Hotel Tortuga Bay Puerto Ayora

... the world and had their stories to tell. Some were just starting out on big trips like ours whilst the journey for others was coming to the end. Gilbert – the solitary Frenchman - appeared to be suffering from a mild version of locked-in syndrome on this English- speaking boat by the end of the trip. He did, however, have a very particular wardrobe. Dressed in yellow shirts, blue shorts and red socks, he bore a striking resemblance to the Ecuadorian flag!

... We weren't too bothered about Garapatoa, but Santa Fe could be good, we saw plenty of sea life as we were passing to and from San Cristobal a few days earlier. We all found a spot to sit, the drone of the boats engines constant.<br><br>I knew we had arrived at Santa Fe even before the island came into sight and the boats engines began to slow because I was looking out into the everlasting void of the sea and all of a sudden a huge fish leapt about 3 feet ...

... had a lunch at the menu de dia place around the corner and then headed for Tortuga Bay. We had eyed a poster offering an apartment for $250 per month which caused us to hesitate and reconsider our plans but when we phoned we found that it was occupied. I took a photo of the number so we could consider returning one day.<br><br>On the way to Tortuga Bay Jody bumped into one of the ...

... although as I looked out over the endless ocean as we passed Santa Fe island I saw a huge fish jump clean out of the water about 3 or 4 feet in the air, and then plunge back in. There is certainly an abundance of sea life here.<br><br>We arrived in Santa Cruz around 9-30am and headed back to our apartment, it was exactly as we had left it. We spent the day catching up with journals, watching some films, had a wonderful lunch at the restaurant around the corner and just chilled out ...

Today was an extremely early start, up at 4-30am, we were catching a 5am bus to the other side of the island, near where the airport was, where we were catching a boat called "Posieden", not a name that entirely filled me with excitement. We arrived at the boat just before 6am and set off north in the direction of Bartolome. The reason that it would take 3 hours to get there became evident very quickly, the boat chugged along probably at about 5 knots which was the opposite extreme ...

... of the island. I was glad we packed our raincoats. The taxi dropped us off at the start of a dirt track and told us that El Chato was 5 minutes along the road, most of which was downhill. Off we went but it was not long before we realized that Niamh&#8217;s bike did not have rear brakes, and the front brakes didn&#8217;t work at all very well especially in the wet. Niamh was very upset since she couldn&#8217;t control her speed and so I had to grab hold of her arm to slow her ...

... It bashed around the boat for a minute or two before Carlos managed to get it into a container and out of view. He put the line back in the water and a minute or two later hauled in a smaller fish. That was the final catch and we sped up returning to port around 3pm. <br><br>After a quick change at our apartment we went around to our friendly tour operator and she hired us some bikes for the rest of the afternoon. Normally bikes cost ...

... on the boat and read her book.<br><br>At Las Grietas we swam for a while and then some of the other guests were lured by the urge to jump in from the gorge edges. One of them took to diving from a fair height and one went to the very top of the gorge and jumped in. The splash sounded very painful. Again I had to deny Jody and Niamh&#8217;s urge to jump in. I later talked with the guy who jumped from the top. His credibility increased when I was told that ...

... station but we were told it was closed. We opted to return to our apartment. We went off later looking for another place to eat, Jody, Niamh and I wanted something different to the menu de dia&#8217;s. We found a place selling Hamburgers for $4, which included fries and drink, and was a very large burger. Christie was not interested and decided to go somewhere else nearby for a menu de dia. We joined up later and went back to the apartment. We had cable tv, and Cool Hand Luke was on.

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 ...