The Beginning of the Galapagos!

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Alright, so I'm already back from the Galapagos and leaving for AK tomorrow, but I'm going to do this day by day... And by the way the Galapagos was freaking amazing! We saw so many animals and swam with most of them! We also saw a bunch that are unusual to see. Our guide kept telling us how rarely he sees them and how lucky we were. So it was a spectacular trip!!!

The 9th I arrived back in Quito and met my group for the Galapagos! 2 sisters in their 20's, 2 guys in their 30's, a couple couples in their 30s, a family of 4 with a 12 year old boy (Zach) and a 15 year old girl (Taylor) (parents: Buffy and Blaine), and another single traveler, Julia, 22. Saturday afternoon in Quito I ran into Lyndsey, Emily, Trisha, and Laura (volunteers) on their way to the jungle so Julia and I went and had dinner with them before they got their bus. It was crazy that we ran into each other!

Then Sunday morning off to the Galápagos! We flew into San Cristóbal (Puerto Baquerizo Moreno - capital of the Galápagos) and went straight to our boat. 15 of us on the boat, pretty small, but definitely comfortable and nice! Our guide and crew seem nice! Our boat is called Xavier III. It holds 16 passengers, but there are more rooms than necessary so I have my own room! There are 4 levels. Bottom floor has rooms (that's where mine is), second floor has the lounge, dining area, and kitchen, also a wrap-around deck. Third floor has more rooms (with ocean views) and some lounge chairs on the covered deck and then the roof has some bench seats and good views! The food is delicious! And mostly healthy! And the rooms even have air-conditioning at night! Thank goodness!
In the afternoon we went to a beach around on the other side of the island to swim with sea lions! Our first of many encounters with sea lions I'm sure... They swim right towards us and then only veer away at the last minute! Kinda scary at times! We also saw some frigates, marine iguanas, crabs, sea lion bones, and a very pre-historic looking pond back from the beach. Back to the boat for the evening. We watched the sunset from the top deck. Life is good...

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