Today we fly to Galapagos, specifically Baltra (aka Santa Cruz), one of the two main airports which accept flights from mainland Ecuador.
Departing Quito
After breakfast our ride turned up at 0945 for the ride to the airport. We arrived at 1030 for our 1347 flight. We had heard about the lengthy procedures for Galapagos flights and allowed ourselves plenty of time. As it turned out, we had allowed ourselves too much time as we just breezed through it:
First up, we submitted our passports to immigration. Having pre-registered online with our travel details, this only took a minute. I had read that there was a new requirement to show hotel bookings for every night, return tickets back to the mainland and also proof of travel/health insurance. There were no checks made on these on us, even though I had read that checks were performed strictly when first implemented.
Next, we had our luggage scanned for food and other bio-risk items. Checked-in luggage was then sealed.
With these done, we were allowed to check-in but the counters weren’t open for another hour (which was two hours prior to departure). I guess with no luggage, I could have gone airside without Kim first but I chose to wait until he had handed over his luggage. We killed some time including withdrawing money from the ATM as a precaution as ATMs were only available in two towns in the Galapagos.
Once airside, we enquired about entering the lounge on our Avianca business class tickets (which we had bought for less than economy pricing; more about that later). Unfortunately Avianca does not offer lounge access domestically, so we entered courtesy of our credit card instead. The food was better than what I had expected.
Onboard the A320, the seats were much wider than longhaul business class seats but the legroom and recline understandably doesn’t match, being a shorthaul aircraft. The meals were OK but I certainly wouldn’t have paid extra to fly Business Class considering the short flight time and lack of lounge access. The only benefit was the priority luggage and disembarkation which meant that we would beat the rush with arrival formalities.
Arriving in Baltra
As expected for Galapagos the aircraft was fumigated by the crew on descent. For the first time ever, I saw crew opening the lockers and spraying inside them as part of the fumigation.
I was first off the plane and met by a land iguana on the walk to the terminal building. I was stamped in by immigration and then paid my USD100 park fee to a second officer. I went out and took a seat on the bus and waited for Kim with his luggage. There was a short wait as sniffer dogs checked out the luggage.
Land iguana at the airport between the apron and the terminal building.
The free bus was provided by airlines taking passengers to the jetty where a USD1 ferry (no life jackets) took us on a five minute ride across the water to Santa Cruz island. The connecting bus journey of 45 minutes to Puerto Ayora now costs USD5 instead of just USD2 (as I had read previously).
The channel separating Baltra (airport) and Santa Cruz islands.
The arid scenery at the airport end of Santa Cruz turned green as we got closer to the highland (a relative term) centre. It was like Canary Islands turning into Fiji. The rich red earth closer to Puerto Ayora looked really fertile.
Hopping off the bus, Google Maps showed that our accommodation the El Bambu was metres away. We found it, dropped our baggage and immediately explored the Puerto Ayora down to the waterfront, to make use of the remaining daylight.
Puerto Ayora’s waterfront jetty.
We looked around to check prices and schedules for the inter-island boats, daytrip excursions, dives and last minute cruises. Kim was feeling decidedly unwell, perhaps a side-effect from medication. I ate dinner on Charles Binford Street, a very pleasant outdoor eating street, while he watched and sampled a little of my coconut prawn. We finally found out what “naranjilla” was; the juice is made from the fruit which resembles a tamarillo (which is also available here but called a “sweet tomato”).
Why buy Business Class?
- I booked our tickets from mainland Ecuador to Galapagos and back about nine months before our trip. We wanted to fly from Quito to Galapagos then exit Galapagos from the other airport for Guayaquil. Technically, this is called “double open jaw”.
- The cheapest economy fares were on TAME airlines at around USD370 but their flights from Quito involve a stopover in Guayaquil adding 1h30 to the journey. But for the dates that I required, the fare was about USD390. This airline has a less favourable reputation compared to the other s.
- Avianca economy class was around USD450.
- However, discounted Business Class was USD 445! And it came with similar change and cancellation penalties as their economy class fares. And we would earn about USD50 worth of Airpoints.
- Highly discounted economy fares are available but only for Ecuadorian residents. The warning is clear when booking direct with airlines but not when using third party flight booking sites. There have been reports of people unknowingly buying these tickets and being asked to cough up the difference at the airport.
- So the decision was obvious. We could fly Business for less than Economy on the same airline with no unfavourable conditions.