It was an exciting early start for our trip to the Galapagos Islands today. 4:30am to be precise. Sadly Eddy (Hannah Edridge) had to leave behind her ripped jeans for the Ecuadorians to make use of. Edison the taxi driver picked us up at 5am and off the the airport we went.
The whole Quito airport experience was quite stressful, with an unknown process of how to be able to leave to get to the Galapagos but after asking a few questions we learnt we had to pay a $10 tax at one desk, go through a bag check, then check in and head to the gate. Not as easy as it sounds.
Luckily for Kat and Nathan, they were upgraded to first class which despite only having slightly bigger seats and leg room, made me and Eddy quite jealous. We are determined to be upgraded at some point during our travels!
Near the end of the flight the hostesses came round spraying aerosols to kill any insects etc that could potentially harm the Galapagos, which was quite a strange experience. Just before landing Nathan spotted a whale from the plane. Once we landed we had to wait in a long queue with the only entertainment being another passenger playing guitar.. badly might I add. After paying a $100 conservation fee we went to get the ferry to Santa Cruz which was waiting for us at the port. The sea was crystal clear- it was beautiful and automatically everyones faces lit up.
We arrived at our hostel Galapagos Best Home Stay and were greeted by Kevin, the American owner. Whilst we all took a dislike to him due to him demanding money straight away he later redeemed himself by giving us a tour of Puerto Ayora. He gave us some advice on restaurants and pointed out some of the local wildlife such as sealions, crabs and pelicans. Within 3 hours of arriving we had booked a day trip and a 5 day cruise, very productive considering our early start! Before going back to the hostel we had lunch at a pizza place which had amazing focaccia pizza and nutella pizza.
In the evening we returned back into the centre of town which only cost $1 between us all. We visited the lit up pier which had attracted rays, sealions and baby sharks. We then headed for dinner where tables were lined up in the street with open restaurants either side. Eddy had her standard meal of chicken, rice and beans as did Kat. Me and Nathan went for the daily special which was beef.
With a 6:30am start the next day to take a snorkelling trip to San Cristobal we were happy to get an early night so headed back to the hostel.