New Year’s Eve in the Galápagos

There are only so many New Year’s Eves we get to experience in our lives. One of the most memorable for my wife, Karen, and me was on Dec. 31, 2019, in the town of Puerto Villamil on the Galápagos island of Isabela.

December 31 started out with various organizations and vendors gathering on the main square, where a large stage had been set up at the end of the dirt street. In the afternoon there were two soccer games, the first with young males, then one played by females.

People were celebrating with each other throughout the day, and there was music in the evening. Approaching midnight, there was a 30-second countdown by everyone to the new year, when a few fireworks were shot off into the sky behind the square.

Walking around town during the day, we had seen many monigotes, or wood-and-paper sculptures or effigies, in the streets. Depicting animals, people, boats, police cars, etc., each represented some event from the past year. Some were messages written on cardboard — political statements, environmental issues, personal events, etc.; the messages could be critical and/or humorous. And you could purchase masks and small dolls at markets.

At midnight, the monigotes and messages were burned (except those which read that this tradition should be stopped because of the pollution produced by burning!). Burning the old, negative experiences is a way to start fresh in the new year. This tradition is observed throughout Ecuador.

As we walked around town after midnight, there were fires in every street we looked down.

Bands were scheduled to play all night, with dancing in the street until dawn, about 6 a.m. The celebration was in full swing when we headed for our hotel. We felt safe, noticing many families gathered in the square and around the town.

Puerto Villamil is the largest town on Isabela, but it has a population of only about 1,700. The pace of life slows; there are no fast-food restaurants.

The next morning, there were patches of ashes in the street, but a trash truck was going around town to clean up.

We traveled to Ecuador and the Galápagos with 15 educators and friends, Dec. 27, 2019-Jan. 4, 2020. Our small-group trip was with the Global Exploration for Educators Organization, or GEEO (Washington, DC; 202/879-4400, www.geeo.org), to which G Adventures is a contributing partner. (We were on a G Adventures itinerary, and our payments went through G Adventures [www.gadventures.com].)

This was our fourth trip with GEEO. The organization welcomes anyone connected to education: teachers, administrators, secretaries, bus drivers, substitutes, etc. You can bring someone who is not an educator for an extra $100.

The 9-day, 8-night trip was priced at $2,565, but an “alumni” could earn a reduction of 5%-8%.

The price included flights from Quito on the mainland to and from the islands aboard Avianca Airlines; all hotels, with breakfast; admission to selected sites; a couple of dinners; lunch on the tiny island of Floreana (pop. 130), and transportation by speedboat and “truck taxi” within the Galápagos.

Information on the average cost of local meals was included in G Adventures’ pre-trip literature, which we have found to be generally accurate.

Our group’s guide, Martin Cox, joined us at the airport in Baltra and was outstanding.

Karen and I booked an extra night in the Quito, Ecuador, hotel and a pickup from the airport for when we arrived on Dec. 26.

GEEO regularly posts “sales” in early September when the following year’s trips are posted. Each trip must have a minimum of six persons, with a maximum of 14 to 16. This makes it possible to stay in and visit some of the places less visited by groups in large buses.

ROD SMITH
Oskaloosa, KS