Visiting the Galapagos has been on my wishlist since I booked our flights to Ecuador. Here I was thinking the islands were like the Bahamas, with incentive cruises for locals and almost a swim distance away. How very ignorant of me! We ordered an uber for a very early departure back to the airport on Monday morning. We needed all of 3 hours to wait in line to pay a $100 cash only family tax to fly to the Galapagos, wait in an additional security search for plants and then the usual ticketing and security line. Plus extra sanitation before we landed and the $100 per person (thankfully not in cash) once we landed in San Cristobal. Don't forget about the bus ride ($20 in cash) to get to the boat to take us to Santa Cruz. After the crazy cost and security to get there, I was expecting big things. We took a taxi (2 trucks) ride into town to a hotel where we met our guide and had lunch. On the way, were welcomed by the giant tortoises just walking along! Our hotel was not very impressive and our guide seemed like he had other things to do. Puerto Ayora, the main town had a Key West kind of vibe. We walked to the Charles Darwin center to see the saddleback tortoises and meander around the streets getting our bearings. Back to the restaurant for a delicious fish dinner then an early bedtime. Voss and I in one room and the girls in another. The next morning we had a new guide (3rd generation of the island) walk us to Tortuga Bay and then Playa Brava. We saw sea lions sunbathing, swam with baby sharks, blue footed boobie and a stingray! We stopped for guava ice cream on the walk back and then later lunch back at the local restaurant near us. That afternoon we toured a lava cavern, caves and my favorite part, El Chato Ranch. Giant tortoises everywhere! It was surreal! We had fresh guava and even saw two tortoises procreating. The last day we went snorkeling in Las Grietas and Puerto Ayora. Amazing how many fish are around when you put your face in the water! We had a relaxing afternoon walking back to the beach by the Charles Darwin center. We went to a different place for dinner with ceviche and giant hamburgers! The next morning we could sleep in a bit, get bfast then head back to the airport. We took a taxi, boat then a bus to get to the airport. Rodrigo and Maria Elena were at the dentist when we got home. We got settled back in. Friday was a relaxing day. Lorena came over. I read Heart Like a Cowboy for the Western category of the Page Turner. Lorena dropped us off at a park, which was supposed to be this relaxing, fun thing. But the kids were all fighting so we started walking to a lunch place but got lost in the neighborhood. My phone stopped working. I thought I got a bug in the airport trying to call an Uber but really it was a storage issue (after going to the iPhone store in Miami). With no map, we just wandered around. We finally found a restaurant and Rodrigo mysteriously showed up and found us. We ubered to Santiago's for dinner and made pizzas. It was a fun, relaxing night. The next morning we went with Lorena and Hugo and their kids to breakfast and then Cotapaxi, the volcano. I was kina bummed we didn't try to climb it or anything but it was cold and neat to drive around it. Kina sad that there wasn't much snow at the top thanks to global warming. A fun day with their family and back to their house for nachos and cake. Sunday we went to mass with Rodrigo at the church in the neighborhood then had a rooftop BBQ. Here are the photos of the week.
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