GalapagosTraveller.info

Galapagos Guide

admin — Tue, 13 May 2008 11:56:52 +0000

The uniqueness of Galapagos is largely due to the remoteness of the Archipelago which has never been connected to the lands of the South American continent.

This has left the animals, plants, bird life, reptiles and marine life who have either migrated or arrived by sea to develop somewhat differently to their mainland brothers and sisters, for example the various types of reptiles inhabiting the islands are all exclusive to the islands while 25% of the nearby shore fish and over 50% of all plants are also unique only to the islands and found nowhere else.

Another interesting facet of the Galapagos is the sheer fearlessness of the wildlife, for instance you can easily swim eye to eye with sea lions, penguins and other marine life without them blinking an eyelid or go follow a giant tortoise as it makes it way pedantically through the lands, in fact the islands were completely uninhabited by man until 1535 and for the wildlife living there man was just another species washed up upon the shore and nothing to fear. It is also a paradise for snorkeling and you can view several multicolored glistening fish and invertebrates including rays, turtles and sharks.

For natural historians or those interested in geological and wildlife development. The islands are a paradise and a step back into time where little has changed for hundreds of thousands of years, they are not however for the sun worshiper or seeker of beeches because the scenery is more volcanic with barren wilderness and more serene in nature and is not for loud party types or regular mainland tourists.

Darwin Station ‘tienda’

admin — Thu, 08 May 2008 03:16:17 +0000

The Charles Darwin Research Station has a couple of gift shops that carry books, clothing, and souvenirs. Anything you buy there sends the profit back to the research station itself. This is what I bought there: These practical cargo pants (photo) are perfect for going on land visits to the various islands as they are 3/4 length with drawstring hems, so they won’t get wet as you sit in the panga or if you have a wet landing. They dry fast, too, so even if you get down on the dung-covered ground to compose a great shot of an iguana, you can just wash them out in the shower, and pronto! clean pants for tomorrow! They even have an applique badge with the Galapagos National Park symbol sewn on.

The big seller in the Galapagos is t-shirts. The ones at the Darwin Station tienda are nice, with tribal-style renderings of turtles and other animals of the islands.

Ayora Supermarket

admin — Thu, 08 May 2008 03:14:31 +0000

The main supermarket on Avenue Charles Darwin in Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz was a pretty decent one and considering its location and being on the Galapagos Islands not all that overpriced. It was a pretty basic place, perhaps a bit run down but it was hopping at night with travelers going up and down the isles getting stuff for the next day’s excursions. The funniest part was people drinking beer while walking around so they didn’t have to pay the deposit on the bottle! Well, they did seem to be enjoying their shopping more too.

You could get beer here but if you forgot to bring back the bottles for the deposit money probably not much less than drinking them in cheap restaurants! We loved getting roasted corn. It’s like popcorn that isn’t quite popped. Very good with…well, yes, beer. The had decent little rolls and yogurt drinks that were good for breakfast too. There were fishing boats that were filleting fish and chances are offering good deals on them too.

Tatoo

admin — Thu, 08 May 2008 03:13:43 +0000

This shop is a great place to get those little things you need for outdoor activities. There is a decent variety of packs and duffles, and also practical clothing of good quality that will hold up to wear and washings.

I got a few t-shirt dresses with spaghetti straps (couldn’t resist) but my favorite thing from Tatoo was a lightweight fleece shirt. I can wear it on its own after a dive in the chilly Pacific Ocean water, or layer it under a jacket for extra warmth. And of course, fleece is so easy to wash and gets dry fast (always a consideration on a dive boat).

Again, t-shirts run about $12, the dress may have been $15. The fleece shirt was about $40.

Fabian Salame

admin — Thu, 08 May 2008 03:12:05 +0000

This is another exclusive shop with a famous designer (he designs for Tiffany’s). The shop is generally only open in the morning, on weekdays, so you may find the gate shut. But you can’t miss the white stucco, art-nouveau building with the ornate gate.

Puerto Ayora

admin — Thu, 08 May 2008 03:10:39 +0000

You won’t get a lot of opportunities to shop, except on Santa Cruz in Puerto Ayora. Though there is actually a decent small gift shop for last minute items in Baltra airport. The jewelry shop inside the wonderful Art Nouveau building has some pretty jewelry. Be careful that you only purchse items you’re sure you can bring back, if your home country limits certain exotic items as the USA does.

Panderia & Pasteleria Frigata

admin — Thu, 08 May 2008 03:07:43 +0000

Isabella did have a very nice little bakery. The owners were super friendly and it was a local place. It was a real find in the Galapagos where they haven’t quite caught onto the gringo’s penchant for baked goods.

We enjoyed their cinnamon buns and elephant ears and they even had some decent rolls to make sandwiches on which came in handy on an island with limited food options! Prices were incredibly cheap. When we were getting ready for the boat ride back to Santa Cruz we bought a bag of little dry dough rings which were a perfect plain snack in case we had rough seas!

Rincón de Alma

admin — Thu, 08 May 2008 03:05:20 +0000

It’s tough to be next to the sea and not want to eat seafood and the most Ecuadorian in this regard is cerviche. Many westerners are leery of eating this “raw” fish but the fact is the fish is “cooked” by the lime juices it is marinated in. It is true it is possible to get sick from it if not done correctly but I’ve never had a problem and in this part of the world, they do know what they are doing. The pieces of seafood and fish are bite size and its mixed with raw onions, tomato and cilantro Unfortunately, even with the seaside locale, cerviche tends to be more expensive in the Galapagos Islands than on the mainland! That said, we had decided to have it at the local Cervichia but when we sat down the service was so bad and unfriendly we decided to move next door to Rincón de Alma which looked nicer, also served cerviche and had a much more gracious owner.

My wife had the fish cerviche, I had a mixed one of octopus, fish and shrimp. They came with a nice portion of plantain chips whch were obviously freshly homemade. We washed it down with an ice cold Pilsner and it came to $17 for the two of us. Not a cheap meal but certainly a tasty and healthy one.

Descanso del Guia

admin — Thu, 08 May 2008 03:04:14 +0000

As the name implies, this is a gathering point for the guides of the Galapagos boat trips. This could be because it’s the only place that seem to open at a reasonably early hour! Despite its great location it is not overpriced and there are some very local dishes besides popular tourist fare. It always seems busy and there is a bustling atmosphere to the somewhat rushed service at least for breakfast. All seating is outside but under cover to it’s quite a pleasant place to eat.

I kept seeing these big balls of what I could not guess every time I passed this place prior to finally giving it a shot. Known as bolón, it is a ball made of fried plantains and a mozzarella-like cheese. Mine was tasty if a bit dry. I noticed many others having it as a side dish to curries and I’m sure the various sauces enhanced the meal greatly. I later tried this at another place and it was much better. My wife had a huge fruit salad with granola of which she felt the latter played too big a part. They also served nice batidos of yogurt based fruit shakes. I don’t believe we spent more than $5 between the two of us and we were quite full.

Cafeteria Rincón Manuelitas

admin — Thu, 08 May 2008 02:56:07 +0000

Cafeteria Rincón Manuelitas was another little place we discovered on Charles Binford. It is tiny and a rare one in that it does open for breakfast. In fact, it isn’t open too late in the evening as is the norm on this night oriented eating street. We noticed the owner baking what looked like cakes to us on a number of occasions as we passed by. He always seemed to be out of them and from his obvious loving care of the little morsels we assumed they must be good. Though very small, he seemed to have a strong following. We did manage to get a seat one morning to finally get a taste of his food.

Another reason for our wanting to eat there was his coffee. We had commented to a fellow traveler about the lack of decent coffee in Ecuador and she explained that if you saw a jar on your table with a dark liquid in it that you could bet it was strong coffee. Locals diluted this liquid with either hot milk or water. Once armed with this information we did in fact notice the peculiar ritual. So, we not only ordered up a couple of his cakes which turned out to be called tortillas de queso but also cafe con leche and made it obvious that we did not want instant coffee by pointing at the bottle!