Pitufa.at

Puerto Villamil on Isabela is a picture-book anchorage: sparkling turquoise waters, black volcanic rocks surround the bay almost entirely and give good protection. Behind that light-green hills rise to volcano craters. The seas around the Galapagos are incredibly lively: rays jump, dolphins play around the bow, birds splash into swarms of fish and on the way into the bay we were accompanied by playful sea-lions, who are also sunbathing on the sterns of the fishing boats and on the jetty. This morning a little penguin was hunting fish right next to Pitufa and boobies make quite a spectacle swooping straight down from about 50 meters, splashing into the sea loudly and popping up again like corks. The drawback is that the Ecuadorian government makes visiting the islands almost impossible because of the exorbitant prices: 500 dollars for 20 days, next years prices will rise even higher. This payment only allows you to anchor in one bay, exploring without a guide is forbidden and guided tours are incredibly pricy.
Since we got here we’ve been really busy, but in a positive way. Right after our arrival we invited our friends from Iolea over to help us eating the 10 kilo tuna we caught on the way in (we still had enough for another 3 days…). On the day after about 20 cruisers organised a trip to a restaurant further inland and we also had to deal with paperwork. Now we’ve finally found the time to fix the kerosene stove and to clean Pitufa’s overgrown waterline.