Blogs from Santa Cruz Island, Galápagos, Ecuador, South America - page 6

It was so nice today to wake up on our own as lovely as olly's voice is in the mornings! We only slept till about 8.30 but it was still really nice to get a lie in! Unfortunately last night a giant group of American students arrived at our hotel and were so loud! We could hear every detail of their trip so far and girlfriend troubles etc as they all tried skyping home at once! Also meaning we had to leave and go to a restaurant up the road to use wifi!! So this am you can imagine our delight as we both awoke to their lovely sound again! If you can't beat them join them I guess so we showered an changed and went down for breakfast. They had pretty much eaten it all ... read more

At the beginning of March my family flew out to meet me in Ecuador for what must have been our first long holiday together for nearly 15 years! We had “agreed”, that we would look to take advantage of my Spanish language and do the trip in a manner more akin to the way I travel – i.e. not having any fixed plans apart from the start and finish dates, and organising things as we go along according to what we hear is good. Obviously there was a little more pressure on getting things reasonably well organised, as I didn't think my parents would take too kindly to sleeping a night in a cockroach infested fleapit because we turned up late in a town that was fully booked because we hadn't realised that it was the ... read more

Galapagos wrapped up... It's been more than amazing to fulfill the childhood dream of visiting the Galapagos. Being here one can directly see the importance of conservation and regulation efforts. To play with and encounter such a unique variety of sea life, land life and birds has been an honour. On top of it, we were lucky to meet some fascinating travellers and lovely locals. As a reality check, between the both of us, we've had our share of stomach ills, flu/cold, wasp stings, other bites (not the marine iguanas, they're sweet), blisters, sprained thumb, and sleep deprivation. Like with everything in the world you take the good with the setbacks. Choose to see the beautiful and that's what you can experience. Next entry will list some of our finds for people travelling here that may ... read more

Well I am now in the Galapagos…this is a whole different experience than Quito. If I wrote this blog the first day I would have sounded a bit disheveled but now on my third day I think I have adjusted to the change. Getting off the plane and seeing the beautiful landscape of the Galapagos again was so exciting. I am staying on Santa Cruz Island with the Lopez’s. I apparently picked the hot season and it’s hot; VERY humid and the sun is crazy strong. Though after three days I think I am adjusting; I just have to relax into it. I bought a sun hat and try to walk very slow. J As for the family they are very nice and chill, though I do feel a bit misplaced at times. Not ... read more

We caught a flight to the Galapagos Islands at 1005. To our surprise, confusion and sheer delight we were issued tickets in first class. I could fly all day like that, but sadly it was a short 1 ½ hr. flight to travel the 600 miles off the shore of Ecuador to reach the islands. We arrived on Baltra Island, which is a small uninhabited barren island which basically only has the airport on it and nothing else. It was a US military base during WWII, and used to be home to a unique species of iguana that was eaten to extinction by feral dogs and hungry soldiers. After a short bus ride, We took a small boat crossing across the channel onto the main island of Santa Cruz, where we will be spending the next ... read more