Even now we cannot sometimes believe just how lucky we were to go to the Galapagos Islands. It just so happened that we were booked in just one week after the 8.8 Chilean earthquake and the vast majority of long-haul tourists had been advised to cancel for fear of further tsunamis. The savagery of this event afforded us a wonderfully quiet group of islands, with just 4 of us aboard our 16 berth motor yacht 'Cruz del Sur', along with our somewhat superfluous 8 staff! There was a Swedish lad and another Brit teacher to accompany Jen and I, with our guide, Diego.

Day 1: Arrived Isla San Cristobal; boarded boat at Puerta Baquerizo Moreno and treated to huge, lavish lunch which became the norm for most meals; Motored to Playa Ochoa to see the sea lions then swim, snorkel and dinner.

Day 2: Isla Española. Dry landing at Punta Suarez to see the wildlife and perfect waves/ blowhole before breakfast. Then to beautiful Gardner Bay with its long, white stretch of sand lined with vast numbers of sea lions. After lots of chilling and rolling around to absorb the sea lion vibe, we had to leave this stunning bay, much to Jen's sadness.

Day 3: Isla Florena. Visited Bahia Post Office to send a card via the pirate post box (hand deliveries only) before snorkelling with lots of turtles. Next went to the volcanic crater of Corona del Diablo (Devil's Crown) on the best snorkelling experience to date. We were surrounded by numerous white-tip sharks and were humbled (and a little startled) when we spotting a gigantic manta ray. Then onto Punta Cormoran to see flamingos, penguins and turtle nesting beach.

Day 4: Isla Santa Cruz. 5.30am start to go to the Charles Darwin Centre to see the giant tortoises including Lonesome George. A little fact- they can go 1 year without a drink and only reach sexual maturity at the age of 50- there's hope for many! Final goodbyes and departures!

So we swiftly found ourselves back on the land without anyone to cook or make decisions for us. We became aware of just how nice it was to be looked after after 10 months of self-sufficiency. So much so, that we decided to book a second cruise! We found another one this time aboard a 1st Class boat called 'Eden', this time with a group of 10 heading to the northern part of the archipelago.

Day 1: Board at Santa Cruz and dinner before night sailing to Santiago.

Day 2: Santiago. Woke at Bahia James and went ashore to see the marine iguanas and Charles Darwin's toilet with the blue-footed boobies. After lunch snorkelling and walk up Isla Bartolomé to see the stunning volcanic views.

Day 3: Isla Genovesa. Went ashore this small island at Bahia Darwin to see the full range of sea birds, including Nazca boobies, red-footed boobies, frigate birds and grey gulls. Here we were told Luis (our guide's) story. After this seabird onslaught we snorkelled alongside fur seals before returning to the boat and sailing south back across the equator.

Day 4: Visited Caleta Tortuga Negra (Black Turtle Cove) to see turtles, black tip sharks and rays in amongst the mangroves before returning to port quite overwhelmed by the extent of the wildlife.

Luis' story: When he was only 15 in the 1970s, he made friends with his biology teacher who worked with the Galapagos research centre. Luis and a friend were asked to help out one summer observing Genovesa and Pinta. They swapped locations last minute and Luis went to Genovesa along with another young biologist. His friend, Jorge on Pinta discovered the solitary remaining tortoise and called him Lonesome George. Meanwhile, Luis and his partner decided to go fishing at different areas along Genovesa. Luis heard screams and realising that his partner could not swim went to help him, pulled him out but was unable to resuscitate him. Luis then had to live with the dead body for 6 days before a boat came along. He begged the boat to take him off the island but they refused, so Luis had to wait for longer along with the decomposing body, nightmares and all. Nice story!