The journey to the final destination, Puerto Ayora (largest town in the Galapagos), entailed flying to the small island of Baltra just North of Santa Cruz; then ferrying across the narrow canal of Itabacca; then busing South across all of Santa Cruz Island.

The primary reason for this trip was to lay down the initial planning for the rental homes being building as part of the Santa Cruz Gardens (SCG) subdivision.  The project is several miles north of Puerto Ayora just three quarters of a mile off the main highway.  The road sign above is at the highway turn-off.  The image on the right links to a simple virtual tour of the preliminary development work being done at SCG.  Learn more about the project at: http://www.santacruzgarden.com

These two guys are the master mind behind SCG; Andres is the attorney and original planner; Carlos is his partner  and the logistical engineer.  They were my guides for this trip..

Note the small commuter plane -- at the time, the airport was maintaining its runway and hadn't allow the typical Boeing 727s nor Airbus 300s to land for several months. So, we actually took an Airbus from Quito, Ecuador to San Cristobal Island, then this plane to Baltra, what fun!

From the airport we took a short bus ride to the Baltra ferry station.  As you can see, the Itabacca Canal to Santa Cruz is fairly narrow.

The crossing to the Santa Cruz ferry station is about 15 minutes.  We watched the Frigatebirds for the few minutes as we waited for the bus to Puerto Ayora.

The bus trip to Puerto Ayora took about an hour.  The population is around 15,000.  As you can see here, there's even a small hospital.

There is a marketplace the middle of town where locals merchandise various crafts like coral jewelry, wooden carvings, etc.  It's open mainly at night after the tourists have returned from their daytime excursions throughout the Galapagos.

The streets are line with shops and lead to waterfront of beautiful Academy Bay.  The waterfront has many wonderful walkways and shops with many points of interest..

As you explore the town, there're many spots within the palms, mangroves and other foliage, some with beautiful flowers, that contain unfettered wildlife.  Here's a small representation with Marine iguanas (babies and adult), Heroines, Sea Lions, Pelican, etc.

On the East end of Puerto Ayora is the Charles Darwin Research Center. Its primary purpose is the preservation of the huge Galapagos Tortoise. The Center is set in total natural surrounds; where Academy Bay is plan view, as well a wide range of native animals. A few of these species like the Tortoises, large yellow Land Iguana (cousin to the Marine Iguana), Fitches, etc. are depicted above.

Water taxies and cargo loading and unloading docks supplying the Island.

Ecuadorian Navy Base and Barracks

A few streets back from the Waterfront there is a beautiful pathway leading to a crystal clear lagoon teaming with unique marine life.

The West side of Puerto Ayora is the busiest section of town where all major harbor activities take place, as well as containing its share of unique and beautiful sights.

Water Taxies are integral to the tourism trade because the majority of tourism is boat based.  Tourist sleep, eat, and travel on yachts the whole time, and Puerto Ayora is the major port-of-call, thus the need for water taxies to ferry tourist from their yachts to the town.  Also, the Taxies can take tourist to a few of the restaurants and some of the few resort hotels, as well as certain sightseeing locations in and around Academy Bay.   

Lover’s Canal is one of the sights the Water Taxies can take tourist.  Its sheer dark volcanic rock cliffs topped with cacti and covered in light bird feces all coupled with the iridescent blue ocean create a stark and surreal panorama.  The rocky, steep, and narrow canals are inaccessible via the motorized Taxi Boat, however ocean kayaks can be rented at a near by resort, The Finch Bay Inn, which can be used to explore these canals.  Small samplings of the fauna found are the Blue Footed Booby, Marine Iguana, etc.

One of the water taxi stops is at the pathway leading to Los Alemenes Beach.  This pathway blazes through the natural habitat and contains tourist sights, restaurants, and a major resort, The Finch Bay Inn.

The Finch Bay Inn is one of the very few beach front hotels in the Galapagos.  It has 21 twin-bedded rooms and rates start at around $250.00 per person per night.

Los Alemenes Beach is a fine white sand beach, sprinkled with dark volcanic rocks, and surrounded by mangroves.  A neighboring Galapagos Island, Santa Fe, is in clear view.  The wildlife can be seen up close like this Sea Lion sleeping under a mangrove.

El Garrapatero is a national park that’s about a 25 minutes taxi drive North East of Puerto Ayora.   There is an additional 20 minute walk to the park’s beach from the parking lot.  The hike starts with a more sparsely wooded region and then changes to a more verdant mangrove territory closer to the beach, all of which contain wonderful wildlife like the Flycatcher.  Just prior to the beach, there’s a brackish marsh home to Flamingos  

When arriving to the beach, Santa Fe Island is visible in the distance.  The Mangrove outlined powdery white sandy beach with cacti topped dark basalt rock outcroppings, receives the lapping waves of the crystal blue Pacific Ocean.  Here too, wildlife bountiful wildlife is found, like the Yellow Warbler and Finch.

The altitude is highest at the center of Santa Cruz and is wooded with larger trees and more lush habitat.  The amount of moisture is typically greater in this higher region.  This particular excursion to the highlands entailed a 45 minute taxi drive North of Puerto Ayora and a six mile hike through a mixture of open pasture and dense woods.  Many huge Galapagos Tortoises and white Egrets as well as many beautiful flowers were just a small sampling of flora and fauna encountered.

Another quick excursion into highlands was to explore the volcanic sink holes. Parking on the main highway, the several minute walk through the tall trees and heavy ferns gave way to a magnificent sight of sink holes about a mile wide and over a hundred feet deep in places with sheer vertical cliffs.

The reverse procedure is used to leave Santa Cruz as was used to enter the Island.  There’s taxi drive North across the whole island from Puerto Ayora to the ferry station.  Then the crossing to Baltra Island and the bus ride to the airport..

The runway maintenance was completed by the time we left, thus finally allowing the larger Boeing 727s and Airbus 300s to flight directly to and from Baltra.  I really didn’t miss that small commuter plane one bit, to say the least.