her full barf bag. Seth described the ferry ride as "like doing back flips in a running dishwasher while being inside of a plane that is spiraling out of control. Then you almost have a sense of what it's like."  The ride was supposed to take 2 hours but 2 hours and 50 horrible minutes later we arrived.

Jenna and Rich smiling because the ferry ride is over!

 We then took another water taxi (this one cost $1 each) to the dock where we then had to pay $5 each to get on the island. At this point I was thinking I might just live the rest of  my life on the island so I would never have to get on another ferry.  A few years ago we took a bad ferry in Malaysia, and we all agreed that this one was worse. But we soon found out that visiting Isabela was worth the pain of the ferry ride.