San Cristobal

Our last Galapagos Ferry brought us to San Cristobal Island. The ferry ride was in between the other two as far as pain and suffering. We all got off the ferry rejoicing that it was our last one! At this point it was 9 in the morning, we were hungry and needed to find a hotel for our stay. We left Seth to watch our bags while the rest of us ventured out. We bought some yogurt and granola to eat while sitting on a bench feeling a bit homeless.

Breakfast after the ferry

Baracuda

We have a habit when traveling of finding a restaurant that we like and eating there often. This trip is no exception. A local recommended that we try the “Baracuda Restaurant”. We decided to try it and we liked it.

Rich's Galapagos Highlights

My favorite parts of the Galapagos were swimming with sea turtles and playing soccer at the little town center on San Cristóbal.

There was something surreal about swimming with a giant sea turtle. I wasn’t just watching the sea turtle swim from the surface or from a distance. I was 8 feet under water swimming alongside it 3-4 feet away. It was pretty dang cool to me. I expected to see them but didn’t expect to be able to swim alongside them.

Galapagos, Santa Cruz Island

Once back on Santa Cruz we found a hotel for the next few days. The early ferry may have been smoother, but it did leave us all very tired. After a short nap we were ready to head out. That day we went to the Charles Darwin research center which is basically another turtle breeding center. Once again we saw turtles in various sizes. There were also some displays on conservation and the Galapagos.

Giant Tortoise at the research center

Galapagos, Isabela Island

We arrived on Isabella island after a horrible ferry ride. At first we thought we would walk  to the town, Puerto Villamil, and find our hotel because it felt good to be walking and off the boat. But after going a short distance we decided that was a bad idea and got a taxi.

Thinking about walking to the hotel on dirt roads.

Galapagos, an introduction and the first ferry

We arrived in the Galapagos Islands on a Monday morning. Now before coming to the Galapagos I really didn't know a lot about them but we decided to make our stay land based instead of cruise based. Mostly because of the cost associated with the cruises, but also we weren't sure we wanted to spend that much time on a boat. We decided to spit our time between the three main islands. In the Galapagos, there are about 24 islands with 4 of them inhabited. Most of the islands are visited by groups on day trips where you have to have a guide. The three main islands are Santa Cruz, Isabela, and San Cristobal and we spent 4 nights on each with horrible ferry rides between them.

Just of the plane in Baltra

Sea Horses and Sharks and Rays. OH MY!

Just a little foreword here. This tour was actually about a week ago and so if some parts seem a little hazy, that is probably why.