Lietuviskas aprasymas zemiau
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Days 99-101: Islas Galapagos. Isabela
May 17-19, 2006
Every day at 2PM a little waterbus takes passengers from Puerto Ayora to
the tiny town of Puerto Villamil on Isla Isabela, the biggest of the islands.
Although on the map Isabela looks very close to Santa Cruz, it takes at least
2 hours to get there, and the boat trip least of all reminds of a pleasant
afternoon ride! The wind is usually very strong and the waves are high, what
makes the little two-100hp-Yamaha-engine boat bounce like a yo-yo-gone-wild.
On the day of our ride the Pacific, of course, happened to be extremely rough,
so we had more than 3 hours to enjoy the nonstop bouncing and jolting. By
the time the boat finally docked at the wharf of Isla Isabela, 90 percent
of the passengers had gone so motion sick they could hardly talk or walk,
or complain…
(A friendly piece of advice: skip your lunch (and maybe even breakfast) on
the day of the trip to Isla Isabela. Both you and your fellow passengers will
be happy you did! And do not forget those magic motion sickness pills :))
Most travel books describe Isla Isabela as a not highly developed, rather
hard-to-reach and seldom-visited island. Due to the recently established daily
waterbus service, the place is no longer so complicated or expensive to get
to (The same boat that takes people to Puerto Villamil in the afternoon goes
back to Puerto Ayora next morning at 7AM. One-way ticket costs USD30). Nevertheless,
comparing to Santa Cruz, Isabela still feels very deserted. For example, it
is recommended that you tell the restaurant in advance what and when you would
like to eat so the owners could know if they should catch a fish or kill a
chicken. Otherwise, if you come for a late dinner (any time after 8PM means
late on Isla Isabela), the restaurant will simply have no food left to serve.
This is exactly what happened to us one of the nights: we stayed without dinner
because earlier guests ate everything the five restaurants of Puerto Villamil
had in stock!
In addition to a few restaurants and 3 or 4 hostels, Puerto Villamil also
has a small grocery store, an Internet café, a tiny post office, a
disco bar/ salsoteca, and a panaderia (bakery) "Salvavida", which
doubles as a travel agency.
Although the best activity on Isla Isabela is staying busy being lazy, there is no doubt that your hotel will try to sell you numerous tours: a volcano trip, a snorkeling trip to the nearby islets, a flamingo watching trip and a bike tour to the Wall of Tears (Muro de Lagrimas)… to name just a few. According to the visitors we talked to, the only one worth the time and money is the half-day trip to the Sierra Negra Volcano, to which you can get either on foot or on the back of a horse. We went for the horseback ride… and spent the next 2 days suffering from a severe bone and muscle pain (4 hours on a horse without any experience may turn into a serious challenge!) The huge volcano crater, however, was impressive, and so were the colorful lava formations spreading around the neighboring Volcan Chico.
From all the wildlife species we saw on Isla Isabela, the "wall of crabs" was, perhaps, the most impressive (an enormous crab population dwelling on the wall at the wharf - don't miss it!)
Tip #1: A trip to Volcan Sierra Negra costs about $30 per person (depending
on the guide) and includes a 40-minute truck ride from Villamil to the highlands
followed by a 2-hour horseback ride to the crater of Volcan Sierra Negra (another
2 hours to get back; alternatively, you can get there on foot) and 1-2-hour
guided walk across the lava fields to the active Volcan Chico. Try to gather
a group of 10 or more (talk to the people who came to Isla Isabela together
with you - most of them will be planning to take the volcano trip) and go
to Julio from "Panaderia Salvavida" (located on a tiny back street
next to the Millennium disco) for a very good discount (up to 30 percent).
If you decide to take any other guided tours, also talk to Julio. He is very
generous with discounts, and freshly baked buns for lunch always come included
:)
Click on the pictures to enlarge
|
Passengers coming aboard
Renkasi keleiviai |
At the wharf
Miesto uostas |
Where the streets have no name
Puerto Villamil gatves |
|
Perhaps the only post office in the world, which can use a tortoise as its logo without prejudice :)
Ko gero, vienintele vieta pasaulyje, kur pasto simbolis - vezlys :) |
One way to get around…
Isabelos taksi |
…and another
Kelias i ugnikalni |
|
The edge of the gigantic crater of Sierra Negra
Sierra Negra kraterio krastas |
Nobody could identify this citizen of Isla Isabela (not even the tour guide!)
Sio Isabelos gyventojo nesugebejo identifikuoti net patyres gidas! |
Lava tubes (natural tunnels). Some are so big you can walk inside (there are several walk-through/ crawl-through tunnels on Isla Santa Cruz)
Ugnikalnio issiverzimo metu susiformave lavos tuneliai. Kai kurie buna tokie dideli, kad galima pasivaikscioti po ju vidu (o ties susiaurejimais tenka ir pasisliauzioti) |
|
Lava fields at Volcan Sierra Negra
Lavos laukai prie Sierra Negra ugnikalnio |
The land of fire
Ugnies zeme |
Endless blacklands
Juoda juoda, kur dairais… |
|
During the process of congelation lava took different impressive forms
Ispudingos sustingusios lavos formos |
One crab…
Vienas krabas… |
…two crabs…
…du krabai… |
|
…the wall of crabs…
…sesi tukstanciai krabu… |
|
Beware of the sneaky bird (video clip, 1.7Mb)
Paukstis pasalunas (video klipas, 1.7Mb) |
Nuvesk pelyte virs paveiksliuko, spustelk
jos kaire ausele, ir paveiksliukas padides
99- 101-oji diena: Galapagai. Trys dienos Isabeloje.
2006 m. geguzes 17-19
Treciosios dienos ryta pastebejom, kad Puerto Ayora'oje is matymo jau pazistam visus zmones - pirmasis zenklas, kad pats laikas permainoms :) Kadangi iki kruizo pradzios laiko dar turime per akis, nutariame plaukti pasizvalgyti po kaimynines salas.
Kiekviena diena 2 val. po pietu is Puerto Ayora uosto mazas vandens autobusiukas (dviem 100hp Yamaha varikliais varoma motorine valtis) isplaukia i Puerto Villamil miesteli Isabelos saloje. Isabela - didziausia is Galapagu salu. Nors zemelapyje atstumas tarp salu atrodo visai nedidelis, kelione nuo Santa Cruz iki Isabelos vidutiniskai trunka apie 2 valandas, idealiom salygom (kada vandenynas labai ramus) - pusantros. "Autobusas", beje, pasirode besas ne is pigiuju - po $30 zmogui nuplaukti, ir dar po tiek pat parplaukti. Mintyse konvertuojame autobuso dolerius I nardymo dolerius ir gauname du pilnus oro balionus - labai skausmingas praradimas, ypac kai galvoje vis dar sukasi vakaryksciai kujagalviu rykliu buriai! Bet…ko nepadarysi del nepazintu zemiu!
Pusantros valandos turejusi trukti kelione issitese iki 3 valandu su virsum
- ta diena Ramiajam vandenynui apibudinti maziausiai tiko zodis "ramus".
Stiprus vejas kele didziules bangas, o pastarosios taip svaide musu valtele
I visas puses, kad juros liga susirgo net ir tie, kurie gyvenime nera jos
pazine.
5:30 po pietu pagaliau priplaukiame Puerto Villamil ir lipame I kranta. Pirmasis
ispudis - Isla Isabela siubuoja ne ka maziau, nei baisioji valtis!! Nedrasiai
zengiame primuosius zingsnius ir pagaliau suprantame, kad tai ne zeme, o musu
smegenys inirtingai tebesiubuoja. Labai apsidziaugiam, kad ne sala. Sekanti
ryta siubavimo pojutis siek tiek atslugsta. Apie kelione atgal I Santa Cruz
stengiames kol kas net negalvoti…
Isla Isabela - labai rami sala. Anksciau I ja atplaukdavo tik viena valtis per menesi, todel turistu cia praktiskai visai nebuvo. Dabar, atsiradus kasdieniniam vandens autobusui-zudikui, lankytoju siek tiek padaugejo, taciau net ir siandien pagrindiniame salos mieste - Puerto Villamil'yje tera tik 4-5 nedideli restoraneliai, 3 ar 4 viesbutukai, 1 interneto kavine su 4 kompiuteriais, 1 maza parduotuve, pirmajame gyvenamo namo aukste irengta diskoteka-salsoteka, savaitgalio vakarais prisipildanti vietinio jaunimelio, ir miniatiurinis pastas. Apie tai, kad si sala dar neregejo turistu antpludzio, sufleruoja ir tokie juokingi nesusipratimai - pavyzdziui, nerasyta Isabelos taisykle liepia is anksto pranesti restorano savininkui, jeigu ruosiesi vakarieniauti velai, nes kitaip greiciausiai liksi visai be vakarienes - ankstyvesni sveciai bus suvalge visas restorano dienos maisto atsargas. Butent taip mums viena vakara ir atsitiko - ir kaip galejome zinoti, kad "velai" Isabeloje prasideda 7 valanda vakaro… Taip pat rekomenduojama is anksto informuoti restorana, ka pageidausi valgyti, kad seimininkas galetu laiku sugauti zuvi arba nudobti visciuka.
Ko gero, prasmingiausias laiko praleidimas Isabeloje - nieko neveikti. Vis tik labai nedaug tera belike tokiu vietu (ir tokiu dienu), kur gali valandu valandas stebeti uoste zaidziancius juru liutukus, zutbutini krabu musi del vietos ant saules isildyto akmens arba juokingai link taves sliukinanti pauksti pasaluna; o, ligi soties prisigrozejes gyvunais - drybsoti ant balto smeliuko su megstama knyga ir dairytis pakranteje rykliu (girdejome, kad jie kartais priplaukia prie pat kranto, bet pastebeti nepasiseke). Nei patys nepajutome, kaip greit pripratome prie tokios egzotikos, kaip salia musu ant suoliuko isitaises juru liutas (gyvunai cia visiskai nebijo zmoniu!) - lyg taip gamtoj ir turetu buti.
Keleta dienu pasidziauge gamtos idilija ir tinginiavimu, vis tik pasiilgome
aktyvesnes veiklos, todel issiruoseme I ekskursija prie didziausio Galapaguose
ugnikalnio Sierra Negra (visos Galapagu salos - vulkanines kilmes). Sierra
Negra kraterio dydis - ispudingas, kaip ir nuo jo desimtis kilometru I visas
puses besidriekiantys lavos laukai ir tuneliai. Negyva gamta, bet savotiskai
ispudinga. Idomu buvo regeti sen bei ten dygstanti kaktusa, is lavos tunelio
lendanti kruma, pro sali praskrendancia zyle - I ugnies karalyste pamazu griztancia
gyvybe. Taciau ilgiausiai is ugnikalnio ekskursijos, ko gero, prisiminsime
4-iu valandu pasijodinejima ant arkliu (tik tokiu budu iki kraterio galima
nukakti). Ir kaip neprisimint, jei dar 2 dienas po jojimo vos paeiti galejome
- visi raumenys ir kaulai garsiai bylojo apie tai, kad geriau jau reikejo
eiti pesciomis…
(Patarimas: keturios valandos aktyvaus jojimo, neturint sioje veikloje jokios
patirties, tikrai nera labai protingas pasirkimas. Gali tekti labai gailetis,
kad patingejote paejeti… :))
