The first couple of weeks

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Santa Cruz has started to feel like home. I moved into a small one bedroom apartment last monday and have been living there for just over a week. After the drama of trying to find it on my first evening i think i now have it pretty sussed. I also got myself a mode of transport in the form of a rickety old bike that i am borrowing off a local so can now get around easily. At the office i have been doing a variety of things over the past week, from checking the data from the children's questionnaires to organising the schedule for the farm. I also spent a few hours up in the highlands working on the farm and reserve which was a nice change. I met the other two volunteers there who were very welcoming and showed me round.

When i had first met Pete (the other volunteer) he had said that he wanted to visit Isabela, the biggest island in Galapagos. All the locals had told me it was one of their favourite places to go and after visiting at the weekend i can see why. We caught the boat over from Santa Cruz which took about 2 hours and went and found a hostel which was only 20 metres from the beach. It was beautiful, hardly any people around and so quiet and peaceful. We planned to visit the volcano the next day and went up there around 9am with 6 other people. We had opted for the horse ride to the top rather than the 2.5 hour walk and i was glad we did that when i saw how far it actually was. The ride was pretty eventful as we decided to gallop to the top, losing one of the group on the way who fell off. Luckily she wasnt very badly injured and managed to keep walking and somehow rode back down again. The next day we went to the wall of tears, constructed by the prisoners of the islands around 100 years ago. We also stopped off at the trails on the way back into town and saw lots of marine iguanas, sea lions and tortoises. Time seemed to fly by and there was so much to see and do as we had just 3 full days on Isabela. The final day we spent snorkelling with sea lions, turtles and then went out to a set of islands called Las Tintereras where we saw penguins and blue footed boobies. It was brilliant and i thoroughly enjoyed the trip. It is so tempting to try and organise to go back again but costing at least $100 without food or trips it is expensive. There are also many islands we havent visited yet and i think i should visit as many as i can.

This week i am probably going to be working up at the farm for a couple of days as well as spending some time in the office doing some more research for Fundar. I think i will stay at Puerto Ayora for the next couple of weeks rather than travelling around and perhaps visit the sites up in the highlands such as the lava tunnels and wild tortoise reserves.

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