Our flight is at 11:17 am and we will depart from the airport located on Baltra Island. The island is also called South Seymour and at one time was a WWII U.S. military base.
While driving through the Highlands, I see the turn off for El Trapiche and Los Gemolos and smile as I reflect on the sharks, craters, giant tortoises and lava tunnels we saw over the past 2 days. I sit back content and enjoy the bus drive. As we descend towards the water, the terrain changes to a sparse brown and desert-like environment.
Getting to the Airport – Baltra Island
The bus ride from Puerto Ayora is approximately 45 minutes to the Itabaca Channel at the top of the island (see map below). We will take a ferry over to Baltra Island. I watch the various water taxis and ferries come and go at the pier. This is a fun place to people watch. There is a real mix between locals and visitors. A rickety wooden shack is selling empanadas, cerveza and various non-alcoholic drinks. Latin voices are greeting each other, kisses on cheeks and slaps on backs can be seen. Guides are shouting out instructions and are struggling to be heard above the music blaring from a portable speaker. The sound of salsa invites my body to move. An older local man claps when I begin to dance and for a short moment I feel exhilarated. Music does that to me.
It is time to board the ferry. I hand off my luggage to an attendant at the bottom of the ramp and I watch him toss it up on a platform on the roof of the ferry. Walking down three steps into the ferry, I grab an available spot on a wooden bench placed along the side wall. This is basic, no luxury. We are travelling over to Baltra with locals and other tourists. The operator looks to see if we are at capacity by counting heads. We are not, and he squeezes one more person in. He collects our dollars and off we go. The ferry ride takes 10 minutes. When we arrive, we collect our luggage, place it in the hold of a waiting bus and take another 10 minute ride to the airport terminal. It is recommended to allow 1.5 to 2 hours to get yourself to the airport from Puerto Ayora.
Outside of the airport terminal we see huge land iguanas wandering free. The ground is arid and filled with tangled bush, and covered with red lava rock, rough in comparison to the lush highlands we explored yesterday. I checked-in last night so really the only thing required today is to have our bags inspected and wait for boarding.
Today, I will say goodbye to the Galapagos Islands and return to the Ecuadorian mainland. I have many memories to take back with me. The water, its inhabitants, the wild life, the plant life and incredible geographical formations. Add to that, all the cool people I have met on this trip.
Back on the Ecuadorian Mainland
Flying with Latam Airlines, we will make a stop in Guayaquil for 45 minutes. Fortunately, we don’t have to leave the plane. Considering Guayaquil is the murder capital of Ecuador, staying on the plane is fine with me!
Once the plane is turned over, washrooms cleaned and refuelled, we take off for Quito. The day is almost done when we arrive at the Quito airport at 3:55 pm. The shuttle is waiting to take us back to the Holiday Inn Airport Express about 10 minutes away.
We have moved to a new time zone, have lost an hour and have gone from sea level to 2850 m altitude. All we have time for today is to get our room keys, pick out our clothes for tomorrow, do a quick clean up and head down to the lounge to meet the others for dinner. I feel a little light-headed and my ears are plugged which I’m sure is due to the altitude. Tonight will be quiet. Every night has been quiet on this trip. We sure have done a lot in such a short span of time.
I am familiar with this hotel and love the menu and service it provides. This is where we our journey started from and we will stay here again before returning to Canada. It’s a 5* compared to where we have just come from and there is something nice about the familiarity of the surroundings but it seems out of place with the country and what I have seen so far. Don’t get me wrong, I can definitely handle a little bit of luxury today. If we had arrived earlier, I could have had a massage or head to the pool for a swim and hot tub, but the grey sky has opened up with cold rain and it is 15C about a 10 degree difference from what we left.
Tomorrow, we head to the city of Quito for a tour and then up and over the Andes Mountains to the the Amazon Basin. What new and exciting experiences await?
