Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos

Alternative title: "You can go here and snorkel."

The islands where Charles Darwin famously discovered multiple species of finches, and created the theory of Natural Selection.  Today, the country of Ecuador still takes great measure to preserve the natural wildlife.  Most of the smaller islands are uninhabited, but the islands of Santa Cruz, Isabella, San Cristino, and Floreana are populated to some extent.

Naturally it has become a tourist destination.  Santa Cruz is filled with bars and gift stores, and this is probably the most expensive place you'll ever find in Ecuador.  Too bad the wifi was awful.

The islands were beautiful.  Here's my biggest problem with traveling there: It is a tourist destination, and with that comes the standards of tourism.  While requiring everything be on a tour makes sense, as it helps protect idiots from messing with the wildlife, each tour includes a hike and snorkeling portion.  And I'm not really interested in snorkeling (in fact I rely on breathing through my nose so much that snorkels are a hazard to me).  And the tours barely mention any animals besides iguanas, turtles, and sea lions (and hey I was just in San Francisco, so scratch this one).


The finches barely are mentioned in the tours, and the tours I went on in Floreana and around Santa Cruz barely touched upon any non-water animals besides the ones mentioned above.  The people who enjoyed snorkeling more than I did find sea turtles and penguins in the water.  Obviously this is really cool.  I did eventually swim once I borrowed someone's goggles, but I didn't see anything.  Regardless, the tours (besides, apparently, Seymour North) are not the best for those looking to birdwatch, like me.


There are of course positives.  The land turtles were huge and a sight to behold.  It's not hard to find iguanas or crabs on the islands, and the landscape on Floreana was beautiful.  I just wish I could see more of the islands.


Oh, and the water between the islands is choppy.  Bring your anti-seasickness pills.