The Galapagos has been a fantastic experience and a privilege.

At the airport in Guayaquil we bumped into the French Canadian couple (Retrand and Sylvie) who we met in Banos.

They had not booked a hotel on the island of Santa Cruz as they had only decided to go the day before so Ian and I said we would take them to our hostel once we had landed and they could leave their bags in our room whilst they looked for a place.

This was the start of a great 6 days together!

Once we had got through customs and security at Baltra airport we all jumped on the bus to Puerto Ayora where we then got a cab to our hostel where we had booked a twin room for two nights (Ian had booked longer, and I decided to wing it and see what other places were available once I was there).

By luck, Kevin (the owner of our hostel) contacted a lovely man called Che Che who had a 2 bed apartment available a couple of blocks from where we were.

Kevin then took us all for a free introductory walk around town - this was really helpful as we were recommended good places to eat, agents to use and where basics like public loos and supermarkets were.

After our walk we had something to eat (amazing fish for me) and booked a tour for the next day to the island of San Cristobal before going back to our hostels for the evening.

SAN CRISTOBAL

Our trip to San Cristobal was magical and really well organised.

We picked Retrand and Sylvie up and headed to the dock where a taxi ferry took us to our boat for the 2 hour ride to the Island.
The boat was packed and it was a pretty choppy but fun ride and we were excited for our tour which would consist of hikes, snorkeling, time at the beach and lunch.

At the ferry dock as soon as you come off the ferry sea lions roam around and laze on tourist benches in the shade. At one point a rather large sea lion took a liking (or disliking!) to me and chased me down the street. Those things can really move when they want to and I was really glad to be on land rather than in the water where it would have caught me for sure!

Our day on San Cristobal is one I will always remember and appreciate.

The landscapes and animals were everything you imagine the Galapagos to be. Azure seas crashing on to cobalt black lava rocks and gently caressing coconut textured sand with flecks of white, black and honey, cliffs of lava with sea birds diving off them, black iguanas posing on lava bolders while bright orange crabs scuttle from place to place or bask in the sun.

Add to this tiny lizards, huge dragon flies, families of sea lions and sea turtles to swim with and you have a magical place that leaves you feeling in wonder and awe.

Lunch was delicious fresh fish and orange juice, after which we went to the lagoon. We did not get to see it really as by then the weather had turned and a fine mist of rain had descended. After walking up a long slippy hill I decided to enjoy the lack of view from the top and then head back to the bus!

After the boat ride back Ian and I had dinner in town and then went to bed in readiness for a day exploring Santa Cruz with Sylvie and Retrand.

DARWIN CENTRE & TORTUGA BAY on SANTA CRUZ

Having been told that the animals are fed from 7:30am on Friday mornings I was keen to get there before 8:30am so I could watch. Having dropped my stuff off at Che Che's (Sylvie, Retrand and I would be flatmates for the rest of their stay as we shared the apartment and I took the second double room for the fantastic price of $20 a night!) Retrend and Sylvie were waiting for the washing machine to finish so Ian and I headed out to the Darwin Centre and said we would meet up outside the centre with Sylvie and Retrend later.

The Darwin centre was small but lovely. Giant tortoises and land iguanas (different to the black marine iguanas as these are yellow and orange) were the main features and a quaint museum tells you of the history and conservation efforts to safeguard the animals and fauna of the Galapagos islands.

We were lucky to watch some of the feeding and then we popped to the Darwin centre shop where of course I purchased something with the iconic Darwin centre logo!

Having met Sylvie and Retrend outside we took some photos and agreed to meet up after lunch and go to Tortuga Bay so everyone had time to potter as they wanted.

Tortuga Bay is easy to get to from the centre of Santa Cruz. A shot walk through town a few blocks up on the left and you are met with the 35 minute walk to the bay which consists of a number of steep stairs up a large cliff and then a long yet lovely path cut into fields of indigenous cactus (the only kind in the world that grow like trees and sustain the local finches).

Sylvie and I chatted as we walked (I really do like Sylvie and Retrend!) and then we came to the first of the two beaches of Tortuga Bay......

The view that greeted us was stunning! A gorgeous sandy beach flanked by cliffs with cacti on one side and a stunning sandy beach curving into the second bay on the other. The sea was very choppy and great for surfing as the waves were big and curved beautifully before crashing down to join the white foam that lapped the shore.

Walking down the beach, we enjoyed the view and anticipation of what the second bay (good for snorkeling we were told) would be.

Before gaining entry to the other bay you needed to walk across a small piece of beach which was littered with tired black iguanas warming themselves in the sun. It was a fantastic site to behold! I was cautious about getting too close at first, but these creatures are so chilled and used to humans that if they feel you are too close they will lazily move and slump back down on a different spot to continue their recuperation!

Having walked through the iguanas the second bay was a short walk to the right and past some lava rocks and old trees which were dotted along the bay. The beach was much smaller and the waters lovely and calm.

Having chilled on the beach for a while as the others snorkeled (they didn't see any sea life so I kept dry!) I wondered up to the cliffs as recommended by Retrend and found a blue footed booby. Now this bird was beautiful but a complete foot tease. Even after 20 minutes of sitting patiently, talking to it, attempting to make bird noises and trying all other kinds of things to encourage it move (bar lobbing a lava rock which I felt was very un-Galapagos like) this cheeky bird wasn't going to stand and show me its feet for anything.

So, after numerous photos of it sitting down I wandered back to the others and we eventually walked back to the first bay where Retrand and Ian swam before we all walked back into town and went home to shower before going to the food market on the street for dinner where Sylvie and I ate hamburgers the size of our heads (we both had to leave some burger as clearly our heads were rather large!).

The following day we were going to Isabela Island for two days and needed to be up early so we all headed home to get a relatively early night in preparation for our busy days ahead.

ISABELA ISLAND

Our trip to Isabela did not go as planned though in retrospect we did make some funny memories!

Unlike our trip to Cristobal, no one was at the ferry to meet us on Santa Cruz and we had to figure out which boat we were on for our tour. Indeed, the owner of the boat rocked up a good 30 minutes after we were told to be ready (Good old Ecuadorian time!).

The 90 minute boat road, whilst fast was very very choppy and at times it felt like we may go overboard! Thankfully our lifejackets provided some cushioning and also created a type of neck brace by sinking low into it!

Once we clambered off the boat and made it to shore we were keen to find our guide. Now this is where the true failings of the tour began......!

After a good 20 minutes our guide was still no where to be seen (we had no name of the hotel, our guide or a phone number on our receipt which we then realised was a monumental oversite!) and it was only the kindness of another guide who figured out who we should be with and called them up to come collect us.

Overhearing him on the phone to them was actually quite funny as he beckoned "rapido rapido!!"

Once we were collected (by a big open sided bus like the one we had in Banos) we again had to wait and were then finally taken to our hotel.

Our hotel was right next to a building site and as lovely as the owners were (and they were truly lovely) my room as at best "basic".

Making the most of it we all met up in the communal area and asked about the volcano hike which we were all looking forward to, only to be told this was not included and would cost $80 more! This was a big surprise and disappointment, though again, thinking of the silver lining, we figured the trip to the flamingo park and then the tortoise conservation area would make up for our disappointment......

This was not to be however, as after an hour of waiting (making it now 3 hours since getting on to Isabele) we still had no guide. We were all now getting annoyed and asked where our guide was, only to be told that they hadn´t been told by the agency that an English speaking guide was needed!

Eventually, they managed to get hold of a guide who spoke English on the phone and I spoke with him only to be asked to wait two more hours for him!!

We then asked to speak to our agent and after much waiting and a lot of help from an American called Lance who kindly helped us translate, we made a call to Joybea who we had booked with.

At this news, we were all cheesed off and had a group conflab to decide what to do. I voted to go back to Santa Cruz for though I was looking forward to the lava caves and snorkeling the following day I had lost confidence in the tour and we had to make a decision about staying or going quickly as space on a returning ferry was not guaranteed.

It was decided that we should speak with our agent and discuss options for either a discount if we stayed or a refund if we returned.

After many attempts to speak with him and the phone magically hanging up when we got connected, I finally managed to talk with him and explain how unhappy we were. After discussing refund options I then spoke with the others and we agreed to lose the ferry fare and get a refund for the tour and head back that day.

Lance helped us secure 4 seats on the ferry back which was really lucky as our agent could not get seats for us and before heading to the ferry we hired a cab for $3 and went to the flamingo park ourselves.

Now, this flamingo park we discovered was nothing more than a man made quarry with no more than 10 flamingos and a couple of local ducks. It was so rubbish we cracked up laughing and took pictures of ourselves pretending to be overwhelmed with the magnificent site!

We then started to walk back to meet our cab and came across the tortoise sanctuary. The sanctuary was quite lovely and had tortoises of all ages from babies up to full grown adults.

Our cab then arrived and we grabbed a bite to eat before heading to the dock to catch our ferry - cue attempts to argue in Spanish and sheer European willpower.......

Upon arriving at the ferry dock we discovered no one had a record of our reservation and every ferry was full.

Having met some of the people from our last tour at the dock, we elected to chance it and put back on our Joybe stickers and pretended to be from the tour that had planned to return that day (no luck with that approach).

In the end, the lovely lady who owned the hotel turned up and spoke with the captain of one ferry and explained about our reservation. 20 mins later we were still not on a boat and hoards of other wannabe passengers were also arguing with the captain as he apparently had no room for them either despite them paying for their seats in advance.

I figured sheer bloody mindedness might be called for and said to the others to walk down the dock in the hope that we could jump aboard if needed.

45 after arriving and many conversations later, the dock police (or whatever they are called) told us to get on board one of the small boats that would take us to a ferry. We gratefully clambered in and set off, only to be called back again and retied to the dock as the captain argued with the dock police officer and kept counting the passengers on our boat and shaking his head. (It was a shame I packed everything but a 3inch thick chain for the trip otherwise I would have chained myself to the boat in protest).

Eventually we were allowed to go and when we saw the ferry we got onboard as quickly as possible just in case anyone else tried to change their mind and pulled us off!

When the engine started the relief I felt was fantastic!!!

For dinner we bumped into the Irish couple we had met on the Cristobal tour and Isabela and joined them for dinner.

Tomorrow we decided we go to the highlands for a hike and walk in the National Park.

HIGHLANDS & NATIONAL PARK

In the morning we all did our own thing (shopping and sleep for me!) and in the afternoon, Che Che helped us get a taxi to the Highlands where we were told we could walk in the National Park and find wild tortoises roaming around as well as a pink lagoon.

Che Che took pride in hand drawing a map and explaining in great detail the route we needed to take, emphasising the need to follow his instructions with great care by sharing a story of an Israeli family who died a couple of years before who had gone off the path and were never seen alive again. - He smiled and attempted to comfort us by saying that the path had recently been cleared and that the markers should be easy to follow (I was just grateful there were four of us going......!)

The National Park was one of the highlights of the Galapagos for me. As we entered the park, about a mile in, on the dirt road was a giant tortoise right in the middle of it. As any tourist would, we hopped out and took photos with it before jumping back in the cab as the driver carefully drove around the fantastic creature.

Many more tortoise in the road later and we our cab pulled over as the road had been washed away the previous winter and we had to walk the rest of the way. Agreeing to meet up in two hours, we headed off for our adventure.

The next two hours were amazing. It was such a privilege to see so many tortoise in their natural habit and to observe their habits. I noticed that in defence, they would exhale loudly as a warning if they felt you were too close (it was hard not to be when you were sharing a path) and at one point on our walk back, a giant tortoise which was walking ahead of us dramatically crashed to the ground with a loud thud and started hissing at us (fascinating!).

The pink lagoon was lovely and the birds were beautiful - I came across some passion fruit on the floor and enjoyed the noise they made when I trod on them so much that I invited Sylvie to join me (she did and liked it too!).

For anyone going to the Galapagos, in addition to the usual trips I would highly recommend going to the park on Santa Cruz. To see a tortoise in a sanctuary is great, but to see one in the wild is a whole other level of wonder and privilege.

As we had accomplished a good hike, for dinner that night we ate pizza as Sylvie and I had been dreaming of it for a couple of days! The place we went to for dinner made fantastic pizza! (though apart from us, no other patrons in the restaurant spoke which was rather weird!) and I had a cone of cookie ice cream which, it would turn out, was to be my downfall that night......

As I needed to be up for 6am the following day to go scuba diving I went straight to bed for what turned out to be an evening of no sleep and many visits to the bathroom..... (just what you need when you are shortly to be zipped into a 5mm wetsuit for the morning!)

SCUBA DIVING AND.........

So, still feeling terrible at 6am, I decided to still go to the diving shop and see whether I could postpone my dive until I felt better. Once I arrived however, I decided to say nothing and go diving as I got caught up in the excitement!

Having met my fellow divers, Gloria and Richard (two lovely Americans from California) we took the boat to our first site with our instructor Oscar (who I quickly nicknamed Oscar Bullsh*t as he yanked our chains about so much stuff on the boat).

The first dive was a refresher for me as I had not dived since Thailand over 18 months ago. It was a little nerve wracking at first, but once I did the boat entry (whoop! I learned to flip backwards off the boat) and had swum around the boat underwater a few times Oscar took me to the bottom of the sea and we did a few basic skills to get me back into the swing of things.

We did two dives after that and the pleasure of diving for fun rather than qualifying is SOOOOooooo much better!

Both dives were about 40 minutes and we saw a lot of marine life, from sea turtles, schools of hundreds of fish that encircled us, sea urchins, sharks and sting ray.

On the first dive (after the refresher) as I had used a third of my air and hadn't been given a new tank, I started to run low on air and signaled Oscar who shared his air with me. Now this was an experience I have never had before!

The second air hose is long enough to swim comfortably beside your buddy, but short enough to need to concentrate on each kick and the direction your buddy is going to ensure you stay close enough to be able to breathe and not have the regulator yanked out of our mouth.
Indicating that I should hold on to the reg, Oscar swum merrily away as I attempted to match him. After about 5 mins of further scuba, I had clearly missed Oscar signalling a 3 minute rest stop to the others as I noticed he was starting to descend. Now this is where the trouble began as I couldn't release air from my BCD and Oscar was getting further and further away from me and the air hose became tighter and tighter with the distance.....

Signalling to Oscar that there was a problem, I reached out my hand for him to grab it and pull me towards him which he completely ignored! He then gave me a signal of which I had no clue what it meant and continued to sink lower before my eyes. At this point, I was pretty pissed off and grabbed the regulator hard and gave him the "problem" signal again, coupled with the most evil look I could muster from behind a scuba mask.

In my attempt to keep up with Oscar (there was no choice but to try!) I then lost one of my fins (thankfully Richard went and rescued it which saved me the replacement fee!) and signaled again to Oscar that there was a problem and I had now lost one of my fins. Again came the mysterious signal, and finally a signal I did understand.....!

Signalling I had got the message, I grabbed my regulator before releasing Oscars. Phew, one would think, but no. Having released Oscar's regulator, I found it difficult to put mine in as my hood was partially in the way and my mask was adding to the difficulty for some reason (to be fair, it was probably the gloves that hindered the whole exercise). Taking a moment to remind myself that it would all be ok and I had no choice but to get the regulator into my mouth, I took a very mental breath (of course it was mental) and tried again, this time with more success!

Clearing the regulator, I was then delighted and grateful to take a breath of air :)

After completing the rest stop we then all climbed on board where lunch was served (I politely declined all refreshments of any kind as I feared a repercussion that I could not control in my wet suit!)

At the second dive site we were told the current was slightly stronger and we would need to descend using the anchor line. This was quite fun and having reached the bottom we swum to the edge of the underwater ravine where it then dropped off to about 35metres. We stayed at 18 metres (thankfully as I am only an Open Water diver and my ears also seem to only be able to cope with 17-18metres) and explored an underwater archway and took some fantastic photos with stingray!

The whole morning of scuba was fantastic. I thought of Rob as I swum around as we had trained together and I knew he would really love it - next time Rob for sure!

Having returned to shore, I declined lunch and headed straight home for a much needed shower and loo break!

In the afternoon, we had planned on going snorkeling but as the weather was bad we decided to potter and I took the opportunity to spend the afternoon catching up on some much needed sleep.

As it was Retrend and Sylvie's last evening I wanted to join them for a last meal and we all headed to the dive shop to collect my photos before heading to the nice restaurant where we had eaten with Aiden and Christine as they both wanted to have their final meal there.

I opted for a very light meal and we all enjoyed our farewell fare as we toasted to meeting and enjoying the company of our wonderful new friends.

LAST TWO DAYS

My last two days on the Galapagos were lovely and relaxing! The penultimate day I spent reading and recouperating in bed during the day and survived on one peanut butter roll (kindness to my tummy being the priority).
In the evening I went for a walk and did some gift shopping.

My last day I had a lovely lazy morning and in the afternoon went took the 60c ferry taxi to Finch Bay where I read and reflected before heading to Tortuga Bay again in the hope of capturing some photos of the feet of the blue footed boobie!

I was very lucky this time at Tortuga! The tide was really high and I managed to take some great photos of crabs before climbing up to the cliff again where I found two blue footed boobies. One of them must have been the same lazy monkey from the other day as all it did was sit down, but its friend was preening and observing me but doing so standing up! Whoop whoop!

I took a good number of photos and thanked it for being more energetic than the other boobie and then headed back to town with a huge grin on my face.

For dinner I ate local lobster and fish as my farewell meal and headed back early to pack in readiness for the following day.

My new flatmate Feodore (with an F) came back shortly after (he arrived the same day Sylvie and Retrend left) and we spend a couple of hours chatting and uploading our photos.

Thanks for amazing memories Galapagos. You have instilled in my such a quiet and gentle energy and given me the opportunity to ponder and simply "be". You shall forever have a special place in my heart

Bleachy