Blogs from Galápagos, Ecuador, South America - page 87

So, our second day in the Galapagos and our first day diving in 4 months! When we got on the boat this morning we met all the other divers who had their Advanced Open Water PADI course and 20 odd dives under their belt. They even told us all about their dive to Gordon's Rock yesterday where the current was so strong that they had to cling on to the rocks to stop themselves disappearing into the ocean! Great i'm thinking... sounds like fun (not)! Where we dived today was a lot calmer though and you just kind of went with the current (before our mums worry themselves to death)! The journey out to Floreana took us 3 hours and the sea was roughissimo! I felt really rough and Simon threw up (although i think ... read more

Well we've now been in the Galapagos for a total of about 8 hours and so far we've seen blue-footed boobies, pelicans, countless other birds, crabs, fish, shark fins poking out of the water, lizards, marine iguanas spitting salt out of their noses and a ray! And all that only on a beach in 2 hours! COOL! We're going diving tomorrow off Floreana, another one of the islands, and we've been told that we might see white-tipped sharks, turtles, rays, groupers and loads of other cool stuff! After that we're hoping to get ourselves on a 5 day cruise of the southern islands but we'll see what comes our way! Wish us luck xx ... read more

Volunteering on the Galapagos A recent field trip to the Galapagos Islands took me to our volunteer project on the Island San Cristobal. It was a great chance to see volunteers working hard, for a worthwhile cause. In brief the project involves clearing an area of introduced species and replacing it with plants that are native to the Galapagos. Eventually returning a small part of the island to its former glory and recreating an eco-system essential for the survival of the weird and wonderful species that you will encounter here. Volunteers are also helping to make the site as self sufficient as possible by producing their own crops and helping with kitchen duties, minimising the sites own effect on the island. This pilot project could pathe the way for conservation on the islands and will hopefully ... read more

The journey from Fiji to South America was absolutely gruelling; Fiji - Sydney - Auckland - Santiago - Lima - Quito! Three days, five flights, and weird knee death to contend with!! We finally arrived in Quito in a state of near stupor to meet with Katherine. Two days later we headed off to the Galapagos Islands, the main reason we´d come to Ecuador. A visit to the Galapagos Islands is supposed to be one of the best wildlife experiences possible. The wildlife there is so untouched by human influence that it is incredibly tame, add to that the fact that you see species of animals and birds not found anywhere else on the planet (including the infamous Blue Footed Booby) and you´re looking at a pretty amazing experience. We´re not really wildlife lovers, but ... read more

Not doing diary now (tired) however photos are at galapagos1 galapagos2 galapagosunderwater Have decided to do diary now anyway Diary isnt very exiting, as we didnt really do that much, the amazing bit was seeing the animals so close up- photos give a better idea of why it was so good. Day one. Got up at 6am to pack as had crashed the night before and hadnt sorted anything out, so ended up missing breakfast. Got transfer to airport with lots of other (old) people and a few younger ones. The younger ones were obviously on a different boat, and so I got to know the dinosaurs I ... read more