Santa Cruz

After the small port towns of Islas Isabela and Floreana, we were bound this morning for the built-up resort of Puerto Ayora on the island of Santa Cruz. Having forced yet more scrambled eggs into my mouth and successfully not gagged on the familiar breakfast staple, I joined the others on the speedboat for a smooth crossing under a grey and close sky.

Diving for breakfast

A large bill

We pulled into port to the sight of blue-footed boobies diving into the water and pelicans mostly sitting calmly in the shallows. However, some of the other pelicans, together with sea lions, seagulls and other wildlife, were giving a hard time to the local fishmonger, who seemedunperturbed by their presence.

An unwanted audience

We checked into the Lobo del Mar hotel, dropped our bags and went straight to lunch. This turned out to be rice, chips, spaghetti and vegetables with an avocado salad. While containing three significant sources of carbohydrate, it was by far the most varied meal we had been served in a while and thus sparked no small amount of excitement in us.

Carbs three ways

Walking off our lunch, we took the boarded and cactus-lined route out to Tortuga Bay.

Lobo del Mar

While the seas came roughly crashing onto the beach, the sheltered bay on the opposite site of the peninsula was calm like a lake. Hiring a few kayaks, we ventured out in pairs to greet the herons and dodge the occasional bobbing shell of a submarine turtle.

Surfing Tortuga Bay

In keeping with the beach-side resort feel of the town, whose development seems wholly at odds with the conservationist ethos of the national park, we took some pre-dinner cocktails at The Rock. A Thai restaurant, promising a change from the usual Italian-inflected tourist fare had permanently closed down, so we dined at Il Giardino. This was given a twist by the waiter's confusion of our exuberance with a celebration of someone's birthday. His incredulous response to our denial of this fact led to the arrival of a birthday cake, which we then had to honour with a round of 'Happy Birthday' in an exercise of face saving.