A long journey of two buses with a 20 hour wait between them, luckily leaving Peru on the day our visa ran out by chance, and spending the night in a unfriendly hotel in Guyaquil, we caught our flight for a once I a lifetime opportunity to sale around the Galápagos Islands. Originally we hadn't really considered visiting the Galápagos on our round the world trip; we'd always thought of it as way out of our budget and a trip in itself. However, speaking to people along our travels, and understanding that you could do the trip a lot cheaper if booking on arrival, we couldn't resist while so close! After much confusion at the airport about bag checks, Galápagos tourist cards, and being forced to buy a return ticket regardless of not knowing when we would want to return, we took our 1.5 hour flight to Baltra airport. On arrival we were loaded onto a free 10 minute bus across the island, took a 5 minute boat over the sea to Santa Cruz Island, and then an hour long bus down the island to the main town of Puerto Ayora, where we spent much of the day sleeping!

On the 17th we were dedicated to finding a last minute cruise of the Galápagos to join and after some research on different routes, tour lengths, prices and boat standards we settled for a trip with a tour company called 'Lonesome George', consisting of an 8 day, 7 night cruise on a basic boat called the 'Floreana' for £1000 each; the single most expensive thing we'd done on our trip! Excited for our tour leaving the following afternoon we went to the ATM to withdraw the cash as there are no card machines in any of the businesses on the island...disaster, with a machine set daily limit of £380 withdrawal for each card, and having only 2 cards on us there was no way we would be able to pay for the tour in full before we left. Add to this the fact that our return flight was booked for the day we returned from our cruise from Baltra airport, which meant we wouldn't have time to return to the tour agency to pay more money that day, and we were up a creek without a paddle! After failing to get cash advances from the banks in town we realised we would have to change our flight for the following day in order to come back and pay for the rest of our tour after our cruise; all a right palava and extra money! It was all a hectic and stressful rush right up until the last minute! Tip for anyone planning on booking a last minute boat trip there, make sure you have plenty of cash in advance!

On the 18th June we caught a taxi to the port and got a small motorised boat over to the 'Floreana', the smallest little green and white fishing type boat docked, rocking precariously in the waves. Once on board we were shown to our tiny cabin complete with a bunk bed, a small ensuite, some shelves and a metre of floor space in which only one person could stand when opening the cabin door; to be honest it was still superior to many dingy hostel rooms we'd stayed in on our travels! We then went and introduced ourselves to the other 12 people on board; 2 young Swiss couples, a Swiss guy called Kevin, an English girl named Zahra, an American/Australian couple Katie and Ashley, Zach an American guy, a Korean girl named Amy, and a Chinese couple Jeff and Ching Ching. Everyone seemed to be in the same 'boat' doing similar long term backpacking adventures, and all were splashing out on such an extravagant treat! After dinner we headed to bed pretty early to try and catch a few hours sleep before the engines were fired up at about midnight for 6 hours of sailing; it was a surreal experience waking up every now and then as the boat dipped into the waves and you were rolled about in your bed; Trevor had drawn the short straw with top bunk, although we were not sure there was even enough room in the cabin for him to fall out and onto the floor! He managed to secure himself in his bunk by spreading eagle to wedge himself in.

Our life for the next week was very much led by the ringing of a bell to announce meal and excursion times on the boat. Each day started with an early breakfast of fruit, toast, egg, cereal and juice, and was followed by a walk or snorkelling excursion. Our first day we visited 'Isla Genevesa', our most northern flung island of the trip which is rarely visited due to its distance from the main archipelago. As we stepped off the dinghy which took us to the shore of the island we were surrounded by birds; thousands of them swooping around and above us, it was like we had just stepped into a scene from Jurrassic Park with birds filling the cloudless blue sky. Amongst them were 'red-footed' and 'nazca boobies', large 'frigate' birds, and 'swallow-tailed gulls', all fishing, nesting, or peering at us curiously amongst the rocks and bushes of 'Darwin Bay'. Approaching some of the nesting birds you could see little white bundles of fluff being protected by the mother; tiny chicks waiting to grow big enough to wander out and explore. None of the birds minded that we were there and had no fear of us, having lived so long without any natural predators; they knew they were safe and this was their island not ours! Add to the birds a few lazy sea lions basking on the beach and soaking up the sun which could just about be bothered to lift their heads up as we all snapped our cameras at them, and also bright red crabs scurrying and even jumping over the rock pools heading to an unknown place in a hurry. Our first stop was amazing, a whirlwind of activity and colour, the tamest animals we'd ever encountered!

Next it was time to get into the sea for our first taste of snorkelling, and after people spotting giant Galápagos Sharks swimming around the boat, we were a little apprehensive! Nonetheless we were taken in the dinghy to a couple of spots by the rocky shore and we were rewarded with a group of 5 or so playful sea lions curiously toying with us, twisting and turning in the water around the group; one thing we had both wished for on the trip was a chance to swim with sea lions or seals, and this had already been fulfilled on our first day of the cruise! After lunch back on the boat we headed back onto Genevesa at an alternative point, 'El Barranco' where we ascended the 'Prince Phillip's steps' and were led up to a large expanse of cliff looking out to the ocean. The rocky cliff area was absolutely covered with thousands of 'storm petrels', 'tropicbirds', 'Darwin's finches', 'Galápagos mockingbirds' and frigate birds waiting to feed on the storm petrels as dusk set in. We were also lucky enough to see a couple of short-eared lava owls awakening to hunt for the night. Once again the volcanic area was full of life including lots of small lizards darting around our feet!

After dinner, our guide Roberto gave us our nightly briefing for the next day's activities which involved a white board and colourfully drawn diagrams, along with a vague and confusing description of activities and what kind of shoes to wear, as well as a joke which continued throughout the week about where we were on his map. This ensured we all went to bed confused with no idea of what we were doing the next day... That evening we headed to bed pretty early and tried to settle into sleep while the boat sailed the whole night over the rocky seas, and we took some sea sickness tickets to try and combat the movement, while Sophie planned an escape route in her head in the event of capsizing!

The rest of our cruise was filled with various walks across surreal black volcanic lava landscapes, up to viewing points on various islands, and walking through bushland in flip flops and shorts after being ill advised by Roberto on suitable clothing and shoes to look for giant tortoises, of which we found one snoozing in a bush! The afternoons of our days were often filled with snorkelling; it was the most amazing snorkelling either or us had ever done, during which you could see more stunning wildlife than most people see whilst scuba diving. On one occasion we were swimming with the second smallest penguins in the world at only 50cm long, one of which took to pecking inquisitively at our camera strap on Trevor's wrist. Swimming around us at speed were also large sea lions, that would sneak up on you and twist and turn right in front of your face, like playful puppies of the sea! The sea lions were everywhere on the Galápagos; at fish markets begging for the fish leftovers, lazing around on benches in towns, getting in your way on the entrance steps to islands and groaning loudly when we had to move them out of the way. Over the days the snorkelling seemed to get better and better, with amazing visibility in the turquoise waters, swimming through shoals of tropical fish, including 'box' and 'puffer fish', 'sergeant majors' and 'surgeon fish', which would move out of the way to let you through and immediately reform their shape after passing. We spotted sleeping white tip sharks under rocks, others swimming in the shallows, flicking their tails to swim effortlessly through the water, Galápagos Sharks out in the deep water below us, beautiful spotted eagle rays gliding past us and other sting rays camouflaging themselves in the sandy bottom of the sea bed. Massive sea turtles gently swam past us on their way to look for an algae covered rock, gracefully moving their massive weight and non-streamlined shape through the water whilst stretching their long wrinkly necks out of their shell to peer at us gawping at them. Giant starfish, some of which looked like a big chocolate chip cookie, often covered the sea floor like an inverted sky, while prehistoric looking marine iguanas would swim awkwardly past us and dive down to feed on the algae of rocks. Everywhere we looked the big black creatures were holding themselves under water to feed whilst holding their breaths, completely unbothered about us being there, while we stared amazed at the kind of sight we'd never seen before, like tiny crocodiles filling the water around us! The tameness of the wildlife and the ability to get so close to observe their daily activities, and even have some of them be playful and interactive with us was the most amazing experience, and we were being truly spoilt!

Visiting one of the other human inhabited islands of 'Isabela' we were treated to the sight of bright pink flamingoes in a lagoon, all doing a salsa type dance with their strange backward bending legs in the mud to move their food source to the surface. Roberto seemed to know far more about the flamingoes than any other animal on our trip-often our questions would be answered with a very vague response and we were left more confused than before! Also Roberto's information on the history or geology of the islands was usually given a time window of 1000-1000million years; we put this down to his less than perfect grasp of English as all in all he was actually a nice fellow! On the island was also the 'Arnaldo Tupiza Research Centre' where there is a big programme to breed the animals and repopulate the island with them, after they were near extinction post the British ships historically taking them on board as food, including Darwin's very own Beagle ship! The tortoises were huge and would take 4 men to lift them when the males were fully grown at 300kg; slightly bigger than Sophie's nans' 70 year old tortoise back home! Another island named 'Fernandina' provided us with 'flightless cormorant' birds, attempting to close their beautifully bright blue eyes and tuck their heads under their wings to catch some sleep! On the same island a small black snake slithered past us and came to rest lolloped over a sunbathing iguanas' back...not that it seemed to mind! Meanwhile on 'Santiago Island' after being almost heartbroken by a noisy crying baby sea lion on the beach looking for its mother who was out fishing in the sea, we then discovered fur seals, with their fat bodies and fluffy little heads making them look extremely endearing.

Observing the interactions between the stunning wildlife often made us feel like we were watching a David Attenborough documentary! We saw massive Pelicans swooping over the sea and suddenly folding their wings up to dive into the waters and emerge with their big neck full of fish. We'd watch sea lions bolt through swarms of fish, often not catching any, simply to play with and irritate them, splitting up the shoal and enjoying showing us their acrobatic navigation through the water. On 'Fernandina Island' we wandered along the shore and found an extremely cute small baby sea lion...as everyone edged nearer to look suddenly the mother emerged from the bushes behind, awkwardly flapped her way down the beach and settled to be at the baby's side within seconds. She put her flipper over the baby protectively and pulled it in closer. Every time the baby tried to pull away as if the mother was embarrassing her, the female would pull the baby in closer again and wouldn't take her flipper off the baby's back. A clear message to us all to stay away, and an amazingly human-like act of mother-baby protectiveness to observe in the wild! On Santiago Island we all sat and watched a heron fly on to some deep rock pools and stand statuesque on the side watching small black crabs scurry around before picking its dinner and gobbling the chosen crab up in front of us!

The scenery around us was stunning. Crystal clear turquoise waters, backed by a wide array of beaches. On Rabita Island we were treated to dark red coral beach, on 'Sombrero Chino' (an island shaped like a Chinese hat), we could have been standing on an idyllic Caribbean white sand beach, while other islands were full of black volcanic sand and rock; the variety was amazing. The islands were often covered with tropical vegetation and all had great viewpoints to look out over the ocean and view the archipelago of unique islands around us.

Evenings on the boat were commonly ended early to avoid being sick on deck! Other evenings were spent watching the sunset from the boat over the ocean, spotting dolphins leaping out of the water across the red sun, watching a jaws-like shark fin swim past, and a couple of manta ray fins flapping along the surface of the water beside us...not bad evening entertainment! One evening we stayed up to watch the volcano 'La Cumbre' glowing eerily red in the dark night sky, while the boat smashed into particularly large waves. After watching the volcano we had to battle to get along the top deck, down two flights of stairs and into our cabin, without smashing into various poles or flying over deck, reminiscent of a battle scene on the bridge of a Star Trek episode! That evening Trevor attempted to have a shower and after just about successfully finishing, a massive wave crashed through the open window in the bathroom and soaked him in salt water meaning he had to get back under the shower again! It was also Katie's birthday during the trip, and that evening everyone was thoroughly entertained by Zach's Napoleon Dynamite-esque dance moves and Kevin's reluctant attempt at a doing an impression of a turtle, all of which was a result of several beers and rums!

Our cruise of the Galápagos Islands had been worth every penny. We had seen everything we could have possibly wished for and got closer to the wildlife than we ever imagined. It's like nowhere else we have ever been, both on the land and in the water, at times we felt like we were watching a BBC wildlife documentary unfold in front of us. The animals are able to live how they should, without fear of harm from humans, which therefore gives you a special chance to see and interact with them like nowhere else in the world. You can easily understand why the animals and ecology here became the inspiration for Charles Darwin's 'Theory of Evolution'. We felt extremely humbled to be able to witness it first hand.

Back on the island of Santa Cruz, after settling our outstanding bill, we changed our flight once more for a few days later so that Sophie could do a couple of scuba dives, in one of he most recognised scuba diving locations in the world. The next 2 days, while Trevor whiled away the days wandering the town with Zach and Kevin, having a few beers and solving world problems, Sophie did 4 scuba dives with Zahra, using the company 'Scuba Iguana'. Visiting the sites of 'Mosquera', 'North Seymour', and 'Gordon Rocks', the hunt was on for big animals. Once again the ocean was filled with turtles, dozens of white tip sharks and beautiful shoals of fish, but some further highlights included;
- A school of passing hammerhead sharks flicking their way along the sea bed searching for food with their infamously shaped heads
- A school of spotted eagle rays in formation much like a flock of birds, gracefully hurrying past on their way through
- Poisonous scorpion fish which blended in completely with the stones
- Sand banks covered in garden eels; a strange sight of thin eels popping vertically out of the sandy bed of the sea and wavering in the current, before quickly retreating in as you swam above them
- A giant manta ray, 5 metres in width gliding above us and circling us with interest, it's large antenna like eyes peering inquisitively at us, while some small cleaner fish travelled along with it. This was truly the highlight for Sophie, who's final wish for the Galápagos had been fulfilled, as she watched the giant with as much of an open mouth as she could manage while keeping her regulator in position!

Not to be out done; Trevor, Zach and Kevin's highlights were just as impressive and productive;
-Finding out you could get a discount on your beer by part exchanging your empty beer bottles at the local supermarket and locating the best benches by the dock to enjoy them
- Spotting a Darwin finch with Malaria, nicknamed 'zombie bird' by the gruesome growths all over its body which made all 3 grown men jump back in shock/disgust
- Attempting to upright a stranded tortoise in the research centre by using a 7 foot tree branch, through the bars of the enclosure
- Finding a way to spend 2 hours talking over breakfast each morning

After one final night on the island which consisted of Zac performing an amazing karaoke version of Bon Jovi's 'Dead or Alive' much to the delight of the locals who were deafening in their singing, it was time to leave the islands and return to mainland Ecuador, with some of the most amazing experiences, memories, and hundreds of photos of our trip! It also took several days on dry land before our heads stopped spinning and we stopped swaggering back and fourth like John Wayne!