Galapagos

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Starting with a 3am start we headed out to the airport for our flight to Galapagos. We had to have our bags checked to make sure we were carrying no seeds or animals!! Ironically apples were ok to take to the Galapagos but not to take into Mexican customs!!

We arrived on the island of Baltra, an Island dedicated to the airport from here we headed across to Santa Cruz for lunch via bus, boat and bus again before getting a 2-3hr boat to our first island stay.

Our first island, Floreana introduced us to seals, red sea iguanas and giant tortoises. We did some snorkelling and saw some amazing sea turtles, completely oblivious to humans!! This island is home to only 150 people and some giant tortoises which we also saw.

Our second island, Isabela has the 2nd largest volcanic crater (1st being Ngorongoro crater in Tanzania, next to the Serengeti). This volcano, Sierra Negra is actually active and last erupted in 2005!! We climbed up to it and went above the low hanging clouds that were often over the Galapagos and gave it a much colder than expected weather. The next day we did a snorkelling trip and saw white tipped reef sharks, a stingray, seahorse and turtles. We also saw blue footed boobies nesting on volcanic lava rocks. Whilst on Isabella we visited lagoons where there are many Galapagos flamingos. These lagoons are vital for their survival. We also visited a tortoise rehabilitation centre where we saw baby tortoises as big as a hand, to 130 year old giant tortoises. Isabella has some nice wee beach bars as well, which was good for our last night before heading to Santa Cruz.

Finally in Santa Cruz we visited the Charles Darwin research centre, which was largely closed for refurbishment, but we did see some tortoises who had been rescued from possible extinction. They were a breed whose shell doesn't fully cover them, so often leaves them fairly exposed to predators. We also saw another tortoise centre which protects tortoises, some here are over 150 years old. You could also try to lift a tortoise shell with your back to see the sheer weight of a tortoise. Finally we visited the lava tunnels created by volcanoes. Unfortunately people have got lost walking around the area where the tunnels are due to the instability of the ground, so it is always best to go with a group. The tunnels are enormous.
The next day was a very early start for me 5am as I was off to do some diving. The water at this time of year is extremely cold, so it is recommended to wear a long wet suit, rash vest and short wetsuit. Even that wasn't enough though.
The dives were great and we saw some great fish. On our second dive we saw around 50 giant manta rays swimming below us at around 35m. Sadly no hammerhead sharks, so will have to come back ? but some giant sea turtles which was great.



Sadly the next day was back to Quito, after a 4 hour delay we were back late that night.

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