Galápagos : Isla Santa Cruz

Cruise from Santa Cruz

Even though Keith and I had stayed up all night at the Lima airport, doing research on Galápagos cruises, we dropped our bags in our respective hotels and hit the streets at Puerto Ayora, city of Santa Cruz Island, to sign up for cruise. The good news was, after dropping in at a few shops, we finally had a list of boats, their prices and departure dates. The bad news was, the list was nothing similar to our shortlist, and where the type of boat fitted, the itinerary did not and vice versa. In the end, Keith and I chose 2 different boats - I would be going on the Northern Islands route while he stuck to the Southern Islands route that we both preferred. It turned out that Keith would have more logistics to take care of if he were to go on the Southern Island route. In the end, he gave up and joined my boat instead. We set sail 2 days later. With the cruise nailed down, I could plan my next destination and book my flight out of Galápagos too. Woohoo! 

Santa Cruz

I had some time to explore Santa Cruz Island before my cruise. Santa Cruz was officially discovered in 1525 by the Bishop of Panama. It was later used by pirates and whalers until the Ecuadorian Government took possession of all islands in 1832. The first human settlement took place in 1926 by 4 Norwegians. Although it is not the biggest island, Santa Cruz has the biggest population in all of Galápagos. (Source: www.galapagostour.org)

Source: Martha Chica, Samba

As one can imagine, Santa Cruz's city, Puerto Ayora, mainly caters to tourists. My guess is that providing accommodation for tourists outnumber all trades, followed by restaurants and pharmacies. It was really strange why every other shop is a pharmacy. There were grocery stores but curiously, many of the shelves in these stores were empty. You would see 2 packets of biscuits and 1 chocolate bar on a shelf. I could not figure out how these shops survive in the long run. Most things were expensive in Puerto Ayora, where I bought the most expensive bottle of sun screen in my whole life - a 120ml SPF 60 UVA/UVB/2 hour water resistant bottle for US$17.

The best finds in Santa Cruz were bread and a repair shop. There were 2 bread shops along one of the main streets, Avenida Baltra and both sold 4 croissants for US$1. The repair shop, located somewhere near the corner of Avenida Baltra and 18 de Febrero (I think - cos I could not see any street sign), was my saviour. When I arrived, I had discovered that the seam of my cargo bag had ripped and although I had sewn to mend the hole, I was very sure that it would not hold. The repair shop repaired everything from bags to football boots, stitch by stitch. I brought my bag there and the lady mended by bag for US$1 in 5 minutes. It was a great bargain!

The repair shop

Mending my bag

There was a seafood market along Avenida Charles Darwin where the fishermen brought in their fresh catches. Someone at my hostel bought 2 lobsters to cook for dinner and I understood that they were not too expensive.

Frigatebird

The frigatebirds flying around the seafood market had led me to the market. I saw them in the sky and followed them. They were big black birds, with wings that made them looked like winged dinosaurs that fascinated me. I also saw my first blue-footed booby and a Great Blue heron by the market. (More about these birds in the next blog entries.)

Blue-footed booby

Tortuga Bay

In close proximity to the populated areas of each of the islands are 'recreation' zones designated by the Parque Nacional Galápagos for the locals and visitors to easily and freely access. Tortuga (or Turtle) Bay, is one of these recreation zones, about a 20-minutes walk away from Puerto Ayora.

After registering at the park warden's office, one walks through an opuntia forest. The Galápagos giant cactus (Opuntia sp.) is the only opuntia cactus that grows like a tree. It grows on volcanic rock, holds large amounts of water and is an habitat for the cactus finch. I saw many different finches, Galápagos mocking birds and geckos around this area.

Galápagos giant cactus

Finches

Gecko

At the end of the cactus forest, a white, pristine beach with beautiful turquoise water was in sight - Tortuga Bay. In the distant, dark objects were moving across the beach. I took off after them, thinking they were sea lions. Instead, I came face to face with this prehistoric looking reptile - a marine iguana that was more than 1m long.

Marine iguana

Although Charles Darwin did not set foot on Santa Cruz and I am not sure if he saw a marine iguana, these reptiles are testimonies to Darwin's theory on adaptation. The marine iguana is different from land iguana with flattened, square nose, an adaptation for feeding on red and green marine algae and laterally flattened tail, an adaptation for swimming. (Source: Birds, Mammals, & Reptiles of the Galápagos Islands by Andy Swash & Rob Still)

Marine iguana: Don't stare at me, Punk!

Claws and tail trails left by the marine iguana

These marine iguanas are among the biggest of all marine iguanas in Galápagos. They left behind their trails on the very soft sand. I followed the trails in the opposite direction, only to see more marine iguanas coming my way and others basking in the sun on the beach, sand dunes or dark volcanic larva rocks to build up energy and to increase their body temperatures.

Further along the way, there were mangroves and more cactus forests. The mangroves were resting and feeding havens for rays, turtles and reef sharks. If only I knew - I would have gone into the water.

Mangrove swamp and cactus forest