27 Feb 2016
This morning, Mark, Patti and I split off from the group, left Cuenca:
and flew back to Guayaquil, where our hotel picked us up in a golf cart:
Mark and Patti:
We’ll be spending the night here before our flight out to the Galapagos in the morning. Unfortunately, I’ve got a cold, so I spent my afternoon walking up to the pharmacy, stocking up on whatever over the counter medications I could find to alleviate my symptoms; there’s no Sudafed here so grabbed some vitamins and asked the pharmacist for something para la gripe. Hopefully that plus a solid night of sleep with be enough…
28 Feb 2016
Welcome to the Galapagos!!!
This was the most painful flight of my life- I’m still pretty stuffed up and the pressure in my sinuses as we ascended made my sinuses was so intense I thought they were going to explode or rupture or do whatever angry sinuses do. The pain only got worse as we descended into Baltra.
and to make matters worse, my ears are plugged now too. Diving is going to be interesting tomorrow…
But we’ve only got a few days here, so I tried to enjoy this unique scenery while we wait for the ferry that will take us across the Itabaca Channel to Santa Cruz Island:
We got our first views of wildlife:
Sally lightfoot crabs:
Guarding this rock?
Flying in sync:
A short ferry ride later, we made it across to Santa Cruz:
On the road toward Puerto Ayora, where we’ll be staying. We’ll make this drive from our hotel back to the Channel almost every day to meet our dive boat:
But today, we’ll be stopping at a couple sites along the way to learn more about this island.
Our guide, Fernando, telling us about the scalesia forests:
Look at the blue eye on this Galapagos dove:
First finch!
Moss, mushrooms and a wrinkly tree:
This monarch was stuck in a spider web 🙁
Darwin’s finch!
I was hoping we’d spot one on this trip!
Our next stop was at Los Gemelos, a pair of sink holes created as the volcanic roof of empty magma chambers collapsed from tectonic shifts and erosion:
I appreciate the “don’t touch the cactus” sign
One of the twin craters of Los Gemelos:
Scalesia forest:
Being tourists on our way to the tortoise place:
Our next stop was at this tortoise ranch:
I’m a turtle!
After I shimmied into the shell, I learned that the one to the left is cut open for easy access:
Me and a tortoise!
It was a very hot day, so most of them had buried themselves in the mud to stay cool:
I wonder if the mud makes it difficult to move once it dries out…
A leafy guy!
Don’t cry, sad turtle!
Seriously chunky claws:
This guy was fuming at me:
I don’t think he appreciated me taking pictures of him..
Serious side-eye:
Mud baths:
and mud naps:
Spotted a couple more finches:
I feel like I should have read Darwin’s On the Origin of Species before coming here so I knew what to look for (I know it’s something with their beaks):
Common Gallinule:
a little fancy, a little awkward:
Yellow-throated warbler:
Galapagos flycatcher:
We also explored a lava tube:
It was nice and cool down here:
A nice break from the heat!
Then it was back on the road, to Puerto Aroya, to our hotel:
That circley room is mine!
My balcony overlooks the courtyard:
and the bay!
I could even bird-watch from the comfort of my room!
Magnificent frigatebird:
After we dropped our bags, we set out again to explore the town:
Shoreline:
Found another heron:
and SO MANY SEAGULLS!!!
Awkward landing:
This guy is imitating the palm:
Also, so many crabs!
The pops of red really stood out on the gray rocks:
Missing a claw:
This poor guy- I can’t imagine how hot he must be with all that fur!
Every night at 7pm, there’s a street that closes down…
…tables are pulled into the street…
…and delicious food is served (yes, that’s a hairdryer being used to stoke the coals):
I don’t have much of an appetite currently, but my giant corn was quite tasty!
Mark’s fish was very fresh…
