After our amazing island experience at Santa Cruz, we took a “ferry” to the island of San Cristóbal, and stayed in the city of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno. Puerto Baquerizo Moreno is the capital of the Galápagos Islands, and home to 5,600 civilians. Our friend Yogo had told us, San Cristóbal is the capital of the islands, and the capital of the Sea Lions – and he was right – Sea Lions rule the island. San Cristóbal is also known for fishing (lobster!), growing coffee and fruits and vegetables, and Boobies! Yes, you read that correctly – you can see plenty of Blue-footed Boobies and Red-Footed Boobies! We were lucky to see the nesting areas as well!
How We Got There
We decided to take a “ferry” from Santa Cruz to San Cristóbal, for $30.00 each – the price is right! However, I must tell you – it is not like a ferry you see in the United States, a large, slow boat, with hundreds of people. Here, it is a small, speed boat, that can fit 20 people (ours had 7). The boat ride is 2 hours through rough waters. You know it’s going to be a rough ride when you get on the boat and you immediately see barf bags. Steve and I sat in the back, center, and felt this was the most stable area of the boat. We spent the entire two hours gazing over the ocean, enjoying the sun, and watching a few of our boat mates turn green. For those considering this as an option, it worked well for us – however, if you get sea sick easily, you may want to reconsider.
How We Got Around
San Cristóbal is similar to Santa Cruz, taxis are white pickup trucks, and scooters & bikes are the most common mode of transportation. We didn’t get any sweet bikes with our apartment, so we walked everywhere, and took a taxi to the airport the day we left.
Where We Stayed
We booked an apartment at a hostel on AirBnB. The hostel offered apartments and shared rooms. We enjoyed our second floor apartment: the kitchen worked, had a great breeze, and every morning we were greeted by two adorable dogs who often ate breakfast with us. One of the reasons we love staying in apartments is to experience the local living, including shopping. San Cristóbal did not have a huge supermarket like Santa Cruz, which made shopping challenging, but we were still able to find everything we needed for a comfortable stay. The only downside to our apartment was being woken up by roosters around 3AM. But, for the few nights we were there, it met our needs and was a great place.
Our Favorite Eats
Bakery – There was a bakery down the street, and I cannot remember the name. Steve and I made a point to grab chocolate bread here every day for breakfast or for a treat. I don’t know if this bakery was special, but I think most bakeries in San Cristóbal make the chocolate bread. If you every go, try it…. Delicious!
Empanada Shop – Near our apartment (and close to the bakery) and woman sold empanadas in her front yard. Yes, sounds sketch, but we saw a lot of people eating it so we figured we would try it. It was so good; we ate there twice. Dinner was less than $5.00 each night… for the both of us.
What We Did
After quickly getting settled into our apartment, we headed to Playa Mann, a local beach. We were delighted to see many sea lions, including lots of little babies. A local guide reminded us not to walk close to them. He also let us know that if a sea lion approached us, to just ignore it and not to feed or touch it. Within 10 minutes I had a baby sea lion sniffing my shoes and bag looking for food. It took all my effort not to reach out and give it a hug. Sea lions make such an interesting sound, but the babies sound like little coughs – it is enduring. This, along with a beautiful sunset, gave us a perfect first night at San Cristóbal.
On our first full day on the island, we opted for a guided tour. After doing a lot of research we decided on the “360 Tour” from the company “Galápagos Eco Fishing”. The tour (like its name) goes around the entire island, you are able to snorkel, hike and enjoy views in different areas. For the two of us, the tour was $260.00 (cash only). Here are the highlights from our tour:
Playa de la Rosa Blanca – The boat took us to this beautiful secluded beach for our first stop. Just a short 10-minute hike from the beach is a lagoon. I do not know the name of the lagoon unfortunately. We were amazing that the first thing we saw in the lagoon was a group of white tipped sharks. Before getting into the water our guide pointed out a turtle, and of course I stared dumbfounded for a few minutes there. Snorkeling the lagoon was fun, I got lucky and saw the sharks, fishes and even a sting ray. I didn’t get a chance to get up close to a sea turtle. After we were done in the lagoon, we hiked back to the beach and checked out the mangroves and swam in the water.
On the boat, we participated in fishing. I have never done fishing on a boat in the ocean and felt excited when we caught a barracuda fish – but really, they look disgusting. Gross.
We made our way to Punta Pit, a well-known area for Red-footed booby nesting. We got lucky and saw dozens right away. They are beautiful!
On our way to our next destination, our Captain spotted a group of dolphins, and happily got our boat as close as we can so we capture them on camera. Shortly after, our Captain spotted Orcas, and maneuvered us closer to the Orcas. We were told that Orcas were a rare find this close to shore, and it was nothing short of spectacular. True story: as a little girl (as in most little girls) I was obsessed with whales, specifically Orcas. I would drag my parents to museums in Hawaii, go whale watching with school and family, and had drawings of whales plastered to my walls. For me, this moment was truly special. I am so happy Steve was able to capture their beauty on his camera.
After our Orca amazingness, we made a stop at a beach and checked out the sea turtle nesting area as well as a few blue-footed boobies nearby. We were then on our way to the main attraction: Kicker Rock. Kicker Rock is known for the best snorkeling on the island. Kicker Rock is a spot to find blue-footed boobies, sea lions, lots of fish, and hammerhead sharks. We jumped from the boat into the water and it took our breath away; the water is cold – real cold. We swam around the rock formation, seeing thousands of fish. Just when we were close to giving up, our guide spotted the hammerhead shark – and I was within feet of it. It was one of the most exciting moments of my life and it happened in a flash. He was longer than 6 feet and moved with such swiftness, but it was simply stunning. I returned to the boat with a big smile and excitement.
The entire tour itself was fantastic. Our guide was knowledgeable, funny and was able to translate to me. For food, we had fish, rice, chocolate bread, and fruit – which was delicious! Overall, I would recommend this to everyone looking for a tour to do in the Galápagos.
The next day we took in two beaches:
Playa la Lobería – This beach is said to be the hang out for many sea lions. The walk there from our apartment was 30 minutes, and once we got there we saw only a handful of sea lions. We then decided to trek on to the cliff side lookout, another 30 minutes over lava rocks. We are glad we did, we got great views of the beach, marine iguanas, cliffs, and some nesting area for local birds. On our way back, more sea lions made their way to the actual beach, so we sat and enjoyed watching them and their pups enjoy frolicking in the water. We were surprised to see a few sea turtles nearby as well.
Playa Punta Carola – We decided we wanted to watch a sunset at a different beach, and were recommended this one. The walk there from the apartment was no more than 25 minutes, and turns out – a lot of people (and sea lions) show up there for the sunset. We bumped into a few our friends at the beach too! Our friend, Fidel, was snorkeling and told us it was amazing! He was able to swim with turtles and sea lions. By the time sunset happened, most swimmers exited the water so everyone can enjoy the sunset – and like most beach sunsets, it was gorgeous.
Some Final Thoughts on Ecuador
- Ecuador uses US dollar. So if you are visiting, you won’t need to worry about exchanging your currency.
- Quito was more expensive than we anticipated compared to cities in Colombia.
- The Galápagos was more expensive than Quito. It’s an island – so be prepared!
- Ceviche in Ecuador is different than in Mexico or Peru. It is more tomato based, and soup like. We tried at numerous places to buy some, but the places were either closed or didn’t sell any that were Ecuadorian style. We are determined to find some in the bay area or make it ourselves when we get home – suggestions are welcome!
- Ecuador is the first country we have encountered on this trip where toilet paper is not allowed to be put in the toilet. I can feel some of American family and friends cringing at this. Yes, you put it in a waste basket. I promise you, it is not that gross and you get used to it. Don’t let that fear stop you from traveling here.
- Bring tissue where you can. Some places don’t have toilet paper, I found it handy numerous times.
- Traveling to the Galápagos you will be with a lot of Americans & Europeans on the flight. At one point, we forgot we were in a different country.
- In the Galápagos, you can find cheaper cruises in person rather than booking ahead.
- When you buy beer in the Galápagos, you pay a deposit on the bottles, so if you return the bottles you will get that deposit back – ONLY if you saved the receipt.
- For the love of humanity – bring your own sunscreen! Only buy it in the Galápagos if you desperate – you will pay the price!
- Galápagos IS as beautiful as the pictures, magazines, articles, etc. If you can afford to visit there, you should.
What’s Next
Lima, Perù
Sounds like you had lots of fun and a nice beautiful place to visit.
Mom