Welcome back to the day-by-day breakdown of my budget trip to the Galapagos Islands. As a solo traveller on a personal odyssey around South America, I had to make the time to visit the Galapagos.
While it is expensive when compared to the other countries I visited (mainland Ecuador, Peru & Bolivia), since I was already in Ecuador, I could not miss the opportunity to make the short flight over to Santa Cruz and begin my Galapagos adventure. Join my at the start of my island hopping here, or read on to discover what I got up to on day 2.
Galapagos Day 2
Day two of my budget trip to the Galapagos Islands kicked off on an expensive note. My first full day on the islands brought into sharp focus the cost of staying here. A Galapagos budget is hard to come up with, but my WORD do they mean it when they say it’s expensive. Can it still be done on a budget? Of course… but prepare to splurge more than you would on the mainland.
First off, a trip to the supermarket to pick up some bare necessities: food. I mentioned in my previous post that the islands are expensive, but a simple shopping trip here for basic dinner supplies cost about the same as a dinner out! $20 for some lentils, tomatoes and other basics for cooking an exceedingly simple vegan meal.
Galapagos by Bike – Charles Darwin Research Station
We rented bikes today, forking out yet another small fortune and headed over to the Charles Darwin Research Station to meet our first Galapagos tortoises, including some tiny baby ones. We managed to meet Lonesome George, who is now rather sadly (if not morbidly) stuffed and on display behind plate glass windows. An exhibit now, instead of a living, breathing, munching live tortoise. Poor fella.
I remember seeing Lonesome George on a David Attenborough programme, so seeing the stuffed version of this lonely giant was a surreal experience. As with guided tourist experiences, this was a slightly vapid affair, a few clicks of the camera and we moved on.
It was at the Herbario de la Estacion Cientifica Charles Darwin that I purchased my first souvenir. It’s a cap with a tortoise on it which says “Galapagos” – a great way to ensue people ask and become acquainted with the fact I’ve been to the Galapagos (bragging rights? I think SO!) While it cost a cool $17, 100% of the money is actually a donation towards the park, so I could help them out AND have a bragging-rights hat too! Sweet!
I also bought a plastic snorkel so I could head out by myself and not have to rely on the tour operators to provide me with one. Was it expensive? Come on, you know the drill by now: yes it was. Was I hell bent on dragging it round the rest of the South American continent with me afterwards? Also yes.
Conversationally, I ended up using the tour operators’ superior glass masks, since they’re better quality, but thankfully used my own snorkel. I am certain that they were disinfected, but the state of them, and the knowledge that they’d been used by countless people before me, meant I put my faith in my new snorkel.
Tortuga Bay
After spending some happy time in the shops (and less happy time handing over my cash) a trip to Tortuga Bay was on the cards (Pirates of the Caribbean anyone?) However, the thing about the beaches on the Galapagos Islands is that they close at 5pm. That was a major disappointment as we didn’t have time on the rest of our trip to visit, so I’m hoping to get back there one day.
It makes sense to close the beaches, to protect intrepid tourists after one too many piña coladas. And of course, it protects the wildlife from drunk tourists. This unsuccessful trip, however, did lead to a burning desire to revisit the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. During the remainder of my travels, I did just that, watching the films on my iPad during my downtime in the hostels (aka, just before bed, because what even is downtime?)
After returning the bikes (worth the expense? Debatable, but still quite fun), I spent some time amongst the fish of a nearby beach, getting very excited by the sheer variety of colours on display and having a whale of a time.
Join me next time for day 3 of my Galapagos Adventure! (And keep your eyes peeled for my definitive solo traveller’s budget guide to the Galapagos.)
From me to you,
Jenni
🦋
Collecting Continents 