Face to face with sea lions, floating with sea turtles or watching the fascinating courtship antics of Blue Footed Boobies, Magnificent Frigate birds and those nasty looking marine iguanas... this has been a fascinating 7 days on the Galapagos Islands.

Arriving at the airport our first glimpse of wildlife was a land iguana wandering through the baggage claim area. The road to town took us past fields with huge tortoises chowing down on lunch.

Bright red crabs (a great contrast on the black lava rocks) and spiny black marine iguanas greeted us at the town pier. And so it began.

Puerto Ayora, a quaint little tourist town on Santa Cruz Island, was our stop for two days. The accommodation is more expensive here, as is the food and of course t has all the tourist trappings (souvenir stres, bars etc.). Refreshingly there were no hard sell tactics at either the stores or the tour agencies!

We visited the Charles Darwin Research Center the first day. An interesting place where researchers work tirelessly (many are volunteers) to study all aspects of the islands....past, present and future... as well as running a successful breeding program for the huge land tortoise. Met Lonesome George, the last of his kind from Pinta Island and quite the local celebrity. At 100+ years old they still can't find a mate with the same genetic footprint. He's just not intereted in the local ladies.

The first two days in the Galapagos were spent enjoying walks to Turtle Bay, Las Grietas and around the small town. The gastronomic highlight was Jack Daniel's Steak at the Angermeyer Inn... a splurge well worth it.

Our cruise began on day three aboard the catamaran Archhipell II. One look at the ship and we knew we were in for a treat. With 8 staterooms (each with ensuite) it was not what I expected. We also found out from the other passengers that, with the size of the catamaran, we will be able to go to the far side of Isabella Island. This is trip only the larger ships can do. It just got better as, one by one, we met the other passengers. Shane and I were the oldest but age didn't matter. Everyone seemed to get along very well. That's something you just can't plan.

The cruise strts back in the city with a tour of the Darwin Center and a bus trip to a couple of sink holes. Having seen all that on day one we opted to stay in town. Watched a local volleyball match (they cheat!) then sipped cerveza at our favourite spot by the water. Ayal, Annie & Toulous joined us just after a big manta ray swam by. So I have to say the first day was a write off for us but dinner was great!

It got better from there. We (tried to) sleep during the 11 hour crossing that night. Rockin' and Rollin' to a whole new beat. Having survived the night with no motion sickn ess medication we were raring to go. Overnight we travelled south from Santa Cruz Island around the south of Isabella Island to anchor in Elizabeth Bay. A beautiful sheltered area about mid way up the west coast of the island. Over the next four days we would travel to Fernandina Island, cross the equator two times as we rocked & rolled over the north tip of Isabella to San Salvador Island to end back at the North end of Santa Cruz.... visiting a couple of little islands along the way. During this time our land tours and pango (zodiac) tours took us to places completely unique in our world.

The Galapagos are relatively new land masses (4-5 million years old) formed by underwater volcanic eruptions forcing lava to the surface. They are the only land masses that have never been connected to a continent. As we walked along the paths it quickly became apparent how unique the area was. Even after millions of years many of the islands have little soil build-up. Barren stretches of black lava hold pockets of captured rain water where vegetation has taken hold. (Islands like Santa Cruz have more soil & thus people can grow meager crops).

You literally walk on ancient sea beds. In some areas we walked past huge brain coral a long way from the ocean. In the midst of all this crazy terraine were equally amazing animals. Land iguanas, some a handsome mix of gold, coppper, browns & black with spikes running down their backs frm head to tail. Sunning themselves on the trail we had to walk right beside these fierce looking beasts to get by. The marine iguanas we saw numbered in the thousands. Black, ike the lava, they are hard to see at first. You really had to watch your step. It was mating season for them. The males 'fight' by first nodding their heads rapidly up and down, sticking out their tongues, spitting and charging. Can they ever spit a long way!

We saw so many different types of birds during the week from finches, warblers & flamingos to penguins, vultures, blue (and red) footed boobys and the magnificent frigate birds.

The blue footed boobys do the craziest dance when mating. Slowly moving from foot to foot they whistle, nod then thrust out their breast and extend back their wings all in an attempt to win a female's affections. We saw a lot of frustrated booby bachelors.

The magnificent frigate bird inflates a big red balloon type sack in his throat which, I guess, means he's handsome and a good candidate to mate with. Whatever turns you on I guess!

We snorkled with manta rays, sharks, sea lions, schools of fish and sea turtles. One turtle floated below me, close enough to touch. He twisted his head back and forth to get a better look. When I paddled forward so did he. When I went backwards he followed. He was over 1 meter long. Good thing it wasn't mating season for them!

Shane got up close and personal with a sea lion on shore. He got on his knees, stuck his nose out and soon was charged by the curious sea lion who stopped short amazed that Shane hadn't run away like others had. Then he stuck his nose out almost touching Shane before letting out a bark that brought Shane to his feet. The sea lions here are playful swimming and jumping all around ou as you snorkle. Gets your heart rate up for sure!

Saw whales blowing in the distance and huge rays jumping way out of the surf to avoid predators. The only animals we missed were the albatross and dolphins. It was an amazing week full of stories and amazing experiences. Some of our pictures are great.... some of our videos are a disaster. All in all it was a wonderful week.

Now we are back in Quito for the next stage of our adventure..... keep posted.

PS: for those of you wondering what happened to JC I must, sadly, report his passing. We arrived back in Quito to find he had been frozen.... water jug home and all.... in Jim's freezer. He now sits propped on kleenex still a striking figure as he dries out. His future is secure as a mascot for survival in the jungle and a handsome representation of his species.