At last some time for an update.... Who said that travelling was easy. 2 weeks on the road and we feel like we've been away for months and we're already dreaming of spending a day of doing nothing :) I must say that waking up at 5.30 every morning in the jungle wasn't exactly resting ! But more about that later on.

We're now back in Quito and it is time to tell you all about our fantastic trip in the Galapagos. You will already have seen the pic : this place is heaven. For the first time in our life that we got to see truly deserted islands : on most of the islands that form the Galapagos Archipelago, there are no human presence.... only colonies of strange & colourful animals which incredibly are not scared by humans (birds included !).

Over 3 days we visited 4 islands (Isla Batra, Santa Cruz, Espanola and Floreana) on board of a amazing yacht (with 14 other people). Because GAP adventures messed up slightly with the dates of our trip , they upgraded us and we ended up on a luxurious boat, with fantastic sea view, incredible meals and an amazing crew treating us like royalty.... Needless to say that we didn't complain. But as a result, the slight drawback was that our travel companions were on average 80 years old and incredibly wealthy (judge, plastic surgeon, doctor...etc). Even though a few of them were a real laugh, there was a bit of a gap between most of them and us and we had to put on our best behaviour (Andy's table manners were impeccable…shame about the brummie accent..:). A typical dinner conversation turned around Napoleon's exile, the fox hunting ban & the drug problem of the working classes !

But more about the Islands : everyday we saw and learned so much. During our trips on each island we were accompanied by a naturalist guide, native from the Islands & passionate about the Galapagos. His knowledge about the flora and fauna was enormous. Everywhere we looked there was an animal, insect, fish, bird, reptile we had never seen before. But the highlights of our trip were undoubtedly the snorkelling. On our first day in the Galapagos, our guide took us to a small deserted lagoon with white sand and crystal blue water, and as soon as we jumped in the water we got surrounded by playful seals and huge sting rays. That was magical !!!The seals were like inquisitive puppies, biting our flippers, copying our swimming movements, whizzing all over the place, every time closer and closer. We played together for an hour until we got forced out of the water by the crew.

Our second snorkelling experience was slightly more scary but equally enjoyable. Our guide took us to the Devil's crown : a volcanic formation in the middle of the sea in the shape of a crown. Inside we discovered a bed of corals, a huge variety of colourful fishes & starfishs, some turtles and....sharks ! There was a big one around the crown but we missed him, too busy trying to take pictures of each other near colourful fishes ! ... on the other hand we saw some small sharks resting under the rocks. The real scare ended up being the sea current that was so strong that it took us by surprise twice, carrying us away in the open sea. In both occasions the guide had to come and rescue us with the dingie!

All in all, a beautiful place & a magical experience that is difficult to put into words, but hopefully the photos say it all. We still have some amazing giant turtles pic to download but haven’t yet got round doing it. Will do soon in the next week or so :)!