Island Hopping in the Galapagos
Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
By Jared Johnsen
In many ways, where you spend your nights in the Galapagos will determine the type of trip you have. No, I am not only talking about the nausea from rocking boats in tight quarters for those seasick explorers, but of the tour options open to those entering the park that provide for a different type of experience. These possibilities range from spending your nights in a hotel dreaming along side the far-fetched island dwelling animals to resting (hopefully) aboard a rocking seafarer charting its course to bring you to your new destination each morning. The most common choice, by far, for gringo visitors to the island is a tour by yacht or cruise ship. While this option covers the most area with perhaps the least planning and effort, some people just flat out cant swallow the idea of spending over a week worth of sleep on shifting maritime swells.
If you should decide that you would like a more fulfilling rest at night with a course a bit less tightly charted, you might just fly into the Galapagos and tour from the islands themselves. You can either visit other islands from your hotel or opt to book a tour that involves staying on a few of the islands with day trips to outer islands from there. This option permits a broader tour of the varying islandscapes and their animal residents than does staying on just one island, but requires booking a tour and reserving boats with one of the agencies or hotels in Puerto Ayora. The largest town on the islands and home to half of all Galapagos residents, this is by far the town with the most equipped and comfortable quarters to stay in. The airstrip you’ll be landing on is located on Isla Baltra, just 45 minutes away from the port on Isla Santa Cruz. Here you will find accommodations of all sorts from budget hostels to high-end hotels like Hotel Galapagos, which has an on-property scuba diving center or the Red Mangrove Inn, which has sea kayak rentals among other things. Due to the relative distance of outlying islands and lack of public transportation, these hotels and the tourist agencies in town will be the best place to book boat transport to other islands, scuba diving, sea kayaking, or any other activity you have your heart set on.
Located directly to the east is Isla San Cristóbal, with some more basic places to stay. Puerto Baquerizo Moreno is the provincial capital, but is not nearly as populated as Puerto Ayora. It does, however, have some interesting attractions like encountering the Galapagos tortoise in the wild as well as good surf, swimming, and the beautiful Kicker Rock, an old cone shaped volcano that has been artfully carved in two over time. There are also sea lions and many other land dwelling creatures well known in the Galapagos. Hotel Orca is the largest, and perhaps nicest place to stay, but may require advanced reservation with a tour. Many of the other options are quite basic but OK if considered as a place to rest after the day’s more important adventures.
To the south of Santa Cruz is Isla Santa Maria or Floreana, with a small selection of hotel options for the boat-tourless traveler. In Puerto Velasco Ibarra is a small hotel and restaurant run by the family of Margaret Wittmer, one of the islands original settlers. This island has plenty of draws including a lagoon with several resident flamingos and its own spectacular volcanic rock formation appropriately named Devils Crown. This island is also home to the famous Post Office Bay, where whalers back in the day would store mail for others heading in the right direction to find and carry on for them.
The last hotel option is located directly west of Isla Santa Cruz on largest island of the archipelago named Isabela. In the settlement of Puerto Villamil check out La Casa Marita for one of the nicer hotels in town. This island has a great selection of wildlife to view and a visit here deserves at least a few days to take in its natural wonders. A highlight here would have to be either a summit of Volcán Alcedo where there is a wide caldera with steaming fumaroles or Volcán Santo Tomás, which also has a vast caldera and can be reached by jeep-hire or horseback. From December to June it is possible to see the giant tortoise with flightless cormorants, marine iguanas, and pelicans abounding all times of the year.
Staying on these four islands will not save you any money if you plan on visiting all or most of them. What it will provide, however, is accommodation off the boats, and more time to pursue your interests on the islands, interests that will require a bit more time and flexibility than the captain and his log.
