One month down

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After the trip to Isabela I decided to spend a few weeks in Santa Cruz to save some money before I venture over to the other islands or possibly take a cruise. Was nice to have relaxing weekends and spend time with friends and to visit the beaches around Puerto Ayora.
Camping on one of the beach in the East of the island was an interesting experience as there were swarms of mosquitoes who decided they would bite me and only me. I therefore solely took the bites for 5 people which resulted in one of my hands swelling up so I was unable to clench it. The trip however was a lot of fun and we played football, went swimming and then made a campfire where we cooked potatoes in foil and the leg of a goat and marshmallows. On the return to Puerto Ayora I decided I would make a trip to the hospital as the swelling was getting worse. Had an injection which really helped and was given some tablets to take too.

Over the next week I had to start over with my work for Fundar. Turns out Galapagos is prone to viruses and i think the laptop I am using wasn't properly protected and lost the work I had done so far and my photos of Isabela. Luckily Pete, the volunteer from NZ at the Charles Darwin Foundation managed to save the day and recovered my photos from the SD card. My translations for Fundar
however were lost, I therefore had to start again which has taken me a few days but Im now back on track.

The last week saw the return of a friend who couldn't keep away from Galapagos. He returned the day before I was due to go diving so I spent the morning swimming with sea lions and fish and attempted to dive while he was recovering from the journey. My ears were painful for the dive which was annoying as it was such a wonderful experience. Being weightless in the water even though you have so much equipment and around 10 kg of weight around your waist. I didn't get to do the second dive as my ears were aching but I still really enjoyed the trip. I hope next time I go I will be able to equalise more effectively and it won't hurt like before.

Over the weekend we revisted many of the sites in Puerto Ayora we had been before. Tortuga bay was as beautiful as ever and this time I went kayaking with a friend who took me to see manta rays, sea turtles and white tip fin sharks that we could actually swim with.
The next day we went to Las Grietas again for some more snorkelling and to watch the locals jump 15 metres from the top!
I went back to work again after the eventful weekend and Ronny who had returned to Galapagos unwillingly returned to Guayaguil in Ecuador on Wednesday. It is now Friday and I am looking forward to the weekend. Unsure of the plans at the moment but will probably involved Tortuga or perhaps venturing out to another beach that we have to travel to by boat.

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