Red Mangrove Isabela Lodge

... blue jugs that can be delivered to your house for a small fee at inadequate time intervals so it is not dependable nor well treated or tested either. And yet, the government hasnt tackled this problem and the people have so little cooperative ethic that there has been no movement to unite or work together. People just continue to use plastic bottles which get dumped in the "landfill" which is not actually a landfill but a road along which there is trash.<br><br>Leaving UNC Chapel ...

... and sometimes hit the ocean hard after it had risen on a steep wave. The result was a boat full of sick passengers. We managed somehow to keep intact my amazing breakfast but there were several passengers who didn't keep theirs, they all had sick bags fortunately.<br><br>As we arrived at Puerto Villamil in Isabella the sun seemed to come to life again. Puerto Villamil is a very small port of just a few hundred people but the bay itself is quite beautiful with ...

... tiburons (sharks) rest before they go out to sea and start feeding. The landscape was gorgeous with the black lava rocks, green mangrove and aqua sea all around. When we got to where the sharks were it was incredible. There must have been about 10 white-tip sharks circling in a narrow little channel right below us. Sea iguanas covered the walls so that when you got close the wall seemed to ...

... Victoria. BUT FIRST... we have some time to spend in Ecuador, so Matt decided to splash out and take the opportunity to visit the Galapagos Islands doing a 5 day tour on a boat. Unfortunately Helen could not justify the expense of the Galapagos and decided to go and spend a week at a beautiful Hostel set in the tranquil Mountains around the famous market town of Otavalo, and make the most of some time in one place for more than 2 or 3 days. Matts trip to the Galapagos ...

... all of our dumb questions and even asked us some of her own (¨Why do you both have such light color skin and hair¨) haha. Our first stop was the Flamingo lake....we were lucky enough to see about 10 or so and snapped a ton of photos....and also learned that when they are not in the Galapagos they fly all the way to California for 2 months and come back! Pretty cool. We had the rest of the afternoon as free time so we headed to a small peir to watch the ...

JOE says: What a week where to start. Wel it certainly lived up to expectations even Catrionas now thats sayin something. On our first day we went to visit giant turtles and man they wernt lyin they were huge twas crazy u could just walk over to them. Took some photos of the guide and Catriona beside them, the guide looked tiny beside them. Apparently they can live to at least 150 years (it pays to take it easy). The next few days we saw loads of birds and ...

... I am working Monday to Friday mornings at the Giant Tortoise Breeding Centre. Work involves cleaning the enclosures and feeding. Tortoises get surprisingly lively when the food comes round! We have also been to collect the food once (we went by truck up into the hills, stopped by the side of the road, the staff cut the vegetation with machetes and we loaded it onto the truck). Another day we painted ...

... very wide, but seemed to have no purpose - more research needed by me here I think. We then made tracks back, stopping off at the Mirador (viewpoint) where we had stunning views of the bottom part of the island - just acres of uninhabited land leading up to the volcanoes. We also found a crystal clear lagoon, so a quick paddle was in order. We all made it back in one piece, and with a quick glance backwards even caught a great sunset.

... especially as I has to spend the rest of the morning in soggy undies. There are about 800 tortoises - from teeny weeny babies the size of my finger, to the grand old giants who are 100+ years old and big enough that I could fit in their shells (I´m not showing that photo!) - and they introduce several hundred a year back into the wild.

On Saturday morning we (Mike, Lucy, Rolf and I) took a trip with Adolfo (our host) to two of the volcanoes on Isabela. The fist part of the journey was through the lush green forests and farms where bananas, papaya and avocado grow. We then set off on foot for a good 2 hour trek up past Sierra Negra and Volcane Chico. There´s 6 volcanoes on Isabela and apparently all ...