Blogs from Santa Cruz Island, Galápagos, Ecuador, South America - page 9

Puerto Ayora and the Tortoise Sanctuary We arrived on The Galapagos Islands after a very comfortable hour flight from Guayaquil. Completely over excited but not quite as noisy as the 50 school children who we'd shared the flight with we made our way with guide Miguel to our home for the next 8 days - The Treasure of Galapagos catamaran (TOG). The boat was out of this world and more spacious and luxurious than most of the hostels and hotels we'd stayed in to date. After a 3 course lunch on the TOG we headed out to the highlands to look at Giant Tortoises in the wild. I know they're called Giant Galapagos tortoises but I wasn't really prepared for the size of them. They really are huge! It was amazing to see them roaming around ... read more

We took the 7am ferry to Santa Cruz on Saturday morning, and then spent the the afternoon at the Charles Darwin Station to see the Giant Tortoises. We spent a couple of hours touring the area, seeing how the different island tortoises varied, how they are captive bred and of course to see the infamous Lonesome George. You are able to go into the pen, so all of us got photos taken with them.... and Sophie got cornered and chased by one of the very large tortoises!! It was funny. We got very wet on the way back, but the girls just accepted it.... you dont have a tropical climate here for nothing! I think we are getting used to the rain. The evening was spent eating dinner at local food stalls before walking along the ... read more

YEAAAAAAAH, we are going to the Galapagos Islands!!! The flight is booked and the cruise is confirmed, too! In already one week its time to pack shorts and shirts again and to head of to the airport. From the 4th until the 8th of March we are spending our nights on a small cruise and during the days are going to visit these unique places of the world. Everyday another island or two. I'm really curious how it's going to be!... read more

We arrived at Hotel Quito (a bit fancy for the likes of us) quite late and still covered in rainforest mud, surprisingly reception weren't that keen to check us in. Once we got keys we headed to rooms that were floors apart with the bellboy (sounds like a demeaning name for a grown man in a suit but I don't know what else to call them) bringing our luggage (aka stinky backpacks). The kids suddenly appeared at our door as when they turned the key to theirs they found a partially clothed man watching questionable material. Bright and early the next morning we met up with a couple from WA on their honeymoon and our guide who took us to the airport and sent us merrily on our way to Galapagos. The flight went direct to ... read more

Unsere schlimmsten Befuerchtungen wurden nicht wahr: Keine suedamerikanische oder israelische Reisegruppe, sondern ein buntgemischter Haufen Angelsachsen und Europaeer geht mit uns an Bord der Princess of Galapagos. Da ist beispielsweise Henry, ein dank der Wirtschaftskrise gefeuerter Aktienhaendler aus London, Miles, ein Geschichtsprofessor aus Colorado oder Sally, Lehrerin fuer Offizierskinder in Westpoint - fuer genuegend Gespraechsstoff ist also gesorgt. Auch das Boot ist troz seiner Enge nicht unkomfortabel; zwar sind die unteren Kajueten fensterlos und liegen direkt neben dem Maschinenraum - dafuer sind sie sauber. Der Koch ist grandios: In seiner kleinen Kueche zaubert er simple, aber schmackhafte Gerichte, von denen wir auf dem Festland nur traeumen konnten. Am Nachmittag fahren wir ins Hochland von Santa Cruz, wo unzaehlige Riesenschildkroeten ihr Unwesen treiben; einige ... read more