The first introduction to the wildlife

After checking in to the hotel it is time to get some lunch before exploring the city to see what is around the town. One of the specialties of Ecuador is ceviche so when we see it is on the menu at the first restaurant we find we decide it is a good idea to try it out. Little did we know what ceviche actually is – when the food arrived it turned out it was marinated raw seafood. The marinade used a lot of lemon which ensured the ceviche tasted somewhat sour. But we were hungry so the food went down to fill the stomach.

After lunch we get down to the main road down at the water where we manage to spot our first bits of wildlife. We walk along the road and we get to a bench down at the water – like you would expect a bench down at the water will attract somebody to occupy the bench. This is also the case in Puerto Ayora where the bench is working as a nice level place for a sealion to have an afternoon nap. The sealion looks so nice and friendly – but you should always remember the animals around here are wild and you should keep a distance of minimum 2 meters or 6 feet’s at all times. So obviously I keep a distance of approximately 2 meters – more or less.

The sealion is nice to watch but after a while a sleeping sealion can’t really keep our attention – even though there are some colourful crabs next to the bench it is sleeping on. We continue walking down the street spotting a few marine iguanas along the road until we get to the local fish market – the fish market is pretty small down at the little fishing harbor in the village. But there are some very persistent – but patient – costumers waiting in line. In the form of a couple of sealions and several pelicans. These birds and sealions doesn’t really seem to know the park regulation recurring a distance of 2 meters so they stand right next to the people working at the small fish market.

The harbor also attracts a lot of other birds including several frigate birds – so we hang around for a while looking at the costumers at the market and the other birds are flying around the area. From the fish market we walk a while along some not so interesting road until we reach the Darwin research station which has an exhibition of the natural history of the Galapagos and also is the home of a breeding center for giant turtles and land iguanas. We have a look at the different animals and the plants at the area before we head back out.

Behind the research center is a beach with a lot of marine iguanas and locals enjoying the waves doing surfing in the late afternoon. Apparently the marine iguanas are nesting somewhere in the area but I am not able to spot any of the nest at the beach.

From the research station it is a bit of a walk back but at least there is some more entertainment in the form of more marine iguanas just waiting to be spotted along the way.