Bay Tour
With some trepidation, our plan for the day is an organized tour of sights around the bay Puerto Ayora sits on. Some of the stops sound a bit uninspiring, but we’re swayed by the trip out to a small island where a sea lion colony has set up shop and the waters are calm enough to snorkel with them. One of my fondest memories of my trip year two decades ago was swimming with sea lions during a break between dives, and it is an experience I definitely want to share.
When we arrive at the pier, to our amazement (not so much), the boat isn’t the shiny new model the tour company showed us pictures of, but a raggedy, old water taxi, designed to ferry people from the live boards docked in the bay to shore.
Of course, Travelin’ Gran is an old sea dog in her own right, and perfectly content to tackle the waves in such a vessel, so we follow her lead an pile aboard.
On the way to the island, we get our first close ups of the blue footed boobies (I used up all my good booby jokes the last time we were in Galapagos, so feel free to insert you own here), and some shots of a marine iguana out for a swim.
We also pass by a big National Geographic ship the boys think is pretty pool. It turns out that for a mere $7,000, they too could be on board. Cost aside, I’m guessing it is one of the better ways to see the Galapagos, but sadly not something I’m likely to every find out for sure (although I’m happy to write about if anyone would like to send me).
Unfortunately, things start to head downhill after this. The approach to the island is a little tricky in our glorified skiff as the waves are quite high. As we finally work our way close to the beach, the guide starts to tell us about the sea lions that live there and how curious they are to come out and play with snorkelers. He says that people really enjoy it, but apparently not us, as snorkeling is cancelled because of the rough water (no mention of any discounts or refunds though).
We’re hopeful the next stop on the tour is better, as head off back across the bay to a calm cove where dozens of white tip reef sharks come to hang out. Our guide talks about how big the sharks get, and how they leave the cove several times a day to go out and hunt in the open water. He tells us how interesting it is to see them gathered together in the cove, which I guess we will take his word for as today the water is so murky that it is impossible to see anything.
By this point, I’m feeling pretty defeated by my purchase, as going to snorkel with the sea lions you can’t snorkel with and seeing the sharks you can’t see doesn’t seem like great value. Nevertheless, morbid curiosity keeps me going as I need to see what else can possible go wrong.
It’s a fairly pleasant walk to the next stop, and we manage to get a few good pictures along the way, but, keeping with the spirit of the day, the destination is a tad underwhelming. It is a beach where marine iguanas hang out, but there are fewer here than we have already seen elsewhere on the island.
After returning to the boat, we head off to the final spot, which is Las Grietas. We’ve already seen it of course, but it’s the hot part of the day and a cool dip sounds quite appealing. Fortunately, I didn’t wear my plum smuggler/hiking boots ensemble as there is nothing more embarrassing than showing up at a party wearing the same outfit as someone else. Maybe I’ll wear it tomorrow.
We have our good camera with us this time around, so are able to get some action shots of the boys jumping off the cliffs.
Back at the dock, we do get our sea lion fix for the day, as a rather energetic soul has crawled up the ramp and taken up residence on a comfy bench for a nap.
While the day didn’t exactly match the brochure, it’s been fun and we’ve managed to check a few items off of Travelin’ Gran’s to do list in the process. All in all, we’ll call it a win.