A trip to the Galapagos Islands is serious money for foreigners. It’s cheaper for locals, but too much money for us. One thing I’ve been looking forward to doing is going to Poor Man’s Galapagos which is Isla de la Plata. It’s a day trip from Puerto Lopez. It cost our family $130. ($35/adult and $30/child, Maeve was free). We left at 9:30am and arrived back at 4pm. The island is 42km from Puerto Lopez and it took about an hour to boat there. Upon arrival, we jumped off the boat, washed the sand off our feet in a shallow, long, narrow rectangular pool and put on our sandals and then we split into two groups and hiked around the island. We were in the Spanish-speaking group with a family from Switzerland. Before I came to Ecuador, I read a book called, “My Father’s Island.” It’s about the first families to live on Galapagos Island. I understand that book so much better now. The Island was hot and dry. The path we walked on was completely baked. But it was so incredibly beautiful! So many wild flowers and amazing views. We hiked for a long time, all the way to the top of the island. I’m so proud of Holly and Greta. They did great! We saw blue footed boobies and red necked regattas. We saw so many lizards. We learned about many different medicinal plants. The weather was so hot.
After the hike, we got back on the boat to eat lunch. There were turtles swimming around our boat! They were so big and beautiful! Then we went snorkeling. I went with the group and Conor hung back with Holly and Greta. They swam in the water together and then the big girls had a great time hanging out on the bow of the boat. I really liked snorkeling. The water was fairly murky and therefore it was difficult to see much, but I did see stingrays, the coral reef and some interesting fish. I’ve added snorkeling in clear, tropical water to my bucket list. The water was pretty cold! Everyone warmed up on the boat for a bit before we headed back.
It was a BIG day! At the end of it, I was feeling pretty great about our little family! We are in Ecuador with three little kids and we are doing it! Yay us!
