Blogs from Galápagos, Ecuador, South America - page 99

The flight didn't seem long & the view of the islands was awesome with views of the beaches, dark blue water & cluster of islands. One thing that was a little bit frightning was the runway was short & the plane went all the way to the end, making a turn to go back up for the complete stop! For a few seconds it looked like we would end up in the ocean! We did land safely on SAN CRISTOBAL ISLAND. The airport was very small & we found the area to check in for our specific ship. The people that checked us in were our naturalist guides. All people waited in the same place no matter where you were going and it consisted of a open roof area with long benches. We were picked up ... read more

What an amazing place! Our trip to the Galapagos has more than exceeded our expectations. We had debated long and hard about the expense of this trip but it turned out to be worth every penny. The week was spent onboard the Aida Maria, cruising around the islands. Our guide was a local and also a qualified marine biologist, who was very knowledgeable and had an uncanny ability to make the wildlife ‘perform’ for us. Every day we were blown away by close encounters with the wildlife, which before this trip would have seemed unbelievable. We experienced enough in this week to take near enough 600 photos!! Unfortunately we can’t fit them all on our blog! On our first day we visited Ochoa beach and went swimming. In the water we saw turtles and some friendly ... read more

#3- The Galapagos Islands- Thursday, September 1, 2005 Welcome to my new journal. This is my first entry for travelblog.org however it is my third journal entry since I began travelling in South America on August 4th. In the future I may add my 2 old entries to the travelblog in order to have a complete set. The Galapagos Islands…where do I start? How can I explain in words what must be experienced to be believed? It is truly a world of its own. It is so different from anything else that it will be difficult to describe. Here goes nothing… I organised my tour from Quito with a friend I met in the hostel El Centro del Mundo. Andrew and I walked the streets of the Mariscal Sucre area of Quito (a.k.a. Gringo Central) in ... read more

Back on main island again briefly today to visit the Darwin Research Station, where they keep the giant tortoises (and boy were they giant, apart from the babies, some of which were very small). Boring for you maybe, but I need a record of what I´ve seen. Now let me think: When first arrived at harbour to go to boat, sea lions and pelicans all lying around/standing on peoples´boats. Funny black seagulls. Then we went somewhere, an island, and on land for lots more sea lions (always one lying on the jetty as you approach), many feeding. Blue footed boobies, saw a female take over from a male in incubating the eggs but they didn´t "dance". They had no fear of us. Lots of red and blue crabs, the young ones are black. Then, some snorkelling. ... read more

After difficulty waking (Ana) up the next morning, we headed out to South Plaza Island. Ana (and Carlos, of course) napped on the bus and on the boat (good thing the boat had eight beds). Jorge was marginally easier to understand this time around as the group somehow convinced him to give explanations in Spanish at least part of the time. His behavior, though, was perplexing. Especially for a trained guide in the Galápagos National Park. Our group was enjoying the walk along South Plaza Island. The foliage formed a red carpet over much of the island. Cactus, land iguanas, and sea lions were plentiful. Then Jorge started explaining a bit about the land iguanas´diet. They eat the reddish vegetation and supplement their diet with cactus (for water). The iguanas do not climb and must wait ... read more