Write: Monica Uriel. Journalist
In the galapagos island everything is unique, from landing on its uninhabited islands, to swimming along the sea with turtles, sharks, sea lions and even with the swift penguins. As well as visiting in the populated and volcanic land its plantations of coffee with its newly released Designation of Origin. If all this, moreover, is on board the only motor catamars of Galapagos, of the company Nemo, on cruises where the snorkeling start time is known but not its end, with an organization and professionalism of its crew and excellent guides, as well as an exquisite service and gastronomy, the trip is unforgettable.
We are 1.050 kilometers from Continental Ecuador on some islands discovered by chance by Friar Tomas de Berlanga in 1535. When the ship in which he was traveling from Panama He was shipwrecked and the current carried him here. For many years the Galapagos They were used to rest by pirates, who took the turtles and carried them inside their boats to have fresh meat. They are in total 13 volcanic islands large, 6 small and 107 islets.
Pelicans, flamingos and sea lions welcome us
On one of the large and inhabited islands, Floreana, disembark the catamaran Nemo ii -22 meters in length, with capacity for 14 guests- on one of their cruise days. They welcome us there pelicans and blue footed boobies. Walking around the island we came to a lake with some flamingos of the nearly 400 that exist in all Galapagos. From the shore of a white sand beach we see the dangerous skillet rays that are in the sea, while they walk on the rocks crabs.
The whale hunters turned this island into a meeting place where they could leave their letters for the next visitors to the ships to take the mail and carry it to Europe. In a replica of the barrel where the letters were deposited in the Post Office Bay we leave our postcard in the hope that a future visitor will bring it to our home. Snorkeling we see giant tortoises -the Galapago Geo Chelone Elephantopus, which gave the islands their name- and we played with sea lions. At sunset we sail on the catamaran accompanied by dolphins while we eat local fish such as tuna or ceviches for octopus and shrimp.
Heaven in the sea
For a floor full of sea stars, as if they were pieces of bread as clues, we arrived on another day of snorkeling to a cave with two sharks inside. When we are in the kayak Back on the catamaran, the guide spots some penguins on the shore and there we go and we can swim with them for a long time, imitating their movements to one side and the other. Penguins Galapagos they are one of the smallest of their kind.
On a tour of the Chinese Hat island we hear a noise: it is a small sea Wolf who comes out of his cave because he wants to be with someone ... like us. His mother must have left him alone so we stayed with him to keep him company. Back on the boat and ready to snorkel, we find that we have to four sharks at the foot of the catamaran. After the security that the guide gives us when he jumps into the water, the rest of us do it and we spend moments of adrenaline and fun.
Galapagos, the habitat of turtles
In front of Chinese hat, the island San Bartolome offers from the lighthouse a beautiful view in which the famous Pinnacle, the most representative image of the archipelago. Back on the most inhabited island, Santa Cruz, we glide aboard the kayak by mangroves turned into a shark farm.
On land, in the Charles Darwin Station, in Puerto Ayora, you can see more than 5.000 small turtles from the breeding center as well as larger ones. There is also "Super Diego", more than 100 years old. Having fathered some 800 young, he is saving his species from extinction.
Inside the island, on the ranch Manzanillo, you can calmly contemplate fifty of the largest turtles in the world almost a meter long and a century old. They walk about 150 meters a day a day and use little energy. Observing them, it is discovered that they are solitary animals and that they only coincide with others in places of food or water.
The challenge of producing coffee in Galapagos
Not far from the ranch we reached the Lava Java EstateWhere Maria Elena Guerra and her husband landed 20 years ago with the idea of clearing the land of invasive species. Thus they found coffee plants. The first roast of coffee They did it in 2006, when there was only one other local brand, while there are already a dozen. His farm -with some 8.000 coffee plants- is the unique certified organic.
“Coffee is an excellent option for farmers in Galapagos although it is a challenge, because in this volcanic land the bedrock is very close and there is almost no water ”, he tells us Maria Elena. "Still," he says, "it is cheaper to bring things from Continental Ecuador to produce them here ”. In addition, the salary of workers costs 80% more than on the continent. The Galapagos coffee -There is only Arabic- entered by San Cristobal on the islands in the XNUMXth century.
The Finca Java Lava was the pioneer here in making visits
Al Galapagos coffee they have just granted the Designation of Origin, the only one of this product in Ecuador. There are a total of 40 coffee growers - with an average of 15 hectares each - on the islands, the majority in Santa Cruz, with a production of two quintals a year.
Tasting island beer
Together with coffee there is already another local product on the islands: the craft beer, path opened by Marcelo Herrera, with a brewery in Puerto Ayora and a factory that can be visited 5 kilometers away. The first beer craft de Galapagos, Santa Cruz, which started in 2015, has already 19 different types. Always using local products such as passion fruit, guava, orange or coffee, and plans to use local cocoa now.
"Hopefully in a year we will be more self-sustaining on the island," he says. Marcelo, which tells how, due to the restrictions of merchandise to the islands, at first they did not allow him to introduce hops. Now they only let in returnable bottles, which Marcelo see as an opportunity for craft beers.
