We were up early ready for our 2 hour boat ride to Isabella. We were greeted at the port by a sealion sleeping in one of the boats and a marine iguana on the rocks - the first sign of the famous wildlide. After another bag inspection we hit the water with Mathilde, Carly and Tito. It wasn´t long before I spotted a turtle surfacing but the rest of the journey was spent trying to contain our excitement.

On arriving at Isla Isabella we could see sealions, turtles and penguins in the water, but all this had to wait as we got a taxi to our hostel for the night. After dumping our bags we went for a stroll to the beach which was beautiful. I didn´t know the Galapagos for its incredible white sandy beaches but it certainly has them. Although we were interrupted every now and then by a group of marine iguanas chilling on the volcanic rock next that littered the beaches.

It wasn´t long before we took to the water for a swim and were soon joined by dozens of rays that were feeding in the shallows. We had to be careful when the waves struck not to be infront of any incase they decided we were a threat - it was definitely the best paddling experience of my life!

Soon after we returned to town for lunch and then in the afternoon prepared to go snorkelling. Before we hit the water though we had a tour of some of the volcanic outcrops and saw blue footed boobies, pelicans and friggot birds. Once on land again we visited a marine iguana breeding point where there were dozens of the little critters who were not scared of us at all. We could also peer over the edge into the water where there were abuout 8 white tipped reef sharks chilling in the shallows.

After a 40 minute tour it was time to hit the water. We were in the water snorkelling for about an hour and a half, but the marine life we saw was unbelivable. I saw 2 white tipped reef sharks, turtles, white spotted eagle rays, sting rays, sealions that play with you and a shed load of fish! The sealions were so playful and swam right next to you, looking at your eyes as they passed, it was so fun!

We returned to the hostel afterwards still buzzing with excitement and after freshening up went out for dinner which was part of the tour. We went to a beachside bar after for a beer and then called it a night as we had another early start.

Next day we were up early and got in a tour bus up to the highlands. We headed up as far as possible into the clouds and the rain to start a hike to the volcano. The walk started off without much to report as visibility was poor due to the clouds. We did see a range of Charles´finches on the ascent though (well i say ascent it was a gently incline). However, we got to the top of a ridge and suddenly a giant crater from a volcano announced itself. It was spectacular and so surreal, it looked like something from Jurrassic park. The surroundings were lush and green, as were the banks of the crater itself, but as soon as the crater started it was just black rock with no sign of life.

We walked around the rim for a while and then headed into a huge lava field. In some parts you could still feel the heat from the volcano itself. We finally emerged at the top of a lava mound with a spectacular view of the coast to one side, the lave field stretching out below us and in the distance the edge of the vegetation again - it was rather cool to say the least and definitely worth the hike.

After a while we turned around and enjoyed a spot of lunch under a tree before continuing back to the road to get picked up and taken back to town. The afternoon wasn´t quite as well organised as we did a fair bit of waiting around, but finally got picked up to visit a tortoise breeding centre. There were several different types of tortoise at the centre being bred and then released back into the wild when they were strong enough. Some of the tortoises were months old, whereas others were over 120 years old!

After we walked 5 minutes down the road to a lagoon which was populated by flamingos, but as we were keen to return to the water we soon turned around and got back into the bus to the coast. We went snorkelling again for an hour or so, leaving a sealion to guard our belongings on the jetty.

Our snorkel was not as fruitful as the previous day though with only fish to report this time, still it wasn´t exactly bad! That evening we went out for food again and hit a different bar for a drink, but still it was a low key affair as we had an early start in the morning.

We got up at 5.30am and caught a boat at 6am back to Santa Cruz, from there we caught another boat at 8am to Isla Floreana.