GRIOTS REPUBLIC - An Urban Black Travel Mag - Jan 2016

A few days later, on Isabela, we
visited the shallower waters of the
Tintoreras inlets situated just off the
island. On the short Panga ride there,
we saw penguins posted up on
volcanic-rock islands and bright red
crabs basking in the sun. Once in the
water, we spotted decades-old sea
turtles floating gracefully near the
sea floor, and sea lions swimming
close enough to grab. “I wasn’t
expecting to see the animals so
close,” Louis marveled. Louis (who
was half-French) turned out to be our
Jacques Cousteau Jr. His Go-Pro
camera was always pointed at
something and with Cristina’s help,
he documented everything we saw
above the water and below. Though
we could get very close to the
wildlife, we respected the admonition
not to touch any animals. Human
scent can cause an animal to be
alienated from its group. That being
said, while snorkeling one day,
Cristina was practically assaulted by
a sea lion determined to play.
“I wasn’t touching him…he was
touching me!” she laughed, as we
peeled off our wetsuits.
While on Isabela, we stayed in Puerto
Villamil. It is a sleepy town compared
to Puerta Ayora. On the Sunday we
arrived, all the shops were closed and
it felt nearly uninhabited. We were
lucky to find cold beer and a local
woman under a walkway bridge to
the beach frying up and selling the
most delicious homemade meat or
cheese empanadas. She made them
using cassava dough, which is gluten
free, instead of the flour dough I am
used to in the United States.
We gorged on empanadas as we took
in the spectacular Malecon Cuna del
Sol, a long white-sand beach
surrounded by palm trees and
brackish water lagoons. As I strolled
along the shore later, the black lava
rock barrier between the sand and
surf appeared to move. As I got closer
I saw hundreds of land iguanas
blending right in and sunning
themselves.
Day after day, we ticked off items on
our Galapagos bucket list. We visited