Rygsækrejsen 2015-2016: Tortuga Bay beach and some more cruise deal hunting

We met with the Swiss guys in front of the supermarket at 9 and walked to the entrance of the national park. From there it is a 45 minute walk to the beach - Tortuga bay beach. One of the few free things you can do on Galapagos where everything else is Dollars.

The walk is on a paved trail through a desert like area with bushes and cactus trees. Some of them impressively high. And there it was - the beach! The first stretch was for surfing so we walked along the beach for 15 minutes to get to Tortuga bay. Wonderful with sand between the toes. Lots of marine iguanas on the beach and at the end a whole family of them were soaking in the sun.

We arrived at Tortuga bay and the first thing we spotted in the water was a small shark patrolling the area just at the edge of the water from the shore. Further in the bay we could see turtles poking their head up the water occasionally. We had a quick swim and then rested on the beach. After a while the temptation to rent a kayak was too big and we spent the next 1½ going round the bay looking for turtles and fish in the water. Lots to look at even though the water was a bit murky.

In the afternoon we headed back to Puerto Ayora. We still had to find a cruise and book it, so we spent some more time at the booking agencies still listening to all their sales talk about boats we didn't like, itineraries that didn't fit with our departure date, ridiculous suggestions about USD 2000 cruises beyond our budget and so on. In the end we settled for a cruise with the Encantada
It had all we wanted - small size, the right trip length and arrival in time for our flight back to Quito and most importantly - a trip that went around Isabela Island where we wanted to go.

After leaving a pile of money with a guy we've only spent a short time talking to we left the office with a handwritten note of paper stating our trip, departure time and an amount. And then we needed some lunch. USD 5 including enough rice.
We walked a bit around town before heading for a drink, and some more drinks at the bar where we met the Swiss yesterday. Eventually they returned and we had more drnks - happy hour should be utilised, right.

We all headed for dinner at food street - they going for the lobster, we going for a big red snapper, wonderfully BBQ'd. The place was busy today, lots of cruises ending so a lot of people in town. Before going to bed we managed to book "ferry" tickets to San Christobal for tomorrow and for Fernandino Island the following day. Cruise countdown has officially started - or at least we a clinging on to our handwritten receipt :-)