Hotel Silberstein Puerto Ayora

... place and didn't know how to tackle the challenge of "settling in." I also live in an interesting mix of gringo/galapagueno interaction. In the past, I have thrown myself into a completely new town and been the only gringa and figured out how to fit in. But here, there are always gringo's to use as a crutch and it was hard for a long time to figure out this crossroads.<br><br>My first few days, and even weeks, consisted of a lot of cleaning ...

At the risk of repetition, this place is amazing. We are running seriously short of superlatives for this blog now.<br><br>We arrive in Quito abou 9pm last night after 11 hours of planes, via Santiago and Guayaquil (also in Ecuador). Asked for upgrades at start and when we changed planes but they don't really have business class, just a couple of rows of 'premium ecomony'- in this case the same seats with no more legroom. Staff all very nice and congratulatory tho.<br><br>So we got ...

... where the other boats were. &#8220;Snorkel here&#8221;, our guide said. Without hesitation Christie and I were in, Jody and Niamh hesitated and stayed on-board for a while.<br><br> I swam a little way back towards the sharks we had seen staying close to the rocks and came across schools of fish, parrot fish, king angel fish, ,mackerel. Christie had swum in the opposite direction and I looked up to see her beckon me. Jody, by this time, had put on his snorkeling ...

... teacher was a volunteer teacher from Munich, Germany, and spoke some English which was handy. When I spoke with the Principal, she indicated that they were looking for a volunteer PE teacher, and was I interested. I have a background as a kids soccer coach, teaching kids from 5 to18 so I knew I could do it, but my Spanish really wasn&#8217;t much good. It&#8217;s really tempting.<br><br>I left them at school, before I left Jody was already ...

... the port. Next to the port was a wooden manmade walkway that made its way though mangroves to another sheltered bay. A line of rocks filtered the waves about 400 metres away and this left calm and crystal clear bay. On the walkway we had met a friendly sea lion lounging across the path. We all went in for a snorkel but after a while Jody and Niamh went back to the sea lion to play with her.<br><br>It was at this time that a couple of guys in our group alerted us to a sea turtle ...

... on us if we weren´t paying enough attention while he was talking (he insinuated to a couple at one point that 2 recent drowings in the Galapagos were likely due to the pair ´kissy, kissy´ while the briefing was occuring and naturally fell overboard as a result of their inattention...). LOL<br><br>Aside from that though the trip was great, good, unusual at times and sometimes also a bit boring - so we covered all ...

... find the way in which you yourself<br>have altered. -Nelson MandelaI like noticing the little things that haven´t changed, and the ones that have. And especially the things that I hardly noticed 2 years ago and now being back realize how much I liked them, such as...<br>-mentholated caramelos (Jaazz especially)<br>-chifles<br>-choclo con queso (corn on the cob with a slab of salty mozzarella cheese, best when bought on a long distance bus) &lt;actually i always knew i loved this ...

... wall still stands as a testament to their effort. After the bike ride we showered and then met for dinner. Kurt and Becky had teased us all week that we weren&#8217;t going to make it for the full 6 months of our trip, so we took a choking picture on the wall for them. <br><br>Tomorrow is our last day of adventure on the Galapagos Islands. Our plan is to meet early, 7am for breakfast and ...

... the areas where the turtle farms are and lots of lush green wooded areas. It was very beautiful. There is only one main road on Santa Cruz that goes from the north part of the island to the south part and taxis go back and forth on this road. The Red Mangrove hotel was beautiful. Mangroves surrounding the hotel, creating a perfectly shaped walkway entrance on a boardwalk to the hotel. The mangroves gres through many of the ...

... thing I will ever experience to being with dinosaurs. Spielberg based his character, ET, after seeing these things in person. We also got to witness a failed reproduction attempt, and the noises made by the male turtles were beyond comical. The afternoon was spent visiting the remnants of an old lava rock Ecuadorian prison nick-named ¨The Wall of Tears¨. In the early 1930s criminals were sent to this island to carry-out there sentences in absolutely inhumane conditions ...