Despite the trials of south American transit we did eventually make it to Baltra, Galapagos on time as scheduled. The adventure restarted immediately on arrival as we had forgotten the $100 entrance fee into the islands... Oops! We managed to scrape together the admission but only iust - we had to bum 25 cents to pay for the bus to the main centre at Puerto Ayora where we could get some money out!
With a night to kill before boarding our boat, we spent a cruisey afternoon checking out the port which is under some renovations currently - the potential is great but there is work to be done.
The following day we hopped on board our boat, ´Tip Top II´, at lunch for day one of the cruise and settled straight into wonderful service - a full 'almuerzo' style lunch (soup, a main and a dessert). Throughout the afternoon we me our companions for the week; three elderly Germans, two recently retired Japanese men and a lovely family of Americans - 8 in total spanning three generations.
The first afternoon was spent at the Charles Darwin Research Station where we got an introductory course in some of the islands' inhabitants. That night we set sail for our first leg.
You will have to forgive me as the exact itinerary escapes me at present. The rough schedule was a circumnavigation of Santa Cruz, followed by a trip westward to Isobella and then a loop of the southern islands including Floreana, Espanola and San Cristóbal before heading back to Baltra (the airport island immediately north of Santa Cruz).
The trip was spectacular! Each day consisted of three to four activities built around set meal times - as life should be! Snorkelling and walking were the main activities; some of the snorkelling was awesome, particularly 'Devil's Crown' where we swam with large schools of fish, manta rays, eagle rays, sea turtles, sea lions and white tip sharks. Having only snorkelled a couple of times before this was an absolute treat! We decided that if (/when!) we return, a diving expedition may be in order - there are places where you can dive with, amongst other things, schools of hammerhead sharks which would be nerve-racking no doubt but similarly spectacular.
The land trips were equally great - the actual landlife (as in, feet planted on the ground) was limited mainly to lava lizards and iguanas, but the birdlife was amazing. The variations both between and within species was ever-intriguing particularly with the sea birds which are highly evolved and provided endless fascination both on shore and from the boat´s upper decks.
Also, I should add for readers of the Bolivian post - we had to eat humble pie for criticizing the theory that flamingoes are only pink due to diet. This was repeated at the Galapagos, and surely the Bolivians and Ecuadorians couldn't be conspiring against us. Speaking of being tricked, I may or may not have fallen victim of a crew joke telling us that the (scrumptious) bird prepared for our final dinner was pelican. That's right. My poor recognition of roast turkey is definitely born out of too few in my upbringing, so that one's all on you mum!
It's hard to elaborate further, particularly without pictures, but suffice is to say it was an amazing week all totaled - very comfortable (minus a couple of rough swells and one afternoon of sea sickness), very interesting and supremely fun week which only seems to improve with hindsight!
Having arrived back to Quito, there is a week to spend making my way up to Bogota, Colombia to fly to the UK. I was understandably ecstatic to find that the distance covered will require me to spend another 30 hours on my derrière riding the bus, 23 of which are in one hit.
I had wanted to climb Cotopaxi Volcano but time is short so instead I will have a couple of days around Otavalo (into the northern hemisphere!) hiking and perusing the villages before making the trek to Bogota.
Hasta luego!
