Day 150, Year 1: Tour of Puerto Ayoro
Date: Thursday, March 16, 2006
Weather at Anchorage: Sunny, clear blue skies
Daytime Air Temperature: 82 degrees F daytime
Water Temperature: 77 degrees F
Location: Academy Bay, Puerto Ayoro, Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos
Just as it takes a couple of days to adjust to life aboard while making a passage, I think it also takes a couple of days to adjust to life in a new anchorage. We haven’t really gotten out into the wild yet, but we did continue to explore the town of Puerto Ayoro and we once again visited the Darwin Center-this time to see the giant tortoises or “Galapago”.
We started our day by listening to the Panama Pacific Net to check in on the progress of about eight other boats that are headed this way. Windcastle arrived at San Cristobal this morning, but we did not hear Invictus check-in. They are the other boat that we knew should be arriving very soon, and later in the morning they motored right passed us while searching for an anchorage. They are very close neighbors to us here in the anchorage.
Mark and I went into town on the water taxi and met Johnny Romero, our Naugala agent, heading back in from another boat. He had called this morning to tell us that our paperwork is still with the port captain, but that we will be getting our official clearance tomorrow. When we reached the port, he took off on his bicycle and we headed for the internet café® Mark wanted to check financial information online and we also downloaded our e-mail from the g-mail account. To those of you who have e-mailed us through the website, we want you to know we received your e-mails today and loved hearing from each and everyone of you.
We had lunch in town and ran into Paul, Nancy, and Jennifer from Encore!-the boat that transited the Canal next to us. They are leaving tomorrow morning for the Marquesas, so it was great to have lunch with them and hear about their experiences here on the island of Santa Cruz. After lunch, Mark and I headed out for our tour through town. Since we were carrying the computer with us, we decided not to head out into the wilder areas, but rather to walk the streets in town and see how people live. There is the main street in town that follows the shore and goes to the Darwin Center. We walked that yesterday, so this time we took the first major street to the left and walked six or seven blocks until we reach the public market. Fresh vegetables, as well as a few other grocery store items are found here. We then made a right turn and walked into the residential area. This part of town was a little more like what we were expecting, except for the large sports arenas-one totally enclosed and one outside but covered with a roof. We turned right and right and right again and found most of the residential area to be much the same. The side streets were not paved, chickens were scattered here and there, and almost all homes are built of concrete block. Most are covered with stucco in a Spanish style, and all are in different stages of completion, with almost none totally finished. It is as if everyone got a great start, some with very nice looking wood trim, but something happened and no one finished their construction. Maybe “finish as you go” is just the norm here. There are very small tiendas (stores) every other block and insides of homes look very basic with concrete floors and very little furniture. Compared to the upscale shops downtown, the residential area painted a different picture-no complete poverty, but very modest living conditions.
As we wound our way around and back to the main street in town, we decided to go back to the Darwin Center to the tortoise exhibit. There were seven giant tortoises living together in one small area. There is a large feeding platform and the seven giant tortoises all sit behind that area. You are not allowed to stand on the platform or touch the tortoises, as it is feared that diseases could be transmitted to them, but you can get right next to them and then watch their behaviors. One guy decided he needed a drink from the concrete pond adjacent to the resting area, so he lumbered away from the group and had his drink. He then reentered the area with the other tortoises, but decided that he was king for the day, and showed his superiority in various ways.
It was great to see these tortoises in captivity, but I know it will be much more exciting to see them in the wild. Tomorrow morning we meet with Aqua Magic, Invictus, and our agent, Johnny Romero, to make plans for further exploration.
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| 060316 Day 150 Puerto Ayoro Tour, Santa Cruz, Galapagos |
