Hotel San Vicente Isabela

... coming to "fix" things, and then leaving after a year, at which point they have either gotten nowhere, or leave without the means to continue the project in the hands of the locals. Complete lack of community and empowerment. Every here and there, there are conscientious people, who know that this exists. But even they don't know how to unite and over the years, have rescinded to their own home and maybe making a change on the personal level but nothing bigger or widespread ...

... are protected. They are kept in cages here until they are about 5 years old to keep them protected from livestock and predators that are not natural to these islands. It was also interesting to know that you cannot tell the sex of them until they are at least twelve years old and sometimes as late as twenty years old. They can live to one hundred and fifty years old. The shelter here had a wide variety of ages, it was a very interesting visit.<br><br>Our last visit before ...

... out of the ocean. <br><br> When we got back to the boat we learned we were going to snorkel with the sharks. Our captain was sure we&#8217;d see sharks although Sebastian said there was no guarantee. It&#8217;s funny, I have never had a single moments desire to swim with sharks, in fact I&#8217;m pretty sure I&#8217;ve spent my whole life actively avoiding it. But sitting there all suited ...

... fixed and the plane was being refueled. The passengers then watched as aviation fuel spilled out of the wing and all over the ground around the plane. People seemed to get a little more worried but were happy to put their faith in the air crew. Soon the plane taxied onto the runway and more fuel spilled out of the wing onto the runway. For some people(mostly Spanish tourists) this was the final straw and Matt became caught up in a mutiny. All very exciting! Some of the ...

... Base during WW II in efforts to protect Panama. We paid our $100 fee to the Galapagos National Park and boarded a bus to take us to a ferry. Baltra only has an airport and military personnel. From the ferry, we crossed the Bachas Channel and boarded another bus. But after sitting on the bus for 15 minutes in hot, hot weather,,,we decided to get a taxi instead. The bus was waiting for the next ferry in 100 degree temps ...

... s (Rum and Coke) and a sunset. Never have I seen the sun so close as I did in the Galapagos, the stars seemed even closer, as they shot throughout the heavens every 3-5 seconds. I guess it´s the lack of human interaction with the land and a cloudless night that allowed us to witness such amazing beauty. You are really going to hate me after seeing these pictures. The rum was flowing fast and free that night which set up the next day for a tiny headache. We wake up at ...

... has become very tame. Her name is Ingrid (number 14) and she hangs around near the gate of her enclosure. You knock on her shell and she then sticks her head out to be stroked! Working hours are 8 - 11:30 am. The afternoon is free to have a siesta, swim, snorkel, etc! The Galapagos are famous for their wildlife. Because they don´t have any natural predators the animals tend to be very tame. There are lots ...

... a giant water feature, with bridges, formed by the lava and clear calm water. No swimming is allowed as it's a breeding ground but we saw very quite a few turtles just swimming around without a care in the world. We then moved onto the snorkelling area and had to do a small amount of rock clambering to get into the water. Once in, we were lucky enough to find white tipped ...

... frigate birds - the males have a striking red chest when mating, the blue footed boobies which I never managed to get a good photo of, penguins, pelicans, see lions, rays and plenty of other marine life. The water was a bit cold that day, so my snorkelling was a bit limited.

... to see anything. The landscape around Volcan Chino was something very weird - just volcanic rocks of different colours. You could see clearly the layers of lava and holes and tunnels had appeared. The view once we were at the top was spectacular - looking north, you could see both coasts of Isabela. There was also a fumarole where hot air was coming out - very weird.