Securing a last minute cruise

Morning sightseeing

We started our exploration of Galapagos by going to Tortuga Bay.  There was a choice of a 45 min walk or a short boatride; we chose the latter but would walk back after.

The boat ride turned out to be a mistake.  We had to wait for the boat beyond the appointed departure time of 0915.  Then we had to take a water taxi to the boat at additional cost of USD1.  Then the boatman had to prepare the boat as it was its first trip of the day.  The journey itself was about 25 minutes but with all the delay, we could have walked there in the same time.

We got dropped off from the bow of the boat, stepping on to a cliff studded with cacti.  We walked around to the calm bay where people were swimming.  Because of the cloudy weather and relatively cool water, we hesitated before joining them in the water.  It was pretty cool to be in the water with large pelicans swooping over us.  Despite that, we thought it was a bit far-fetched for the Lonely Planet guide to call this one of the most beautiful beaches in South America.  I thought I had seen too many nice things in the my life and was getting desensitised.

Leaving the beach to walk back to Puerto Ayora we realised that the beautiful long white stretch of sand around the corner was Tortuga Bay beach whereas we had been at Playa Mansa.  Tortuga Bay itself was too rough for swimming today but some corners of the beach was dotted with black rocks and marine iguanas pretending to be rocks.

So, if we had taken the boat both ways, we would have completely missed these iconic Galapagos creatures!

The walk back to Puerto Ayora through a paved path lined with cactus was infested with wasps.  Luckily no one around us got stung.  We were at the gate at the town-end of the path within 45 minutes of starting and it was a little more to our hostal.

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Last-Minute Cruise Decision

After a rest, we headed into town again in search of last minute cruises.  We were presented with a 5d/4n cruise on board the Millennium.  The itinerary was OK but the boat looked spacious and could be more stable being a catamaran.  It was offered to us at USD1300.

We quickly went back to our hostal to Google the details and learnt that it normally sells for USD2600 and confirmed the pictures looked OK.  We also rationalised to ourselves how the trip would stack up against island-hopping (three islands) and daytripping from each:

• Our plan to get to three islands would involve three speedboat ferries totalling USD80pp.
• The accommodation on Isabela for three nights would be USD110pp.
• Excursions to Seymour Norte (USD160) and Floreana (USD120) would add up to USD280.
• Meals for the same period would add up to around USD100pp.
• That adds up to USD570pp even before the price of excursions on Isabela.  A cruise would cost about USD600 more but give us a couple more excursions easily worth USD300.

We returned before dinner time to negotiate our price of USD1200 which was accepted.  We left a deposit before heading out to the ATM to get more cash for full payment.

Evening

We had dinner on Charles Binford Street, opting for a seafood casserole with half a lobster (with a peanut and plantain sauce) plus a separate dish of garlic prawns.

Leaving the eating street, we got chatted up by some people from yesterday’s flight who recognised us “because we saw you sitting in Row 2” (Business Class).  But we had to tell them that we probably paid less than they did for their Economy seats.

We walked off dinner on the waterfront.  Looking off the pier, we could see small sharks swimming and red crabs climbing up the waterfront wall.