Ecuador and the Galapagos

March-April 2023

Big picture, we flew Boston to Atlanta to Quito, spending one day there. We flew from Quito to San Cristobal Island in the Galapagos, did an eight day cruise around the islands ending on Baltra island (which is pretty much a big airstrip and that's about it). Flew from there to Guayaquil, spending a day there, then drove to Cuence (a harrowing experience) for two days, then flew back to Quito for a three day stay.

The total trip was a little over two weeks, but unlike Africa, Mongolia, and Bhutan, it wasn't a day and a half to get there (even with a layover it was still only about eight hours), and the time zone only changed by an hour. South America as a tourist destination has it's perks.


The eight day cruise involved seven or eight islands, with half of it on land, and half of it in water (snorkeling).


We were travelling with a group that centered on Joe and Mel (who you may recognize from Mongolia, Bhutan, and Africa trips) as the individuals-in-common. There were variations on who was with us (one couple didn't do the Ecuador part of the trip, and the other, Jim and Michelle, left early because, as it turned out, Jim caught covid. Funny story; covid seems so over and done with that we literally didn't think about it possibly being covid. They didn't get diagnosed until everyone was back in the states ... and then Joe and Mel came down with it, and Alison had a few days where she was under the weather but tested negative, and one day I had a sore throat for a few hours but tested negative. Still think we joined the club.

The Galapagos seems to be on everyone's bucket list, because, you know, Darwin and evolution and all that jazz makes it something you must see in your lifetime. And, to avoid any possible concern, it was, indeed, worthy. But like every place we’ve been, the Galapagos had its set of surprises and unexpected twists,:

  • There are towns and a fair number of farms and private property on some of the islands, grandfathered in from before it was a national park. In fact, Galapagos exports fruit and beef.
  • Someone said that the thing that made the Galapagos unique wasn’t the wildlife, it was the way the wildlife interacted with you. That was partially true, but we found the geography as fascinating as the animals.
  • Galapagos is the home of the only penquins found north of the equator. Somehow, you'd think we'd know about penquins in the Galapagos since we'd seen them in Africa the year before, but somehow it was still a big surprise because you always picture them on glaciers and ice flows.
  • A pleasant surprise, the literature for the 20 passenger yacht we spent our time on said that the islands protected you from rough seas most of the time, so you didn’t have to worry about sea sickness, which turned out to be true.
  • Everyone knows that Galapagos is an unspoiled paradise, unchanged since the day Darwin landed on those exotic shores. Except it’s not really true. Humans pretty much trashed the island ecosystem with goats and cats and rats and just good old ravishing the countryside for dinner. There’s been a lot of work (including the eradication of 300,000 goats and the more friendly saddleback tortoise repopulating program) to tilt things back in the direction of what it looked like before the 16th century, but it’s reconstruction, not nature.
  • While people are grandfathered in, now that it's a national park, local residency is carefully controlled with a zero growth policy (except for children born on the islands), and there's a separate visa you need even if you are an Ecuadorian to visit the islands
Ecuador was less of a bucket list item (reputation and actual-wise), but it was an interesting and eye opening trip. We covered two of the three major ecosystems in Ecuador, the coast and the Andes. We may go back some time to visit the Amazon side of the country. The country had it's own set of surprises; it was unexpectedly first world in the cities and third or fourth world in the countryside. When we talk about “income inequality” in the states, it doesn’t hold a candle to Ecuador.

The cities (the ones we visited at least) were reminiscent of European cities built on top of older civilizations (although in this case it was more “Age of Expansion” than Roman roads and buildings), with narrow cobblestone streets and aging but well-maintained two-story stucco buildings. The buildings had balconies which were frequently adorned with flowers. The main thoroughfares were paved roads, with all the trimmings you’d expect from a US perspective, lights and signs and turn lanes and all that kind of thing. There were differences from what you see in the US (which we’ll cover in more detail later) but on the whole things and people seemed modern and upscale.

Outside the cities, it was ramshackle houses, ancient rusting vehicles, and abject poverty.

It’s obvious that Ecuador is having a difficult time as an integrated country; the vast majority of the population are “mestizo” ethnicity, meaning a mix of Spanish and indigenous decent, but there’s still a lot of regionalization and resulting association with some subset of the many tribes and cultures that were conquered by the Spanish (right after they were conquered by the Incas). Between that, the remaining indigenous people, descendants of slaves brought from Africa, and the massive income inequality between the cities and the countryside, there are many dissenting opinions, with a general attitude of anti-colonialism the single point of agreement even though the majority of the population has Spanish or Inca heritage.

A few odd things about the country.
  • Tipping is not a thing here.
  • Volcanos are a thing here. Quito, the capital, is within viewing distance of half a dozen, including two that are active. We could see the smoke rising from Cotopaxi from our hotel.
  • Most of the plumbing can't handle toilet paper and many public restrooms don't have any (fortunately, we were warned and prepared accordingly)
  • They put popcorn in soup.
  • Even in the cities, big open markets are still the way most people get their vegetables, fruits, and most other consumables.
  • English is not common here. Everywhere else we’ve gone, seems like everyone is trying to pick up conversational English, but here we were lucky Alison has been taking Spanish lessons (from an Ecuadorian tutor no less who we met for lunch in Quito)
  • Art is big, and it’s everywhere. A lot of studios, a lot of wall art (by which we mean “art painted on walls,” not “art to hang on the wall”). Some of the "graffiti" was stunning and is commissioned (and signed) like a regular painting.
  • All of the Cathedrals (and maybe all of the churches, not really sure) have their own radio stations.
  • A traditional Ecuadorian breakfast includes empanadas, ceviche, and goat stew. So does the traditional Ecuadorian lunch and dinner.

So, with the big picture out of the way, here is the blow by blow. You can: