And Then There Were Four
14 March 2020 | Santa Cruz, Galapagos
Graham Walker
We are all settled into Santa Cruz now. It is funny how each island has its different character. This is definitely the Big Smoke, with lots of choice in everything. The anchorage is busy with tour boats, small and large, bringing visitors in and taking them off to dive sites or outlying islands. The bright yellow water taxis run around 24/7 moving people to and fro. Small ferries are running back and forwards to Isabela and San Cristobal continuously.
So far our time has been split between getting to know Puerto Ayora and boat maintenance / prep, but we now have the pleasure of having Dave and Lesley in town. They will be joining the boat in a couple of days for the crossing to the Marquesas. So today we all headed out to see more of the island. We took a taxi up into the highlands area to see extinct volcano craters, walk (and in places crawl) through a long lava tunnel, and see some giant tortoises. These were much bigger than any we saw before. We measured one at 1.2m long – impressive. Much easier to photograph than the noddies (a reference to a future blog subject), as they are much better at keeping still.
We are now playing the Coronavirus travel roulette game. Dave and Lesley made it in, albeit with one cancelled flight and stringent health checks. Andy is on his way to join us tomorrow. Kate is due to fly out in a few days time, via Madrid, so who knows where she will end up and whether she will make it back to the boat. We’re part of a big network of information about rules and restrictions for cruisers and every day finds another report of changes. There are rumours now that requirements for cruisers might change in French Polynesia - and we are hoping to set sail in about a week. Mmmm….