Getting to our boat on the Galapagos Islands was more complicated than you would expect.After getting on our flight in Quito, the plane stopped for 45 minutes in Guayaquil to pick up more passengers, before continuing onto the airport on Baltra Island.On arrival we were supposed to be met by a transfer guide, but it took us almost thirty minutes to find him!!!He was however, the sweetest, most charismatic, old man, who seemed to know a lot and was doing his best to herd us all in the right direction! After rescuing our luggage from the chaos that was baggage reclaim (there were no belts, they just dump all of the bags, from all of the flights, into one pile and you have to hunt for your bag!), we got onto a bus to reach a small sea crossing to the much larger island of Santa Cruz.At this point we first got a glimpse of the Galapagos waters and we all gasped.The water was the most striking shade of blue we had ever seen and words cannot describe just how beautiful it was - we wanted to dive straight in!!!We transferred onto the boat, crossed the water, and then got back onto yet another bus, before we finally reached the port town ofPuerto Ayora, on the other side of Santa Cruz island.Although the journey was long, we were treated to some spectacular scenery along the way, ranging from barren almost desert-like terrain, to volcanic rock outcrops, to lush green tropical foliage!We also spotted a few small villages along the way and were surprised at just how many people actually lived out in the Galapagos.When we finally reached Puerto Ayora, we took a small dinghy to our boat, The Pelikano 1, which was to be our home for the next few days.The boat was simply amazing and much nicer than we had expected it to be!It was all decked out in wood, had a small bar with a few seats, a stereo and library, a small dining room, and of course all of our bunk-bed style cabins complete with their own bathrooms! To top it all off, we could even sit on the roof of the boat and sunbathe or admire the views! After meeting Walter, our Naturalist Guide for the tour, we settled down in the dining room to lunch, which again turned out to be much more than we had expected.We were treated to soup and a main course, all of which was superbly prepared by the chef and incredibly tasty!This was a good taster of things to come and the food throughout our whole trip on the boat went beyond all our expectations.After lunch, we disembarked in the dinghies and went back to Puerto Ayora, where our first transfer guide took us to the Charles Darwin Research Station.It was a fairly interesting afternoon, as we walked around all of the enclosures and saw many giant tortoises and iguanas, watched a video about the impact of the arrival of humans on the fragile ecosystem in the Galapagos, and learnt about the station's efforts to prevent extinction of some of the species of tortoise endemic to the Galapagos.Although they were in captivity, the tortoises were still amazing to behold, and it sounds obvious, but they really were absolutely humongous!!We were able to get really close, as you walk within the enclosures, and they were such docile creatures, munching away at the shrubs, but we soon learnt that they move pretty quickly for animals of that size, when one went running off into the shade!!We learnt that they can live for up to two hundred years, but also got to see just how much of an impact humans have had, as we saw the last remaining tortoise native to one particular island, which the station had been unable to successfully breed, meaning that the species would become extinct when the tortoise finally passed away.We then had a free hour of so to wander around Puerto Ayora and stock up on any provisions that we wanted.A little history: The Galapagos Islands are located about 1000 km (620 miles) off the Pacific coast of South America. The archipelago is comprised of 13 major islands and scores of islets that served as a living laboratory for Charles Darwin, the renowned evolution theorist.Covering nearly 5000 square km (3100 square miles), the islands have since been declared a National Park.Santa Cruz is the most populated island within the archipelago, and Puerto Ayora is its main town, and therefore the final place to purchase most items before heading out into the unknown!We strolled around for a bit with Chris and Josephine from our boat, before heading back to the dock to catch the dinghy back to the boat.Back on the boat, we were treated to yet another gourmet meal, during which we continued to get to know our companions better.After dinner, everyone was so exhausted from the early start, that we headed to bed pretty much straight away.Nobody really got any sleep though, as during the night we sailed on to the next island, Floreana.It is difficult to explain just how much the boat rocks from side to side, and the constant swaying feeling that you get whilst laying in your bunk!!The water isn't even particularly choppy, but the boat just lulls from side to side and you can feel every single movement!Everything was rolling off our side table, and out of the racks in the shower, and in the end me and Rakhee were both so awake from laughing at the hilarity of it all, that we had a mid-night conversation and before we knew it they were ringing the bell for breakfast !! After breakfast, we went for our first landing on Floreana, and what a landing it was!!!When we arrived on the beach, we were greeted by tons of sea lions and their pups, all lazing about in the sunshine, or playing in the small waves on the beach.After a few more landings, we realized that this sight greeted you on whichever island you visited, at whichever landing sight, but it never got boring and none of us could stop taking pictures of the millions of sea lions, especially the pups because they were just so cute!!The history of Floreana island (also called Charles) has gradually evolved to reach near mythic proportions. The story begins when a baroness and her two lovers, a German doctor and his mistress, and a German couple and their young son, all came to settle on the island. Their dalliances and disasters, shrouded in mystery, were chronicled in John Treherne's book The Galapagos Affair and descendants of the German family, the Wittmers, still live on the island in the small community of Puerto Velasco Ibarra.Our first stop was Post Office Bay, which has an older and less mysterious history.A barrel was placed here in the late 18th century by English whaling vessels to be used as a post office. Passing ships would stop to leave mail for loved ones, collecting at the same time any mail destined for ports on their itineraries. Today the box is used mainly by tourists, who may drop off and pick up unstamped letters to be carried to far destinations.We also saw the remains of a Norwegian canning factory, which were the only evidence of the island's history prior to its designation as a protected area.We continued on a short hike up to a lava cave, which we descended about 80m into, to the point where the sea entered the cave.Even with our flashlights it was still pretty dark, but a very cool experience nonetheless.Back on the boat we were treated to a small snack and some lunch, before preparing for our afternoon excursion.The boat went around the island to another landing point, Punta Cormorant, on the northern part of Floreana.There we landed on a beach of green sand, coloured by olivine crystals, volcanic derived silicates of magnesium and iron.The sand was unlike anything we have every seen, and Marisha really wanted to take some home with her, but it is strictly forbidden to remove ANYTHING from the Galapagos Islands!!We continued on a trail to a beautiful lake, which was inhabited by brightly coloured pink flamingos and a few other shore birds.After snapping yet more pictures, we continued along the trail toa beach of fine white sand known as "Flour Beach".The sand here was again beautiful and the water was crystal clear too.With it being so hot we couldn't wait to get in, and started early by wading in a little way, where we had stingrays passing right next to our feet in the shallow waters.It was a truly incredible experience.We hopped back on the boat to grab our snorkeling gear, and then went snorkeling off the dinghies.This was even more amazing than we had expected.We snorkeled around a point called Devil's Crown, which derives its name from the broken remains of a partially submerged volcanic cone. From here we were able to see a multitude of colourful, tropical fish, and best of all play with the sea lion pups, who come so close that you can almost touch them, and who imitate your actions in the water.It was so surreal being so close to such beautiful creatures, but a thoroughly enjoyable experience, that we have hopefully captured some of on our as yet undeveloped under-water camera!!Back on the boat, we were treated to yet another fabulous dinner, before lounging about on the middle deck with a few drinks.It really felt like we were living the lives of someone else, after having seen so much stuff in just one day!To round off an excellent day, we spotted several small sharks circling behind our boat, attempting to catch the many schools of fish that were floating there.Feeling that the Galapagos truly had a magic air to them, we attempted to sleep again that night, whilst the boat sailed on to the next island, Española.The next morning at breakfast, it was clear that no-one had slept again due to the crazy motions of the boat during the night.Everyone looked tired, with their eyes all puffed up, but we were all still eager to see what the day would hold!We landed at Punta Suarez on Española, which is the southernmost island in the archipelago.Punta Suarez is on the western side of Española (also called Hood) and boasts spectacular scenery, as gargantuan waves break on jagged cliffs, with the interior of the island populated by large bird colonies.There was a very distinct feel of desolate wilderness on the island, and it was like being in the middle of nowhere and at one with nature.Here we saw yet more sea lions, but also Waved Albatrosses and large numbers of Masked and Blue-footed Boobies!They were all simply spectacular in their own ways.The Albatrosses were HUGE and had an absolutely hilarious mating dance which resembled two people fencing, as they smacked their beaks together!We were lucky enough to see two of them take off from the cliff, and it was beautiful to behold them soar over the cliff tops down to the rocks and sea below, especially as their wingspan is just so big.The blue colour of the webbed feet of the Blue-footed Boobies was also bizarre, since it is only the feet that are this powdery blue colour, and no scientist has been able to explain why they have this strange adaptation yet!The Albatrosses and Boobies were all at the beginning of the mating season, so we were also able to see some nesting with eggs, and a few newly born chicks too, which were very fluffy and absolutely adorable!We also saw a few Marine Iguanas dotted about here and there, which were very dragon-like and almost prehistoric looking - not like anything you would ever find in a zoo!!Finally, we stopped beside a huge blowhole, where the surf is forced through a natural rock formation spouting seawater 15 to 20 m into the air.The power of the water was absolutely incredible, and enhanced by the brief rainbow that would form as the spray was hit by sunlight, before slowly fading away.We hopped back onto the boat for lunch and a bit of a siesta, while the crew prepared the boat to sail the short distance to Garner Bay, an excellent snorkeling site.As the sun was shining and nobody was really too sleepy, we were all lazing about on the top deck, when Walter suddenly shouted "WHALE"!!!!Thinking he was joking, everybody rushed to the front of the boat to see where he was pointing, and lo and behold there was a whale RIGHT NEXT TO THE BOAT.We think this may have made our whole Galapagos experience, because neither of us has ever seen a whale before.It was absolutely ENORMOUS, and a beautiful blue-black colour.It remained only a few feet from the boat for a good 15 minutes or so, and we watched as it hauled itself to the surface every 30 seconds, and stood transfixed as it expelled air from its blowhole.Nobody dared to move to get a camera in case we lost sight of it, so unfortunately there are no photographs, but it is something that will remain in both of our memories for a long time to come, and we may never quite get over what beautiful creatures whales are.Eventually we reached Garner Bay, and this time we dived straight off of the boat for our snorkeling experience.It was another great swim, during which we saw more sea lions, tropical fish, and even some giant turtles right on the ocean floor.That night, we set sail once more for the island of Santa Fe, and you guessed it, nobody got anymore sleep than they had the previous two nights!!!We reached Santa Fe early in the morning and prepared for our landing straight after breakfast.Santa Fe (also called Barrington) is well-known as a great place for watching and swimming with sea lions.Walter took us on a trail through the island, which was one of the most colourful, with varying hues of green, red, yellow and brown, set against the cliftops, beach and bright blue sea below.The island was truly stunning, and our walk took us from the beach into a sparse forest of Prickly Pear Cacti, which had grown to enormous heights, but more importantly, we saw millions of land iguanas.They were lying absolutely everywhere (including on top of each other!!), and you had to be careful not to step on them!They were also all sorts of amazing colours, not the simple green variety you see in zoos, but black, red, yellow and never-before-seen shades of green!We got a bit snap happy with the iguanas, just as we had with the sea lions, figuring that we were probably only going to be in such a unique environment once in our lives!!After lunch, we went back onto the island, this time landing at a different point called Plaza Sur.Here we took a walk along the cliff top, admiring the views of the other nearby islands, and the colony of bachelor sea lions that lived here.These males were absolutely HUGE, and could get very aggressive, so we were careful not to get too close.Like the tortoises though, they also moved pretty fast, and we watched one bachelor scale the side of the cliff from the sea to where we were standing, heaving his entire body to the top in a matter of minutes.Suffice to say, we wouldn't want to mess with one of them!!That evening, we sailed the short distance to North Seymour Island, which was the last island on our tour, before we were due to head back to Quito.As the journey was so short, by the time we were all ready to go to bed, the boat had already moored, and for the first time in days, everyone got a good night's sleep!!!!On the final morning, we made our final landing on North Seymour, which was populated by almost all the species of bird endemic to Galapagos.We saw more Frigate Birds and Pelicans, which had bizarrely insisted on flying alongside the boat during our night time sails, and more Boobies!There were many more nesting pairs and young chicks on this island, so we got a bit snap happy once more, despite already having millions of pictures of the birds!!We also saw the largest colony of Magnificent Frigate Birds, which have a rather ostentatious display during their mating ritual.The males expand the red sack at the base of their throat and perch atop a bush with their wings fully extended, flapping furiously to attract attention.Interested females circle overhead, and if they feel so inclined, may jointhe males on the bush in order to mate.They really were magnificent birds as they sat in their bushes or flew overhead, with these giant red sacks fully expanded, and it was again one of the many sights from Galapagos that we will never forget.We were treated to a final colony of sea lions on the beach, before it was time for our final lunch on the boat.After thanking Walter and all of the fantastic crew of the boat, we waved goodbye to the Americans who were staying for a further three days, and the rest of us headed out on the dinghies to the port to catch the bus.Thankfully this time it was a much shorter hop to the airport on Baltra, but we still had to stand around for ages as all our luggage went awol for a short time!!This quickly explained why we had gone to the aiport almost three hours before our flight!!We wandered around the few handicraft stalls selling tacky tourist souvenirs to pass the remaining time, but it wasn't long before we were soon settled into our airplane seats, for the flight back to Quito.Having had such an amazing few days, in what seemed like a totally different world, we were both very sad to leave the beauty of Galapagos behind, but with a few more islands left to see, including the one with the Galapagos penguins, I think we will be able to find some excuse to return to this little slice of paradise?