Galapagos Islands

Ok, so Kristin caved to the enormous pressure and we´ve now been to the Galapagos Islands. It was one of those "now or never" type things, so we took the plunge.

It all started with a flight from Guayaquil on Monday morning...

We touched down on Darwin´s undiscovered archipelago...with about three or four hundred other intrepid travellers (mostly white, rich seniors). The airport is small and is the only thing on Isla Baltra. From there it was 1.5 hours by bus, boat and another bus to Puerto Ayora on Isla Santa Cruz where we missed lunch (thanks to the handy tip from our travel agent to take the later flight) onboard our trusty, "economy class" vessel, Yate Gaby I. Our boat was filled with white, poor, young people like us, which was nice. Our first stop was to see the Giant Tortoises of Santa Cruz. They truly are giants, and are completely unfazed by the multitude of tourists traipsing around their field. Amazing!!

I won´t bore you all with a blow by blow account of every adventure, but some of the highlights were definitely snorkeling with penguins and sea turtles, sitting for hours watching the sea lion pups on the beach about 2 feet from us, amazing volcanic landscapes, and imitating our guide (Wilmer) as he whispered information to anyone close enough to hear (Ad, you would have had a field day...). Some of the downsides were the bathroom, the stench in the bathroom, the fact that we shared a bathroom with people who couldn´t remember to unlock the door to the bathroom, and the bathroom.

I had really wanted to see the famous Blue Footed Boobies up close, but somehow it wasn´t included in our itinerary, but as luck would have it, we had an extra day to kill at the end of our trip, so Kristin and I went to the beach and what to our wondering eyes should appear?? Two blue footed boobies, who were quite happy to pose for as many pictures as I could bear to take. You all will get to see the pics when we return!! At the same beach we saw enough marine iguanas to last a lifetime.

Oh and the stupidest thing we have seen someone carrying in his backpack so far...a thirty pound dumbbell. Come on...

Tomorrow we are taking the 24 hour bus to Lima. We think we may have booked the Inca Trail/Machu Picchu for November 18th, but we won´t know for sure until Tuesday. So far our timing is placing us in Bolivia just in time for their riotous elections being held the first week of December. Great.

Hope everyone is well at home...
Cam and Kristin