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Jackman Travels
At the risk of repetition, this place is amazing. We are running seriously short of superlatives for this blog now.
We arrive in Quito abou 9pm last night after 11 hours of planes, via Santiago and Guayaquil (also in Ecuador). Asked for upgrades at start and when we changed planes but they don't really have business class, just a couple of rows of 'premium ecomony'- in this case the same seats with no more legroom. Staff all very nice and congratulatory tho.
So we got through the airport in minutes- most efficient plane to taxi time ever- and went to hotel as organised by Gap, the people with whom we're doing Galapagos. We were a bit worried about hotel cos it's in the new town and Lonely Planet says that's a bit dodgy, but it turns out we were in one of the swankiest places in the new town. Okay, so there's a bit of faded grandeur about it but to us at the moment it's luxury.
Checked in, got given Gap kit bags and souvenir tshirts, and went to hotel restaurant where A tried an apparent local speciality- Sanduiche Amazona. That, of course, is a triple decker sandwich made with fried white bread, bacon, fried eggs and fried beef. With chips. Excellent stuff, and just like they eat deep in the Amazon rainforest we're sure.
Go up at 6am for breakfast and to meet rest of the Galapagos tour group- for the next 5 days we are part of a tour and PEOPLE SORT STUFF OUT FOR US! It's amazing, even at this early hour, we just give a man the bag we want to take to galapagos and the one we want to leave locked up in hotel and we just get in a van- all too easy. And our group seem really sound- not teenagers like name 'Gap' might suggest, and not 80 year olds as we would later find to be the average age in Galapagos.
Flight stopped again in Guayaquil, this time to refuel. And they did refuel. And after that they kicked us off with no explanation an left us standing in the lounge (not sitting- that wasn't allowed as liz found out) for an hour and a half until they got us on another plane. That hour and a half delay seems much more significant when you're going on a once in a lifetime 4 day trip. It did, though, give us all the chance to stock up on duty free wine to smuggle onto the boat.
Off flight at Batra airport, pay $100 to get in and meet Bolivar, a very, very old guide who herded us onto a bus, then on a boat across a canal to Santa Cruz island, another bus to Puerto Ayura, onto a rubberducky speedboat thing (known here as a Panga) and then onto our boat, known as Pelicano or Gap Adventure 1 depending who you ask. Met Diego the guide who will be with us for the tour and went straight to lunch- excellent, meat and lots of veg... and not forgetting the taste sensation that is Snob (chilli sauce).
HERE'S WHERE IT STARTS PROPERLY:
Our first trip was to the Charles Darwin Research Station (by panga of course) where we were led around by Bolivar again. But as soon as we got off the panga, we were confronted by LOADS of sea iguanas... and here the photographs began. Bolivar regaled us with many tales of his life (some wives, more hospitalisations), and in between he showed us the famous tortoise Lonely George- the only remaining member of his species who refuses to mate with a similar species. Bolivar is unsure whether this proves he is gay.
At the more *ahem* prolific end of the scale is Super Diego, another species of tortoise. This guy lives with 5 females. Before he started that arrangement the population was 400. It now stands at 1800.
Saw 'unhappy males' and 'unhappy females' of various species (those who only have their own gender for company) but also saw loads of really, really cute baby tortoises.
The adult male tortoises are much, much bigger than the females, about 1.5 metres in length and weighing up to 180kg! The ones we saw were about 180 years old - no wonder they had such wonderfully wrinkly, papery skin. One even had bullet wounds from his time as the Navy mascot - but that wasn't bothering him.
Spent a short while in town looking for sunglasses for A (his third pair of the holiday following another breakage) and BOTH bought a lovely pair of booby tshirts. Both state 'I love boobies'- there's equality for you. Then back on board for welcome cocktails and briefing.
Then spent the evening sitting atop the boat drinking beer, chatting and getting to know our shipmates. Cool.
We arrive in Quito abou 9pm last night after 11 hours of planes, via Santiago and Guayaquil (also in Ecuador). Asked for upgrades at start and when we changed planes but they don't really have business class, just a couple of rows of 'premium ecomony'- in this case the same seats with no more legroom. Staff all very nice and congratulatory tho.
So we got through the airport in minutes- most efficient plane to taxi time ever- and went to hotel as organised by Gap, the people with whom we're doing Galapagos. We were a bit worried about hotel cos it's in the new town and Lonely Planet says that's a bit dodgy, but it turns out we were in one of the swankiest places in the new town. Okay, so there's a bit of faded grandeur about it but to us at the moment it's luxury.
Checked in, got given Gap kit bags and souvenir tshirts, and went to hotel restaurant where A tried an apparent local speciality- Sanduiche Amazona. That, of course, is a triple decker sandwich made with fried white bread, bacon, fried eggs and fried beef. With chips. Excellent stuff, and just like they eat deep in the Amazon rainforest we're sure.
Go up at 6am for breakfast and to meet rest of the Galapagos tour group- for the next 5 days we are part of a tour and PEOPLE SORT STUFF OUT FOR US! It's amazing, even at this early hour, we just give a man the bag we want to take to galapagos and the one we want to leave locked up in hotel and we just get in a van- all too easy. And our group seem really sound- not teenagers like name 'Gap' might suggest, and not 80 year olds as we would later find to be the average age in Galapagos.
Flight stopped again in Guayaquil, this time to refuel. And they did refuel. And after that they kicked us off with no explanation an left us standing in the lounge (not sitting- that wasn't allowed as liz found out) for an hour and a half until they got us on another plane. That hour and a half delay seems much more significant when you're going on a once in a lifetime 4 day trip. It did, though, give us all the chance to stock up on duty free wine to smuggle onto the boat.
Off flight at Batra airport, pay $100 to get in and meet Bolivar, a very, very old guide who herded us onto a bus, then on a boat across a canal to Santa Cruz island, another bus to Puerto Ayura, onto a rubberducky speedboat thing (known here as a Panga) and then onto our boat, known as Pelicano or Gap Adventure 1 depending who you ask. Met Diego the guide who will be with us for the tour and went straight to lunch- excellent, meat and lots of veg... and not forgetting the taste sensation that is Snob (chilli sauce).
HERE'S WHERE IT STARTS PROPERLY:
Our first trip was to the Charles Darwin Research Station (by panga of course) where we were led around by Bolivar again. But as soon as we got off the panga, we were confronted by LOADS of sea iguanas... and here the photographs began. Bolivar regaled us with many tales of his life (some wives, more hospitalisations), and in between he showed us the famous tortoise Lonely George- the only remaining member of his species who refuses to mate with a similar species. Bolivar is unsure whether this proves he is gay.
At the more *ahem* prolific end of the scale is Super Diego, another species of tortoise. This guy lives with 5 females. Before he started that arrangement the population was 400. It now stands at 1800.
Saw 'unhappy males' and 'unhappy females' of various species (those who only have their own gender for company) but also saw loads of really, really cute baby tortoises.
The adult male tortoises are much, much bigger than the females, about 1.5 metres in length and weighing up to 180kg! The ones we saw were about 180 years old - no wonder they had such wonderfully wrinkly, papery skin. One even had bullet wounds from his time as the Navy mascot - but that wasn't bothering him.
Spent a short while in town looking for sunglasses for A (his third pair of the holiday following another breakage) and BOTH bought a lovely pair of booby tshirts. Both state 'I love boobies'- there's equality for you. Then back on board for welcome cocktails and briefing.
Then spent the evening sitting atop the boat drinking beer, chatting and getting to know our shipmates. Cool.
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