The Galapagos Islands
Galapagos Province, Ecuador
A volcanic archipelago a thousand kilometres off Ecuador where the animals never learned to run from people, and where almost everything a visitor comes to see sits behind a licensed naturalist guide and a boat. The ground you can stand on alone is the three port towns and the free trails that leave them on foot or by bicycle: surf beaches, mangrove lagoons, a wetland road and one wall built by prisoners.
3 challenges · 16 stops
STARTERTortuga Bay on Foot
≈ 4,500 steps2.0 mi · about 2.5 hoursStarter · 3 stops · 500 credStart where you live.Two and a half hours out of Puerto Ayora and back on your own legs. A paved path through cactus and lava to a kilometre of open surf beach, then the sheltered lagoon at the far end. You sign in at the park hut and pay nothing; the gate closes in the late afternoon.
STANDARDThe Shore Walk at Baquerizo
≈ 3,500 steps1.6 mi · about 4.5 hours · + 1 stretch not routedStandard · 5 stops · 600 credOne trip earns it.Half a day on San Cristobal. Walk north out of the capital along the water to the headland viewpoint and the sunset beaches, then take a short taxi south to the sea lion colony. Five stops, none of them ticketed, and the middle of the day is the worst of it for shade.
ADVANCEDThe Wetland Road to the Wall
≈ 7,000 steps + 1.9 mi by car3.3 mi on foot · a full day · + 1 stretch not routedAdvanced · 8 stops · 800 credGetting there is not the hard part.A full day out of Puerto Villamil on a hired bicycle. East first to the mangrove lagoon by the pier, then north to the flamingo water, then the whole wetland road west to the prison wall. Eight stops, every one of them free and none of them needing a guide. Start early, carry water, and turn for home before six.
Counted between stops; you'll walk more at each one.
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