EIGHT DAYS IN PUERTO AYORA

Eight days in Puerto Ayora,
we're trying to arrange a tour,
we begin to recognize many faces,
the names of captains, and their boats,
even the marine iguanas.

One series of leads took us
back to the very same captain, Jaime
four times in one day.
Eight days in Puerto Ayora
begins to feel like purgatory.

We walked the length of the town
15 times in one evening.

We begin to know each store.
Each embedded stone in the road.

False leads, tourist agencies book
all the boats months in advance.

It's hard for an independent traveler
to arrange a tour, or anything, for that matter.

We pay $22 a day for our bravado,
while vacationers pay $45-$200 a day
for a guaranteed spot in paradise.
Hotel keepers worship the dollar here.
Money does buy everything.

Hotel Galapagos has hot water
showers at two dollars a head.

A meal costs much less, you can buy
four breakfasts for one shower.
Meals are arroz con pollo, or pollo con arroz.
Take your pick. To spice things up,

we alternate between the two.

We keep our record straight
and trade bills with ridiculously high
denominations that equal four cents, US.

Efficiency is an independent attitude here.

Eight days in Puerto Ayora.

7/10/1988?

added and revised 10/16

see also

• • Flying through the Andes from Quito to Lima, Ecuad...
  • Postcard from the Galapagps, 0° Lat., 8° long.
  • Sweet potatoes and Taro, Galápagos Journal
  • LONESOME GEORGE
  • RICE RAT
  • PENGUINS on BARTOLEME ISLAND
  • PARADISE
  • Post Office Bay, Floriana Island, Galápagos Journa...
  • SWIMMING ALONE, CORONA DEL DIABLO, 2 poems
  • In a small boat, adrift, between Islands, Galápago...
  • BLUE-FOOTED BOOBIES, ESPANOLA ISLAND
  • EIGHT DAYS IN PUERTO AYPRA
  • Lava Tunnels, Puerto Ayora
  • LA MITAD DEL MUNDO