We got up at 3 AM and headed for the airport half and hour later. Way, way too early but our hostel decided that we had to leave with another group of guests. Needless to say that we were unhappy but too tired to think about it.
Going to Galapagos is a bit of a circus. We did what we usually do when we check in at airports - head for the counter to get rid of our big back packs. Of course the counter wasn't open yet, so we waited a bit and tried again only to get told that we had to find the "secret" door where you get your bag screened for plants, fruits and other things you cannot bring to Galapagos. Once that is done and your bag has been tagged you can check in. And then queue for the next Galapagos speciality. The USD 20 departure fee. We waited for about one hour for the office to open but that gave us an excellent opportunity to small talk to some of the other back packers in the queue. Once we'd paid for our Galapagos departure fee we had officially changed gender - Malene now the man and Mikkel being the woman. So much for Ecuadorian officials not giving a shit.
We waited for our flight and left almost on time. The only annoying thing about our new flight was the stopover in Guayaquil instead of our original direct afternoon flight. We arrived in Galapagos on time, paid the entry fee of USD 100 per person (cash only), had our luggage and made it by bus, ferry and one more bus to the town of Puerto Ayora. There we staggered around looking so lost that a guy approached us and offered us a room at his hostel - private, big and ensuite for USD 30 per night. And great location just 100 metres from the port. We left our luggage in the room and headed out to have a look at the cruises that were on offer.
The first tour office was staffed by an enthusiastic guy who tried to service another couple and at the same time trying to sell us last minute offers we didn't want. "Can you leave now?", "USD 1800, ok USD 1600 per person" and we once again told him where we wanted to go, for how long and what type of boat, still he kept coming up with more and more ridiculous offers. Clearly not worth spending time on. We left him, went to an even more bizarre office where a young guy asked us questions and he then received answers from an older guy who was resting on a sofa behind a curtain. The ultimate puppet show. We left again but now had an idea about boats, departures, prices and so on. We had great lunch at a local cafeteria for USD 5 per person. Galapagos can also be reasonable, it seems.
We tried our luck one last time with a tour sales person and left after a few minutes. Too much sales crap.
In the afternoon we took a walk on the "main street" and bumped into a Swiss we met this morning in the queue at the airport. We had drinks with them and later we headed for dinner in "food street" where there are great BBQ fish and seafood. Tomorrow we are going to look for our cruise but first heading for Tortuga bay and the beach.
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| Waiting for check in - way too early |
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| Touchdown |
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| And we have a room.. |
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| Taking a nap |
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| Dinner? |
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