Hotel Fernandina Puerto Ayora

... van CIMEI op loslopende honden patrol en toen hebben we ook een mama poes en 5 hele jonge katjes weggehaald bij een boerderij. Ze waren zo lief, maar mijn hart brak alweer aan de gedachten dat ze maar 7 dagen bij CIMEI ondergebracht mogen worden en als ze dan geen nieuw baasje hebben ze de diertjes afmaken. Klinkt een beetje hard afmaken, maar zo is het echt. Nix spier relaxer hier, gelijk een spuit in het hart. Heb dat Rita (de dierenarts) een paar keer zien ...

... hitting the boat the water splashing everywhere. One of the wave was so strong that the back boat“s wood plank was blown into the ocean !!! Now we can“t wash up outside after snorkeling :( A few poor passenger was vomiting the whole time off the boat. The only wasy I survived this ordeal is lying flat and had my eyes closed while imaging that I am in a crib and getting rocked to sleep.

We arrived at Puerto Ayora at the southern part ...

Finally after about 2 weeks I got my visa registered, my censo Ecuadorian ID and most importantly my INGALA permit for the Galapagos. I said goodbye to my family in Los Chillos who has housed me so graciously through all my comings and goings the last two weeks. I hope they will take me up on staying at my house in the U.S. if they go anytime soon. To fly from Quito to Guayaquil then on to Baltra only takes a few hours and I am always amazed at how quickly I can all of a sudden ...

... of marine iguanas. These harmless creatures evolved in the Galapagos from land iguanas, swapping their original food sources for algae in the sea (the only food available for them on the islands). They developed a swimming tail and are able to dive to 15m for food. Watching them walk in and out of the water while laying on the beach was an unreal experience.

They must however be better swimmers than the locals. The beach ...

... they’re having the time of their lives!

When we got back we changed quickly for our next adventure, mountain biking to the Wall of Tears. A quick lunch in a local place and we headed for our bikes. On the way we stopped to see a flamingo standing solo in the lagoon...

The bike ride was challenging with all of us pedaling as hard as we could in various races. Apparently ...

... saw Land and Sea Iguanas, Darwin Finches, Pelicans, Frigate birds, Penguins, Herons, Crabs, Blue footed Boobies, Red footed Boobies(Matts favorite just for the comedy value of their name), Red billed tropic birds, Galapagos short eared owl and Giant land tortoise to name just a few. Matt also got to snorkel where he saw lots of beautiful fish, sharks, lobsters, rays, sea snakes, penguins and best of all a green turtle. So Matt didn't miss out on the turtles after all ...

Saturday 9th May - Saturday 16th May

The second big event of our South American tour was upon us - the Galapagos. Angela and I had been to see the Darwin exhibition at London's Natural History Museum a few months back, and had marvelled at his observations and the path towards his revelatory but controversial theory of evolution. The Galapagos voyage he had taken 200 years ago was instrumental in sparking his curiosity and asking those fundamental questions ...

... you, negotiation is very acceptable in Galapagos (like all of South America). I need to go to Galapagos to get additional education, they worked me! We walked the streets of Puerto Ayora (main town of Galapagos and only town in Santa Cruz) upon arrival and found a great 85 foot sailboat dive boat called the Sea Cloud and the Nautilus that we booked our dives with. The Sea Cloud-Nautilus was very nice. We finished the day with ...

... thinking it was 7) to catch a taxi to a farm in the highlands. There we rode a horse (my first time) around the rim of a volcano that helped give birth to the Galapagos. It“s Africa hot here, and the lunch under a shade tree on the volcano rim was badly needed. Jon“s horse must have been the alpha male, because anytime my horse tried to pass his, it would bite or kick my little guy. Almost tossing me to the ground, rodeo clown style. The afternoon was spent on a boat seeing ...

... upcrop of rocks out a good bit from one of the islands. I was swimmin along when a sea lion appeared in the distance and started swimmin towards me , stopped bout 3 feet away and was lookin me up and down ,I didnt kno what to do then he just took off down under me and I opened my legs and he swam straight through twas class could see him in the distance doing all these complicated rolls and twists UNREAL. We saw hammerhead sharks on our second last snorkel. It ...