On the Galapagos Islands, nature has been preserved in its most pristine, prehistoric form. Here you can live side by side with giant tortoises, iguanas and fur seals. And it was in these fiery volcanic lands that Darwin had an insight, as a result of which he created his legendary treatise On the Origin of Species. Watching all these turtles, sea lions, albatrosses, frigates and other outlandish creations of nature, old man Darwin was inspired to write his revolutionary work.
However, there is at least one man-made creation on the Galapagos Islands that can compete in its perfection with the nature that surrounds it. This is the only (as it seems to me) place in the Galapagos where you can find comfort, coziness, and excellent food. I’m talking about a five star hotel . A couple of years ago, he joined The Leading Hotels of the World, and this is a kind of quality mark. At least now I can’t think of a single example of a hotel that would be a member of this association and at the same time remain average.
Royal Palm Resort is located on Santa Cruz Island, the second largest island in the archipelago. From the airport in Baltra to get here forty minutes. You will simply be picked up at the airport and put on a hotel yacht. A very pleasant walk.
Don’t be scared when you swim up to Santa Cruz Island. At first, it will not seem very pleasant to you, since the first thing you will see when approaching it will be bald rocks that make a rather dull impression … But as you move deeper into the island in a jeep, to the hotel, you will forget about your first impression, I guarantee you.
Diverse lush vegetation will completely kill it.
The same false impression may come over you when you first see hotel villas. “And these are villas!?” exclaimed my friend Sveta, with whom we went to the Galapagos. Indeed, it could be understood: very ordinary huts with thatched roofs appeared before our eyes. But everything immediately fell into place when we found ourselves inside one of these houses. Respectable dark wood furniture, lacquered wooden floors, tall vases by the fireplace. But the most important thing is the windows. The entire back wall of the living room turned out to be one solid panoramic window, through which the gaze immediately dived into the infinity of tropical greenery. The other room also had a panoramic window and had a jacuzzi in it.
The first thing we did was go to the spa. After a long flight, we just needed a herbal sauna and a good massage.
And the next day we spent almost all the time just wandering around the hotel and watching the pelicans who have chosen the trees next to the villas, herons walking importantly along the roads. Touching them (as well as any other birds and animals in general) is strictly prohibited here. But you can watch all you want. And they (just because no one touches them) are not at all embarrassed by this.
There are also lava tunnels on site. You can walk along them and listen as the guide talks about volcanoes and how the Galapagos Islands were born.
However, of course, we did not limit ourselves to walks in the vicinity of the hotel. We also went to Tortuga Bay to look at iguanas covered with salt. And to the neighboring island – South Place, where in all its glory they got acquainted with the life of sea lions.
And we also visited Bartolome Island with its brilliant volcanic landscapes. And on Isabela (the largest island of the archipelago), we directly climbed to the top of the Santo Tomas volcano.
However, without all these Galapagos delights, we would still have received incomparable pleasure from this trip. After all, when we returned after all these excursions to our hotel, a surprisingly delicious dinner was waiting for us there – the local restaurant serves the most authentic Ecuadorian cuisine. For example, I especially remember ceviche from shrimp marinated in lime juice, and palometa fish baked in salt. The restaurant hall is decorated with paintings from the collection of the owner of the hotel, John Majeska, including photo masterpieces, which show all the beauty of the islands in its deepest and most beautiful manifestations. So during dinner, we never forgot about where, in fact, on what a wonderful and incredible land we are.
