Hostal Mainao Inn Puerto Ayora

... The house was not exactly well-kept. My room and bathroom had not been lived in for months so there was cleaning necessary there. And the kitchen had evidences of mice on the counters every day, as well as ants. Plus the floor was (and still is) and endless source of accumulating sand and dirt. Living across the dirt road from the beach leads to this sort of thing.<br><br>For a while, teaching was another source of feeling very inadequate ...

... the airport in minutes- most efficient plane to taxi time ever- and went to hotel as organised by Gap, the people with whom we're doing Galapagos. We were a bit worried about hotel cos it's in the new town and Lonely Planet says that's a bit dodgy, but it turns out we were in one of the swankiest places in the new town. Okay, so there's a bit of faded grandeur about it but to us at the moment it's luxury.<br><br>Checked in, got given Gap kit bags and souvenir tshirts, and went to hotel ...

... and jumped in swimming close to the guide. When I caught up with Christie she was looking down at three sharks, about 3 or 4 feet long, sleeping on the sea bed. I duck dived to get a closer look and take some pictures with the underwater camera. I disturbed them and they started to swim, staying close to the sea bed. They didn&#8217;t swim too fast so it was possible to keep up with them for a while. Jody and the guide also joined us, and I could visibly see ...

... and I swam over and sure enough we swam along with the turtle in the crystal clear water. I tried to snap some pictures with the underwater camera we had bought Jody. We were there about 30 minutes before it was time to go back to the port and home to Santa Cruz.<br><br>The trip back was no less arduous and the trip over but at least we were better prepared for it this time. Somehow Christie, Jody and Niamh managed to sleep a little, I just watched the horizon and ...

... The route focused on the south - eastern islands - Santa Cruz, Santa Fe, San Cristobal, Española, Floreana and back to Santa Cruz to visit the Charles Darwin research centre. While the typical day followed a structure along the lines of: sail through the night, breakfast, excursion to an island to visit wildlife, back to the boat for morning tea/lunch, a rest, a snorkelling excursion, afternoon tea, a rest, dinner ...

... and still do!<br>-$1 CD´s<br>-$1 coins, 50 cent coins, and coins being worth something in general<br>-panaderias, pan de casa, galletas de casa<br>-Amor wafers, Galak white chocolate, Cloret gum, Coquiero ice creams, and of course Magnum´s<br>-fresh flowers<br>-BonIce and the people in jump suits that sell them to you out the window of a bus<br>-TeleAmazonas and the novelas!<br>-Liga jerseys and futbol canchas everywhere<br><br>so many things its hard to write them because you ...

... we&#8217;ll hike up to the the Sierra Negra volcano, the second largest crater in the world and an 8 mile hike. It&#8217;s supposed to be rainy at times, misty and really muddy, so it should be interesting!<br><br>July 12, 2009<br><br>Day 9: We woke up early to go for a hike up to the second largest crater in the world. It was a 7 mile hike and parts of it were really muddy. The terrain changed ...

... and fresh ocean breeze blew through the hotel that felt amazing. It was well shaded and a great choice of hotels. Despite considering myself a good negotiator, I think that I paid almost 1.5x to 2x what was required for this hotel. I negotiated for three weeks and never got them to come down on price. Our local friend Cynthia informed us that the hotel´s normal rates are much less than what I paid. Despite what anyone ...

... 600 people in a 200x200 foot square, 100 degrees plus, moving huge lava stones all day. Most of the prisoners died within a few months, and the locals say you can hear them weeping at night if you camp around the remains of the wall. The following day we took another water taxi to the main Galapagos Island, Santa Cruz. The morning was spent watching the turtles in their natural habitat, and the afternoon was spent snorkeling in fantastic conditions. Visibility was more ...