Whatch Sea lions and iguanas around the city

Puerto Ayora is the main inhabited center of the island of Santa Cruz and it can be considered the capital of Galapagos Islands.

The first amazing thing of Puerto Ayora is to see iguanas and sea lions walking around the city, as if they were cats or other familiar pets. In this respect, now I will tell you about three events which occurred in Puerto Ayora and which most impressed me.

Wildlife in the swimming pool of my hotel

I stayed in the Sol y Mar hotel, in Av. Charles Darwin y Tomas De Berlanga, Puerto Ayora 200350. The hotel is in a very convenient position because it is on the seafront, that is, on the main shopping street of Puerto Ayora. The internal side, however, gives a view of the sea.

The breakfast tables are on a porch, near the outdoor swimming pool, on a small terrace overlooking the sea. The place was nice; but the thing that struck us most was seeing a sea lion sitting in the driver’s seat of a motorboat moored in front of the swimming pool of our hotel. In the previous five days we had seen hundreds of these animals, but nothing comparable to seeing him sitting upright in the seat of a motorboat in the middle of a commercial port.

In the following days, however, I was able to verify the validity of what was reported by the Lonely Planet, namely that the swimming pool and restaurant were taken as a home by marine iguanas, who “sunbathe with guests on the terrace and walk at their feet while they have breakfast. “

If you click here, you will see my video with sea lions, iguanas and birds in the swimming pool.

Fish market of Puerto Ayora

During our first day of vacation in Puerto Ayora, we headed to the restaurant El Chocolate, in front of a small fish market. It took just a few moments to understand that the very small fish market would have been one of the most interesting experiences of the whole holiday.

In fact, there were dozens of pelicans waiting for the remains of fish from the fishermen’s hands; there were live lobsters almost half a meter large ready to be purchased for $ 20 dollars a piece.

However, the fact that most impressed me was to see, behind the counter, a perfectly domesticated sea lion that “dangled” as a dog would do in Italy.

To see the video of the fish market, with pelicans and sea lions, click here.

Sea lion lying on the bench of the marina

The next day, we had to go the marina of Puerto Ayora because we booked a cruise along the Bay of Puerto Ayora.

While we were waiting for the boat, we felt a strong stench smell. We found out that on the other side of the the bench there was a sea lion sleeping.

Given the particularity of the place, and in light of the above, it becomes perhaps superfluous to be surprised by the presence of marine iguanas along the sidewalk of the main road of Puerto Ayora.

If you want to read what else to see in Puerto Ayora, click here.