Animals everywhere!

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We awoke early and headed to breakfast for 4am. We met up with the other 14 people that would be going on this adventure to the Galapagos Islands with us. I am so excited, I've always wanted to go here to see all the animals.

We boarded a mini bus and headed to the airport. Here we checked in and flew to Santa Cruz Island. We were met by our guide Dannielle. The 16 of us then boarded another bus, boat, bus then dingy to take us to our boat. This would be home for the next 4 days of our cruise around the islands.
After a lovely lunch we headed back to Santa cruise to see the Galapagos giant land Turtles. They were huge and we all spent time taking many photos. We even got to see some shells of old turtles. They were so big me and phill fitted inside them. On the journey back to the boat we saw our first sea lions lazing on the backs of the boats, a long with brown pelican. He was sleeping on our sundeck.After a dinner people headed back into town to explore, a couple of sea lions had moved to the benches on the jetty to sleep. They kind of looked like a drunk passed out on the bench.

Over night we sailed to our next island, this was pretty rough and not many of us slept well. We awoke to a new island and after a big breakfast we were all ready to explore. On the dingy in we spotted seal ions and penguins playing in the water! Amazing. When we landed we were in time to see a large sea turtle laying her eggs. When she was finished she covered them and headed back to the water. This was a wonderfull experience. On this island we also saw more seal ions, crabs, birds and small lava lizards. We also got to watch the blue footed boobies diving for fish. This is great to watch as they dive like a dart flying through the air. We visited post office bay which is were we dropped off postcards that another tourist may collect and deliver one day. We collected one to drop off in Liverpool on our return. We then went for our first snorkel, off the beach. The water is a lot colder than we have been in so far but it was fun to be in a group. We saw lots of fish including large parrot fish. Also big sea turtles but these were very deep and not very clear to see. On the swim back in I saw a shark under the rocks. He had lovely markings of spots over him. This snorkel was very nice but a little cold.

After a lunch we set sail again to another part of the island. We went for another snorkel, this time off the dingy around a big rock. The strong current made it very hard work but it was a nice snorkel with large shoals of big fish. One of the group saw a shark and Phill saw a sea lion. We then headed back to the island to have an explore of a different part. As we landed there were more sealions playing in the water and we saw our first blue footed boobies up close. Their feet are great, so blue it looks like they've been painted. On the beach we saw sleeping sea lions, hermit crabs and large crabs. After a short walk in land we came across a large group of flamingoes. These were very special, we even got to see one fly. We headed to another beach were we saw lots of string rays in the waves, brown pelicans fishing and a big heron patrolling the beach for baby sea turtles. We watched the sunset then headed back to our boat for dinner. Early to bed for another night of sailing to another island. Today has been magical.

After another rough nights sailing we awoke early. After a big breakfast we headed on to the island called Espanola. We landed on the island and were greeted by sea lions and lots and lots of marine iguanas (often piled all over each other). These are strange creatures. They have adapted to their environment by learning to dive for food. They then sun themselves to warm up and get rid of excess salt by sneezing/spitting it out. We headed around the island seeing lizards and small birds. We then got to see the Albatross, including babies. We saw them flying and even got to see them preform their mating dance. In the next area on top of a cliff we saw the marine iguanas jumpimg off the cliffs into the sea, there was also two hawks flying around the Nazca boobies nesting ground (which made the parents wake up pretty quickly) There were lots more blue footed boobies too. As we were leaving the island we saw another hawk on a bush looking out for prey. In the dingy we saw sea lions playing in the water and marine iguanas swimming for food.The islands are amazing, every corner you turn is another photo opportunity and memory you won't forget.

After lunch on the boat we headed to another part of the island. We landed on the beach which was covered in sea lions. After lots of photos our guide showed us a baby sea lion pup which was less than 1 hour old. He was tiny. Very magical experience. We also saw a shark swimming past the beach in the shallow water and a hawk eating a large fish on the beach. We then suited up and headed into the water for a snorkel round a rock. This was a nice snorkel. Phill saw the shark. I saw lots of fish and sting rays, some very large. We then headed back to the boat for dinner. Today has been another amazing day. We finished the day by heading in to town on San Cristobal for a beer.

Our last day 11 of us awoke early for one last snorkel before heading to the airport. The dingy dropped us off at a large rock that had a channel through it. This was a very short snorkel but the best I've ever done. As soon as we jumped in we were greated by a sea turtle simming past. Then a small black tip shark swam past. The group all stayed together and we were excited. As we entered the channel it was amazing. It was full of sharks ,at least 50 of them, a mix of black and white tip most were small but there was a few larger ones in the group, a few of the came close to the surface to have a look but most stayed well below us. The channel lao had Sea turtles, plenty of fish and the most amazing eagle rays that were no more than a metre away from us swimming with us the whole length of the channel,so graceful to watch. At the end of the dive I finally saw a sea lion in the water with me, jumping along side us.This was a spectacular snorkel and we were all on a high for our journey back to the boat.I am very sad to be leaving Galapagos, it has completely lived up to my expectations. Danielle took us all to the airport, were we amused ourselves by being taught how to make an origami bird by one of the group. This amused the locals who also joined in making the birds.After a flight back to Quito we went out as a group for a last dinner before we all head our separate ways.

What an experience. All I can say is WOW! Now onto Peru....

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Comments

[Dad]

WOW
This i would love to do sounds like your having a fantastic time