27 Feb 2016
After spending the day exploring, 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 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 doing a Highland Tour, 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…
