Last day spent mostly traveling. Left San Cristobal this morning and arrived in Guayaquil at 4 . Lost an hour with a time difference but still had time to walk to the river and explore the board walk. It’s Friday afternoon so lots of people enjoying family time with their kids or knock off drinks with work mates. It’s not a pretty city and the river being tidal is not at its best. We have dinner at a seafood restaurant and will now prepare for the long haul ...

What a way to finish our Galápagos adventure! Picked up our snorkeling gear at 7.50am and made our way to the pier to get on our boat. We are with another group of 7 Americans but they have their own guide. 6 of us have the opportunity to sit up with the captain and we jump at the chance. It’s a bit overcast but our day will start with a 90 minute hike around Isla Lobos looking for the Great Frigate Birds, the Magnificent Frigate birds and the nesting blue fo...

This morning we are heading out at 9 to visit the Charles Darwin Research Centre. It’s just a short walk from our hotel. Largely this centre is dedicated to the preservation of the different species of giant tortoises found on the islands of the Galápagos archipelago. The idea is to keep the species as pure as possible to avoid extinction. Sadly with the arrival of pirates back in the early years the population of the tortoises declined as they took them for ...

After lunch we boarded our speed boat for a 2 hour ride to San Cristobel. The boat ride was at a reasonable speed and in the open water we hit the waves pretty hard. The highlight of the trip was the fantastic performance by a pod of dolphins in the open sea. They had a great time surfing off the wake and I have never seen dolphins get so much air. It was amazing. Once on land we arrange our snorkel equipment for tomorrow and then are free to explore. The popula...

What an awesome morning. Left the hotel at 8.30 to go to the pier to get on a boat to take us to see sea lions, blue footed boobies, sharks, sea turtles and iguanas. The sea lions are everywhere, even in the seats meant for passengers waiting for the boats. A mum and her pup are lounging on the pontoon and the pup is helping itself to breakfast. We are on a boat with another non English speaking group and they have their own guide. The sea is a bit mirky close...