The Grand Experiment: Two Weeks in the Galapagos

James ticks an item off his bucket list: two weeks in the Galapagos Islands! But he plans only two nights of hotel before departure—no tours, no activities, nothin’. Here’s what happened.

I’ve wanted to see the Galapagos Islands ever since I was in eighth grade.  I did a ribbon-winning science fair project on endangered species, complete with hand-drawn illustrations of some of the world’s most unique and rare fauna.  Among these illustrations was the quagga—an orange, zebra-like animal—and the blue-footed booby.  

Cue eighth-grade boy humor.  That I have yet to outgrow.  

I was to take the trip I’d been planning for <mumble mumble> years, live my Galapagos dreams, swim with the turtles, roast myself in equatorial sunshine, the whole deal.  But from all reports I’d read about tourism there, you could save a MINT by programming your trip locally.  That is, pay cash for everything in person upon arrival.

<GULP>  Uh, as in not planning ahead?  As in RUNNING THE RISK OF RUINING MY TRIP OF A LIFETIME JUST TO SAVE A DOLLAR?!

Yup.  That’s exACTly what that meant.

So that’s what I did.  I had the luxury of time on my side.  Two weeks was PLENTY of time to see boobies, feed some tortoise, scuba with hammerheads.  I just had to HUSTLE once my feet hit South American soil.

And hustle they did.

Quito, Ecuador

My first stop was the capital, Quito.  I had two nights of AirBnB there before jetsetting off to the Galapagos—the only plans I’d made for this adventure. (Click HERE to learn how to maximize rewards on AirBnB)

While there, I did a little intelligence gathering with eyes on the ground.  I had my heart set on an island-hopping cruise.  There are some islands that are only accessible by boat and/or special permit.  Booking online was INCREDIBLY expensive, and the price didn’t improve much in Quito.  So while in “the highest capital city in the world” (they claim they’ve taken the title from Bolivia’s La Paz), I toured Mitad del Mundo (Center of the World) and hiked the Cotopaxi volcano and glacier, collecting special passport stamps for both, as well as some new friends, also known as “The Sexy Iguanas.” We still have a relatively active text thread going.

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More details on all that soon.  This blog post is merely about the FLIGHT BY THE SEAT OF MY PANTS to visit a dream destination.

The two tours in Quito?  $30 for Mitad del Mundo, $49 for Cotopaxi visit and hike.  Three nights in the AirBnB?  $69.  Eating in Quito was pretty cheap if you stayed out of tourist trappy areas and ate more local fare.  If you haven’t tried patacones (mashed flat, fried plantain)?  You should.  And ask ‘em for a side of that soft white cheese to go with it.  WOW.  If you’re a carnivore, the fish dishes there are absolutely outta this world, but they roast chicken like bosses, too.  Wanna color outside the lines?  Try the cuy.  Just don’t tell any of the kids in your life you dined on guinea pig.

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On to the Galapagos

I bought my one-way flight to Baltra Island for $134, including baggage.  From there it was a hop, skip, and bus ride to Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz, where the activity hunt began.  I had booked an AirBnB in Puerto Ayora from my stay in Quito that turned out to be inhabited with more than just me.  Mosquitoes, no-see-ums, and a few beetle bugs were also in residence.  Not thrilling, but far from deal breaker territory.  I left my luggage with the new posse and went lookin’ for snacks and deals.

After a Galapagueño coffee and another kilo of plantain carbohydrate, I was on the prowl.  First place I stopped was right off the ferry, so the service and the prices were… not ideal.  I meandered a little deeper into the metro area and found Santiago.  His office was painted to look like an active volcano, “lava” running down the front steps to the street.  After a little haggle, I coaxed and cajoled my way into an all-inclusive four-day island hopping cruise and three days of fun on Isabela, the largest island in the Galapagos.  

And for significantly less than half the price of the cruise alone if I’d booked online.  

The same cruise online was $2800.  I paid $1200 for the cruise AND the extra three days on Isabela.  

Is that cheap?  Nope.  Is that a whale of a deal for all I got?  YUP.

Four days of full-service fanciness on a yacht that toured the islands of San Cristóbal, South Plazas, Floreana, and Santa Cruz.  We snorkeled, hiked, dinghy-ed all OVER them.  I have memory cards full of amazing photo and video of wildlife I’d only ever read about before.  Meals and lodging included, of course—they even offered to do my laundry.  But the fun was only gettin’ started.  All that bougie is nice, but I needed to get DIRTY. I blame Andrew Redlawsk for THAT.

After a birthday farewell complete with cake and a GIANT fanged fish dinner, I went diving off Gordon’s Rock for hammerhead sharks and more turtle watching.  That one had a steeper price tag, but I needed to get deep if I wanted to see hammerheads.  $170, which is about par for the course for a scuba excursion.  I stared fear in the face on my birthday, diving deeper than I’d ever gone, cutting/scarring hands-on barnacled rocks to resist swift and freezing currents, running dangerously low on oxygen before surfacing.  But the experience is one I’ll never forget and I spent the afternoon dive time above water in the resplendent sunshine, warming myself to the bones and scorching my skin a few layers deep.  <shrug>  Win some, lose some.

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Details were a little…fuzzy at many points during this trip, but Santiago was right there on WhatsApp every time I needed something.  “Where am I staying tonight?”  “I want to see hammerhead sharks when I scuba dive.”  “Where is the ferry dock?”  He was Johnny-on-the-spot for every little thing, but I had to continue to remind myself to think more like an Ecaudorian/Galapagueño, not an American.  No matter what happened during this trip, I was in good hands.

Isla Isabela

After collecting photos from my scuba experience, I was en route to Isabela for the weekend.  Now I had NO idea where I was staying or what would happen when I arrived.  Santiago just assured me, “don’t worry—you’ll see at the island.”  I was met at the dock by Janet, holding a sign with my WHOLE name (felt like I was in trouble with Momma Bullard—James EDWARD, don’tcha know).  She’s the proprietress of the hospedaje of the same name.  She arranged transport to my accommodation by Toyota truck taxi.  She let me get settled in and reminded me, much like Momma Bullard would have, that I had a tour at 1:30, to be in my bathing suit, slathered in SPF, and ready for adventure.  

Speaking of SPF, the best thing I brought was my blue linen longsleeved shirt. I wore it every other day to protect my arms from the NUCLEAR HOLOCAUST that was the sun on the equator. And it was much nicer on sunburned skin, too. HIGHLY recommend. Grab one for yourself by clicking below 👇🏻

Snorkeling in Tintoreras was my first swim with an octopus in the wild.  HUGE deal for me.  Sharks and turtles were also on the docket.  Crunching through a lava landscape to find a bajillion iguanas, nearly accidentally stepping on a few:  they are SO still in the wild.  And their camouflage is IMPECCABLE.  “Iguana skin” should be a print you can get at Dick’s.  Those suckers were nigh unto INVISIBLE.

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Crashing waves sang me to sleep at Janet’s, and new renovations had me in a gigantic room with matching enormous shower.  Wifi was weak in all the islands, but sharing can wait when you’re living your life among animals you can only find in this part of the world.

10 miles of hiking in the rain to the Sierra Negra volcanoscape was next up.  This was not my favorite day.  When I got back to Janet’s from that shenanigannery, I peeled off those wet clothes, throwing them on the tile with a wet slap, and proceeded to fall unconscious for three hours.  When I woke, I was ravenous and sore.  Ate a cheese-filled potato fritter-cloud known as a yapingacho at a corner bodega/restaurant, purchased from somebody’s sweet little round momma who called me “cariño.”  I’m a sucker for a pet name.  Y’all may know that about me already.

The last big tour on Isabela was called “Tuneles,” because it’s a thorough investigation of a network of lava tunnels both above and underwater.  Santiago hadn’t planned anything for that last “free day” in Isabela, and I’d heard several stellar reviews on it, so I asked Janet.  Not only did she beat the best price on the island by $10, she also let me use my Sapphire Reserve card, and since it’s a tour, I’m thinkin’ it probably qualifies for 3x points from Chase!  Score!

Two more octopi.  Sharks close enough to smell the sushi on their breath.  Near-collisions with Buick-sized sea turtles.  SEAHORSES.  Flocks of finches.  And an up-close and personal tutoring session for any and all looking to replicate the mating dance and/or call of the blue-footed booby.

The ferry back to Santa Cruz could’ve been mildly melancholy as my trip drew to a close.  Instead, the BLAZING sunrise and double rainbow made it difficult to feel anything other than awe for the last two weeks I’d spent in some of creation’s most unique and protected flora and fauna.  So I just sat on top of the speedboat and counted my blessings on the way back to the hustle and bustle of the beach town of Puerto Ayora, tears streaking into my ears.

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My last day in the Galapagos was reserved for the Charles Darwin Research Station.  Easily walkable, free to the public, plenty of animals, and another cool stamp for the passport.  

The Flexibility Tax

Wednesday and Thursday were all travel.  Because I kept my options open in case I needed to extend my trip, both my flights from Baltra to Quito and from LGA to CLT were higher than if I’d planned ahead.  I justify the extra expense as a “flexibility tax,” just in case the island hopper didn’t turn out as planned, or I didn’t see as much of the islands as I’d hoped by my two-week deadline.

Nope.  It all turned out beautifully and that last day was extremely low-key, which was great.  I’d started to think and journal in a little bit of Spanish after being immersed in it for so long in Ecuador.  To leave all that behind and go back to the grind took some quiet introspection for pain management.  I enjoy my life in Charlotte, but this vacation was something special.  And when you have to leave something special, it aches.

One for the Bucket List

All in all, this was WAY beyond what THE ADVENTURE DUDES would spend for a two-week excursion.  I lend credit to that fact due to the experimental approach of no planning until arrival, the expense of the cruise combo, flying solo with no one to share expenses, and the generally higher cost of living in the Galapagos Islands!  Their currency is the USD and because of the wild popularity of their tourism, prices can be pretty high.  But I stayed exceedingly close to budget and still fit all my “must-do” items.

Dunno if it’s my relentless optimism or the afterglow of an unreal adventure, but I’m thrilled with the way things turned out. WOULD I PREFER ANDREW’S METHOD OF RESEARCHING AND PLANNING EVERYTHING TO THE FINEST DETAIL? Absolutely. Every day of the week and twice on Sunday. But on the rare occasion that there are advantages to plan on the fly? Or if you’re “all of a sudden” gifted 24-72 hours in a fantastic location? Sometimes you’ve just gotta hold your nose and jump.

Love y’all!

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