PHOTOs from Galapagos

http://www.photobox.co.uk/1x9C7007/album/803141839?cid=tashare001

Day 12 Galapagos Puerto Ayora
Our flight to the Galapagos was at nine and we were being picked up by the tour agency at 7.30 (which we thought was a bit late). Anyway, we made it to the check in counter five minutes before boarding time and we honestly thought we would miss the plane. Luckily we didn't and as the agent felt so bad for making us late he arranged for a taxi to pick us up from the ferry in the Galapagos. Sweet.
We arrived in the small (but much bigger than what we had expected) town of Puerto Ayora and it made us feel like we were on holiday straight away. The weather was hot and the sea was close. After having found a cheapish hotel we dropped our stuff and went out for a walk. We stopped in a couple of dive shops to ask how much it would cost to dive but in the end we decided it was too much. In the evening we went for a really nice dinner and a glass of wine. Life's good.
Can't believe that we were stood in snow yesterday and today we were in the sunshine.

Day 13 Galapagos Puerto Ayora
So after we decided we weren't going to take a day trip to Isabela Island and we weren't going to go diving due to cost, we decided to go for the cheaper option and go snorkelling in Las Greitas. So we took a taxi boat over to the Island and then walked for 15 minutes before arriving. Las Greitas is a deep pool of water (3m x 15m) in between two vertical walls. The water was a mix of sweet water from the highlands and salt water from the ocean. After getting pretty hot from the walk, we dived in to the water which was nice and cooling. Straight away we saw some parrot fish and another fish we didn't know the name of. It was very clear this was a popular fish nursery.
We were on our own for the first twenty minutes then a guy turned up. He snorkelled for a bit and then he started to jump off the walls. When we finished we made our way back to the boat and it seemed we left at the right time as we met 15 people all going there. We went back to the hotel and had some lunch before walking up to Tortuga Bay. It took 50 minutes, which had been fine if I had not been walking in my flip flops. The walk was well worth it when we arrived to a lovely white sandy beach with calm clear water. We laid out or towels and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon.
When we got back to town we showered and then went out to look in some shops. We had dinner in the same place as the night before and again it was lovely.

Day 14 Thursday - Boat Trip Starts
After having unsuccessfully ordered the taxi via the hotel (we tried to use the same one that has brought us from the airport), we caught one on the street. We arrived at the airport early and had another two hours before we were meeting the guide. At 10.15 our guide found us and paired us up with some of the others and told us we had to wait for the next flight to land. After another hour he managed to arrange a bus to take us to the dock where we were meeting our boat. The boat looked nice which was a relief after hearing some bad reviews of budget boats. After a quick meeting on the boat we were shown our cabin and although it was small, it was perfectly clean and nice. It was home for the next eight days.
After we had settled in we were given lunch and it gave us a happy indication that we would be fed well for the next few days. After dessert, the boat round Baltra island and sailed down to Santa Cruz. The dinghy took us to the beach where we went for a walk and later snorkelled.
The animals we saw today were:
Marine Iguanas, Pink Flamingos, Blue Footed Boobies, Black Neck Steel birds, Pelicans, Sea lions, a baby Galapagos Shark, Box Fish, Selley Lightfooted Crabs and many other fish to name.
Just before dinner, we were given a welcome cocktail and an introduction to all the staff on board (Captain, 2nd boatman, 3rd boatman, cook, barman and mechanic). They all seemed really friendly and though a few spoke little English, while the others spoke none, it looked as though we would be treated well by a friendly crew. The guide explained how each day would be laid out. Breakfast at 7am, then a walk and a snorkel followed by lunch at 12pm. In the afternoon we would do another walk and a snorkel, followed by snacks (biscuitsteacoffee always available), briefing about the following day at 6:15pm and then dinner at 6:30pm.
In the evening, we sat out on the deck of the boat talking and getting to know people, when suddenly we were all called to look out the back. To our delight, a sea lion had decided to have a snooze in the dinghy and a couple of Pelicans were sat on it, using the light from the boat to see the fish in the water. So we were all trying to take pictures but one of the key rules that they tell you from the start is not to use flash. So then what happens…. This idiot of an Israeli girl comes along, takes a picture with full flash. The sea lions looked up, gave this massive groanbark and jumped into the water. He was clearly very unhappy. So we didn't get a picture.
A little later, whilst watching all the sardines jumping out of the water (the Pelicans stayed to use the light), two pretty big Galapagos sharks started swimming near the boat. They were both at least 1.5 metres long but could have been more. Kind of scary that they were there, especially as we were in a bay but then hopefully we'd get a chance to see them on one of the snorkelling trips.

Day 15 Boat Trip
The boat started up at 4:30am to move onto our first destination. We were on the middle floor of the 3 and at the front, so we knew we were off by the sound of the massive anchor being hauled up. We woke up and opened our door (we had no windows) to see the South and North Plaza islands. It's not a bad way to wake up. Our first walk in the morning was on the South Plaza island, followed by the boat moving to the island of Santa Fe where we did snorkelling (only 1 time today) and then a walk on the Santa Fe island. The guide had some ear issue, so today the captain came. He's a guy of about 60 and spoke no English but he was hilarious. He was like a kid and full of excitement and happiness at seeing fish. When he managed to find a turtle, he called everyone and started giggling away whilst saying "Tortuga, Tortuga". You couldn't help but laugh with him.
The animals we saw today were:
Land Igunas (males are yellow), sea lions (we watched many young ones swimming in a nursery area), Swallow Tailed Gulls, Pelicans, Cattle Heron, Blue Footed Boobies, Red Billed Tropical Bird, Audubons Shearwater, Yellow Warbler, Galapagos Dove, Lava Lizards, Galapagos snake, Tree Finch, Tiger snake eel, Turtles (big ones as well), Short Tailed Stingray and lots of fish.
About one hour after dinner (8pm) the boats engines started up and we were undertaking our first nights sailing and therefore our first night's sleep whilst moving. The boat held 16 people in total, so it was a fair size but it was still impacted quite a bit by waves. We had already been taking sea sickness tablets in the mornings, just to be certain we'd be ok (since we'd spent a lot of money on this) but we decided to take another just to be sure for the night crossing. It was going to take about 56 hours to sail. We sat for a while at the back of the boat, watching and enjoying. The swell was getting a little worse and the boat was starting to go up and down a little more, so we decided to head to bed. Think it was about 9pm at that point but we were the last of the group up!!! It really helped to lay down and Martin managed to get to sleep pretty well. Marie was having a few stomach issues and had a fever, so didn't sleep so well. Eventually she did and the sleeping was ok - you'd get woken up when there was a big drop after a wave but it was better than expected.

Day 16 Boat Trip
The boat actually stopped in a quiet bay around 2am, so by the morning we had definitely had a fine nights rest - even Marie with her stomach aches managed to get to sleep. We had sailed overnight to a southern island named Espanola. So after another feast at breakfast, we boarded the dinghy and went over to Espanola to take a walk round it. As we approached for the wet landing, it became clear that this was a sea lions hangout, they were everywhere on the beach and we had to pick a spot to get off where we'd disturb the least amount. I think it was hear that we found out the simple way to move most sea lions - clap. When you do that, they instantly hate the noise, normally give you a groanbark and then waddle off into the sea. Apparently this works on mostly all, with the exception of the alpha males. Whilst on the island we also saw 2 special types of people. The first were the camera geeks. These people are the ones that have super high tech and expensive cameras, which they come along with and then set up their huge tripod. They are so pleased, some have even tried to camouflage the huge half a metre long lens. All this to take a picture of an animal from just one metre away. Then we had the second type of people. Those that came onto the island and decided to do some kind of meditation. Don't think the captain had ever seen anything like it and he just stood and stared. We called the new spices Loco Turistico.
So after our walk round the island, it was time for a swim and a snorkel. We swam out to a number of large rocks in the sea and round them, on the lookout for anything cool.
Then it was back to the boat for some lunch and a little ride over to Gardner Bay (another island) where we were taken by dinghy and dropped in near to the island but on the side that had a wall into the sea. It turned out to be pretty decent. As well as the animals listed below, this is where we managed to swim around with some sea lions. We'd been told that the babies are normally inquisitive and the adults not, so were hoping for this chance. The little sea lions come swimming towards you, face on and then they'll do a barrel roll and quickly dart off in the other direction. It was really good. Martin tried to get some pictures with the underwater camera we had bought but we'll see how they turn out.
After the snorkelling, we were taken back to Espanola but to the other side of the island to take another wander round. This was known as the breeding area for lots of different birds. Outside of the ones listed below we got to see the mating rituals of both the Blue Footed Boobies and the Albatross. The male Blue Footed Boobies perform a little dance for the female in a kind of marching style. Apparently, the brighter blue the feet are the more of a chance the male has. If the female looks as though she could be interested, you hit her with the ultimate charm - you put a twig onto your feet. This is to show that you're going to build a nest and this is the start of it. Then you're in!!! If however your feet are not so bright and therefore a little ugly, you can move onto the advanced level and build a nest. If a female sees that you can build a good nest and therefore provide a good home, she may overlook the slightly pale feet and accept you anyway!!
Then came the albatross, the bird that takes off and doesn't land on land for another 20 months. They either sleep in the air or they can land on water. They have a fairly large area to land on because they forget how to do it!!! They are a massive bird and when they're flying, it's kind of funny to watch - they wave their feet like a child on a fairground ride. Anyway, we got to see their mating ritual, or the best part of it, as it can go on for many hours. So they start the ritual by putting their beaks together and kind of go mental, in a kind of kissing but hitting way. Then they'll dramatically stop and kind of pose. Then they do some head and neck bobbing from one side to another, then back to the kissinghitting beaks. It's so funny to watch. If you see them move as well, it can only be described as a bit of a gangster waddle!!!
The animals we saw today were:
Sea lions, Mockingbirds, Galapagos Hawk, Land Iguana's (but red as they eat red seaweed), Blue Footed Boobies, Nasca Boobies, Galapagos Albatross, Red Billed Tropical Bird, Galapagos Dove, Yellow Warbler, Pelican, Hermit Crab (big one), Turtles, White Tip Reef Shark (Marie only), Moray Eel, Manta Ray and lots of fish again.
In the evening, after dinner, it was time to set sail again. This time, we were so tired from the day that we went to bed, even though it was only 8pm!!

Day 17 Boat Trip (Floreana)
The boat put the anchor down around 3am, so the sailing had been a little longer tonight. Also, on the previous night, the boat had been rocking up and down. Tonight, it had been going from side to side. The sea sickness tablet may have helped but we woke up feeling ok and having slept relatively well. It's still so nice to wake up, open the door and be in a nice bay near a beautiful island.
Our first trip this morning was to the Post Office at Post Office Bay. The post office isn't exactly usual - it is a barrel just behind the beach. It was used in the times of pirates and sailing ships. People would leave their letters for the loved ones at home as they would have quite some time before they would return and then another ship would pick up the letter and deliver it for them. So we left a couple of cards (parents - don't expect one !!!) and took a few for England and Sweden. We won't be delivering them by hand but we'll stick a UKSweden stamp on so at least people know it has come back in a pretty traditional manner.
After that, we went for a walk from one side of the island to the other. The island wasn't that big but the contrast between the two, mainly in the beach colour, was very obvious. On one side, the beach was a dark yellow colour and the other side like a Caribbean island colour. In between, there was also a lagoon, where we got to see a few more pink flamingos.
We then went for our only snorkel of the day, which turned out to be eventful. We were taken to this large rock in the middle of the sea and chucked in. As soon as we got in, you could feel the current pull you round, so you realised why they had taken you where they had. You get in and basically get pulled round and back to the boat. All was going well, when suddenly Martin hears Marie started to shout and have a bit of a scream. She was with some other people, so looking up he sees her shouting "get it off me" and then the captain hauling her into the dinghy whilst picking something off. So swimming over, it appears that Marie had made friends with a Blue Bottled jellyfish (it was good to have an Aussie who knew straight away what it was). These jellyfish aren't massive at the top but they have lots of tentacles that are normally one metre or so long. They had been entangled and the jellyfish had got its tentacles stuck in the top tie part of her bikini and in trying to get away, had actually managed to undo it and her top was starting to come away and her boobs out!!! Upon trying to sort it out, the jellyfish had got pushed onto her back and then decided that it was under attack and started to sting her.
So she got hauled onto the dinghy and Martin swam over (getting stung on the way) and into the boat with her and the 23 others that had also got stung. We went back to the main boat and out came the jar of vinegar, with everyone except Marie getting a bit of it and then the rest (34) went over Marie. Made you want some chips!!! She went for a cold shower to try and cool it down after a while and it was then we saw the real extent of the stings. She had lacerations all down one arm, on her shoulders, back and even one on her bum. We applied what was left in the after bite liquid and then it was only really time that would heal. We were sailing in the afternoon to Puerto Ayora, as it was the end of some people trips the next day, so we had no activities in the afternoon (a downside to the trip) but it was good for Marie as she wouldn't have been up for doing anything. She was contending with the stinging and the burning.
The animals we saw today were:
Black Tip Shark, Pink Flamingos, Sting Rays and of course a blue bottled jelly fish.
In the evening, we had parked up in the harbour of Santa Cruz and were allowed off to have a look round. As we'd already spent two nights there, we decided to just stay on the boat and let Marie rest some more.

Day 18 Boat Trip Santa Cruz
We had an early start today as it was people swap over day. You can basically get on and off the boat in two locations, Baltra and Puerto Ayora. From Baltra you either do eight days (like us) or five. From Puerto Ayora, you do 4 days. So today, the people on the 5 day were leaving and new people on the 4 day would be joining. Before they left we visited the Charles Darwin Foundation. The Foundation houses a number of the large tortoises from each of the islands and successfully breeds them and returns them when they are old enough and out of danger from predators, to the islands. There is however one tortoise named George who is the only one of his kind and he was found on Pinta Island. They searched multiple times but never found another one, so he now has the name lonesome George as when he dies the Pinta Island Tortoise will be extinct. He doesn't seem so bothered though, he's got a couple of ladies in with him and their breeding, plus he's only at the age of 100 (they can live till 150 - 200 years).
After leaving the Foundation, the group split, with some people going to the airport and some going back to Puerto Ayora to get back on the boat or check into a hotel. We wanted to spend some time on a beach we had walked past on the days before when going to Las Greitas, but the weather was really cloudy so we decided to check e mails and generally hung around until the new people came. It was a shame that everyone left as people had got to know each other and it had all become very easy going round the boat and on the trips.
The new people turned up with full enthusiasm and after having been fed, we left to go visit a farm in the north of Santa Cruz. The farm is next door to a national park, which costs loads to get into and what we had come to see walked all through the farm. So we turned up and changed our shoes for the provided welly boats and went out hunting. Then we saw one. What we had come to see were the giant tortoise and wow, they were giant. We'd never seen them before and though you know they are called giant, we never expected them to be this big. They were incredible.
Once we'd spotted a few and got up close and personal (as much as you were allowed) with them, we swapped our shoes back and were shown an area where they had a shell from a giant tortoise that had died. You were allowed to get in and take pictures, so Martin did and you can see the pictures. Was weird to have on.
The animals we saw today were:
Tortoise, tortoise and massive tortoise!

Day 19 Boat Trip Isla Rabida and Santiago
The boat had left a midnight and sailed for a few hours in the night, so we awoke to the island of Rabida. The first main difference we noticed from the previous islands we had seen was the red sand and the landscape. As we were walking up the path, this hawk flew in over us and instead of getting scared off it landed on a tree only a meter away. The guide explained this was a juvenile hawk and this was why he was so inquisitive. It was pretty amazing to see it so close and even the guide was annoyed he hadn't brought his camera. After the walk we went for a snorkel and we saw an eagle ray.
We got back on the boat and sailed to Santiago Island where we had lunch. After lunch we went for a walk on the island and again the landscape was very different. You could clearly see how the volcano had erupted and then when it had stopped how everything had been cooled off by the sea. There were several magma tubes that you could even get into. The highlight was seeing the fur seals. We had seen plenty of sea lions but these where the first fur seals and they looked really different.
In the evening we sat out on deck talking to a Dutch couple. We had a full moon and a clear sky so it was really pretty.

Day 20 Boat Trip Isla Bartolome, Sombrero China
Our final day really. Though you are sold it as an 8 day trip, the last day is nothing much. So this was our last full day. We started again with a big breakfast and started asking how we'd be able to go back to a travelling diet !! After breakfast we went for a walk to the top of Isla Bartolome. This island had been board walked to save the ground from being destroyed so it was an easy walk although it was uphill and hot. Isla Bartolome is pretty young for the Galapagos at a mere 1 or 2 million years old and it is a very desolate island compared to some of the others. When you get to the top, you see the island and all its glory. This is also where all the post card pictures are taken from.
After the walk we got back on the boat, sailed for ten minutes and then we got to do some more snorkelling. This time from the beach but then round the side of the island where there wasn't a beach and it was much deeper. It was really cool that at one point we saw a penguin sat up on the rock, so stopped to have a chat with him. We asked him to come in and have a swim with us but he shook his head in a clear no. So we left him after getting a couple of pictures but as we continued to snorkel, we saw this little black object swim past us before you get a chance to blink. You've got to love the penguins.
The captain moved the boat after lunch and on the way, he stopped and let us go on the top deck to see into this crater that had a lake in it and lots of pink flamingos. The captain seemed chuffed that he'd told us they would be there and they were. A little freebie for us apparently.
After lunch, we got to snorkel for the final time. We were dropped in near the side of an island that had a rock face and the current was strong enough to just let it take you along. May be a little too strong really. We were on the first dinghy trip out, which was a shame because the second group got to see dolphins in the distance. Oh well, they aren't specific to the Galapagos. We swam for some time and then we were shown by one of the crew members a rock and told to have a look under it. Martin swam down and came face to face (not that close really) with a couple of Galapagos sharks. They were a few metres down and under the rock, resting or at least trying to. Marie tried to have a look but didn't make it with the excuse that she can't get her bum down!!
We then moved onto the Sombrero China island, where we got off and went for a wander. On our way to the island we managed to see some more penguins and it was great. In the evening the chef made us a farewell cake and we had some goodbye cocktails. At 8PM we were so tired that we went to bed.
The animals we saw today were:
Oyster Cacther Bird, Pink Flamingos, sea lions, striped heron, Galapagos penguins, Galapagos Shark, short trailed sting ray, marine iguana (swimming), turtle.

Day 21 Boat Trip North Seymour and time to leave
So it was our time to leave and therefore an earlier rise than normal. We had one last thing that we hoped to see before we'd be leaving and this was the place to see it. As you sail round, there are normally these large black frigate birds following above the boat. They do this because they can be lazy and fly for free under the upstream created by the boat and to get any organic scraps that are thrown overboard. The female frigate bird has a white chest and the male has a red, deflated balloon instead. The male will try to lure the lady by inflating this into a large balloon. The bigger the balloon, the more chance you have of getting a partner.
So we took a walk round the island and weren't disappointed. Although the pictures may not be that great since they were hidden in trees we got to see quite a few with their chest puffed out. We even got to see one female flying in to check out a balloon and then fly off - obviously not as impressed from up close!!
After our last breakfast we said our goodbyes and it felt pretty sad to be leaving. We were glad to be back on land but not to leave the Galapagos. Our visit to the Galapagos will remain in our memories forever and is definitely a highlight of our trip.

PHOTOs from Galapagos

http://www.photobox.co.uk/1x9C7007/album/803141839?cid=tashare001