TRAVEL

Ecuador and the Galápagos Islands, Part Two

Exploring San Cristóbal Island

The Islands of the Galápagos, from mural at Casa Playa Mann Hotel. Not to scale. Photo by Author.

No amount of research can fully prepare one for the quality of the air and the light, the warmth and clarity of the waters, the bleak, black volcanic substrate, the alien-looking cacti, and most of all, the breathtaking diversity of life on these mostly uninhabited islands. I was NOT ready for what I was about to experience here.

From my younger years SCUBA diving around the world, I thought my primary interests in these islands would be discovering colorful, exotic marine life, and exploring undersea rock formations, like pillow lava and other volcanic outcroppings. I imagined I would bask on a desert beach holding a fancy, fruit-infested cocktail, while curious frigate birds flapped about overhead. I hoped I might see a giant tortoise in the wild if I were really lucky.

No matter what you’ve seen and done in your life, no matter how many decades you wear on your face, I promise you there are still jaw-dropping surprises in store when you visit this unique and gorgeous archipelago.

First stop, San Christóbal Island

From Quito, we grabbed an Avianca hop to San Christóbal Island, about 1200 km or 750 miles west of Quito, about a three-hour flight with a stopover…