14th - 15th November Time to leave the Galapagos

Sadly this adventure has come to an end. After breakfast we leave on the pangas for the last time for Santa Fe. Our first stop is the Interpretation Centre which details some of the history of the Galapagos Islands including the murders, the Whaling etc.. The last part is the future, which quite frankly includes too much human occupation. There is a section on the pressure on fresh water and sewage. The answer to the problem is glaringly obvious, but I guess, not politically sensitive.

Note the sea lions on the pavement!

After the centre we are dropped at the end of the main street called Avenida Charles Darwin, I don’t think the great man would have been too proud of this one. The first shop that we see is a converted fishing vessel that is now on dry land. It was quite funky and fun although what was sold was sadly replicated in almost every shop we passed with varying degrees of tackiness. Think Brighton seaside tat with sealions lounging at points along the street and you have it. I was a little depressed that this was the last impression we will get of these wonderful islands and fear for its future.

At about 11:30 we were given our tickets and taken to the airport. This is being upgraded/built and it is obvious that there are plans to have more tourists coming here. The flight left on time and we passed through low cloud and the islands disappeared into the mist once again.

We were met at Guayaquil and transported to the Hilton Colon nearby. As it turns out some of our shipmates are there as well – the Walrus and the Mermaid and more importantly Steve and Debbie. Steve invited us upstairs as Debbie had been upgraded to the executive suite and invited us to join them for drinks (free) and something to eat.  It was really lovely spending some more time with this very engaging couple.

15^th November.

An early start and off to the airport for our flight to Santiago. Apart from me being called out to go see the DNA (Drugs and Narcotics Agency) there was not much to report. Actually it was Tamsin’s bag that they wanted to look at. We can only assume that it was a spot check as they rummaged through her dirties sans gloves before closing the case and thanking us.

The flight to Santiago was just under 5 hours long. From the window looking down I could see the Andes in the distance with snow capped peaks and long sweeping valleys with now dry river beds. Some areas are cultivated so there was a surprising amount of green with lots of brown around it.

Immigration was passed through easily as a helpful official added the information that we had missed (not like coming into the UK then!).

The vibrant coloured houses of Valparaiso

We had been warned about the taxi drivers tricking people into taking rides as we came out of arrivals so were prepared. The one who tried it on was pleasant enough and once I made it clear that we were being met I left us alone. Trouble was where was our guide? We waited at the designated place with no sign of them. Another taxi driver passed by and asked if we need a taxi, I told him no, and said that we were waiting. He then offered to make a call as we had been there a while. I called the office of Latitude 90 and was told that the guide, Nestor, was on his way. I thanked the driver who was pleased that he could be of help. Nestor arrived after we had been waiting about 40 minutes and took us to a waiting minibus. Nestor turned out to be a charming and chatty guy and although we were disappointed in his tardy time keeping we soon forgave him.

Look at this wiring!

The drive to Valparaiso took about 90 minutes. Valparaiso was partially shrouded in mist as we drove in, the streets are narrow and twisty and follow the contours of the land up and down, in and out. I was glad not to be driving. The houses are a mixture of wooden, brick and cement walls with either tile or tin roofs all are painted in bright colours with no two in a street the same colour. Some are ruins and other s in various states of repair. I would describe it as shabby chic.  The other notable thing is the incredible amounts of ugly wiring which hang across all the streets ruining quite a few viewpoints!  Apparently, most of it is redundant phone wiring which no-one has got round to removing.

Part of the port

Casa Higueras is a delight with dark wooden floors, clean white walls and superb views of the busy harbour. In the harbour were two container ships and part of the Chilean navy (4 frigates, a corvette,  support vessel and a submarine).