Of the inhabited islands in the Galapagos, Floreana Island is the least inhabited one. Its pretty remote and with only about 100 people living there, life is just...really different. Moreso than I could have even fathomed honestly, and boy was I in for a ride.
First of all, finding a ride there without having to take a tour was tricky. Everything I read online said I should contact Peter at goexpeter@gmail.com to get on a ferry to get over there. Turns out, I think I could have just signed up for a ferry at one of the many agencies once on Santa Cruz (the main hub island for all tours and ferries to the other islands), but also maybe they only sign you up if you have a tour scheduled? I'm not sure since I didn't go that route. If you're planning on putting Floreana on your itinerary and you're super set on it, I would just figure this out ahead of time instead of hoping you can do it once you get there.
In my research I kept seeing that THE place to stay in Floreana was the Whittmer Hotel. Guess what? There's no email. No website. No way to contact them that I could find, so again I went back to some Galapagos threads on forums, especially any that were referencing Floreana. I found an email address to contact Erika at the Hotel Wittmer to get a room; erikagarciawittmer@hotmail.com. Turns out it was only $35 a night and I was directly on the black sand beach. Holy shit it was amazing. I did a whole review of this fabulous hotel that you can read, here.
So, with my ferry and accommodations all figured out and set up, off I went for my 2 day adventure. I ended up mostly communicating with Carolina through the e-mail and at the dock in Santa Cruz. She was warm, kind, friendly, and super helpful! Also her English was great which was fantastic because navigating transfers between islands in the Galapagos is stressful, especially at first, so my brain was having a hard time being stressed and trying to not only translate the Spanish being spoken to me but also trying to speak Spanish! The ferry ride was bout 2 hours I think? Maybe 2 and a half? Two hours is about what each transfer takes to any of the islands and this one was a bit further out. It can definitely be rough and choppy out there, so if you get motion sick please, PLEASE bring meds or something to counteract the effects. You're definitely going to need it on any of these transfer ferries to any of the islands. And, if you've read my blog about 10 things to know in the Galapagos, you'll know you need a dollar each way to pay the ferry transfer boatmen. So keep a bunch of dollar bills and coins on you!
The ride was fine, I thankfully don't get motion sick, so I was able to enjoy the scenery as it passed by. I was really lucky on my first couple of island transfers that I had boats that were pretty open. Towards the end of my stay I kept getting boats that only had like 4 seats that were outside and I was never able to snag any, so I'd just look at the back of my eyelids instead of out at the water. Getting on the island was fine, we passed security to ensure that we weren't bringing in anything not allowed, found a bathroom pretty much right away and then just kind of tried to firgure out where I was supposed to go. The tour group kept trying to load my stuff up in their car but I had to explain that I wasn't on the tour which like...thoroughly astounded them. I went back to the guards and asked how to get to Wittmer and thankfully there was a little shortcut path right from the guard station! They must have thought I was crazy with my stupid rolling suitcase on these dusty dirt roads. The rolling suitcase was the WORST decision I made on this whole trip. Ah well, I made it there, found Erika, and she led me to my room.
From the door of the room I had a lovely view of Floreana's volcano, Cerro Pajas, and from the balcony I had a view of the black sand beach that this hotel sits on. I settled in, popped over to the water for a bit and was able to observe birds hovering and then diving into the water to catch food. It was wild, and even more surreal once I decided to get into the water and it was happening around me. While I was sitting on the beach the tour happened to come by as part of their path and they spent some time swimming, snorkeling, and relaxing on the beach. I ran back to the room and changed into my bathing suit so I could jump in too. I was a little worried about swimming by myself for some reason so I was happy that they wandered over. This was when I swam among, what I found out were, the diving blue footed boobies. We also spotted a Galapagos penguin and far out in the water was a pod of dolphins we could see so clearly even though they were so far away. There were also a bunch of sea lions lounging on the shore, but they didn't come for a swim with us at all. The tour group left and I went to change. Then my rumbling tummy alerted me that I needed to have some food.
I literally just happened to walk to the restaurant that the tour went to and I joined them for a meal. This place had two dishes available to the day- chicken or fish. I had the chicken and apparently never took a photo. It was absolutely scrumptious though. Very flavorful! While I was there I met two girls, Mafer and Laura, who were also staying over night. They informed the lady who owns the restaurant that they would be back in the morning for breakfast. This piqued my interest so I asked about it. These ladies told me that restaurants on this island only open if they know that they'll have business. Since there's so few people there, they just don't open all willy-nilly like what I'm used to literally anywhere else. I used this opportunity to inform the woman that I would also be visiting in the morning for breakfast. At this point my brain didn't even think about dinner that night. I'll circle back to this later.
Also while there I asked the tour guide what they would be doing for the day. He mentioned going up the volcano to see some landmarks as well as a tortoise reserve, which is something I really wanted to do actually so I asked how much it would be to join for that portion of the tour, since there was really no other way to get up there and see it. I think they charged me like $30? Which was a fair price, but I ended up not thinking it was really worth it. Well, that's not fair, it was worth it for the views and the information but that tortoise area was so...underwhelming. Once I went to other tortoise reserves on other islands, I really realized that one was worth the visit. However, once you're up there you might as well visit it I guess because the other stuff is pretty neat. Also all the walking we did had me finish up the rest of my big ol' water bottle I had brought.
The tour ended and everyone else piled into the truck and back to the ferry dock while I stayed back and walked back to the hotel. This is where everything went super downhill super fast. I lied down for a bit, enjoying the fan in the room and the breeze coming in through the window. I was hot, hot, hot! And thirsty, but I had finished all the water I brought, assuming I could just buy more once I got on the island so I wouldn't have to lug a bunch of water with me. I went out and explored the island and found nothing. Nothing was open and I saw nothing that looked like a shop. I begrudgingly went back to the hotel and contemplated drinking the sink water...but water in Ecuador is NOT safe to drink ANYWHERE and I didn't think it was worth the risk. Erika was out and about when I got back to the property so I asked her about a place to buy water. I didn't understand a lot of what she said to be honest, but her gestures and the words I could pick up on were perfect, and I knew where I was going and could get some water. And also...I was hungry. I set off with a new found confidence and again found nothing. No one out and about, no place that looked anything like what I thought a store could possibly look like. It all just looked like homes. I was slowly spiraling into absolute misery so I decided to go back and just try to make the most of the rest of the night. I enjoyed the sunset on the beach immensely and the waves lapping on the shore put me a little more at ease.
My stomach let out a big ol' rumble again and I could feel how dry my mouth was. I just cried. A lot. I was hot as hell with no AC in the hotel to give me any sort of relief, I was incredibly thirsty, and ridiculously hungry. I decided to just sleep to get to the morning. I feel like it sounds dramatic but I wish I could explain to you just how hot it is and had been since I arrived in Guayaquil and it just never eased up, even on the islands surrounded by water. There was rarely any clouds in the sky and the sun just beat down on you continuously and I kept getting burnt no matter how much sunscreen I slathered myself in. I was frustrated not only at the situation but at myself for letting me get into that kind of situation. As someone who researches everything, I can't believe that I never did more research on this Island. I would have absolutely brought snacks, maybe even a small meal to pop in the fridge of the hotel and a boatload of water. I would have also brought snorkel gear, but I was incorrectly told that I could buy some on the island where you go through security. Erika had told me that many people decide to extend their stay once they get there and all I could think in that moment was that they must be crazy. There's not a ferry every day either so it could be multiple days before you can catch another ferry out of there.
I finally fell asleep and woke to another sunny, clear day with an almost chilly breeze coming through the window that was a sweet little treat. I had even put the blankets on sometime in the night, so it must have gotten quite refreshing in the evening. It was still too early to head to the restaurant for breakfast but I did walk around the island again, hoping that now that it was earlier, maybe something would be open that wasn't the previous night. No luck. But I did find a couple of spots with big jugs of water out that hadn't been the previous night so I went back to the hotel grabbed a water bottle and filled it halfway. It was a big bottle and I wasn't trying to take ALL of the water. Oh my god I was thrilled. I headed back to the hotel, sat in the shade on the beach with a couple of sea lions (far enough away to not disturb them of course), and tried not to chug the water I had gathered. I was feeling better about day 2 on Floreana but was still hesitant.
Once time finally crawled to breakfast serving time, I feel like I about sprinted to the restaurant. Sure enough, three plates at a table were all set up for us and I was there before Mafer and Laura. I waited for a little bit, but caved to my rumbling tummy and sat down. There were no options or menu, just a "buenas dias! Tienes deysayuno para mi si?" "Good morning, you have breakfast for me right?" and a "Si!" from the woman behind the counter who motioned for me to sit and started cooking. The plate she sat in front of me looked heavenly; runny egg is not typically how I order my eggs and I just didn't even care, I tucked in. That with the patacones (fried plantains) was delicious. I definitely had to add some salt and pepper as it was way more bland than the meal the day before, but my stomach was so unbelievably happy to have the food and even some coffee that I did not care. I filled my water bottle up some more too. Mafer and Laura joined before my breakfast was cooked and we chatted about ourselves and what had brought us to Floreana. We also made sure to let the woman know that we'd be back for lunch. We had beef or fish to choose from and I picked the beef while the other two went for the fish.
After breakfast we went our separate ways to change into swim stuff and just digest our food a bit before going for an adventure to see the la loberia where sea lions like to gather with their pups. We met up at the black sand beach and started off. before we even got off the beach, we got stopped by a gentleman who asked if we were going snorkeling and if we had gear. I was the only one without gear. The man told me to hold on and he brought me a mask that he had soaped up and was ready to be used. He told me to just drop it back off at that location when we were done. I asked how much he wanted for renting it and he told me nothing, he's excited to share the beauty of his island home with people who stay and visit. I couldn't believe my luck and insisted on giving him something but he refused. I thanked him profusely and off we went. The variety of terrain that we encountered on the way was stunning and unexpected. From beautiful white sand, to deep black lava rock, to spots of sandy trail bordered by strips of bright green grass and fiery red plants, to what looked like a cooled lava flow. Just wow. Along the way we also saw a couple of sea turtles peeking out of the water and sunning themselves a bit on the shore. When we made it to La Loberia, we climbed to the top of the hill to enjoy a well-deserved sit and to get a good view around. We could see a small family of sea lions- definitely a couple babies, a male and at least two females. They were all a honkin' and it was cute to watch the babies clumsily waddling around.
Once we'd had a good rest on the hill, we clambered back down to the shore and pulled out our snorkeling gear so we could get eyes in the water. Plus we were hotter than hell and ready to jump into some cold water. The snorkeling here felt great and for the first little bit we had the inlet to ourselves, before a tour group joined us for a bit. I'll be honest, there wasn't much to see at first with the snorkel gear, but soon we found sea turtles! I even saw a big stingray resting on the bottom. We swam cautiously after the turtle spotting and the more calm we were, the more that started coming around. It felt very special and quite serene. After sticking around for awhile after the tour group dispersed, we were starving and it was just about lunch time anyway so we headed back to the restaurant.
One of my favorite things about meals in Ecuador is that they more often then not will come with a choice of fresh squeezed fruit juice. Well sometimes there was no choice and you just got whatever was made that day, but either way it was always a joy to receive it. I'm pretty sure this one just offered pineapple both days, but we may have had a choice. I honestly can't remember, but I know that each time we did end up with pineapple juice. The salad and avocado were fresh and light, the beef was seasoned perfectly and putting it all together with the rice was excellent. We munched with that tour group we had seen earlier and when we were done we headed back to our respective hotels to pack and say our goodbyes to Floreana...which for me meant one last lounge at the beach.
If you had asked me on day 1 of my Floreana visit if I would like to return here I would have probably told you, not on my life. I was so frustrated and tired, and just cursing Floreana up and down. But when I think back on it, there were so many more positive moments and experiences than the negative that I truly came out of this visit with an appreciation for Floreana in all of its remoteness and natural beauty. I would absolutely go back, and maybe even stay longer now that I know how to prepare. It was a place with really no wifi and hardly any people but I was still able to meet two wonderful ladies that I traveled with for a bit as well as some kind locals. Its a place that still feels wild and untouched and next time I will go in with a mentality of truly looking inward and reflecting on myself and enjoying life as it comes.
This was a long one and if you're still here then I appreciate you reading through and reminiscing about this part of my adventure with me. It was a part that held the most drastic of emotions in a short range of time and it ended up being quite a lovely experience.
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