Was happily swimmining in this yesterday
Hard to believe really, all this way from Japan. Expecially when we heard that damage in Hawaii was minimal we expected that the warning for the Galapagos would be lifted. But no “El Presidente” came on TV and said the State of Emergency for coastal Ecuador remains and we need to move to higher ground. Indeed the whole town of Puerto Ayoro has been evacuated so they are serious. all a bit odd when the tsuami from the Concepcion quake in Chile a year ago had no effect but there you go. Jo and I talked about ignoring it but there was no choice really.
Now the morining after we here the hotel has been hit and firstreports are it’s bad – a 3-4m wave through the grounds and the building stuffing all the amenities and 6 rooms. Our room is up a floor so the gear we had to leave will be okay. The hotel staff tell us a couple of months before the place is back in operation so it must be bad.
This avo we went back down to Puerto Ayoro and out to the Finach Bay hotel to survey the damage. It’s a mess alright but the building appears to be structurally alright – just a matter of new furnishings and some broken glass and a big job restoring the grounds and the walkways out to the place. Who knows how long that will take? But it is incredible that all this way from Japan and the hotel cops it. Just goes to show you can’t rely on the tyranny of distance to shelter you. Even the authorities were surprised by how large the impact was. The hotel owners back in Quito have been dorks, telling us there’s been no damage and not to tell other visitors – pity they couldn’t convince their own staff on the ground with that propoganda. So glad we went back and checked the site out ourselves – even though that pissed a few of them off.
Could have been worse though – we just heard the town of Pisco on the Peruvian coast has lost 300 homes. We got of lightly in the event – glad we didn’t stick about to rubber neck. Be glad to get back on the bike and a safer pastime the occupying coastal property! Photos here
Comments are closed.