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Sent Thu, 12 Jan 2006 14:00:47 -0800 (PST)
DC, Bogota (Colombia), Quito (Ecuador), Hello from Santa
Cruz Island (Galapagos)
I am typing this from an Internet cafe in the town of
Puerto Ayorta on Santa Cruz Island of the Galapagos chain
on the Equator. After freezing for 2 days in Bogota and
Quito, this is nice. Both Bogota and Quito are in low 70s
(F) during the day, but like Nov. in Eastern USA as soon as
the sun sets. So bring along a heavy shirt or jacket if
you are thinking of these parts. I had planned to do
Bogota first and then Ecuador and Galapagos. I did Quito
first, now Galapagos, then start Colombia (Jan 16th),
possibly take an an excursion to Cuba, and leave Bogota to
last, as I am flying back from there.
1. Info, Colombia. ($=2,200 Colombian Pesos, but depends
what you are changing: Dollar itself low, credit card,
checks better). Bogota is on USA EST, like New York,
Washington. I paid $548 for the round-trip ticket from DC
to here. Left DC at 11am, left Newark, NJ at 3:30pm,
arrived here at 9pm, to temperature 54 deg. F due to the
altitude. After getting my bigger bag, I went to Avianca
and asked for a ticket to Quito, Ecuador. The price is
$234 one-way, $254 round-trip. Although I had planned to
take the bus back from Quito to Bogota, as I normally do to
see the landscape, due to the attractive price I changed my
mind and purchased round-trip. The bus ride would have
been about 24 hours thru mountainous terrain. I´ll do this
later traversing Colombia all over, the distance Bogota to
Cartagena also 24 hours, and may also do the 8-hour
distance Guayaquil to Quito by bus, after Galapagos.
a) Bogota Airport. It does not seem impressive when you
first arrive, due to very congested baggage pick-up area,
but it grows on you when you spend time at the airport.
Many cafes and some restaurants are open all night and
there are people around. My flight to Quito was at 8:40am
next morn, so I just waited there, reading the Economist.
(Just in case you dont know, this is the most informative
international magazine there is, and not just about
economics.) The airport seems part of the city. When you
exit to street level, there is a park-like land in front.
Turn left and walk about 100m to reach the domestic
terminal at the end. There is also a baggage check there
and several cafes and restaurants up the escalator on the
2nd floor. Everything is spotless, including bathrooms.
They use toilet tissue to dry hands, so if you are going to
use the toilet, take some paper with you as there is none
inside the booth.
b) Exit Tax. If you are in Colombia less than 24 hours,
even if you exited, you are considered on transit and with
the receipt from the flight that brought you there you are
exempt from the exit tax; otherwise you must pay it. So
keep your boarding pass receipt. There is also Internet
near the smoking lounge, alas AFTER you check in to the
international departures. The smoke lounge is one of the
neatest I have seen. The departure tax is a hefty $52, but
you get a piece of paper from the tax counter, BEFORE you
check in, and $22 credit, meaning you still have to pay $30.
2. Quito (Pronounced as Kito; Ecuador uses US$; it is on
USA EST, as Colombia). Look at Ecuador as if another state
of the USA, similar to Puerto Rico in effect. This is
where I encountered the best English in Latin America. It
is broken, often very rudimentary, but you can ask
questions and get answers. BINGO! The flight from Bogota
is 1.5 hours; I arrived in the morning, and immediately
went to the TEMA Ecuador Airlines counter for flights to
Galapagos, all were booked that day, so paid $390 for
round-trip to Galapagos the next day. Then I took a taxi
to town for $7. The city is quite large, has new and old
sections, the latter about 20m by taxi thru the new town.
The Old Town Quito is charming, a museum of old colonial
buildings and architecture, much superior to the places
better known for their colonial past, like San Cristobal de
las Casas in Chiapas, Mexico. Quito is much richer. In
fact having seen all cities with a colonial past in Latin
America, I rate it as No. 1. However, beyond that, Quito
is a non-pretentious and earthy city, nothing like Buenos
Aires or Mexico City, and it does not have the zest and
pulse of Brazilian cities.
a) Around Hostel. Hostal SUCRE is run-down but has the best
location, right next to Plaza (and church) San Francisco,
where the x-section of Streets Venezuela and Sucre is
probably the liveliest corner in Old town. Single rooms go
for $2:50, imagine. You do feel the altitude, but it is
nothing like what it was in La Paz, Bolivia or even Cuzco,
Peru. Talking about Cuzco, the Plaza here (and there are
several of them in Quito) is very similar to the Grand
Plaza in Cuzco. The city is spread onto the hills around
it and so also resembles Cuzco (actually also Kigali,
Rwanda and La Paz, Bolivia) from that perspective.
b) Airport. The airport is small but functional. It has
an Internet ($3 per hour) and tel. office right at
international arrivals, where the Information desk is open
to (amazing) 1:30am. There is also a coffee counter there.
(IN Bogota, you need to check into international
departures before you find Internet walking to the gates;
they charge $3:50 there.)
4. Galapagos. The flight from Quito to the airport on
Baltra Island (about 5 min by boat from Santa Cruz Island),
Galapagos takes 2.5 hours, including 30-min stop in
Guayaquil. There are 3 flights a day, 3 back, at 7:30am,
9:30am, and one later. The distance is about 900km into
the Pacific. I paid $390 for the round-trip; there is a
15% student discount. After you get off the plane, you
first pay $100 entry tax, and look for the bus that will
take you: 1) from airport to the port on Baltra, which is a
free ride of about 10 minutes. Get on the bus that says
CANAL on the front. 2) Next you get on a boat to the port
on the Santa Cruz Island, about 5 to 10 minutes for which
you pay 80 cents. The scenery is interesting, so look
around. 3) After you exit the boat, ask which bus goes to
Puerto Ayora. The ride is about 30 minutes; you pay $1:80
for it on the bus.
a) The ride to Pto. Ayora. Is like a cheap (value!)
excursion itself of the island --as I had also mentioned
for the 7-hour bus ride from Campo Grande to Corumba in the
Pantanal when I was in Brazil. The landscape for the first
10 min or so is like in American Southwest, desert-like
arid land with cactus, etc. It is after you pass the first
hill/mountain that the scenery becomes greener and more
lush, with many tropical varieties, but not as dense as the
various jungles we passed in Brazil. Finally you arrive in
Pto. Ayora, a neat little town with a colorful but laid
back MELACON--ocean drive, as many Latin cities, including
Havana, Cuba, call them. The bus will drop you tight at
Capitania de Puerto, at the center of the Melacon next to
the water. Mark this spot. 1) Right across is the
Internet cafe where I am typing this ($2 per hour); there
are also several nice restaurants and shops next to it. 2)
Facing the water, about 100m to your right is the
attractive pier, with tourist info desk up front. 3) About
200m to the left you will see on the same side the TEMA
building with a large sign. This is just in case you want
to make changes to your return ticket. 4) Take the street
(to the left) right across from TEMA building, walk ONE
block, turn left, and about 50m on the other side is the
ESPANA Hotel where I am staying, paying $15 for a room with
2 large beds, bathroom, shower, a fan. 5) If you want to
take public buses around the island, get to where you were
dropped off. 6) If you want any island tours, etc. got to
the pier and ask there. I will briefly describe them.
b) 2. Facts. Galapagos is on USA CST zone, 1 hour earlier
than Colombia and Ecuador. As for prices, not so cheap for
tourists in Ecuador, but you can find some things cheaper.
People in both Colombia and Ecuador impressed me as very
polite, mannerly, the systems orderly and punctual yet
casual. The cultures may not have the elegance of
Argentina or the zest and pulse of Brazil, potential
roughness of Mexico, but both are as close as one can
imagine a Spanish-speaking state of the USA, similar to
Puerto Rico or Cuban Miami, a bit more subdued than the
latter 2.
As in Brazil, the voltage in Ecuador and Colombia seem to
be as in USA: 110V, though in Brazil some places are 220V.
In all 3 of these countries, you can use the USA plug.
c) a) Galapagos geography, significance. The
archipelago--meaning a group of islands--consist of 6 large
ones, 12 smaller ones, and 40 islets. The largest 5 are:
Isabela, Santa Cruz (where I am), Fernandina, Santiago, and
Cristobal, where Isabela is as large as half of the entire
archipelago. The islands of volcanic origin is visible by
the very rough black basalt rocks that jut into the sea,
and by the several volcanoes on the islands, especially
Isabella. (The only other place I remember seeing these
rugged black rocks jutting into the sea is on Cape
Verde.)The islands have never been connected to the
mainland, and so life and various species on them evolved
uniquely on a separate path. So when Charles Darwin
arrived there in 1835 and began examining the various
species of animals, he became aware of their unique
evolution and was inspired by to write his Evolution Theory
and develop his Survival of the Species concept, the
foundation of modern biology, though some Evangelical
Christians are still adamant that this approach to biology
should be taught together with the Intelligent Design
concept--that God created everything as is--borrowed from
the Bible. In my limited knowledge of the details, Darwin,
who himself was very religious, did not so much refute the
existence of God as postulating that species evolved by
Natural Selection, that things not so versatile and
competitive eventually grow extinct. But even this much
change came into conflict with the Bible. Evangelicals
aside, Darwin´s foundation of biology is now taught in all
good schools in USA, though some states still insist that
the Bible version should also be offered as "another view."
d) Hostels, Restaurants. Many! Hotel ESPANA, where I am
staying for $15/night is fine.
For a place to EAT, after having tried 4 restaurants I
strongly recommend the one next to the large church with
green roof at the waterfront, where the entry is thru dense
ivy, as if into a cave. Locals eat there, prices are
reasonable, and you get ample portions. Actually it is
also one of the best locations in town, right across from
the info counter at the pier. And the post office is very
close to it.
e) Return flight Galapagos to Quito. To give you an
example re: my own 9:30am flight from Baltra, I will get up
at 6am, by about 6:30am flag down a taxi--any white
pickup--to the bus terminal ($2) to catch the 7am bus
($1.80) to the port. (There is also a 7:20am bus.) After
the 30-min ride, the boat to the Baltra island will be
waiting for us; finally a 10-min bus ride will bring us to
the airport.
Note: flights from Galapagos seem all full, especially
after Guayaquil. So making changes to existing itinerary
is not possible or easy. That is, dont miss your flight.
There are only 2 (not 3) flights to/from Baltra,
Galapagos to Quito, return flights at 7:15am and 9:30am.
f) Galapagos Tours. Are priced for tourists. I met one
USA group of students who paid $2,400 for a 7-day class
here, total trip 10 days. You can research tours on the
Internet and book one from there, if you insist. But the
ones I checked were $700 to $1400 for a 4-day cruise on
ship. I dont pay such prices for a tour I am not sure of,
and I dont like to be confined for 4 days on a small boat.
And why commit yourself? There are many tour agencies
around you when you arrive, talk to them. For example, 1)
for $25 to 30, at 9am and 2pm, you can take the
glass-bottom boat, including some snorkeling. 2) You want
something cheaper and even more enjoyable? Pay 50 cents to
a water taxi at the pier and ask to be taken to the GERMAN
Beach, next to an exclusive hotel. There ask directions
for LAS GRIETAS, a very scenic 30-min walk. 3) At the Info
office, ask for day-tours to the islands. (The longest is
to St. Barthomeleo for about $70), and 4) ask how you can
take the bus to PRIMICIA´s FARM for giant tortoises ans the
lava tunnel, for example. Taxi to there is about $25 to
$30 (round-trip), plus an entry fee of $5 there, where you
must walk about 2km. While at the pier, look carefully at
the dark lava rocks. Youy may see dozens of large red
crabs, a water iguana or 2, some birds, etc. These are the
things I will do over the next couple of days, delighted
that I am in the tropics again.
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Sent: Sun, 15 Jan 2006 15:03:46 -0800 (PST)
More on Galapagos
OK, I have had my 4 days on the Galapagos, became friends
with many of the natives--without language--got to know the
town and the surrounding landscape pretty well. Tomorrow
(16th, 9:30am CST), I am off to Quito (2.5 hours), and at
4:40pm EST I am off to Bogota, Colombia, there probably at
about 7:30pm. I will probably go directly to the bus
station to find out about buses to Medellin. If there is a
bus that night, I might take it, or wait till morning to
see the landscape to there. I will spend the next day at
Medellin and try to be in Cartagena on the 18th to pursue
an excursion I have in mind. This trip will finish for me
ALL of South America. Meanwhile, I have already booked my
NEXT TRIP: DC to Managua, Nicaragua on Jan. 31, back on
Feb. 13, also visiting El Salvador, to Guatemala City, to
Copan (Mayan ruins), to Tegucigalpa, Honduras and back,
thus finishing off also ALL of Central America. I will be
in the States until about Mar. 20, then I am off again on a
much longer trip.
a) More Tours on the island. Note that Galapagos is
somewhat lacking as far as tourist infrastructure. They
cater mostly to tourists who have booked some sort of boat
trip on the Internet. They are collected from hotels, put
on buses, and taken wherever they are supposed to be going.
These are the big-ticket travelers and they attended to.
There is not much info as to WHAT you can do ON YOUR OWN.
The guy at the info counter at the pier barely spoke
English. Although he gave me brochures of some places, it
was not clear how I would get to them, when & where, cost,
etc. As I had mentioned, by personality I dont like to be
confined to a small boat for just seeing fish and
landscape. So I asked around for enough outlets to fill a
few days, and either FREE or on the cheap, yet as
substantive as the expensive tours.
1) By all means, go to the waterfront at the pier, inspect
the lava rocks. Dont be surprised if you see a dozen huge
sea iguanas, as many land iguanas, many large red crabs,
some fish say about 6 inches long, and all sorts of large
and small birds. You dont have to take a tour for any of
these. In fact, you will see many iguanas sunning on the
seats of parked motorcycles at the police station parking
lot--turn towards the water on the street next to the TAME
(Airlines) building, pass the small police booth. They
have no fear of humans, and unless you make a sudden move
very close to them, they inspect you while you inspect
them.
2) The 50cent water taxi to the German Beach and the scenic
30-min walk I mentioned should also be on your agenda.
3) 6km walk to Tortuga Bay, a MUST, FREE. If you want to
appreciate the landscape, fauna & flora, the sea for free,
you must take this. From the intersection where the main
street from north meets the ocean drive (at port captain´s
building entrance), walk up about 250m on the main street
until you see at an intersection on the left the blue sign
to Tortuga Bay. The entry is about 300m straight on that
road. BUT at the 2nd cross-street, look to your left.
About 100m down the street, there is a walkway to a
beautiful lagoon with many kids having fun in it. You
might want to inspect the place, then return to the road to
Tortuga Bay. Just before the entry, you climb about 30
steep steps to a small booth. The gate opens at 6am,
closes at 5:30pm, but apparently you can stay overnight at
the bay. The walk on a paved path 2.5km. I have not seen
such effort as paving--about 6ft. wide--an entire path this
long in the middle of nowhere, but then again the terrain
is surrounded by sharp lava rocks, bushes and cacti of all
sorts. It is a beautiful walk. You will see many bird
species (all friendly) along the way. Finally, after much
sweat, you will reach the 1st beach-- there is another
further 15 minutes. The scene is white sand, blue sky,
black lava rocks jutting here and there, the green
vegetation behind you, and the blue sea. Gorgeous. Alas,
you have to trek back the entire distance, as there is no
water taxis, and bikes, etc. are not allowed. Enjoy. This
is what I meant with why commit yourself on an expensive
4-day tour on Galapagos, when there are such free or cheap
options.
4) GIANT TORTOISES & LAVA Tubes. These are not in Puerto
Ayora. The nearest ones are at a farm called PRIMICIAS.
It is about 30 min drive to there on the road to the
airport, just past the village of Santa Rosa. You take a
taxi to there for $20, which not includes return but also
about an hour on the grounds, with the driver serving as
your guide. Dont be surprised if you see several of these
monsters lumbering along on the side of the highway near
Santa Rosa. If you think these are big, wait till you get
to the farm--where you pay $3 entry--and see those babies.
I have several interesting photos that I will post. The
lava tubes are actually tunnels formed by lava. One is on
the farm grounds, and you can walk thru it. On the way
back, you will pass 2 others much longer. Ask the driver
to stop at the entry of at least one. The first one is
like a deep hole in the ground, about 8ft in diameter. It
is pitch dark inside, but you have an idea as to what you
are getting into from the light at the entry.
Talk to you from cartagena next.
Sirman