Galapagos Safari Camp Santa Cruz

... had a view of all of Quito, we also saw several Andean peaks poking up from behind the hills in which Quito is nestled. After the requisite pictures, we began our descent, thankfully arriving on terra firma safe and sound.
What we expected to be a 20-minute climb for some nice pictures turned out to be a 5-hour adventure.

Stay tuned for our next death-defying adventure! Next time, probably not in a church.

Hasta luego!

... 5pm, having spent 9 hours on the road. We stop fairly frequently, especially when the weather is good, as it was today, either to have a drink or a nibble of something. We have discovered jam in a squeezy bag, and very nice it is too, so lunch was bread and tuna, followed by bread and jam, and a couple of tangerines. dinner tonight was the Comida del dia which comprised of consomme soup (complete with chicken feet) and chicken with rice, chips (carb overload) and a bit ...

... have the 4 year-olds separated from the 5 year-olds. Apparently they breed them and keep them there until they are 5 or 6 as up until then their shells are too soft and they’re apt to be eaten. So far they’ve lost 5 or 6 turtle species to extinction, humans being the cause, and so the breeding farm was set up to increase their numbers.

One interesting thing is that there are 4 types ...

Charles Darwin Research Station - Santa Cruz Island
Highlands - Santa Cruz Island We are on Santa Cruz island - just seen lonesome george the giant tortuga - first night on the boat - its a little rough - saw a whale and then jumping stingrays and then walked amongst sea lions and iguanas. Weather is warm, people on the boat are great - plenty of food and tracey turned 40 today. Happy Birthday ! last internet cafe for probably 6 days. Still ...

... the whole family (Carlos, Nancy, Maria Jose, y Carla) - it was a crowded table. The meal consisted of chicken, rice, lentil beans, juice, and best of all a big bowl of popcorn in the center of the table (it was quite tasty). Carlos, as opposed to Nancy, insists on having us speak more in Spanish (Nancy is more quiet) so the conversation was interesting. I am doing better than I thought I would though as far as comprehension and speaking go (I can occasionally string ...

... in and went down, We saw turtles and then a dark shadow getting closer, a large hammer head swam past us. About half way through the dive there was a school of about 15 Hammerhead sharks swimming past and a hammer head behind, we swam after the sharks and got to 25 meters down. When we were at a shallower depth, sea lions swam around us coming ...

... lots of Iguanas. TO be honest i  didnt really know what they were antill i saw them, stacked up ontop of each other. Strange things. We then saw a blue footed booby, strange strange looking birds. After a swim at the lagoon we went back home and just hang out around their for the night. We finally got some normal food, burgers and chips, if i didnt i think i would have died. Then to bed, with our single sheet because it was so hot.

... all of you are welcome).

I bid this large piece of mother earth farewell. Itīs quite possible that I will never again bask in itīs stunning landscapes and unabashed revelry. The thought of that brings immediate sadness to my existence.

So, what is next for your humble narrator? First of all, I need to get back home and go to work before the bank decides to take away my house. I also need to return before Jess trades me in for a younger, more flightless bird ...

... were so empty for a Saturday night.
While driving down a narrow one-way street, we saw some hombres looking in the windows of the rows of tightly parked cars. This sent our already buzzing sense of culture shock into overdrive as the few people observing this did nothing to stop the guys who were blatantly looking for things to steal. When out of nowhere and certainly not near anything that resembled a place we would want to spend our first night in South ...

... they aren't really enclosed in pens or anything. They are in these huge 'corrals'. So essentially you walk through and they are just right there. Up close and personal. It is a very natural experience. The tortoises are truly massive - they come by the 'giant' prefix honestly. They are incredible to observe. Afterwards we went for a late breakfast in town, and then split up to do different things ...