July 7
We got to leave a little later than usual. Pick up was at 10. This gave us plenty of time to pack up and eat a leisurely breakfast. We were picked up by our mini van and then took a water taxi to Baltra Island, and then took a bus to the airport. All of these modes of transportation were organized and provided by our tour company. We did not have a copy of our ticket as the tour company also booked the flight. This led to a bit of confusion as we didn’t know what flight number we were, exactly what time we were leaving, or the name of the airline. Somehow everyone figure out where we needed to go (it is a very small airport and the staff were helpful). They ushered us into a small open VIP lounge to wait. After a few false alarms, we walked out onto the tarmac to board a 9 passenger plane (that is five rows of two seats). Each seat was complete with yellow ear protectors. It was quite loud, and the view was breathtaking, although more so for the half we were beneath the clouds. The flight was about 30 minutes long and we made a smooth landing on Isabela. There is no real airport there, just a landing strip, so we should not encounter the same problems on the way back.
Isabela is the largest island of the Galapagos. It is more than four times larger than Santa Cruz, the next largest island, and it shaped like a sea horse. It has six intermittently active Volcanos. Most of it is uninhabited, including a lot of dark volcanic earth through all but the shorelines.
Only 2000 people live on Isabela. Puerto Villmil is tiny. Emilie, our Quebecoise guide said that Puerto Ayora (where we stayed on Santa Cruz) is like New York compared to here. We rode in one of the pick-up truck taxis to our hotel. We are right on the ocean! The boys needed some serious down time so we did nothing for awhile and then we went swimming and snorkelling out on our beach. Erez saw another stingray, Noam and Aubrey saw more cool fish, and Teva was content to jump waves at the shore. Zev took some time to read and have some alone time. He needed a break from everyone else for a few hours.
We had a delicious dinner on the main strip of restaurants that is the Main Street of town, and of course I fell asleep again in my clothes before 9 o’clock.
Tomorrow, Las Tintoreras