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Published: February 16th 2015
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Hi all
The past week, was our grand finale,a 7 day trip to the Galapagos. I've been most excited about this part, as I've been wanting to go ever since I heard that such a place existed. And it didn't disappoint!
We covered 4 islands during our trip. We arrived first to San Cristobal island, getting there by flight. Fortunately this flight was uneventful, unlike our arrival to Quito. The flight itself took 3 hrs, and when we arrived at the island, a bus took us to our first activity, biking down from the highlands, approximately 12km to a beach to do some wildlife spotting.I have to say, having not ridden a bike in over 12 years, I was a bit anxious about this. But after a few minutes, and setting my own pace (right at the back), i was fine. Until torrential rain commenced. Due to the heat, there was a mixture of rain splashing back off the tarmac, and water vapour rising from the ground as well, making visibility difficulty. Lucky for me, Ross kept waiting for me and keeping me company during the ride, and we both arrived safely (and
soaked) at the beach. There we were fortunate to observe sea lions playing in the tide, and a sealion kindergartens waiting for their mothers to return. They were ultra cute.
The next day we went on a boat excursion to snorkel at Kicker Rock, first stopping at one of the shorelines to spot marine iguanas, pelicans and blue footed boobies. We had a practice run with our snorkelling gear at the shore first,before making our way to the snorkel sight. We were extremely fortunate that day, the conditions were conductive to green pacific turtle mating, so we saw hundreds along the panama current, on our way. Then when we got into the water,we actually saw some swimming and were able to go fairly close to them!The best part however (and the most scary), was when we saw hammerhead sharks (at least 4) and galapagos sharks (many) swimming below. Being in a panicked excitment, I accidentally turned off my water proof camera for the hammerhead sharks, rather than taking a photo, but our wonderful guide managed to get some footage, and has kindly given me copy, for anyone who would like to let me show off
to when we get back!it was amazing!As someone who is too scared to wade out in the sea, out of fear of sharks, i'm so proud of myself for not freaking out about it, and letting it affect future snorkeling experience later in the trip!
The next day, we took a ferry to Isabella Island, stopping a Floreana Island to do some more snorkeling and see the Christmas marine Iguanas. During the snorkeling, although the water was rather murky, we saw a huge green pacific turtle, as well as an assortment of fish. We spent another 2 days on Isabella island, and did a multitude of activities, including hiking up the Sierra Negra Volcano (where we saw lava tunnels), snorkeling, visiting a giant tortoise breeding center, spotting wild flamingos, a tintoreras excursion, kayaking and seeing the wall of tears. The water was a lot clearer here, and we saw some rays (diamond and eagle), different types of star fish, some pufferfish (and other fish) and sea cucumbers, as well as snorkeling with Galapagos penguins and sea lions.
The last island we stayed at was Santa Cruz, where we stayed for
a day and a half, including valentines day! One excursion, was to Tortuga bay, where we went swimming along the shoreline, with baby black tipped reef sharks swimming around us in the shallow waters (evidence that my fears are not completely irrational!) In the afternoon we went to the highlands, to spot giant tortoises in the wild. That evening, we had a lovely meal of tuna steak. It was an il romantico place to spend valentines day together. (Speaking of food, lobster is freely and cheaply available here, so I have been eating lots of that, as well as yellow finned tuna and wahu. The meals have been so good!) The next morning, we went to visit the Charles Darwin Research Center, before heading back to Quito.
We will be in Quito for a further two days before heading back home, so this is our final blog post. I can't believe how quickly this trip has gone by! Thanks to all who have been keeping up to date on our travels, I hope you have enjoyed partaking in our journey as much as we have.
See you when we get
back!
Xxx
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