We forgot to mention how the tour was set up. We did the ten day tour which has one night at either end in Quito. So eight days on the boat. There are 16 beds in the boat, and there were five of us on the ten day tour. The first few days the rest of the group were doing the six day tour, so halfway through the tour they went home and we had new group members who had booked a seven day tour. Our first tour group was awesome, we were all between 25-35 except for the parents of another girl in the group. There was a real mixture of nationalities and we all got along very well. The second lot consisted of a young American couple and both of their parents, plus older Canadian and English couples plus a young German girl. The Americans were quite hard to take, and therefore needless to say the first group suited us wayyyyy more. But our core ten day crew had a lot of fun on the tour.
Day 9: We went to the Charles Darwin Research Centre to see the new famous tortoise Diego, and all of the baby tortoises that they hatch and look after before releasing back on the islands. Even in the zoo-like research centre we could get pretty close to the tortoises!! We then walked around the biggest town, Puerto Ayora, looking at souvenirs and having some free time. We were then driven in a bus up to the highlands were we could see giant tortoises in the wild!! That was a pretty awesome experience!! Followed by a beer on the pier. Here we can buy 600 ml pilseners for about US$1.
Day 10: We were reluctantly combined with our new group for a walk around Rabida Island on the red sand beaches. Then back in the water for more snorkelling with more playful sea lions and saw another shark. After a quick boat ride we went for another walk along Bachas beach on Santa Cruz. This was a white sand beach named for the remains of barges sunken in the sand. There was a flamingo lagoon here, and we were surprised to be quite taken by the majesty of the flamingoes.
Day 11: Was spent on Floreana Island in Post Office Bay, where an old barrel is set up for a stamp-less mail system, so tourists can leave a postcard and the next group of tourists will see whether the addresses match where they are going and leave their own postcards, etc. We went snorkelling at Champion, which is an old volcanic crater submerged in the water, which is only newly open to snorkelling, and saw many many tropical fish. There was more snorkelling in the afternoon where the sea turtles were feeding off the algae on the rocks in large numbers.
Day 12: At Espanola island, a favourite of many of the guides, we saw heaps of sea lions, marine iguanas, both blue-footed and masked nazca boobies, albatross, lava lizards and even a Galapagos snake! Snorkelling yet again, an entire sea lion colony came to play in the water, and the landscape was spectacular with many caves in the cliffs by the water. So a great way to finish the tour.
Day 13: We left the Galapagos via San Cristobal Island, arriving back on land in Quito to a steady bed and nice long hot shower!
So now we have a few more days in Quito before our giant Quito to Rio tour begins on Friday!
Some Sam Facts for Days 6 - 13:
The facial features of ET were based on the Galapagos giant tortoise.
The booby is a type of gannet.
Tortoises could stay alive upside down with no food or water in a boat for up to a year, making the perfect sailor snack, but threatening their existence.
Hasta luego for now!
Xo
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