Santa Cruz Island
It is always exciting to come back to civilization. We have spent almost a week visiting islands where we were the only human beings; their inhabitants only being birds, reptiles and sea lions. By Wednesday every one on board has forgotten about the noises of cars, the hustle and bustle along sidewalks, the importance of streetlights and those details of the “civilized” world. It is amazing how fast we can forget about notions we grew up with, and get use to the tranquility of these isolated National Park islands in the Pacific.
When we tell our guests that we are visiting a Galápagos town, Puerto Ayora, they never know exactly what to expect. Some wait for a tiny village with wooden houses; some might have the idea of coconut palms and hammocks along the bay. It must be hard to picture a Galápagos town!
However, everyone loves it! Cecilia Lewis commented “this is as lovely as the little villages in Italy or France, before they got spoiled by too many tourists.” Some commented about the unique architecture. A group of guests spent a good part of the morning seeing how brown pelican and herons stole fish leftovers from the fishermen in Pelican Bay.
There are coconut palms together with giant prickly pear cactus, persons riding bicycles as well as pick-ups (the taxis of town). It is a strange but lovely mixture of people, colors, architecture and costumes. It is delightful!
During lunch in the highlands of Santa Cruz we talked about Puerto Ayora, and about the giant tortoises and the kind people of the Galápagos Islands. We have become good friends, friends for life. Back on board we all together smile for the picture!
It is always exciting to come back to civilization. We have spent almost a week visiting islands where we were the only human beings; their inhabitants only being birds, reptiles and sea lions. By Wednesday every one on board has forgotten about the noises of cars, the hustle and bustle along sidewalks, the importance of streetlights and those details of the “civilized” world. It is amazing how fast we can forget about notions we grew up with, and get use to the tranquility of these isolated National Park islands in the Pacific.
When we tell our guests that we are visiting a Galápagos town, Puerto Ayora, they never know exactly what to expect. Some wait for a tiny village with wooden houses; some might have the idea of coconut palms and hammocks along the bay. It must be hard to picture a Galápagos town!
However, everyone loves it! Cecilia Lewis commented “this is as lovely as the little villages in Italy or France, before they got spoiled by too many tourists.” Some commented about the unique architecture. A group of guests spent a good part of the morning seeing how brown pelican and herons stole fish leftovers from the fishermen in Pelican Bay.
There are coconut palms together with giant prickly pear cactus, persons riding bicycles as well as pick-ups (the taxis of town). It is a strange but lovely mixture of people, colors, architecture and costumes. It is delightful!
During lunch in the highlands of Santa Cruz we talked about Puerto Ayora, and about the giant tortoises and the kind people of the Galápagos Islands. We have become good friends, friends for life. Back on board we all together smile for the picture!
