The mighty Galapagos Islands - 4 weeks in Isabela

---

So what exactly have I been doing for the last 6 weeks since I last wrote a blog?! Well it´s been all about the Galapagos Islands!

On 3rd July, I flew from Quito to Guayquil on the way to the Galapagos. Oh so unfortunately they had too many people on the plane so got the chance to stay (with Charlotte and a guy called Marcello from Quito) in a 5 star Hilton hotel all expenses paid for one night and got given $500 cash on top - not bad for an easy days work!! And the food - one word amazing - for a start no rice which was the first time in over a month - I was a happy girl!!

Next day we actually made the second part of the flight and landed in the Galapagos! Wow I couldn´t actually believe I had finally arrived.

We went from Baltra airport down to Puerto Ayora and caught the boat across to Isla Isabela - my home for the next 4 weeks - and boy what a boat ride that was! Suffice to say very rough and was glad when the 2 and half hours were over! Charlotte and I were met by our "Dad" and we got taken to the house. The family we lived with the whole time were really nice - but we did eat lots of rice once again!

So my daily life in Isabela consisted of working in the morning at the Giant Tortoise Breeding Centre which I loved - 3 crazy guys worked there also and we had a very amusing time working with them - possibly the worst one track minds I have ever met but having worked on the refinery before I didn´t have too much trouble giving as good as I got! The tortoises were so lovely too. Although they seemed to have a strange idea that my toes were somehow food for them so I used to get chased around the enclosures at slow turtle speed!

Afternoon activities varied between - walking, sleeping, playing volleyball, basketball, eating (ice creams mostly!!), going to the beach and swimming/ snorkelling. In the night time we went to Beto´s bar - he has a copy of the music CD I have here - Manic Street Preachers are now infamous in Isabela. It was very relaxing and life in Isabela is definitely slower than the rest of the world! It is only a small village with around 1500 residents - an "everybody knows everybody else" type of place.

On weekends we went to the volcano Sierra Negra, kayaking with sea lions and cycling to the Wall of Tears a monument on the island. Also went to watch the locals play football at the stadium. More beach action also. Somehow I even managed to get involved in the Basketball tournament (Ricey I know you are laughing now!!) but I managed to score 4 of our 7 points so wasn´t as bad as I thought I would be - we still lost though!!

Also, I had the privilege of going to a party which featured a live performance by the "Iguanamen de Galapagos" - an infamous blues band in the Galapagos Islands. It consists of 2 guys from the USA - Gringo Juan and Jeff and another guy from Isabela. Great music and great memories as we also visited Gringo Juan a few times to drink wine with him - he has some stories to tell!!

I loved living in Isabela - I made some great friends there including one called Victor who was my surrogate brother!! 4 weeks flew by and I was very sad when I left especially when I had to say goodbye to people at the harbour and get on the boat.

After Isabela I spent 1 day in Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz and then joined an 8 day boat tour of the other Galapagos Islands.

I have written a separate blog for those 8 days so happy reading!!

love to all kazmondo xXx

PS will put some photos up when I get back to fast internet on the mainland.

---