The alarm was ringing at 3:30am, we needed to be at the front door for our 4am departure to airport. We were trying to be quiet given it was so early and made it to the front door without a sound and only then did we realise that there was no other sound, not even from the owners who were taking us to the airport. After waiting 15 minutes wondering where they might be, we found a doorbell and rang. The owner then came out in his dressing gown, realised he slept in, mumbled an apology and went off to put some clothes on.

Finally we left at 4:30am and despite the warnings that there might be traffic delays, we cruised through the city and out to the airport without problems. We were half an hour early for our arranged meeting with the guide so we decided to get some breakfast. There was not much in the airport building itself but there was another building across the road which had loads of cafes, restaurants and bars although the only one open at that time of the morning was Cafe la Española. The service was comical but the sandwich was good deli quality.

Back in the terminal, our guide was no where to be seen and he had our tickets and paperwork for getting to the Galápagos Islands. They have strict quarantine controls, similar to New Zealand, to ensure that nothing untoward is accidentaly introduced to the fragile eco-environment. We put our bags through the screening and checked in for our flight before the guide finally arrived in a fluster. He gave us our travel pack and then asked us if we already had our Galápagos landing card even though it should have been in the pack. We said no and off he ran, round to the other side of the building, to return a few minutes later with the paperwork.

As we boarded the flight, David recognised the stewardess from the flight to Bogotá who gave him extra wine, she blushed when reminded but hopefully get extra wine on this flight too. It was a beautiful morning to fly out of Quito, without any low level cloud, the early morning sun lit up the mountains and volcanoes spectacularly. There was only time for the crew to serve a coffee and muffin before we descended into Guayaquil to pick up the rest of the Galápagos bound travelers. We had 40 mins on tarmac while the plane refueled and the passengers boarded. There were heaps of Americans with loud annoying voices and whether they were nervous, excited or just loved the sound of their own voice, they wouldn't stop talking even though it was talking for the sake of talking. We began to get a bit nervous ourselves, we had seen a guest list for the boat and ten out of sixteen were Americans...were we in for a week of audio torture?

We made our way through the National Park customs, paid our $100 entrance fee and were then allowed to collect our luggage. Some people had problems when their prepaid entrance fee was not registered against their passport - they were refused entry and had their passport withheld until they paid in cash. We met up with our guide and the rest of the group - a Swiss couple, one French guy, a family of seven from Hawaii and a young girl from Minnesota - in arrivals and were bussed down to the nearby dock to meet our boat.

While waiting on the dock for the dinghies to ferry us out to Yacht Angelito, our home on the water for the next week, we saw Blue Footed Boobies, Sealions, Marine Iguanas, Sallylightfoot Crabs and Pelicans. Everyone was a bit dumbstruck seeing so much, so soon and so close.

On the boat we had a quick briefing before being allocated our cabins. We were in Cabin 1 - front right on the boat, furthest from the engine but right next to the anchor. The cabin was small but not cramped, had a window out to sea and sufficient drawers and cupboards to empty our backpacks and leave the floor clear. The bathroom was larger than expected and more spacious than some of the hostel bathrooms we have had.

We were no sooner in our cabins than the ship's bell rang, calling us back to the main deck for lunch - spaghetti bolognaise and fresh fruit. It was buffet style, self served, and there was heaps so it was not a problem to go back for seconds or even thirds if you were really hungry.

After lunch we were taken by dinghy to Santa Cruz island and dropped by 'wet landing' on Playa Las Bachas. The 'wet landing' meant what it said, the dinghy got as close to the shore as it could then we slid over the side into the water and made our way up the beach.

Our guide, Efran, took us on a walk along the beach and over a small headland to a second beach with a lagoon behind it. There were pelicans sitting lazily on the rocks, marine iguanas basking in the sun, tracks of green sea turtles up to their nests on the dunes, ghost crabs darting across the beach and sally lightfoot crabs eating the algae from the rocks exposed by the low tide. A solitary pink flamingo had the lagoon to itself, watched by a mockingbird in the surrounding trees.

As we walked back to the landing zone on the first beach, a frigate bird was swooping over a turtle nest. We were told that the birds can detect when newly hatched turtles under the sand are making their way to the surface and are looking for some easy prey. The hatchlings tend not to make their break for the sea until darkness though to help protect themselves.

We had a bit of free time back on the beach which we used to help adjust our eyesight to the wildlife & marinelife spotting in the week ahead. By stopping and watching rocks for a minute or two longer than normal, you would start to see more and more on the rock. A small movement would catch your eye, what you thought was rock was in fact an iguana. Then you would see another, and another, and suddenly what looked like an empty rock had a dozen iguanas on it. Crabs were easier to spot, they were bright orange/red with blue and always on the move. In the water, a a small eagle ray and s stingray were in the shallow water close to shore.

The dinghy came back and ferried us back to the boat where trays of fried banana in dough, fruit and fruit juice were waiting for us. We weren't hungry yet after lunch but it tasted so good, we couldn't stop picking away at it.

After a quick hot shower, we started sorting out the contents of our packs and stowing it away. Whether we were so engrossed in what we were doing or whether the bell was not rung loud enough, we missed the 6:30pm briefing letting us know what was happening tomorrow - fortunately it was written on the whiteboard. We were in time though for the welcome drink and introduction of the crew followed by dinner of fish, vegetables and fruit - all very healthy.

After dinner, lights were put on at the back of the boat to see if any sharks might be attracted. There were no sharks but a few sealions were playing in the water. After an hour of gazing into the shadowy water, we had all but given up when there was a whoosh and thump...a sea lion jumped onto the back platform of the boat for a quick look then went back to the water.