At 7pm on our second night in Galapagos we were sipping beer at a local cafe looking forward to some Galapagos lobster for dinner. Suddenly we heard sirens and saw hundreds of people running up the Main Street away from the port. Cindy asked the owner of the restaurant what was going on and the only word Sam understood was tsunami. Cindy immediately took off and Sam thought to himself, I guess we're not paying the bill then.
All the locals seemed to have already piled into cars to head up hill and we decided that our best chance of getting into a car was to hitch a ride in our hostel owner's pick-up truck. We got to the hostel no more than 2 minutes after the madness had started but the owner had already disappeared like a rat up a drain pipe. We headed back to the Main Street and opted for plan B - flag down any trucks we see with cargo space in the back and try to jump in. Luckily, a local let 10 of us gringos in and drove us up to the official evacuation zone.
Judging from the reaction of the locals, the whole way up the hill we were expecting to see a Hollywood-proportioned wave swallow the port and come charging towards us. In the evacuation zone, locals with smartphones (the only sources of information in the absence of any police or military presence) informed us that in fact the cause for concern was an earthquake off the coast of Chile, that the tsunami was not expected to hit for another couple of hours and that we'd likely need to stay put at least until midnight. We grabbed some water, Gatorade and biscuits (no lobster on the menu in the evacuation zone unfortunately) and headed to an Internet cafe to let everyone back home know that we were ok.
All the locals seemed to have already piled into cars to head up hill and we decided that our best chance of getting into a car was to hitch a ride in our hostel owner's pick-up truck. We got to the hostel no more than 2 minutes after the madness had started but the owner had already disappeared like a rat up a drain pipe. We headed back to the Main Street and opted for plan B - flag down any trucks we see with cargo space in the back and try to jump in. Luckily, a local let 10 of us gringos in and drove us up to the official evacuation zone.
Judging from the reaction of the locals, the whole way up the hill we were expecting to see a Hollywood-proportioned wave swallow the port and come charging towards us. In the evacuation zone, locals with smartphones (the only sources of information in the absence of any police or military presence) informed us that in fact the cause for concern was an earthquake off the coast of Chile, that the tsunami was not expected to hit for another couple of hours and that we'd likely need to stay put at least until midnight. We grabbed some water, Gatorade and biscuits (no lobster on the menu in the evacuation zone unfortunately) and headed to an Internet cafe to let everyone back home know that we were ok.
As the hours passed, we heard all sorts of misinformation and saw many people attempt to go back into town only to be turned around by police. We met an English mother and son who had been staying on a peninsula only accessible by taxi boat. They were particularly worried about their belongings and didn't know whether they'd be able to get back to their hotel when the police road blocks were lifted. We offered for them stay with us at our hostel, but while we waited Cindy spent a couple of hours talking to local shop keepers who eventually were able to track down the owner of our new English friends' hotel. At around 1am we were hearing both that the road blocks had been lifted and that an aftershock as big as the initial quake had occurred. When a truck came to pick up our English friends and take them to alternative accommodation in the highlands, we gratefully took up an offer to tag along.
The alternative accommodation revealed itself as a stunning luxury estate and we were able to enjoy a few hours sleep and a nice breakfast before returning to our hostel (and to pay our bill from the previous evening). That night we went to our English friends' hotel to have a nice dinner to celebrate the mother's birthday.
In the end the largest wave was no greater than 2 feet tall and no damage was caused. The panic proved to be uncalled for but better safe than sorry. We're just glad that nobody died falling off the back of a speeding truck. The most interesting part of the night was seeing people reveal their true colors. On a positive note, we're very grateful to the locals who stopped to give us a ride up the hill, to the store owners who helped track down the owner of our friends' hotel and to our friends for offering us a high altitude place to crash at the end of a long night. We saw some ugly characters too, perhaps the worst of whom was an American who at a complementary 5-star breakfast the morning after was still complaining that when the Navy came to pick him up from his hotel they didn't give him enough time to organize all of his belongings before taking him to safety.
Despite the one long night we feel like we were still able to enjoy the key attractions the Galapagos have to offer. We went on day tours to the islands of Isabella and Floriana and saw the highlights of the island we stayed on, Santa Cruz. We saw plenty of giant turtles both in the wild and in breeding centers, ranging in age from babies to 150 years old. We swam with sea lions, and many of the baby ones were so tame that they'd rub their whiskers on our legs. We saw lots of penguins, both on land and swimming, and saw plenty of iguanas and blue footed boobies. We also saw the craters of some of the volcanos that formed the islands. The clear highlight and most memorable part of our trip was swimming with giant sea turtles, which we were lucky enough to do on two different islands.
The alternative accommodation revealed itself as a stunning luxury estate and we were able to enjoy a few hours sleep and a nice breakfast before returning to our hostel (and to pay our bill from the previous evening). That night we went to our English friends' hotel to have a nice dinner to celebrate the mother's birthday.
In the end the largest wave was no greater than 2 feet tall and no damage was caused. The panic proved to be uncalled for but better safe than sorry. We're just glad that nobody died falling off the back of a speeding truck. The most interesting part of the night was seeing people reveal their true colors. On a positive note, we're very grateful to the locals who stopped to give us a ride up the hill, to the store owners who helped track down the owner of our friends' hotel and to our friends for offering us a high altitude place to crash at the end of a long night. We saw some ugly characters too, perhaps the worst of whom was an American who at a complementary 5-star breakfast the morning after was still complaining that when the Navy came to pick him up from his hotel they didn't give him enough time to organize all of his belongings before taking him to safety.
Despite the one long night we feel like we were still able to enjoy the key attractions the Galapagos have to offer. We went on day tours to the islands of Isabella and Floriana and saw the highlights of the island we stayed on, Santa Cruz. We saw plenty of giant turtles both in the wild and in breeding centers, ranging in age from babies to 150 years old. We swam with sea lions, and many of the baby ones were so tame that they'd rub their whiskers on our legs. We saw lots of penguins, both on land and swimming, and saw plenty of iguanas and blue footed boobies. We also saw the craters of some of the volcanos that formed the islands. The clear highlight and most memorable part of our trip was swimming with giant sea turtles, which we were lucky enough to do on two different islands.
We were worried before coming to Galapagos that it'd blow a massive hole in our budget but prices proved to be very reasonable (once you've paid for your flights and entry fee, and provided you don't get sucked in to booking a really expensive multi-night cruise). Day trips were on average $100 per day and the food, particularly the seafood, was good value overall
One thing we learnt was to temper our expectations as to what we'll see on each day tour. There were dozens of day trip booking agents in puerto ayora and it seems they all use the same sales technique; ask the clients what they want to see or do and tell them they'll see or do it on the tour that they make the most money out of selling. We didn't try, but no doubt if we asked for a tour that would allow us to ride unicorns we would have found someone willing to sell it to us.
Unfortunately, for our second day tour we had quite a negative experience. To cut a long story short, the boat was significantly overfilled, there weren't enough life jackets for everyone on board, the engine was leaking oil the entire trip and the guide inexplicably ceased the tour two hours early. We voiced our concerns, particularly our safety concerns, from the outset but were ignored so ultimately had to complain to the minister for tourism, who facilitated us getting most of our money back.
One thing we learnt was to temper our expectations as to what we'll see on each day tour. There were dozens of day trip booking agents in puerto ayora and it seems they all use the same sales technique; ask the clients what they want to see or do and tell them they'll see or do it on the tour that they make the most money out of selling. We didn't try, but no doubt if we asked for a tour that would allow us to ride unicorns we would have found someone willing to sell it to us.
Unfortunately, for our second day tour we had quite a negative experience. To cut a long story short, the boat was significantly overfilled, there weren't enough life jackets for everyone on board, the engine was leaking oil the entire trip and the guide inexplicably ceased the tour two hours early. We voiced our concerns, particularly our safety concerns, from the outset but were ignored so ultimately had to complain to the minister for tourism, who facilitated us getting most of our money back.
