Blogs from Galápagos, Ecuador, South America - page 84

A good night's sleep, as no sailing until 4am, after sleep became difficult due to the rough waters! Arrived around 6ish at Santa Fé, a very beautiful sheltered bay in the northeast, mostly covered by giant Opuntia cacti, (a prickly pear cacti unique to this island). The water was a crystal clear turquoise colour and warm - just perfect for snorkelling. We had a good breakfast, fresh fruit and empanadas and tried a local fruit juice called Naranjilla, the appearance being a cross between an orange and tomato. Then we took the pangas across to the island, and spotted a giant turtle on the way. We walked around the island, tonnes of sea lions here, one barking and following us! They were very playful, swimming in circles and many offspring, although a few arguments taking place! ... read more

Last night we docked around 2am, so a better nights sleep! Dry landing on Bartolome island at 6.10am, before the crowds arrived from the larger ferries. Lots of volcanic ash and unique vegetation, such as grey Tiquilia and greenish Chamaesyce. This island offered panoramic landscape views of cinder cones, unusual rock shapes, small coves with white sweeping sands and views of nearby islands and the perfect sunrise. There were some Galapagos Sea Lions in the distance, and Marine Iguanas basking on the black rocks. The volcanic lava lines were still visible on many of the cinder cones, and sunken craters within the shallow waters. After an uphill struggle, we gained fantastic views, then made our way back to the Sea Man, passing huge parties from the various ferries. We were rewarded by a delicious breakfast - ... read more

Very excited, our taxi collected us a little earlier than expected to take us to the domestic airport to catch our 8.20am flight to Baltra, the famous Galapagos islands. We had to go in transit via Guayaquil, a very affluent resort style city, with expensive properties built around lagoons. We were impressed by the prosperous waterfront, an outdoor showpiece of Guayaquil and the posh airport facilities. We arrived in Baltra, the airport runway sparse and desolate, decorated with strangely shaped cacti, it was midday. The airport was still in the construction process, and resembled a wooden shed open to all the surrounding elements! Baggage came tumbling off a small vehicle, where we would then search for our bags amongst the piles of other passengers' belongings. Then we were collected by a representative from the Sea Man, ... read more

Hey everyone, I am back from the Galapagos Islands. It was a really cool place. We took off wednesday morning and landed in Guayaquil. Then we stayed on the same plane and continued onto the Galapagos Islands. When we landed I looked out the window and was suprised to see that there wasn´t this lush green forest and giant tortoises walking around, instead it was a desert with dead trees and everything. Apparently we came in the rainy season I believe because that is when things die and it rains a lot. We had to take a 5 minute ferry ride from the island where the airport is (Baltra) to Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz Island has the biggest population in the Galapagos. Some 7,000 oeople live there and the town of Puerto Ayora has everything. There ... read more

HI everyone, You want to hear a funny story??? When i arrived at the airport in Quito, to catch the flight to the Galapagos, i went to check my bag for my air ticket only to realise it was gone. I asked Jana ´have you got my ticket´and she says no i gave to you the day we arrived. a sudden wave of OH SHIT passed over me as i realised i cleaned out the rubbish from my bag. yep....you guessed it, i had thrown my ticket out with rubbish. i asked our guide if i could just provide ID and she said no you need the ticket. so jana and donna get out of the car and go check in while i head back to the hotel. luckily we had asked that our room ... read more