Casa Del Lago Santa Cruz

... I can't keep ANY of them straight, let alone who's brothers with whom and the rest of the family lineage. There are four main family names on the island and its pretty tricky to get their family trees all straight. <br><br>Within the first weekend, we had a house party for a friend's birthday, where I met even more people and dont remember hardly any of them. I can't think of any other word than overwhelming. For the first time, I was in ...

... the brutal guards that were here to manage them.<br><br>By this time we had grown an appetite and were taken to a restaurant in town where we were provided with a very nice lunch. From the restaurant we walked to the town&#8217;s main beach, along sandy roads that are throughout the town and a beautiful looking beach it was. There were some nice surfing waves on one side and a sheltered bay on the other. We spoiled ourselves in the sunshine for an hour before heading back ...

... of Tears it was fascinating. At one point in Ecuador&#8217;s history the worst criminals, along with the toughest guards were sent to Isabella Island. Once here they made the prisoners carry heavy lava rock from all over and build a wall. Pointless work to keep them busy, but grueling and cruel as well. They were only given bread and water and were made to sleep on the ground. Many died and ...

... iguana tried desperately to get in the female&#8217;s pen. I swear she was taunting him as she stood just on the other side of the wire mesh, calmly watching his frenzied efforts. Afterwards we drove out to a farm where there were turtles everywhere; grazing alongside cattle or in random open fields. We walked around and Sebastian gave us fresh passion fruit, guava, and some other fruits he found in ...

... Anyway, at the charles darwin centre we saw Lonesome George, and to our surprised he was getting it on with another tortoise, this could be a very memeoriable day, except I dont know how often this happens. I do know it happened before producing infirtile eggs. Anway, we also saw some red iguanas, they looked pretty cool. We then went back and got on the boat, stopping for toilet breaks ...

... i mean still really cool, we saw lots of fish and tortoises but nothing too extreme. We had problems with one of the guys using up his air really fast, i mean really quick, so i think the dive was cut short. Anyway on the second dive a tortoise being cleaned by several fish came so so close to me, it was pretty amazing. Even more incredible was the group of 15 plus hammerhead sharks. You think you would be scared, but when ...

... order to try and fill the bus fully. We met a guy named Vinny from NYC (from now on, he will be named our cousin Vinny) that was traveling Ecuador with his surf board hitting all the spots in Ecuador and a girl named Cynthia who was a local. Cynthia negotiated the taxi rate for us to get to Puerto Ayora (a 45 min ride) and got us to our hotel from cheap. Driving through the center of Santa Cruz island, we passed through many ...

... Marine Iguanas, Blue Footed Boobies, and Tropical Penguins. We attempted to snorkel, but the conditions were poor. In our tour group was an Aussie couple that were just starting their 3rd around the world trip. We spent the night attempting to go beer for beer with the Aussies (bad idea) and playing pool at a beach-side bar with dirt floors and stumps for chairs. My kinda place. The next day we went to a research station for the Giant Tortoises. These things are the ...

... in front of me. At dusk, I headed back to the room and wrote some postcards on the balcony. It was a lovely evening, with a nice cooling breeze coming off the water, and the calming sound of breaking waves in the near distance. Our room was rustic, and there were various creatures that made themselves welcome there. Namely, a massively big and scary looking spider, which luckily stayed in the same ...

... to go home...but I do want to BE home. Journal entry: The Galapagos has been a moving experience for me; the privilege of coming into the world of these animals, being surrounded by them all the time, the sun, the drama of the landscapes. I don't know how any tropical natural experience can ever not exist in the shadow of this one. It hurts me to leave. Thank you Ecuador for a great adventure!