Puerto Ayora

March 3, 2010 -- we will be here at Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz Island in the Galapagos till March 7 when we head out for French Polynesia.  Our next destination is Hiva Oa in the Marquesas.  Meanwhile, we are spending our time provisioning, and checking out the boat for the 3000 mile passage.  The harbor at Puerto Ayora is an exposed bay with a constant Pacific swell.  If you like living in a rocking chair powered by a perpetual motion machine, then that's the spot for you.
The restaurants have seemingly similar offerings and anything that is not the usual breaded shrimp, fried fish or grilled chicken is likely to disappoint.  The purported Italian restaurant serves up stuff that is worse than the Olive Garden, the benchmark for bad Italian food in the US.  The pizza is soggy and tasteless, but after so many dishes of camarones apanada and pescado ala plancha, an escape to the bland doesn't seem so bad.
The town is busy and the harbor buzzes with activity.  The water taxis are downright dangerous and the drivers mostly unskilled at manouvering their craft.  Yesterday, a water taxi with a particularly rough driver gouged the gell coat on Skylark's hull.  Made me pretty mad but there's no way to have them make good the damage in a place like this.
The feel of the place is all at once exhilarating and depressing.  The islands have much to offer by way of flora and fauna but human migration, haphazard development and a central government mostly focused on the tourist dollar all go towards degrading their intrinsic appeal. A picture is worth a thousand words, so here are some photographs taken at random on my walks around Puerto Ayora:

The harbor at Puerto Ayora -- Skylark is the white boat in the center

Another view of the harbor

Fish stall, Puerto Ayora -- customers seem eager

gimme my fish....

Iguana visiting on the patio of the Red Mangrove Lodge restaurant

Local official's view of art -- iguana in concrete in the town's square

There won't be any posts for a while as we will be at sea with no internet connection.  The email system based on the single sideband radio will only be used for receiving weather forecasts and urgent matters. Will chat next when we reach the Marquesas.